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If I remember rightly previously joe public were allowed to buy the OEM version, the difference between the OEM and full retail was that the OEM license was not transferable to another computer if you built a newer box (I seem to recall replacing the motherboard or CPU counted as a 'new machine') whereas full retail was transferable.

So it seems like this is a cheaper rebrand of the full retail license. 'Single computer' means it allows upgrades and covers only one CPU install at a time.

The paranoid cynic bit of my brain is wondering if this is so that home builders encourage the market in MS approved UEFI secure booting motherboards outside the full system OEMS.



"If I remember rightly previously joe public were allowed to buy the OEM version"

I've historically tried to use official/supported/legal versions of all of my applications. Windows was one of those and I actually read parts of the OEM EULA at one point.

The following link sums up the use of an OEM license well:

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/...

The most important part is here:

OEM System Builder: Must be preinstalled on a PC and sold to another unrelated party. vs

Full Packaged Retail Product: Is intended to be re-sold separately from a PC for installation by the end user.

Disclosure: Microsoft Employee. I had the obsession to have properly licensed software on my machine long before that.




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