Microsoft tries to spread Vista far and wide

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Vista Limitations on Activation: Friend, I doubt seriously whether Microsoft will attempt to abridge your "Fair Use" rights. Even they abide by the Law, when the Law is watching them.

But as to the number of times Vista will be able to be activated:
Their current positions in re:activations are:

Retail License:
It may be activated as many times as is needed, as long as it is only activated and used on ONE machine at a time. AS in the past, all Retail Licenses may be moved to a second, third, or hundredth machine, as long as they are only activated and used on a single machine at a time. This may or may not entail an activation via Phone, which takes about 5 minutes. The original Vista Retail License stated that the License could be transferred to a SINGLE machine only. This got many, many users up in arms, and Microsoft caved into customer demands and further "refined" the Vista Retail EULA to fit more in line with its past Retail License, which is virtually an unlimited license to use Vista, as long as it is only installed, activated, and used on a single machine at a time.

OEM Licenses:
As in the past, OEM licenses may not be transferred to another machine. They MUST remain with the original machine upon which they were installed and activated. As long as the software is only installed and activated on the original machine, such licenses may be installed and activated as many times as is necessary to use your OEM software. Normally, one can activate such licenses via the Network. But sometimes an activation via phone is necessary. Again, this normally takes a maximum of 5 minutes.

I personally have NEVER been denied an activation via phone, and I've used OEM software since the first general release of XP in 2001.

Donald L McDaniel; Posted by: orthocross Posted on: 01/22/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use