Windows 10 volume licensing questions
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I think this was/is a thing(hw for oem license) because retail box copy of Windows was a higher price than oem, and the difference was enough to do things like this. At least that is why we did this when i worked in pc repair/retail more than a decade ago. People didnt want to pay for a retail copy when the oem copy was exacty the same to them, but cost more.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Dashrender said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Himura1 said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Himura1 said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
If I don't have a legit qualifying OS for a few systems, lets say 10, what would be the way to go? Buy 10 Retail license first and then 1 upgrade VL license?
That's one option. Assuming your one VL is so that you can image instead of doing manual individual installs, yes. However MOST people would go with OEM here. The chances that you'd want higher cost retail and want to move them around is low. Possible, but low.
The most typical approach here is all OEM. Generally if you are using Windows you want it to be the only OS you ever use on that hardware.
Is it okay to install an OEM license to a PC that's running a illegal OS? I thought OEM is for resale only.
OEM licenses are only approved if you are refurbishing the system for resale. They are not intended for end users to purchase. That's the official MS rule.
Interesting, I've never heard it worded like that. By this definition, it would be improper at best, illegal at worst when vendors sell HDs along side an OEM license to "qualify" for the OEM license.
Vendors sell hard drives with OEM licenses?
Yes, of course, this is a very normal thing.
I'd like to know what kind of customer buys individual hard drives and gets an OEM license.
Really? This seems like a really weird question.
Home users of course.
I built all my computers until the mid 2000's. I never bought a brand name PC until my first laptop.
This meant I needed a Windows license - and as mentioned OEM was the cheapest. -
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said
Seriously, this is just "how it is" in the US.
Yes, I'm sorry the clueless brit who lives over 4000 miles from the US, does not know why people buy random bits of junk with a boxed product which you can buy....from just about anyone in Europe without needing pointless hardware.
Because laws. If you didn't act incredulous for something so normal and obviously logical given the contract requirements, we'd not act so surprised that you don't believe it.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said
Seriously, this is just "how it is" in the US.
Yes, I'm sorry the clueless brit who lives over 4000 miles from the US, does not know why people buy random bits of junk with a boxed product which you can buy....from just about anyone in Europe without needing pointless hardware.
That's just it - Boxed product for Windows is a full license and doesn't require any hardware purchase. But OEM licenses (normally like 50% or less the cost of boxed product) had the stipulation from MS that it came with hardware.
Perhaps you couldn't buy OEM in Europe ? -
@Dashrender said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Dashrender said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Himura1 said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Himura1 said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
If I don't have a legit qualifying OS for a few systems, lets say 10, what would be the way to go? Buy 10 Retail license first and then 1 upgrade VL license?
That's one option. Assuming your one VL is so that you can image instead of doing manual individual installs, yes. However MOST people would go with OEM here. The chances that you'd want higher cost retail and want to move them around is low. Possible, but low.
The most typical approach here is all OEM. Generally if you are using Windows you want it to be the only OS you ever use on that hardware.
Is it okay to install an OEM license to a PC that's running a illegal OS? I thought OEM is for resale only.
OEM licenses are only approved if you are refurbishing the system for resale. They are not intended for end users to purchase. That's the official MS rule.
Interesting, I've never heard it worded like that. By this definition, it would be improper at best, illegal at worst when vendors sell HDs along side an OEM license to "qualify" for the OEM license.
Vendors sell hard drives with OEM licenses?
Yes, of course, this is a very normal thing.
I'd like to know what kind of customer buys individual hard drives and gets an OEM license.
Really? This seems like a really weird question.
Home users of course.
I built all my computers until the mid 2000's. I never bought a brand name PC until my first laptop.
This meant I needed a Windows license - and as mentioned OEM was the cheapest.And since there was no means of acquiring it without hardware, SOMETHING you bought had to be the hardware with the OEM license. So the hard drive was a common choice, especially since you can't install the OS on something if there is no hard drive.
What's shocking is that this seems weird. How else is it expected to work when stores can't sell the product without hardware in the same order.
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@momurda said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
I think this was/is a thing(hw for oem license) because retail box copy of Windows was a higher price than oem, and the difference was enough to do things like this. At least that is why we did this when i worked in pc repair/retail more than a decade ago. People didnt want to pay for a retail copy when the oem copy was exacty the same to them, but cost more.
Actually there was a difference. OEM software actually required the seller of the OEM to provide x number of support calls about the OS. Full Box products included like 1-3 support calls to MS for support on Windows.
