The HUGE BIG-BIG Windows Vista Thread

[Praz]

That's for OEM, MS have come out and said that non-OEM Vista copies will be subject to current XP rules (ie. you will need to ring MS and re-activate for each reinstall).

It was causing a bit of a stir hence their clarification.

Still a PITA none-the-less.

That's what i though too until I read the first part of the license agreement. I guess they will be putting out a revised agreement.

 

By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the

software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund or credit. If you cannot obtain a refund

there, contact Microsoft or the Microsoft affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft’s

refund policies. See www.microsoft.com/worldwide. In the United States and Canada, call (800)

MICROSOFT or see www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm.

[TheFlowerKing]

I know I will be using the evaluation copy until that expires then I will be doing the same thing that I do with XP. Guess I'm just part of a larger corporation

[soundx98]

Here's the updated info (VM is allowed) that TechWeb re-ran on October 13th, 2006

http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/193300234

And they are definately talking about Retail copies

 

I guess we'll have to wait until the lawyers finish the final before the fat lady sings.

 

I hope that MS does do a major crackdown on pirates. No one should be ripped off, including MS. I am still very concerned how this will affect upgraded components.

[Praz]

Regardless what the agreement says I can't see not being able to reactivate a retail copy. When we buy a copy we're buying for "a" system not "the" system unlike a preinstall.

[ReelFiles]

Despite the buzz on the Internet, Vista licensing will be similar to XP

 

"There has been much speculation and many rumors floating around concerning licensing and license transfers with Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system. Paul Thurrott is looking to dispel some of the myths surrounding Vista licensing and has written a rather in-depth article on the matter ***HERE***.

 

First off, according to the EULA for Windows Vista, a user may "reassign the [Windows Vista] license to another device one time." Many have tried to say that this limits Vista in comparison to its five-year old predecessor, Windows XP. In reality, it's the same policy as before -- Microsoft has just clarified its position. Paul Thurrott reports:

 

Since you can't transfer a copy of Windows that comes with a new PC anyway, less than 10 percent of all Windows licenses are transferable at all. And of those, only a tiny percentage of users have ever tried to even transfer a Windows license once. The only people that really need to do this regularly are hardcore PC enthusiasts who change their machine configurations regularly...And if you do actually have a catastrophic PC failure, you'll be able to transfer your license just as before. The process, as it turns out, hasn't changed at all. "The escalation process is exactly the same in Vista," Boettcher told me. "You have to call support. It just wasn't clear in Windows XP.

 

As far as how adding and removing hardware components will affect activation, Vista will operate in a similar manner to Windows XP -- and in most cases, it won't be as picky. For enthusiasts out there who often upgrade hardware components, replacing memory, upgrading your video card, or changing out your processor won't set off any major alarms with Vista. Two component changes that will cause Vista to stand up take notice, however, are changes to the motherboard and hard drive. In that case, if automatic electronic reactivation does not occur, you will be prompted to call Microsoft support to reactivate your installation over the phone. This, again, is no different than what was required with Windows XP.

 

The final topic that Thurrott addresses is the issues of virtualization licensing. In this case, any version of Windows Vista will be able to host virtual machines. On the other hand, only Windows Vista Business and Ultimate will be eligible to serve as guest operating systems in a virtual machine:

 

You cannot install Windows Vista Home Basic or Home Premium in a virtual machine, at least from a legal standpoint. (There is nothing technical preventing you from doing so, of course.) And on a related note, each retail copy of Vista you purchase is only licensable for one install. If you install a copy of Windows Vista in a virtual machine and then activate it, you cannot install the same copy of Vista on a physical machine and reactivate it (unless you take advantage of the transfer rights mentioned above, of course). One license equals one installation.

 

The more things change, the more things stay the same. One thing to take from all of this is that for better or worse, Microsoft's licensing scheme with Vista is more or less similar to Windows XP."

 

***Source***

[Praz]

The same as Xp or different there's only one thing we all know for sure. Until it's released this is like every other unreleased product. Rumors and speculation. For better or worse time will tell.

[TheFlowerKing]

^^ Haha, yeah, it's just another Conroe/K8L..

[Praz]

yup. That kinda puts it in perspective.

[ReelFiles]

Running build 5744 x86 in VMware now, install was hassle free, no aero and a system rating of 1, but it's running pretty smooth.

[jelly]

This was just posted today on Paul Thurrott's SuperSite, and the review was done by Koroush Ghazi at TweakGuides.com. It light to the Licensing. http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvi...nsing_reply.asp

[soundx98]

Thanks jelly, I can only hope Microsoft takes note of his excellent article as well.

[jelly]

There is no point to buy retail if you can not move it to you new pc! That is the only reason why I pay $100 more for it! I guess I will have to buy OEM now! :mad: