Re: Muddy Waters

The most concise description that I know of regarding the differences between Retail and OEM licenses is at this link:

http://www.viosoftware.com/packaging.html

Full Retail Versions are also known as 'FPP', meaning Full-Packaged Product or Full Purchase Price. They're sold in a cardboard box that contains a folder with the CD, key, and documentation inside.

OEM versions are sold in combination with a new PC or piece of hardware and are packaged in a paper sleeve on a piece of shrink-wrapped cardboard.

There's a good Q&A about the OEM EULA here:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/XP/A_3721-Can-I-transfer-my-OEM-version-of-Windows-to-another-PC.html

Quote:
>> Losing the motherboard would include the loss of the XP OEM
>> license that's tied to it; a double whammy.

I've never heard of the XP license being void just because the hardware was replaced. Frankly, I wouldn't worry. :-)

The license is valid as long as the program is run on one machine only. It doesn't matter if it's run on another machine, as long as it can only be run on one machine at a time. That's the way the EUA works. It did change with Windows Vista and beyond, but that's not what you're dealing with here. :-)

- Tricob.