Microsoft: The Windows OEM License Dies with Its Computer
Licenses for Windows come in various flavors from Retail to Volume, but perhaps the most common of all is provided by original equipment manufacturers together with operating systems preloaded on new computers.
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17.6.2008 XP OEM Licensing Extension Is Urban Myth
Contrary to all the blog buzz, Microsoft hasn't extended OEM Windows XP "downgrade" licensing by another six months.
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8.10.2008 How to Backup and Restore to Preserve OEM Offline Pre-Activation When Reinstall Windows XP
Most users of new computers with Windows XP pre-installed will notice that no activation is required after they unwrap and start up the new laptop or notebook PC, even though they need to go through the initial set up process, and a product key is found on the Certificate of Authenticity attached to the PC (COA Key). Large PC manufacturers known as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) have the ability to pre-activate Windows XP operating system installed on new PCs via SLP (System Locked Preinstallation).
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3.9.2009 How to Downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Ultimate OEM Edition and Install Windows XP Professional
A lot of users still don’t getting used to Windows Vista. A lot of reviews have been labeling Windows Vista as bloated, hard to use, tons of compatibility issues, inconvenient, not user friendly, not stable and etc.
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22.8.2008 Usage Monitor 1.9.0.0
Usage Monitor lets you set watch limits on processes to know when your process is using too much. Watch limits can be placed on Memory Usage, GDI Objects, and USER Objects.
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23.2.2009 Usage of second-hand computer
Minimem - Optimizing Windows Memory Usage
Running too many applications can cause computer performance to slow down or even crashed.
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24.8.2009 Mozilla's browsers global usage share is still growing
The number one provider of real-time web analytics, today reported that Mozilla's browsers have a total global usage share of 11,51 percent. The total usage share of Mozilla increased 2.82 percent since April 2005. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still dominates the global browser market with a global usage share of 85,45 percent which is 1.18 percent less as at the end of April.
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Microsoft IE Usage Slips Since January; Firefox Gains
Usage of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser worldwide has slipped since January, while Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox gained by a nearly equal amount, a Web analytics firm said Friday.
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13.5.2006 Windows 7 Drives RAM Ccapacity Explosion; Vista SP2 Usage Rising
Windows 7 will drive the average PC RAM capacity to 4GB in the next 18 months. That's the conclusion of researchers at the exo.performance.network who are monitoring the ramp-up to Windows 7's launch on October 22.
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23.9.2009 Minimem - Automatically Lower, Optimize or Reduce the Memory Usage for Any Running Program at Interval
Nowadays modern computers comes with high memory, from 1GB to 4GB and some even up to 8GB!
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6.8.2008 How to Rearm and Extend Free Usage Activation Grace Period of Windows 7 to 120 Days
Windows 7 (SeVeN) is probably going to continue the trial software trend that starts with Windows Vista’s rearm, that user can install Windows 7 without any product key for free usage of 30 days as evaluation period.
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5.11.2008 How to Rearm and Extend Office 2010 Activation Grace Period for Free 180 Days Usage
Microsoft has implemented product activation scheme named Office Protection Platformm (OPP) that similar with Windows Product Activation (WPA) and Software Protection Platform (SPP) for Windows Vista and Windows Activation Technologies (WAT) Windows 7 in Microsoft Office 2010, where all copy of Office 2010 installed has to be activated, with 30 days activation grace period.
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3.9.2009 Microsoft Didn't License GNU
Microsoft has revealed that its patent deal with Linspire doesn't cover the new version of the GNU General Public License (GPL), the company's latest effort to distance itself from the GPLv3.
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22.7.2007 New motherboard, new Microsoft Windows license?
Microsoft recently made a change to the licence agreement saying that a new motherboard is equal to a new computer, hence you need to purchase a new Windows licence.
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19.2.2006 Microsoft says: We're a hardware company, license us
NOT MANY people know this, but Microsoft is a hardware company, the firm said today, as it introduced a hardware licensing scheme.
Robbie Bach, head of the devices division at Microsoft said: "We've been a leading hardware innovator and supplier to the desktop peripherals industry for over 20 years."
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29.3.2006 The Vista license "loophole" that isn’t
Software licensing is often hard to understand. But that’s no excuse for so-called Windows experts to deliberately publish sensational stories that turn the facts upside-down.
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5.4.2008 Microsoft Responds To Vista License Concerns
Amid a rising tide of questions surrounding its end-user license for Windows Vista, Microsoft is attempting to quell concerns that a one-time-only transfer provision could put roadblocks in the way of enthusiasts who repeatedly upgrade their PCs.
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30.10.2006 Microsoft to License Office 'Look and Feel' for Free
With Office 2007 radically reorganizing the way users think and work with applications -- hopefully more for the better than for the worse.
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25.11.2006 Microsoft Is Touching Up Windows Vista's License
Microsoft announced that the Windows Vista end-user license agreement will be modified in order to include terms covering Windows Anytime Upgrade. The new Windows Vista EULA will be
made available tomorrow, and I will provide you with an update on the matter.
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18.3.2007 Windows 7 Volume License and Trial Availability
Last month we made Windows 7 available to customers with Software Assurance and to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers. Today I am happy to announce two more ways for businesses to get Windows 7 for their deployment and evaluation.
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3.9.2009 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 1
First part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
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4.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 2
Second part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
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7.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 3
Next part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - Vista Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
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Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 4
Next article about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - this is about Microsoft Product Activation (MPA).
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16.6.2007 Microsoft Releases FastCGI for IIS Under Go Live License
FastCGI will ship in the upcoming Windows Server 2008 as a built-in IIS component for the first time.
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10.10.2007 What about Windows 7 OEM pricing?
Microsoft still has yet to go public with its Windows 7 price list. But that hasn’t stopped customers and partners from publicly hoping for the best (cheaper than Vista) and fearing the worst (any kind of increase over the cost of Vista).
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16.6.2009 Turn a counterfeit copy of WindowsXP into a free Vista license!
Perhaps you have bought a license of WindowsXP Home, Pro or Media Centerd Edition 2005 from your local dealer and afterwards it turned into a counterfeit while trying to validate it through WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) program.
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29.4.2006 Microsoft Would Lose Patent Rights Under New Linux License Terms
The final draft of GPLv3 states that companies that distribute open-source software cannot at the same time pursue patent claims against users of that software.
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3.6.2007 Cost of Vista Business License Offset by Savings, Says Microsoft
For a great many large businesses, "the move to the next Windows" has been an ongoing, daily affair for at least well over a decade. And up until recently, the reasons why this migration tends to proceed so slowly have been, to Microsoft, a complete mystery.
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15.6.2007Microsoft sends harsh reality check to OEMs
Last week, Microsoft sent
certified letters to its OEM
partners regarding Vista's
anti-piracy technology -- or,
more accurately, what happens
if they dare ship a system
with a "non-genuine" copy of
Vista.
The answer:
The system is crippled for 30
days, then hosed entirely
until you pony up for a
license. This is apparently
what Microsoft means when it
http://oem.microsoft.com/downl
oads/public/US/wgavista/genuin
e.pdf>warns of a "diminished
user experience."
This would be fine if
Microsoft were a reasonably
competent organization and
Windows Genuine Advantage
worked flawlessly. True
pirates deserve to be
punished. But Microsoft isn't
and WGA doesn't “ at least,
judging by the many letters I
got from Cringesters who
bought legit OEM copies of XP
from major manufacturers, only
to have WGA label them as
pirates. ..
