Vista - Re: DELL Lock-in

05-30-2008

>My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as

Quote:

>I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But
>I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win
>2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions.

Actually you can't even do that with the DELL OEM version, it's
against the EULA as a virtual machine is considered a separate machine
and the BIOS is different, so those version probably wont even install
in VPC.

Quote:

>Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to
>obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC?

Buying legal full versions from someone else is about it. XP is still
for sale through June 30th from Microsoft I think...

--
Bob Comer

On Fri, 30 May 2008 07:20:01 -0700, JohnB
<JohnB@xxxxxx> wrote:

Quote:

>I'm looking to replace a couple of machines for the Helpdesk / testing team,
>we currently have DELLs with KVM switches and/or multi-boot operating systems
>to support Windows 2000 / XP and various versions of Internet Explorer(I
>think all our customers have finally moved on from 98 now!)
>
>I'd like to replace the KVM/multiboot configurations with single machines
>with lots of memory/storage and Virtual PC to accomodate differnt
>configurations we need, probably running VISTA business. (Early copies of
>VISTA we had were replaced with XP downgrades) but from what I've seen the
>recent updates have improved things and some of the problems were DELL
>supplying unsupported hardware/drivers.
>
>My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as
>I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But
>I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win
>2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions.
>
>Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to
>obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC?
>
>Any advice appreciated!

05-30-2008

>Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well

Quote:

>but this makes perfect sense!

No problem, glad to help.

Quote:

>We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making
>versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position -
>possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine?

That would be an interesting way to do it. Maybe you should suggest
this to Microsoft.

An MSDN subscription for each tech would get most of the OS's you
need, but the license stipulates you can only use it for testing and
development.

Quote:

>I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences
>second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black
>market.

Yes and no I guess is the best answer. I'm not a lawyer, so take what
I say with a grain of salt, but full retail copies can be sold second
hand as they're license is transferable. OEM copies usually aren't,
as well as something like education copies I think. I understand not
wanting to chance it though...

--
Bob Comer

On Fri, 30 May 2008 08:08:00 -0700, JohnB
<JohnB@xxxxxx> wrote:

Quote:

>Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well
>but this makes perfect sense!
>
>We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making
>versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position -
>possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine?
>
>Looking at the specs for Virtual PC it seems to be the perfect answer for
>our needs but unless we have access to the previous versions it's actually
>useless to us. I guess I'll have to stick to the KVM solution. Perhaps MS
>should put a note in the spec that only "full" copies of previous OS's will
>work not OEMs.
>
>I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences
>second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black
>market.

05-30-2008	#1 (permalink)
Robert Comer n/a posts	Re: DELL Lock-in >My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as Quote: >I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But >I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win >2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions. Actually you can't even do that with the DELL OEM version, it's against the EULA as a virtual machine is considered a separate machine and the BIOS is different, so those version probably wont even install in VPC. Quote: >Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to >obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC? Buying legal full versions from someone else is about it. XP is still for sale through June 30th from Microsoft I think... -- Bob Comer On Fri, 30 May 2008 07:20:01 -0700, JohnB <JohnB@xxxxxx> wrote: Quote: >I'm looking to replace a couple of machines for the Helpdesk / testing team, >we currently have DELLs with KVM switches and/or multi-boot operating systems >to support Windows 2000 / XP and various versions of Internet Explorer(I >think all our customers have finally moved on from 98 now!) > >I'd like to replace the KVM/multiboot configurations with single machines >with lots of memory/storage and Virtual PC to accomodate differnt >configurations we need, probably running VISTA business. (Early copies of >VISTA we had were replaced with XP downgrades) but from what I've seen the >recent updates have improved things and some of the problems were DELL >supplying unsupported hardware/drivers. > >My problem is I'd really like to consider PCs from other manufacturers as >I've had several quality issues with machines they've supplied recently. But >I have a feeling that I wont be able to install my licenced copies of Win >2000 and XP on anything other than a DELL as they are DELL OEM versions. > >Does this tie me in to having to buy DELL hardware or is it possible to >obtain licences for legacy versions of Windows to run under Virtual PC? > >Any advice appreciated!
My System Specs

05-30-2008	#2 (permalink)
Robert Comer n/a posts	Re: DELL Lock-in >Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well Quote: >but this makes perfect sense! No problem, glad to help. Quote: >We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making >versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position - >possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine? That would be an interesting way to do it. Maybe you should suggest this to Microsoft. An MSDN subscription for each tech would get most of the OS's you need, but the license stipulates you can only use it for testing and development. Quote: >I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences >second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black >market. Yes and no I guess is the best answer. I'm not a lawyer, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but full retail copies can be sold second hand as they're license is transferable. OEM copies usually aren't, as well as something like education copies I think. I understand not wanting to chance it though... -- Bob Comer On Fri, 30 May 2008 08:08:00 -0700, JohnB <JohnB@xxxxxx> wrote: Quote: >Thanks for this chaps - I hadn't considered that the BIOS was virtual as well >but this makes perfect sense! > >We're a member of Technet - could I suggest that Microsoft considers making >versions of previous OS versions available for those in our position - >possible locked in so that they'll only run in a Virtual machine? > >Looking at the specs for Virtual PC it seems to be the perfect answer for >our needs but unless we have access to the previous versions it's actually >useless to us. I guess I'll have to stick to the KVM solution. Perhaps MS >should put a note in the spec that only "full" copies of previous OS's will >work not OEMs. > >I always thought that you weren't really allowed to "buy" copies of licences >second hand and I don't really want to get involved with the grey/black >market.
My System Specs

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