[LINK] Vista: Why you shouldn't upgrade yet

[Kim Holburn]

On 2007/Feb/16, at 2:01 PM, grove at zeta.org.au wrote:

> On Fri, 16 Feb 2007, Malcolm Miles wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 7 Feb 2007 22:54:58 +1100 (EST), you wrote:
>>
>>>> Why pay retail? If you need 5 or more licenses then you should
>>>> definitely be looking at Microsoft volume licensing.
>>>
>>> And then get slugged by BSAA stormtroopers 2 years later when you
>>> simply forget to pay your Microsoft Tax the next time you pass on
>>> that laptop to the "new guy".... :)
>>
>> Why would you have to pay again when you pass on your laptop to the
>> "new guy"?
>
> Joe new guy gets a laptop that used to be a worktool for someone else.
> He unwittingly grabs a copy of Windows that happens to be lying  
> around and installs it and Office on it as part of cleaning up
> an old machine.   The copy he used to install
> is actually in use by someone else on another laptop.
>
> Is he not in breach of the EULA?

It depends.  To understand it you really need a Microsoft licensing  
expert (which I am not) but I think it goes like this:  If it's a  
normal consumer copy then maybe.  If the copy has already been used  
on a machine which was bought without windows (not necessarily an  
easy thing) or to upgrade a bought one then yes technically but it  
also depends on the total number of copies you have and the number of  
installs.  There's all sorts of complicated rules but it comes down  
to having receipts for installed machines.  Also consumer copies make  
you get a key from M$ and if you install Windows Genuine Advantage,  
WGA might tell you you're OK and it might not, who knows.  If it's an  
OEM copy then it probably isn't an issue since you already bought  
both and it won't work if it's the wrong kind of system.  If it's a  
work copy and your work has an enterprise license of some kind then  
you're probably not in breach and you don't have to get a key.  Also  
it's not always terribly easy to just install windows on laptops.   
You often spend a lot of time messing around with drivers and power  
management software.  Windows mostly comes preinstalled and often is  
much simpler to leave it like that.  Linux can be easier on occasions.


--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3342707610
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Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961