I'd like to know what the difference is between Windows 7 Home Premium OEM and just plain old Windows 7 Home Premium. I want to know because there is such a huge price difference..Also, why is Windows 7 Home Premium Family Package cheaper than FULL Windows 7 Home Premium? What does FULL mean? Does that mean if I buy Windows 7 Home Premium that doesn't say FULL I will be missing out on stuff?
OEM is for those that sell computers with the OS already installed
It is original equipment manufacturer
Many who built their own computer would use the cheaper OEM, but Microsoft has tried to stop that practice.
From a practical stanpoint, it can be used only on one machine
If not OEM the OS can be used on one machine at a time
Okay, so I'm using a Macbook Pro and I want to use Windows with bootcamp..Can I use OEM? Or do I have to buy the regular Windows 7?
You are using for your own use. This is not the intent of OEM, per the Terms of Service (TOS) you do not qualify for OEM.
Another difference between OEM and Retail is that with OEM, the support provider is whomever you purchased your computer from and if you built it yourself, well ... you'd be your own support. In the case of Retail, you get support from Microsoft, though I don't really think that's worth much as their support leaves a lot to be desired. Assuming you have some type of Windows license around, you could purchase an upgrade copy of Windows 7.
To answer another one of your questions, the retail copies come in two varieties, upgrade and full. The full copy can be installed on any computer, provided it can run Windows 7. The upgrade version is meant for being installed on a computer that already has Vista or XP installed on it. This is meant to give customers that have recently (as is the past few years) paid for Windows a break in the cost. The only difference is, if you don't have a copy of Windows previously installed, you will run into problems activating a clean install with an upgrade disc. There are ways around those difficulties, but unless you already own a qualifying copy of Windows you are more or less stealing.
I am sorry to hear this. MS Tech Support during XP was so good they spent several entire overnights teaching me to clean up, web scan, clean reinstall, optimize, - a more practical education than I could get in school. I always felt that $99 retail copy of XP was worth far more than money.
Perhaps if people who have dealt with MS Tech Support recently could explain their experience in more depth then the MS reps who monitor these forums can help improve it.
You might want to read this:
Is it OK to use OEM Windows on your own PC? Don't ask Microsoft | ZDNet
(Apparently, someone who buys a "system builder" OEM copy of Win7 and installs it on his own PC is violating the license agreement. However, there's no enforcement of that, as far as I know.)
Aside from license agrrements, an OEM license is supposed to be forever tied to the PC it was initially installed on. (For "PC" read "motherboard".) However, I have heard of people persuading Microsoft to provide an activation code for a repaired PC, where the repair was a total replacement of the hardware with different components. I've never done that.
The "family pack" was a Win7 Home Premium upgrade. The license that came with it could be used to legally activate as many as 3 PCs.
A copy with a full license can be installed on a PC with no OS. It's the most flexible and convenient version. Upgrades are intended to be installed on a PC that has a qualifying OS in place (XP or Vista). However, there are work-arounds for that:
Doing a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
I recommend following the license agreement, of course.
I upgraded my motherboard, video card, and processor with a copy of OEM Premium and, after calling Microsoft and telling them my motherboard died, they gave me a new code to use and all was fine. OEM is way cheaper.
If I remember correctly, OEM issue is more of 'proof' of license, more so for companies per say as a company is more likely to be prosecuted for License violations than going after most single users.
While technically, a single user or home user should be using the Retail version, the simple fact is, OEM intention was just to 'live and die' with the machine it is put on. The only real benefit of Retail version is that it is just a license that you can put on any machine, but intended only for 1 machine at a time.
So when the machine with the OEM license dies, that license should, ideally, no longer be valid because it was with that machine. You legally cannot 'transfer' that license over to another machine (IE: If I had a Win 7 OEM license on one machine, that machine dies and I scrap it, I can't install Win 7 on another machine, like a Vista or older XP machine that can handle Win 7 and say I can because I had a license).
Again, that is targeted more towards companies, where they buy several machines of a stock build, probably with XP or Vista, get one machine with Windows 7 and then start imaging it onto one of their stock build machines just cause someone trashed the one Windows Machine. It is also to encourage businesses to purchase the Software Assurance Volume Licensing and maintain the software assurance costs to do mass imaging/building for corporate side, not pretend to shuffle around a license.
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