whomung

The cost of an OEM version of XP, to manufacturer is identical.... burn a CD... How much does it cost?..... What would be nice is to purchase a machine with a full version of XP and a seperate disk of the specific OEM's drivers....

That would be simple, easy to do, essentially cost no more, be actually considerate to the customer, and..... cut down on Bills revenue stream.... and he's a selfish butthead.... so it'll never happen

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whomung

Drakoz

When I said cost, I meant the portion of the cost that the consumer pays to buy Windows XP pre-installed on their brand spanking new PC. Microsoft sells the license keys (the license sticker) to the OEMs at a discount compared to buying full "off the shelf" copies and the OEM installs from the same CD over and over. This is with the idea that the software will be tied to a specific piece of hardware, and that hardware has a limited life, therefore, you pay less for that version than you would pay for an off the shelf copy which can be transferred from machine to machine over the years.

Of course, Microsoft's costs in making Windows XP isn't in manufacturing. It's development and marketing. If you had bought Windows XP when it first came out, that same copy would have been useful and been upgraded by Microsoft for, what, 4-5 years now, for free (SP1, SP2, all the other updates and extras). Not a bad deal, but only if you bought the off the shelf copy, or you are using the same OEM version (same hardware) since the beginning.

whomung

I'm clever enough to get the business model.... I just don't like it...

it's like, I buy a garden hose for my front yard, but if I want to use it in the backyard, too.... I can't.... the manufacturer has gone to additional effort "to make it stooopid" so that I need to buy another one.

I've had several OEM machines I bought full retail XP Pro licenses for, just because I didn't want to deal with "OEM... "restore, recover, reformat..... your entire drive"

so I paid twice... and more than once.... because the model is "pass the pain onto the customer"

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whomung

Foxes

I used to like Microsoft but this crossed the line. especially since they downloaded thier WGA spyware without my permission as a windows security need..

I no londer do windows updates and notified them if I have any repercussions I will sue them.

There is no mechanism for someone with a legitmate machine like my laptop.

Totally ridiculous.

They need to start this with the next generation of Windows not with people that did not save coa, or label copy of windows. I have five dell pcs..and one hp.
Vendors dont even supply the disks.

This was the straw that broke the camels back.

I used to have several new boxes of 2000 that they used to give away at their roll-outs.

Wish I still had them got lots of printer -all-in ones that don't work with xp. I like the older printers. Make great paperweights.

shiarua

You can get around it. Technically because you replace the motherboard it is a "new computer". But I do believe that the EULA for Windows states that the software can only be used on one PC at a time. Well you are still using one computer, so how would this be breaking the EULA?

whomung

It's just more corporate CYA.

Like the part that says.... "we can sell you a load of crap that completely fries your machine and causes you to lose all your Data, along with time and money lost from being unable to conduct business, and hardware and software replacement costs.....

All we are responsible for is giving you back your $20... you read the EULA

BUT FIRST.... you have to ship your computer to us --at your cost, AT LEAST THREE TIMES... to let our support team practice fixing things..... we have to have at least ONE FULL YEAR of time to make things right before we give you your $20 back... and if we fail THEN you get your $20.... no interest on the principle, of course

have a nice life.... sorry about your computer, your data, the reality that you were suddenly crippled in making a living bcause of choosing our crap; and the thousands of dollars you spent recovering from buying our piece of shit....

but you read the EULA......

Greed Sucks, Corporate Greed sucks PROFESSIONALLY!!!! It's more than what they do, it's who they are....

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whomung

Foxes

I do believe Microsoft considers it a new pc if you replace the mother board. many other new software also do not work if you change the pc configuration.



Bottom line, I no longer do windows updates on my one pc and rolled back my laptop before the update. I do not trust Microsoft because they say they were downloading critical updates but inreality they were infecting my pc with spyware. Nothing else to that update but loading WGA spyware that is hard as heck to remove.

hard to remove...Uh just like the cinnabar perfume oil I just spilled on my silk shirt...hey maybe they will think it is tie died?

Anyway the WGA message pops up and up everytime you turn on the machine. Annoying and not exactly endearing me to Microsoft.