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Windows 7: Retail or OEM?

S

shady06

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 11, 2010
6
0
I just received my new 27" i5 iMac a couple of days ago and I'm wanting to use boot camp for Windows 7. I'm new to the mac scene so my question is do you have to purchase the retail version of Windows 7 or can you use the OEM (system builders) version like is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 for bootcamp?

Also, should I get the 32 or 64 bit version? I will mostly be using Windows 7 for gaming (steam). Thanks for the help!
 
If Windows was reasonably priced, it would sell better. I obliqued the word sell on purpose, because a lot of computer users use illegally obtained versions. Using the OEM System Builders version of Windows for yourself might be a tad shady, it is at least a lot more legal than downloading an illegal version and using that. Microsoft should be happy people for whom Windows isn't even their primary operating system are still willing to buy their software. Even when it's a not-completely-legal-according-to-their-EULA version.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

That's basically the point of Ed Bott's blog post I linked to. However you still need to understand that it's not strictly within the letter or intent of the license before you leap. For all we know someday Microsoft may one day decide to enforce their license.

B
 
shady06 said:
Also, should I get the 32 or 64 bit version? I will mostly be using Windows 7 for gaming (steam). Thanks for the help!
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Considering your Mac is new & will probably last for years, I think OEM & 64 bit. I'm ordering the retail edition purely because as the owner of an older iMac (HD 2600 Pro graphics), I'll probably run the 32-bit version for now. But when I replace my iMac with a more powerful model, I'll want to transfer my Windows 7 licence onto that & run the 64-bit.

Bengt77 said:
If Windows was reasonably priced, it would sell better. I obliqued the word sell on purpose, because a lot of computer users use illegally obtained versions. Using the OEM System Builders version of Windows for yourself might be a tad shady, it is at least a lot more legal than downloading an illegal version and using that. Microsoft should be happy people for whom Windows isn't even their primary operating system are still willing to buy their software. Even when it's a not-completely-legal-according-to-their-EULA version.
Click to expand...
There's also the argument that though MS naturally want to minimize piracy where possible, they probably also don't mind some limited piracy if it prevents more people using Linux long-term. Presumably some people using pirated copies of Windows now, will be prepared to buy fully-supported, legit copies in future, or so the logic might follow. :rolleyes:
 
gregorsamsa said:
There's also the argument that though MS naturally want to minimize piracy where possible, they probably also don't mind some limited piracy if it prevents more people using Linux long-term. Presumably some people using pirated copies of Windows now, will be prepared to buy fully-supported, legit copies in future, or so the logic might follow. :rolleyes:
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If Microsoft really wanted pirates to "go legit" they would have done what they did with Office. Create an inexpensive version with fewer restrictions on the license for home/non-commercial use. http://win741.com for Home and Student.

For a brief moment I thought they "got it" with the short-lived Windows 7 Family Pack, but it was only available for a very short period of time.

B
 
balamw said:
If Microsoft really wanted pirates to "go legit" they would have done what they did with Office. Create an inexpensive version with fewer restrictions on the license for home/non-commercial use. http://win741.com for Home and Student.

For a brief moment I thought they "got it" with the short-lived Windows 7 Family Pack, but it was only available for a very short period of time.
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Good point. To discourage piracy, might have been a good idea to make Windows 7 Starter more readily available (can't buy a standalone version in UK) & with fewer restrictions. However, sales of Win 7 Home so far indicate that it's been selling very well, despite the price, for what is basically Vista SP3 & all that Vista should have been.
 
Do you care about following the license agreement and/or do you need MS technical support?

If not, then get the OEM (64-bit).
 
shady06 said:
I just received my new 27" i5 iMac a couple of days ago and I'm wanting to use boot camp for Windows 7. I'm new to the mac scene so my question is do you have to purchase the retail version of Windows 7 or can you use the OEM (system builders) version like is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 for bootcamp?

Also, should I get the 32 or 64 bit version? I will mostly be using Windows 7 for gaming (steam). Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

Whatever you end up doing, get the 64-bit version. Hands down.
 
Denarius said:
OEM every time, it's cheaper and who uses MS tech support anyway?
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Totally agree with you, but is it not a pain to re-install it on a new machine or a machine that you have swapped out some major internal components like the mobo/cpu (I've never used an OEM so I wouldn't know)?
 
balamw said:
While OEM may be a lot cheaper, you need to understand that it is not intended/licensed for home use. Would you Hackintosh? Just like Hackintoshing or jaywalking or speeding its a personal choice to knowingly break the rules.

Here are some links for you to read.

http://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?PageID=563841

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1561

B
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It's great that I live in Germany where that business practice of Microsoft was found illegal by the German Bundesgerichtshof (which is more or less equivalent to the American Supreme Court):

http://www.jurpc.de/rechtspr/20000220.htm

After this court decision, Microsoft had to completely change the way they do business in Germany.

In analogy, guess why Apple does not dare to sue the German Hackintosh company PearC. Apple would be toasted just like Microsoft.

Just because a company tries to impose certain "rules" on you, does not mean that they have the right to do so or that their rules are legally binding. Corporations tend to believe that they are legislative powers and at the same time above the law themselves, but once in a while they have to experience a reality flash.

To answer the original poster: Buy a 64-Bit OEM edition. Only go for the retail box if you need MS support.
 
Stridder44 said:
Totally agree with you, but is it not a pain to re-install it on a new machine or a machine that you have swapped out some major internal components like the mobo/cpu (I've never used an OEM so I wouldn't know)?
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I've never had any problems. I have an OEM copy of Windows XP that I must have activated 8 times or so. Several of those times were after hardware changes. The last time was after I swapped out virtually every component, including the motherboard and cpu (didn't even have to call MS to activate on that one). I did, however, have to call MS for activation once. They just asked some standard questions to be sure that I wasn't trying to install it on a second PC. I've heard reports from lots of other people who have had similar experiences.
 
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