Cheapest Way To Get Vista (Legally)

silenteye

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
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What is the cheapest way to get Vista??
I really want as I'm gettin my G80 tomorrow, but I'm just wondering what is the cheapest way.
I know OEM versions are a bit cheaper but thats all I can find.

anyone know?

p.s. LEGALLY OF COURSE
 
college ones can be dirt cheap if you find a place that is selling them
 
At a university, you can get Vista Premium Upgrade for about $79. The ones in my area have them. Also, you can get Office 2007 Standard for $139, thats alot off compared to the $399 retail price.

got to show your student ID, or have a student buy it for you.
 
I don't know where you live, but... if you happen to live in an area that has a Fry's Electronics store locally, you can buy the full OEM software there. As far as I know, they're the only retailer (B&M stores) that are selling actual full OEM copies, but if anyone else knows of other retailers doing similar things I'm sure they'll make mention of it. That's a fairly nice discount off the Retail releases, but nowhere near the pricing you can get from the educational discounts already spoken of.
 
MSDNAA is not a 'legal' way to obtain and keep Vista. It's a volume licensing scheme aimed at providing copies to students whilst they are studying. The license does not continue once you've completed studies.

Academic Upgrade retail packages are the cheapest alternative for non-commercial private use. They are a permanent license. They aren't available for all versions or locations, though.

OEM is the cheapest legitimate method for commercial use.

Volume licensing schemes are the cheapest legitimate method for corporate (multi-PC) use.
 
And technically, MSDN editions aren't for personal or home use either, go figure.

Oh if only people would read the EULAs and abide by 'em... :p

ps
And yes I meant MSDN, not MSDNAA, two different things, but you knew that. Right?
 
if you happen to live in an area that has a Fry's Electronics store locally, you can buy the full OEM software there. As far as I know, they're the only retailer (B&M stores) that are selling actual full OEM copies, but if anyone else knows of other retailers doing similar things I'm sure they'll make mention of it.

Microcenter has full OEM versions available.. I got Home Premium for $129...
 
MicroCenter is a Canuckian retailer, ain't it? Wish we had some of those down here in the US, I hear good things about them all the time in the Hot Deals section, sometimes even better than the Fry's I have here in Vegas. :D
 
What will happen with the MSDNAA supplied key when you have finished studying? I am asking because I have one. I know legally it would be wrong to use it once you have finished studying but would there be anyway for MS to block or detect the use of the key once you have finished studying?
 
I know legally it would be wrong to use it once you have finished studying but would there be anyway for MS to block or detect the use of the key once you have finished studying?

Regardless of rather Microsoft can detect the illegal use of their products or not, the fact is it is illegal, and that should be enough of an answer.

It's a bad idea to discuss illegal use of software around here.. and a good way to have a thread locked...
 
What will happen with the MSDNAA supplied key when you have finished studying? I am asking because I have one. I know legally it would be wrong to use it once you have finished studying but would there be anyway for MS to block or detect the use of the key once you have finished studying?

The concern you should be having is "What is going to happen if your PC goes belly-up after you've finished studying?" You'd be continually worrying about the potential to get it reactivated in the event you need to do that via telephone. Even volume licensing schemes now have activation in them. Buggered if I'd want to be ringing the activation call centre and trying to activate a key for which the license had expired ages ago!
 
Well I'll be damned... actually, I am, but that's another story. :)

Wonder why they're not in Vegas, that would kick ass and provide some competition for Fry's too. Interesting... and I have a PC junkie friend in Denver too. Might be able to use him for long distance deals now, thanks for the info.

I have a lot of Canadian friends on EFnet and they talk about that place and FutureShop a lot, guess that's where I got it mixed up.
 
What will happen with the MSDNAA supplied key when you have finished studying? I am asking because I have one. I know legally it would be wrong to use it once you have finished studying but would there be anyway for MS to block or detect the use of the key once you have finished studying?
Unless you're using Enterprise, there should be no way for MS to tell. And even if you did have Enterprise, management like that would require them to associate every key they gave out with a student, and with that student's academic status. Not likely, but possible.

But, I can't stress this enough, don't use the software after the license no longer applies!
 
They are in the US. There's one in Northern Virginia.

MicroCenter is a Canuckian retailer, ain't it? Wish we had some of those down here in the US, I hear good things about them all the time in the Hot Deals section, sometimes even better than the Fry's I have here in Vegas. :D
 
Can someone show me the relevent section in the EULA (or whatever) which makes my MSDNA copy of Vista invalid once I have graduated? I ask because I am curious and did not know this, not because I don't believe it.
 
Whether or not that applies depends upon the local agreement at the place of distribution. If you obtained such a copy from a university, for example, you need to check what conditions were imposed there as part of the transaction. They are binding.
 
It sounds like I can continue using it after graduation according to this,
When you are no longer a registered student in a department that is a member of the MSDN Academic Alliance, you may no longer receive updates for your personal use computer. However, you may continue to use previously installed software on your computer, provided you continue to follow program guidelines.

On another note, this clause is somewhat disturbing to me,
You may not use the Program software for any for-profit software development.
 
academic software discounts are just one reason that I, at 35 years of age, am still in college :)

another reason is, to paraphrase Wooderson: "That's what I love about these COLLEGE girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. "
The other reason is because I have an unending desire to learn stuff
 
MicroCenter is a Canuckian retailer, ain't it? Wish we had some of those down here in the US, I hear good things about them all the time in the Hot Deals section, sometimes even better than the Fry's I have here in Vegas. :D

Microcenter originated right here in Columbus, Ohio (more accurately, the suburb of Upper Arlington). Original store was in a mall on Lane Avenue about a mile from The Ohio State University campus. The main store moved years ago a few miles north, still in Columbus.
 
Microcenter originated right here in Columbus, Ohio (more accurately, the suburb of Upper Arlington). Original store was in a mall on Lane Avenue about a mile from The Ohio State University campus. The main store moved years ago a few miles north, still in Columbus.

I use to go the store on Bethel Rd all the time before I moved the VA in 98.
I got my first Voodoo1 there; that is what I loved about MC, it is one of the few large retail stores that carries good hardware.
 
I use to go the store on Bethel Rd all the time before I moved the VA in 98.
I got my first Voodoo1 there; that is what I loved about MC, it is one of the few large retail stores that carries good hardware.

Same exact thing I and many others say about Fry's. It's freakin' geek nirvana everytime I visit, and geek hell everytime I leave without all the stuff I want. :p

</off_topic>
 
Cheapest I've found so far is here for $69.85 and free shipping. You have to have the proper college ID to qualify for the purchase. It has "Academic Version" stamped all over it, but the disk is exactly the same as the other Vista Premium Upgrades :cool:
 
academic software discounts are just one reason that I, at 35 years of age, am still in college :)

another reason is, to paraphrase Wooderson: "That's what I love about these COLLEGE girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. "
The other reason is because I have an unending desire to learn stuff

dazed01.jpg

Always a good reason to stay in school!!
 
I was able to get my copy of Vista Business through my school (MSDNAA) for free. :D
 
I was able to get my copy of Vista Business through my school (MSDNAA) for free. :D
Yeah, GO ON, rub it in:D :D My "FREE" upgrade is gonna be a free full version. After all the BS that Moduslionk website put me thru, I feel I earned it. :D ;)
 
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