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04.06.2007Windows 7 OEM prices unveiled, 50% off list price
ComputerWorld is reporting that online retailer Newegg.com has unveiled Windows 7 OEM pricing. Newegg.com has priced the OEM version of Windows 7
Home Premium at $99.99 which is a price reduction of 50% down from the recommended retail price of $199.99. Other savings are available for
Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate at $134.99 and $174.99, respectively. This is a saving of approximately 50% on each version from
the list price. OEM editions are priced lower as you typically do not get retail packaging, little official support and you're not able to
transfer the operating system license from one PC to another.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
29.09.2009Microsoft block Windows 7 OEM key hack
Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage team
have responded to this week's news that a Windows 7 Ultimate
licensing hack had been identified.
After a Lenovo OEM Windows 7 image leaked and was used to extract a license key, Microsoft have worked with the manufacturer to blacklist the rogue
key and replace it - on genuine Lenovo PCs bought with the new OS - with a working version.
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31.07.2009Office Pro side by side comparison for OEM, Retail, and Volume License. Download yours today.
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19.09.2007XP OEM Licensing Extension Is Urban Myth
Contrary to all the blog buzz, Microsoft hasn't extended OEM Windows XP "downgrade" licensing by another six months. What Microsoft has done is
agree to provide OEMs with Windows XP media until June 30. Surely, somebody will accuse me of playing semantics. Not so. It's called accuracy in
reporting, and pretty much everybody has it wrong.
The blogosphere buzzed with excitement, ridicule and accusation over the weekend about
the rumored extension. Seems like anybody and everybody wagged the "We told you that Vista sucks" finger at Microsoft. I don't doubt that
several OEMs want to continue offering Windows XP after Jan. 31, but they didn't need any extension to do it.
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08.10.2008Dell to Sell Windows XP Professional with PCs Through 2009
In a letter to some of Dells customers, they said that " XP Professional is available for OEM installation on your Dell PC purchases through at
least 2009 and likely longer." The "official" OEM and retail end date from Microsoft is June 30, 2008, just a few weeks away. There has been
much talk of whether Microsoft would bow to the demand of the consumers to keep XP alive, and with this it is still hard to tell if Dell bought a
years stock of licenses ahead of time, or if this is the precursor to an announcement from Microsoft.
Dell's plan for users is to have
Windows XP Professional installed on their machines, but include the Vista install disk for when they are ready to upgrade. "With XP installed,
we will send media for both Vista and XP with each PC so that when you are ready to migrate to Vista you may at no addition upgrade cost." The
demand seems high, so let's hope others follow suit to allow companies the time and resources to fully upgrade.
Read full story.....
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10.06.2008The real lowdown on XP license deadlines
With the first end date deadline for the general availability of Windows XP just six months away, June 30, 2008, there are a number of XP licensing
questions that are still on the minds of internal licensing desk managers and enterprise IT departments.
Part of the confusion
comes from the terminology Microsoft uses to describe the end date for license availability, and part comes from the lack of a simple description of
what the terminology actually means.
Following conversations with three different Microsoft Volume Licensing Specialists, most of
InfoWorld's questions have been answered.
There are basically just three types of system licenses available...
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23.01.2008Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Windows 7 has yet to even be released officially to the general public, and already the dodgy folk on the Internet have fully cracked and activated
the Ultimate version, with help from a leaked Lenovo OEM DVD .ISO file. The news comes from website My Digital Life who state that you can already
pass Windows Genuine Advantage validation offline, OEM style. The leaked .ISO was originally posted on a Chinese forum, which was then downloaded in
order for people to get hold of the boot.wim, and in turn retrieving the OEM-SLP key, plus the OEM activation certificate. Microsoft uses the same
digitally signed OEM certificate, which has an .xrm-ms extension, as that in Windows Vista.
Read full story.....
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29.07.2009What's happening to Windows XP on June 30th?
Jared Proudfoot: I want to take another break from the discussion of the overall Support Lifecycle policies to address some common confusion that
weve been hearing regarding the support dates for Windows XP. Recently, there have been a number of posts in the blogosphere about Windows
XP and the upcoming end of Direct OEM and Retail License availability. Some people are interpreting this as the end of support for Windows
XP.
