windows 7 retail or oem windows 7?

[soulfood]

hi what's he difference between windows 7 home premium retail or the OEM home premium version? thanks

 

[UsernameIssues]

Cost

How exactly does Windows 7 Retail vs OEM - Microsoft Community

...and then there is OEM vendor vs. OEM system builder...

 

[Brink]

Hello soulfood,

OEM can only be activated on the exact same computer that it was first activated on since they are permanently tied to the motherboard.

Retail can be activated on any computer as long as it's removed from any other computer first.

Otherwise, they are basically the same. OEM is cheaper for the trade off of not being able to install it on any other computer. A preinstalled OEM from a computer manufacturer (ex: HP, Dell, etc...) will often have custom branding for their logo though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Richman1]

Hard to tell what angle your coming at and what specific questions your asking but,
The short Answer:
1. Like Brink said, Licensing
2. Support

Usually you will not have to worry about OEM unless you buy a manufactured pc from a retail store unless you are thinking of purchasing an OEM copy from Newegg or some outlet that WILL sell you a copy that was originally intended to be marketed and sold to small backyard/garage system builders system since installs from large OEM's are typically done with OPK or WAIK. THIS only means that you have NO OEM to call for support as in a retail purchased systems the OEM is obligated to provide support and NOT MS. So, if you purchase an OEM disk from some retail online or brick and mortar outlet, YOU will be supporting your own install. Of course last I checked MS only provided support for something like 90 days or maybe its been reduced to 30 now.

See here Microsoft OEM Partner Center