Why does everyone recommend the Vista retail version?

Because OEM is meant for 1 machine only. Retail can be moved to a new machine if you upgrade.
 
InnocentNoobie said:
I just picked up this at Microcenter for $79: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16832116483

But why does everyone recommend this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Am I OK with the OS I picked up for my build?
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The one you linked to is Home Basic. It lacks some features. For $10 more, I would have gotten Home Premium.

Here are the versions http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx
 
OEM is meant to be installed on one machine, but MS does allow transfer in special circumstances (read: loophole). The biggest set back for OEM versions is that system builder is responsible for support. This really isn't a problem if you're capable of using a search engine though.

Another drawback for OEM licenses is that you are not allowed to use an alternate media version (i.e. 32bit or 64bit) if it was supplied in the packaging. That means if you bought 32-bit, you not supposed to just download or borrow the 64-bit media to install Vista.


By the way, neither of the links you provided are for retail versions.
 
..errmmm...

Neither of those linked ptroducts is 'Retail Vista'. You've purchased OEM Vista Home Basic, and the other product you linked is OEM Vista Home Premium.


There's a lot of stuff in Home Premium which isn't in Home Basic. Home Basic is mainly aimed at underpowered 'Nanna' computers which only really get used for checking email, browsing the web, and burning copies of CDs which the aged pension doesn't stretch to buying!
 
I just checked and I have home premium--But the packaging looks like the home basic packaging on newegg :shrug:
 
Okay then.

Did you get 64-bit Vista Home Premium OEM or 32-bit Vista Home Premium OEM? You're not allowed to change from one to the other with OEM, because you're not allowed to have the other.

Is there a chance you'll want to upgrade your motherboard or even upgrade your whole system, and will want to continue using your Vista on it? You're not allowed to do that either, with OEM.

Is there a chance you'll want to sell it later on? If you've opened and used it, you're not allowed to do that either, if you have OEM.



Those are the kinda reasons some people will have suggested retail rather than OEM.
 
....the thing about OEM is that it is roughly 1/2 the price, so for the same money, you can buy two copies. For most people, by the time you are on your third PC, you will probably be buying Windows 7 anyways.

I say, go for OEM....unless you get two free copies of Vista Ultimate 64 Retail straight from the horses mouth in Redmond... :D
 
Met-AL said:
I say, go for OEM....unless you get two free copies of Vista Ultimate 64 Retail straight from the horses mouth in Redmond... :D
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..or unless you live in Australia, or some other country where the legalities leave you able to legitimately go purchase Retail Vista Home Premium Academic Upgrade over the counter, no questions asked for the same price as OEM Home Premium. It's a dual-install if you wanna clean install, but that's only about an extra two minutes of user interaction and apart from that you get all the benefits of the retail license!

Sucks to be American! I got two licenses for the one license cost too, and they're both retail! :D
 
Catweazle said:
..
Sucks to be American! I got two licenses for the one license cost too, and they're both retail! :D
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You had to pay for yours? Bummer man, I got my two licensed copies of Ultimate Retail for $0. :D
 
heh heh...

Those are my 'household' licenses. For work related stuff I've generally been able to simply give them a bell and say "I want!" I don't abuse it though.
 
damnit, you got me.

Heck at work, I am still using a 3yr old version of Streets and Trips. :(
 
Met-AL said:
....the thing about OEM is that it is roughly 1/2 the price, so for the same money, you can buy two copies. For most people, by the time you are on your third PC, you will probably be buying Windows 7 anyways.
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Yes; in fact, in the UK when I bought my copy of Vista, the OEM version was 1/3 of the price of retail. Unless you're going to change your motherboard frequently (and it's not something I personally do more often than once every 3 years, maybe) then OEM is as good or better value.
 
In Sweden, Vista Ultimate Retail currently costs $375. It launched at over $620 here which was absolutely ridiculous. You could easily build a decent system for that kind of money even with the slightly higher prices for computer hardware that we pay here. Home Premium was probably well over $300 at launch, and about $260 today if you look around.

If it turns out there's rampart piracy of Vista in the Nordic countries, Microsoft only has itself to blame. I bought my copy from the US and paid less for a retail version of Home Premium, including international shipping, than I would have paid for an OEM version here. It took a while to find an etailer willing to ship overseas (some even said it was against policy), but it wasn't that hard.
 
I dunno, I opted for the OEM version of Home Premium myself. Like someone said above, being that it's roughly half the price of the retail version if I ever had a need to load it onto another computer I could just buy another one and call it a day. But since the rig it's on is a brand new build, i'm thinking I'll have Windows 7 before I'll ever need another version of Vista.
 
JimmiG said:
In Sweden, Vista Ultimate Retail currently costs $375. It launched at over $620 here which was absolutely ridiculous. You could easily build a decent system for that kind of money even with the slightly higher prices for computer hardware that we pay here. Home Premium was probably well over $300 at launch, and about $260 today if you look around.

If it turns out there's rampart piracy of Vista in the Nordic countries, Microsoft only has itself to blame. I bought my copy from the US and paid less for a retail version of Home Premium, including international shipping, than I would have paid for an OEM version here. It took a while to find an etailer willing to ship overseas (some even said it was against policy), but it wasn't that hard.
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Please don't start justifying piracy with high prices. First of all, no one really needs Vista Ultimate. And it's like $300 here retail also. Secondly, you Nords pirate the shit out of anything that isn't nailed down. Thirdly, you could have stuck with Windows XP that you already owned or pirated. It isn't like XP is a bad OS.
 
Well said.

Whilst I don't personally wantt to endorse comments like the "You Nords.." part of that, the general sense of it is undeniable. High purchase prices don't create piracy. Greed creates it. People's unwillingness to go without what they can't (or won't) pay for.

It's especially ridiculous when the full retail price of Vista Ultimate is included in the argument, because there are only a very small proportion of machines in actual use where Vista Ultimate is genuinely 'needed'.
 
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