are OEMs legal??

[skiingliberal]

I am working for a company that wants to buy a copy of Office Project, which costs $500 new in box, but costs $290 as an OEM. However the office manager is telling me that OEM's are for distribution with new PC's only, and are illegal for us to buy.

So what's the story? is everything I bought for my computer I built at home illegal? are we not allowed to buy OEM's? Is newegg a huge crime syndicate bent on giving the shaft to microsoft by selling OEMs?

 

[spherrod]

OEM's are legal as long as they are brought with qualifying hardware (e.g: motherboard) - they are then tied to the system thet are installed on I believe

 

[the wombat]

Originally posted by: skiingliberal
Is newegg a huge crime syndicate bent on giving the shaft to microsoft by selling OEMs?

Yes.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Newegg gets around the hardware thing by including the cheapest hardware they have in stock with your order, which is going to be some sort of cable.

 

[islandtechengineers]

Originally posted by: spherrod
OEM's are legal as long as they are brought with qualifying hardware (e.g: motherboard) - they are then tied to the system thet are installed on I believe

think of dells and xp...

you can't take that copy of xp from your home dell machine and transfer it to your newly built PC!

in regards to OFFice project though, I'm not familar with that peice of software, so read the license agreement, it may be legal to transfer ownership of an OEM office project product to other buyers / pc's (given the fact your not a reseller)!

if you dont have the agreement with you, use google and find the manu's web site of office project and search for their license agreement. i use to resale a few years ago and some of microsoft's products can be transfered to other parties (excluding resellers)!

hey, would you sign for every credit card offer that came your way without reading the fine print??

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Newegg gets around the hardware thing by including the cheapest hardware they have in stock with your order, which is going to be some sort of cable.

Ya just need some cheap hardware to go with it.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: Kensai

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Newegg gets around the hardware thing by including the cheapest hardware they have in stock with your order, which is going to be some sort of cable.

Ya just need some cheap hardware to go with it.

:thumbsup:

 

[cubby1223]

The biggest thing behind OEM software is who is going to provide the support? With a retail copy, the software company is going to provide support for running that software on pretty much any hardware out there. With an OEM copy, the system builder is the one responsible for providing support and helping troubleshoot compatibility issues. That's why they say it must be sold with a brand new system.

If you want to take on the role of the system builder & take sole responsibility for support issues, then by all means go ahead & get the OEM copy, there is nothing to fear. Plus the software companies are more happy that you're buying an OEM copy instead of pirating an illegal copy.

Just buy from a reputable company, there are many illegal unlicensed OEM copies being sold on the internet, like copies of the latest WordPerfect for $10.