JohnJSal

In the book I'm reading it mentions that if you buy a mobo you have the right to purchase an operating system at a high discount from the vendor as well. I think it was called an OEM license or discount. Retail XP Home is $200, and I think it said you can get it for around $50 when buy a piece of hardware that indicates you will build your own system.

But I went to J&R Computer World today and talked to four different people there and none of them had heard about this.

So....is this a general practice? Or is it up to the individual vendors? Or maybe just an online thing?

Thanks.

Ambushed

I don't know about that, but I think you get a discount when you purchase online

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ukulele_ninja

If you know someone that goes to college, ask them. Colleges usually offer BIG discounts if you buy from them. Im going to University of Phoenix online and you can get Vista Ultimate for like $200

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[-0MEGA-]

They have system builder and OEM editions which are much cheaper then retail versions.

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JohnJSal

Ah, I was thinking you had to get it at the same time as the mobo, but I read this on newegg:

"Qualifying proof of purchase must be recent receipts showing the purchase of a mother board, hard drive, RAM and a CPU. The components can be on multiple receipts; not necessarily all on one receipt nor on the same receipt as the qualifying Windows XP/Office 2003 that you purchased."

The OEM version of XP Home was $90, as opposed to $195. I assume its' the exact same version, though, right? Nothing limited or missing?

And is a "System Builder" edition any different than retail, other than the price?

Eternal Rest

I got the system builder one when I bought all the parts for my new comp and it has the exact same stuff from what I've noticed... I bought xp professional with sp2 64 bit edition to recognize all my RAM and haven't had any problems yet.

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JohnJSal

That's good. And apparently I can buy the System Builder/OEM version at any time from newegg. I was under the impression you had to buy it at the same time as the hardware, and from the same place.

StrangleHold

The OEM/System Builders is just tied more to the motherboard its installed on, if you change the board you'll have to come up with a better reason for changing it.

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axgrinder73

You are correct. I prefer the OEM versions, even for a computer that I buy new (Iinstall the OEM version using the COA that came with the new computer) that way its not loaded down with all of the crap that the manufacturer puts on it.

You can get XP Professional for about $50 more than the Home version.