News Vista available for pre-order in UK

i think i will wait to buy the OEM version as soon as i get my new PC.

no region control, but the versions are different. UK English != US English... at least it is what happens to the BR and PT versions of the Portuguese windows.

 

But there's always support for different language within XP. You can use your locales before and after the XP installation.

If it's not there in Vista, why not buy a US copy? Anytime you need to ring MS, you'll find yourself being asked what your local support number is.

The only thing I can think is that they'll moan and tell you that you should be ringing another number.

But the difference in cost is rediculous -- Microsoft, Dell, et al. seem to think that Brits don't notice when we're being screwed

 

Even cheaper than OCUK

check this site out, http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/01/03/windows_vista_available_for_pre-order_in_uk/

Found by a freind of mine

Sam

 

It looks vaguely familiar...

 

Well, a couple of kiwi sites have been advertising there vista prices for a while now... but theres no OEM pricing, the best available deal appears to be Academic Upgrade (Need student ID), but converted to pounds it works out to be 62 for Premium and 200 for Ultimate. I havent been following the vista stuff, what exactly is the difference between premium and ultimate, other then a fair chunk of cash

 

OEM prices are spot on if you ask me. We'll be getting the Home Premium for the family PC when it comes out and I'll probably buy it for my lappy when the RC1 runs out. Home Basic really isn't worth getting in comparison.

<A88>

 

Amazon are taking orders on Home Premium Upgrade at £150 (free delivery) which beats Overclockers (with £9.40 delivery).

I think Vista Upgrade may be the one to go for if you upgrade mobo+processor fairly regularly, though the difference in price over OEM looks far more than the XP UG-OEM differential.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/default.mspx

 

Seems to have most features joe user (or even joe poweruser) needs, then. Bet lots of people will still be tempted by the siren call of the black box

 

So, what's the disadvantage of an OEM copy? I assume there must be some catch, if it's that much cheaper.....

What kind of "student ID"? Like, some special card, or just proof you're a student? (uk)

 

Hell yeah! - Instead of the lame Arnie'esque Ultimate moniker, perhaps they should've called it Vista Dark Edition or mebbe even Vista Evil Edition, then they could charge even more

 

I Think im going to go for Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit OEM
But whats the crack with this retail upgrade edition ?

I feel like a n00b lol.

 

Black is the new bloo. MM shekshy. I'll be getting Vista Home Premium for around £12.95 or so (shipping costs, apparently), when I can order the 'free' upgrade from XP MCE (ie when the page takes my card details, which it's having problems doing).

 

So can anyone please explain what you get with the OEM version? Like the difference between it and the retail?
I presume its without the box and stuff but do get the CDKEYS and legal legitimate information to run it ??

Anyone?

 

In new zealand (where i live) every college student (high school equivalent) and university (tech as well) students as part of their school fees get a photo ID card, which gets all sorts of stuff at cheaper rates, software, movie tickets, hell even bungy jumping lol.

 

Under the EULA you can't transfer the OEM OS to a different system. A Retail Upgrade you can, but you need an old copy of XP (to upgrade from).

With OEM you're limited in the number of changes you can make in your hardware. Minor changes, like new graphics cards, extra memory, replacing hard drives, no problem; it's really that a certain number of system parts that were there when you first activated have to be still present after the upgrade.

http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php for more. Refers to XP, AFAIK Vista rules will be similar.

 

lol everything in my machine with xp oem, has been changed at least once, all i hade to do was activate it again

 

OEM vs. Retail Difference

The difference between retail and OEM is that OEM 'lives and dies' with the PC it is installed on. A new PC is defined as a computer with a new motherboard. So, if you upgrade your motherboard, you have a new computer (per MS).

This has been the rule with all consumer versions of Windows. I expect Vista to truly enforce this, considering the way it’s activated (of course you'll probably be able to get 2 or 3 installs in before it dies).

MS Info
Another Link

 

So say i use up my 2-3 installs, is there anyway to reactivate them?

 

That black box does look rather awesome.

I'm getting really annoyed with this whole activation crap windows has now got, it's a royal pain in the ass for the people who buy it legitimately, the people who pirate it usually have an easier time dealing with it as well, since all they really need is a crack. As with every crappy system like this, theres always a way around it, which begs the question, why even bother wasting money on it in the first place? All it does is make the user experience more awkward.