The reason I'm asking is because I had purchased the retail box version from Staples when they had a $40 coupon for that item, bringing it down to $39. After rebate, I will have gotten the boxed version for $9. When I saw that I could get the OEM version online for $6.80 without messing with the rebate hassles, I went ahead and bought a few more. When they came in, I compared the two. The one I got as "OEM version" is IDENTICAL to the boxed version CD with the same CD markings, etc. The only difference is that if you examine the center ring of the OEM CD (on the inner "track" where the CD media actually starts) the writing is in a different, smaller font on the OEM version. However, the text appears to be the same, except for the last numbers. Anybody know whether this text is a lot number or something for the media?
The fact that the font is different made me suspicious that the manufacturer may be different (ie pirated), but the fact that it has a similar "lot number" would seem to indicate it's legit. I'm confused. Maybe I'm making this more complicated than it should be...