Buy legal Win 7 64 bit

JIMJFOX said:

Now it seems the best solution is to buy a clean new non-OEM version. Opinions? Advice where to buy?

Non-OEM is between difficult and impossible to find now. Has been that way for quite a while--a year or more?

You might get very lucky and find someone who still has old stock or you could thrown yourself on the mercy of Ebay or other shaky sources.

What's wrong with OEM in your case? Win 7 Home Premium can be had for $80 frequently. I saw that price in the last few days. Also saw Professional for $120. All through standard sources---Newegg, Tiger Direct, Amazon, etc.

Thank you for very prompt reply!

My Mac is 4 years old and I read that OEM is locked to ONE machine. So when it needs replacement the Win7 cannot be transferred?

JIMJFOX said:

Thank you for very prompt reply!

My Mac is 4 years old and I read that OEM is locked to ONE machine. So when it needs replacement the Win7 cannot be transferred?

OEM is at least theoretically locked to the motherboard.

But there are continual reports that Microsoft is somewhat lenient on that issue, particularly if you happen to talk to the right person on the phone at Microsoft when you try to activate Windows after replacing your motherboard---particularly if you've replaced the failed motherboard with an identical or near-identical motherboard.

Anecdotally, they may be even more lenient now that everyone knows that "retail" versions are so hard to find.

If you have 7, 8, or 8.1 installed, you'll be able to upgrade to 10 "free" when it is released later this year, but it's not yet clear exactly how that will work or what restrictions will apply. It's likely to be fed to you through Windows Update, rather than via a disc or downloadable ISO that you could actually burn to a disc.