Please let me try and clear this up¦ Support for Windows XP will continue, in accordance with the Microsoft Support
Lifecycle policy. This means that the
Mainstream Support phase will end on April 14, 2009 and the
Extended Support phase will end on April 8, 2014. Thats at
least another 6 years of support remaining for Windows XP!
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26.04.2008Windows XP SP3 released to manufacturing, downloadable 4/29
In a post to Microsoft's TechNet Forum minutes ago, a Microsoft official announced that Service Pack 3 of Windows XP has released to its
manufacturing channels, in order to reach OEM and enterprise customers by late April...
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21.04.2008Downgrade Plan for Windows 7 PC's
Deja Vu here? Just like they did with Windows Vista, Microsoft will ship Windows 7 in OEM machines with a license that allows customers to easily
downgrade to either Windows Vista or its 8-year-old predecessor, Windows XP. This license applies to businesses who buy VLK licenses and
consumers who buy a desktop or laptop with Windows 7 pre-installed.
While giving downgrade plans has been common in Redmond in the past,
a downgrade from an operating system released in 2009/2010, to one released 8-9 years ago seems a bit crazy. However, given the skepticism that, even
to this day, with nearly 2 Service Packs RTM'ed, still surrounds Windows Vista, Microsoft was essentially forced into providing that downgrade path.
Windows XP will soon be near-obsolete - even according to Microsoft, who will be ending mainstream support tomorrow. The availability of
that downgrade path is unfortunate, due to the number of advancements that have inevitably occurred over the past 8 years. If Windows 7 holds up to
peoples' expectations, maybe they won't have to step into the time machine, and we can finally continue on, full speed ahead, into the future.
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13.04.2009Memory Usage of Chrome, Firefox 3.5, et al.
This experiment graphs the
memory usage of Chrome and Firefox 3.5 (along with Safari and Opera)
over a series of 150 Web page loads using an automated script. Firefox 3.5 shows the lowest memory usage in all categories, including average memory
usage, maximum memory usage, and final memory usage. Chrome uses over 1 GB of memory due to its process architecture. Safari 4 and Opera show memory
usage degradation over time, while Chrome and Firefox 3.5 are more reliable in freeing memory to the OS.
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21.06.2009Windows XP to be phased out by year's end
Computer makers have been told
they'll no longer be able to
get Windows XP OEM by the end
of this year, despite consumer
resistance to Vista and its
compatibility problems.
By early 2008,
Microsoft's contracts with
computer makers will require
companies to only sell
Vista-loaded machines. "The
OEM version of XP Professional
goes next January," said
Frank Luburic, senior ThinkPad
product manager for Lenovo.
"At that point, they'll have
no choice."
Despite Microsoft's
relentless promotion of Vista,
manufacturers are still seeing
plenty of demand from
customers for systems
preloaded with XP, especially
in the finicky SOHO market.
neowin.net -
12.04.2007Predicting Open Source Licensing
What's the most popular open source license currently in use? If you said GPL you would be right. But how did you know?
Plenty
of people assume that GPL is the most commonly used because that's what a simple search of the SourceForge.net online repository brings up.
Now, licensing detection software vendor Black Duck is jumping into the fray by providing a public resource that includes the benefit of
Black Duck' efforts detailing open source license usage.
"We have a spider group
manual and automated tools that has
resulted in the knowledge base," Douglas Levin, president and CEO of Black Duck Software, told InternetNews.com . "Having a listing of the top open
source licenses by usage is very useful for companies already in open source as well as those considering it."
winbeta.org - 23.10.2007
OEM Microsoft Office and OEM Microsoft Windows licensing
OEM Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing is
a topic that seems to again be
generating questions and there
are plenty of people out there
who are illegally taking
advantage of others to trying
to make a quick profit by
selling counterfeit or
unlicensed software.
