Quote from Jakg :

define "new", my pc is full of second hand bits, but to me its new

New as in "in working order and (pre)installed before you walked out of the shop with it".

Quote :

If so have you made any or plan on making any.

Why yes I do, i'm doing movies of STCC races - but i've only made the intro sequence so far as the 1st race isn't until tomor... (it's 2:30am) later today. I guess the movie will be out in 1-2 weeks time. It wont have many similarities to a Konrad movie though, probably closer to the GPV ones.

Quote from TagForce :

The OEM rules are set by Microsoft. If you buy an OEM Windows version take a look at the CD... It says "Only to be sold with a new PC" on it.

A bit OFF-Topic but it's different in some countries.

In Germany it's since july 2000 like this (and so should it be in whole Europe aswell):

OEM (original equipment manufacturer) or
OSB (Microsoft calls it also OSB here = OEM for System Builder)
Doesn't mean you have to sell a new PC with OEM XP Pro (but it still says it on the package). But the rights are different here.

A reseller can sell it like a Full version but the reseller has to give the support for the product. So you can't sue MS for software problems later or have the right of support from them.

So there is no need for buying also hardware with OEM XP here. (as it was many years ago).

for the UK people:
You find also in the UK shops where you don't have to buy hardware with it. check for example this company in london https://secure.softwarepricebeater.com/

The problem with OEM is that theOEM license lives and dies with the computer it is installed onto but not the XP retail license.

Quote from BBO@BSR :

A bit OFF-Topic but it's different in some countries.

In Germany it's since july 2000 like this (and so should it be in whole Europe aswell):

OEM (original equipment manufacturer) or
OSB (Microsoft calls it also OSB here = OEM for System Builder)
Doesn't mean you have to sell a new PC with OEM XP Pro (but it still says it on the package). But the rights are different here.

A reseller can sell it like a Full version but the reseller has to give the support for the product. So you can't sue MS for software problems later or have the right of support from them.

So there is no need for buying also hardware with OEM XP here. (as it was many years ago).

for the UK people:
You find also in the UK shops where you don't have to buy hardware with it. check for example this company in london https://secure.softwarepricebeater.com/

The problem with OEM is that theOEM license lives and dies with the computer it is installed onto but not the XP retail license.

Apparently Microsoft itself is contradicting itself with regard to OEM licenses...
At one point they say that an OEM license is supposed to be installed on the hardware before the customer buys the product, and next they say it's a license distributed by an OEM and some OEMs sell software licenses such as operating systems.
(OSB licenses are OEM licenses that come with an extra CD and extra options for pre-installing Windows on a PC)

Whatever be the rules, the intention for OEM still is that it is supposed to be pre-installed. I'll see if I can find an original OEM license in a store tomorrow... It should say "not to be sold seperately" on the license sticker, and "to be sold only with a new PC" on the CD.

Just how many of you are running a less than legal version of Windows anyway?

mine is a £30 of eBay thats OEM but activates fine, another one we bought was "For distrubution with a new Dell pc only", and when a food company packed up dad found a copy of OEM MCE lying in a bin!

Quote from TagForce :

..
(OSB licenses are OEM licenses that come with an extra CD and extra options for pre-installing Windows on a PC)

Yes and No.

I worked as a reseller and we could buy at all of our diff. wholesalers just a single package of XP (little book+CD in a plastik bag) called OEM / OSB version in their list and we could also buy at another wholesaler i.e. packages with 3 or 5 XP versions in it. Then we got a carton with CDs (little book+CD in a plastik bag) in it and with the special XP OEM preinstalling kit from MS labeled "Microsoft OEM System builder Program". So the only difference was that you also got a the Preinstallation kit CDs with the bigger packages.

There was/is always the note bla bla "sell only with new pc" on it but it doesn't matter and it's like "only for non smokers". It's useless because we have different rights here since year 2000.

In the year 2000 MS sued a reseller for selling OEM stuff without hardware in Germany and MS lost. Since then it's legal here.
But MS reacted in the way that you can only buy here at the wholesaler i.e. Office OEM / OSB versions when you are a MS Partner (then you got a contract with them and you have to report them from time to time what version you sold to whom and with what PC and with the Number and they can come to your shop and can take a look in your data illepalletc.) I always hated it to make this reports.

Anyway
As I said it might be different in other countries but it shouldn't.

btw I found some of the CDs here at home. Looks like this