Windows 10 oem vs retail

transmaster said:

You miss the point. The OEM copies I am looking at are for sale on Amazon. In the reviews people report getting OEM copies that do not register with MS as legal copies. It is a worry I am going to get a bogus copy. In order to avoid this I will probably pay for a full retail copy direct from MS.

OEM requires you to purchase hardware along with it. That means that the OS will be included with a complete system or you are getting a Motherboard with it if buying from a party. Retail would be what consumers normally get with no hardware or other software with it.

bro67 said:

OEM requires you to purchase hardware along with it. That means that the OS will be included with a complete system or you are getting a Motherboard with it if buying from a party. Retail would be what consumers normally get with no hardware or other software with it.

You don't always have to buy hardware with it. I bought an OEM System Builders Windows 7 from Newegg and didn't have to buy a motherboard etc with it. It was sold stand alone. That was many years ago mind you. I bought from Newegg knowing I was getting a legit copy, not something that may be questionable.

alphanumeric said:

I bought from Newegg knowing I was getting a legit copy, not something that may be questionable.

It was rendered non-legit & questionable by their act of selling it to you without the hardware that is a condition of its licence.

Denis

Same here. They expect you to be selling that system with the installed copy, but how many are going to do that.

CountMike said:

Unless local laws say opposite, in most of EU countries laws prohibit MS from enforcing that. There's nothing that MS (or any other company) can do to override local country's laws.

This is pure hearsay.

EU has never passed such laws. They tried to pass directives but the member states never ratified them.

Germany does have some legal differences allowing users to resell system builder licences but even there oem slp preinstalled licences are transferrable.

If you do not want possible activation issues replacing the motherboard later down the road just get the RETAIL version and be done with it.

Hi there


The only conditional law EU passes in respect of large corporations operating in its regions is that Monopoly laws are respected and various consumer laws with regard to "Safe Products" and purchases must be fit for purpose.

If you buy say a cheap copy of Windows from Amazon IN GOOD FAITH (and that's the issue) and it fails to work then the credit card company must refund your money (not the supplier or 3rd party agent -- Amazon in this case). This is why at least in the EU (and associated territories --EEA for example and a few others) you should always use a Credit Card when buying over the Internet.

Honestly some of the rubbish I've read about what the EU can and can not do over the last few weeks -- enough to drive anybody to drink.

At the Individual level most consumer rights are pretty easy to follow -- it's just people can't be bothered to take the trouble to read the small print. Office 2019 cheap copies seem to work OK and activate properly --- Windows versions are another matter entirely.

BTW hardware buying to get an OEM system builders copy can sometimes be done with just buying one item such as a mouse -- however you need to source the system builders properly.

Once you've built / installed the system you can sell it to yourself for say 1 EUR --problem solved legally Q.E.D.

Cheers
jimbo