Not that anyone calls MS about supporting Windows Desktop version. -
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
What's shocking is that this seems weird. How else is it expected to work when stores can't sell the product without hardware in the same order.
This makes me wonder if OEM outside of major vendors just wasn't a thing in Europe, or perhaps outside the US at all?
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@Dashrender said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said
Seriously, this is just "how it is" in the US.
Yes, I'm sorry the clueless brit who lives over 4000 miles from the US, does not know why people buy random bits of junk with a boxed product which you can buy....from just about anyone in Europe without needing pointless hardware.
That's just it - Boxed product for Windows is a full license and doesn't require any hardware purchase. But OEM licenses (normally like 50% or less the cost of boxed product) had the stipulation from MS that it came with hardware.
Perhaps you couldn't buy OEM in Europe ?They likely have some bundling protection law that makes that contract requirement not exist. So they get used to ignoring the licensing requirements that MS puts on stuff because their government strips it off. So they forget that our distributors are bound by those contracts here.
But this is so commonly known, I'm shocked that in the UK they don't know that we've always had to do that.
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We buy OEM licenses all the time here...being made to buy a random ram stick or a hard drive to get OEM is bizarre.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
We buy OEM licenses all the time here...being made to buy a random ram stick or a hard drive to get OEM is bizarre.
That's the hardware that the license is bound to. Since OEM is always bound to some piece of hardware.
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@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
We buy OEM licenses all the time here...being made to buy a random ram stick or a hard drive to get OEM is bizarre.
That's the hardware that the license is bound to. Since OEM is always bound to some piece of hardware.
Nope.
OEM is not bound to any hardware until it is used. Then it is bound to the hardware which 9/10 is the motherboard, not the hard drive or ram sticks.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@scottalanmiller said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
We buy OEM licenses all the time here...being made to buy a random ram stick or a hard drive to get OEM is bizarre.
That's the hardware that the license is bound to. Since OEM is always bound to some piece of hardware.
Nope.
OEM is not bound to any hardware until it is used. Then it is bound to the hardware which 9/10 is the motherboard, not the hard drive or ram sticks.
At least in the US - it couldn't be sold to an end user/end using company unless it was being sold with hardware. that's what makes it OEM. If an end user/company needed a license not tied to hardware, they "had to buy Boxed Product."
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Right....so where do the system builders buy it from?
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There is little law involved here. MS said it was the rule. They may have had signed contracts with large distributors that had the stipulation and that would have had some civil court clout as far as penalties for breaking contract etc. But once it was in the hands of smaller distributors/shops there would have been little reason to adhere to this other than Microsoft's reputation as a bully.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
Right....so where do the system builders buy it from?
They aren't the end users - they are the VARs or resellers. Resellers can buy it with no restrictions. But we're talking about - at least I've been working under the assumption that we were talking about buying for personal/company use, via the OP's request to get licenses for their own use.
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@NDC said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
There is little law involved here. MS said it was the rule. They may have had signed contracts with large distributors that had the stipulation and that would have had some civil court clout as far as penalties for breaking contract etc. But once it was in the hands of smaller distributors/shops there would have been little reason to adhere to this other than Microsoft's reputation as a bully.
Absolutely - but why would the small shop turn away the sale of even a $5 mouse (that they paid $1 for). At least they got something extra out of you.
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No, I'm talking about the insanity that buying OEMs with HDDs or Ram sticks makes it legal when...it so does not.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
Right....so where do the system builders buy it from?
They aren't the end users. This really isn't complicated, at all. MS has a super straightforward contract rule, it's enforceable. You are trying to act incredulous as if we are all crazy, but this is really simple and nothing weird at all. Europe may make this contract requirement unenforceable, but other places do not. You can't apply EU consumer protection assumptions to the rest of the world, no one else has that.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
No, I'm talking about the insanity that buying OEMs with HDDs or Ram sticks makes it legal when...it so does not.
But it does, Microsoft themselves have clearly stated that it does. It's that simple.
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@Dashrender said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
@NDC said in Windows 10 volume licensing questions:
There is little law involved here. MS said it was the rule. They may have had signed contracts with large distributors that had the stipulation and that would have had some civil court clout as far as penalties for breaking contract etc. But once it was in the hands of smaller distributors/shops there would have been little reason to adhere to this other than Microsoft's reputation as a bully.
Absolutely - but why would the small shop turn away the sale of even a $5 mouse (that they paid $1 for). At least they got something extra out of you.
Often they just throw broken stuff in there.