Here are the facts
and answers to many of the
points of confusion around OEM
Microsoft Office and OEM
Microsoft Windows licensing so
you are informed and can
protect yourself from the
scammers out there...
winbeta.org - 02.08.2007
Windows XP Mode final release coming October 22
Microsoft's Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Professional or higher has RTM'd (Release to Manufacturing) today and will be available for download
from Microsoft Download Center on October 22. OEM manufactures will be able to offer Windows XP Mode on their PC's, based on their shipping
schedules to consumers. The design purpose for Windows XP Mode is to help put businesses minds at ease when upgrading to Windows 7 to ensure their
applications are backwards compatible. Windows XP Mode will allow any program to run smoothly in Windows 7 Professional or higher just as it does in
Windows XP.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 02.10.2009
Google shows off PowerMeter, monitor your utility usage
Google, in its continuous effort to help us all go green, has started to rollout Google PowerMeter. PowerMeter is a Google gadget that will help you
regulate your homes power usage. The idea is simple, if you can monitor and measure your own power usage then you will be able to help reduce your
utility bill by observing where you are wasting energy. Google has teamed up with a list of power providers that have begun installing new smart
meters that when paired with PowerMeter allow the user to observe their power usage.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 20.05.2009
New Motherboard = New Windows
License
Microsoft recently made a
change to the licence
agreement saying that a
new motherboard is
equal to a new computer, hence
you need to purchase a new
Windows licence.
Here is what
Microsoft has to say:
"An upgrade of the
motherboard is considered to
result in a "new personal
computer" to which Microsoft?
OEM operating system software
cannot be transferred from
another computer. If
the motherboard is upgraded or
replaced for reasons other
than a defect, then a new
computer has been created and
the license of new operating
system software is
required ."
The reason Microsoft
gave for this term is that
"Microsoft needed to have one
base component "left
standing" that would still
define that original PC. Since
the motherboard contains the
CPU and is the "heart and
soul" of the PC, when
the motherboard is replaced
(for reasons other than
defect) a new PC is
essentially created."
Microsoft sent a
memo to its OEM partners
asking them to enforce this
new policy, every time they
upgrade a computer for a
client.
jcxp.net - 19.02.2006
Don't slipstream XP SP3 on Windows Vista!
This just in from Bink, seems he had a pretty interesting weekend attempting to Slipstream XP SP3.
"So I build a new Windows XP ISO with
SP3 integrated, this is a Volume License editions (VOL) which only accepts Volume License Keys (VLK). When I want to install it on a clean machine, I
noticed that setup prompts for a product key and it does not allow me to continue, which should be a new feature in XP sp3. OK so I fill in the VLK
but it does not accept it, I try another one from a customer of mine, does not work either. Angry
I found out that the problem is when you
do the XP Sp3 slipstream process on a WIndows Vista machine, the API gives a different response and screws up the PID process. This is a bug and
Microsoft knew about this in December, still the bug remained and made it all the way to RTM, nice work Microsoft.
So XP SP slipstream only
on XP or 2003 machines!!!"
neowin.net - 05.05.2008
Vista Won't End Windows XP Availability
I can't count how many times
people have asked me if
Windows XP would be available
on new PCs following Vista's
release.
In the
near term, the answer is as
much a factor of user demand
and OEM and system builder
policies. That said, Microsoft
will make Windows XP available
from 12 to 24 months after
Vista's general availability,
depending on the sales
channel.
According to Life-Cycle
Policy Website, Windows XP
Home, Professional, Tablet PC,
Media Center and 64-bit
editions would be available in
direct OEM and retail licenses
for 12 months following
Windows Vista's general
availability, which is
scheduled to be Jan. 30, 2007.
System builder licenses would
be available for another
12--or total 24--months from
Vista's general availability.
License
availability doesn't
necessarily mean operating
system availability. I presume
Microsoft will get Windows XP
off retail shelves as quickly
as possible after Vista ships.
OEMs are another matter. While
I generally like Windows
Vista, I agree with some users
of the "gold" code that say
the operating system feels
unfinished, like a work in
progress. Some customers
choosing to wait may ask OEMs
or system builders for Windows
XP.
jcxp.net - 24.12.2006
