Buy a new motherboard, now you have to rebuy XP

this was on digg like 2 weeks ago...

 

Shocking, absolutely shocking. Maybe things like this will give people the kick-up-the-ass they need to get Linux installed on their machine.

 

Good job MS, If this does happen Ill make sure I pirate EVERYTHING related to them anymore. Im a legit user but I wont stand for that. My guess is 99% of others wont either.

 

...so if I backup my internal HD partitions on a monthly basis (which I do), and upgrade my motherboard with my current license, I will have to rebuy?

I really don't think they are serious about this. How do they check PCs if the user has a new license? I see the whole "Windows Validation" as a failure, mostly since even pirated copies of Windows XP were checked "valid."

I have a legal copy BTW...

 

Um it's OEM

I don't see what the huge deal is besides the stupid motherboard swapping policy which only applies to OEM copies. I can't invision myself buying a MS product any time soon anyways.

I had an OEM copy of XP home but it sucked so much I "aquired" XP Pro which isn't much better but atleast I have more control over it.

 

I use a laptop most of the time, so does this mean I need to buy a new one?

 

Don't really see an issue here.

If you purchase a full, retail version of the OS you can transfer it to any computer you want.

If you purchase a discounted, OEM version of the OS it is "married" to the computer and cannot be transferred. Always been this way, but given the large number of unlicensed OEM sales MS simply defined computer as motherboard.

If you want flexibility, buy the full version. If you want to be cheap, pay less for a limited license but don't expect the same rights as someone who pays for a full license.

-hl718

 

I don't understand your question.. As far as my understanding goes it applies only if you replace your MoBo. And if you use a laptop it's doubtful that you are going to upgrade the MoBo.

 

why would i? is not like a pay for windows :")

 

In which case if you're working for a larger company, you should have a corproate liscense which isn't effected by this policy. If you're doing repairs privately and you're installing windows, you shouldn't be using the oem version. If someone asks you to do an upgrade on an oem lisenesed computer, you just have to charge them for a new copy of windows... it's not as if you are eating the liscense fee.

 

If you have the full version of any software are you able to use one liscense for both a laptop and desktop machine, as long as they are not run at the same time. I`m sure this is the case (going back to college "anti piracy" lessons here that was a while back)

I wonder how far do MS want to push the OEM agreement in the future, what if you change video cards, add memory or upgrade the cpu ? hmmmm

 

No you would need two copies of the OS. Otherwise I would be within the license agreement if I instaled it on 30 pc's and only ran them one at a time.

 

Honestly, as time passes, i'm using more Linux (ubuntu) than the shitty Windows XP.

The only reason for me to use Windows is to play games. That's right, it became a game machine.

Honestly it won't be a problem for most people. Cracked Windows XP are all over the web. I paid for it one time, and nobody is going to charge me again.

 

Really? That's cool. Is this at home or work? I always thought laptops were assembled in clean-rooms by dudes in white suits. Never seen anywhere selling laptop MoBos, but then I've never looked. So do you have some super-badass custom laptop? Sorry, but this really interests me.

 

Being a tech does not necessarily mean that you build things from scratch. Most laptops are constrained by size and shape and are thus impossible to upgrade and customize.

 

I guess I'm not seeing the real problem here.

OEM versions of software are licensed to either be installed on a machine, or shipped with OEM parts--presumably to a retailer who's going to install the parts and software into a new computer. That's why OEM software is so cheap in the first place--it's not the same as a full licensed version.

So, assuming you've purchased the proper version (and by extension, license) for what you're using your version of Windows XP for, this should neither come as any sort of surprise nor cause many problems.

 

I`m pretty sure you can share the liscense between home and work (as the link puts it),

http://www.swan.ac.uk/lis/computing/software_licensing.asp