hi i was thinking about building my own business but was going through a few checklists before i make a move, and read up about open license and volume license, which is best if im building computers and selling them on to customers, and how do i go about buying the licenses.
thanks
Niether, these are business Enterprise licences and are non transferrable
What you will need is OEM licences, which are available at many online sources
The OEM licence should be cheaper that the retail but they do have limitations
They are not transferable to another system once installed and the equipment supplier (you), is responsible for system support, to the end user, not Microsoft.
You cannot use select or volume licenses on systems you plan to sell to another party. These are intended for the desktops within your organization that you are going to use to do business.
You need to look into OEM licensing.
Edit: Seems Barman and I might have been typing at about the same time. :)
thanks barman, so for each unit i have to buy a oem version of windows, i cant buy loads of keys to activate them with, or use the one oem disc to install to many
thanks both for your help, didnt want to go down the wrong route, and end up paying more then i should or breaking the law.
Bulk licensing for OEM versions is of course possible, and even includes the possibility of automatic authorisation - this is after all what the likes of Dell, HP, Etc. do.
However, unless you are intending to supply volumes in thousands of units a year it is unlikely that this option would be available to you. It is though possible to purchase volumes of OEM disks from Microsoft. Checkout your local Microsoft sales team for volumes and prices
One other thing, depending on your intended client base you may want to offer retail licences (boxed with disks), on those systems that are intended for enthusiast users, as the OEM restrictions would not be attractive to users who tend to upgrade often
The thing with OEM's...is that when you buy thousands and thousands of them like Dell, HP, IBM...i'm sure you get very reduced pricing. However, as an independent shop...buying 10's or 100's...of copies...I'm not sure you are going to really get a discounted rate. The benefit to your business is quality, local service...which is usually unmatched by Dell, IBM or HP.
There are e.g. OEM 3-packs that are a bit cheaper than the sum of the three. Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 3-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems
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