Windows 8 Gets Personal Use License For Homebuilt PCs 330
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Geek.com: "Microsoft has never really acknowledged or supported those among us who choose to build their own PCs. Windows licensing is usually offered in three forms: full retail product license, retail upgrade license, and OEM license. If you want to build your own machine at the moment, Microsoft expects you to buy a full retail copy of Windows. With Windows 8 that all changes and Microsoft has decided to actively support individuals who want to build their own machines or run Windows 8 as a virtual machine. That support comes in the form of a new license option called the Personal Use License for System Builder (PULSB). With PULSB, Microsoft is dumping the full retail license used in previous versions. Instead it is offering a version of Windows 8 to be installed as the main operating system on a single system meant for personal use, or in a virtual machine running on an existing PC (running any legal OS such as Windows 7, Mac OS X, or your favorite flavor of Linux)."
Wonderful? At What Cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don;t know that this is as wonderful as the post would like to suggest. It's never been a problem to purchase and use the deeply discounted OEM versions for home-built PCs. SO, my first question is what does a PULSB license cost as compared to OEM. The second question is; will we still be able to purchase OEM?
Define "legal OS" (Score:2, Interesting)
What do they mean by "legal OS", and how do they enforce that particular point ?
What's "assembling"? (Score:4, Interesting)
More money to Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, I can see why Microsoft would offer a new license:
- Personal -> they tie that your Windows-account, so you can't never ever sell it
- Single System -> they tie that to your PC configuration, so you can't change your GPU without upgrading to full version
but... why??? (Score:4, Interesting)
I thought one of the biggest advantages to building your own computer was the ability NOT to pay microsoft for the privelidge of owning a computer. Sure there are one or 2 small places that allow you to buy a windows free, pre-built system, but usually with fairly limited selection of specs, and often no cheaper than a PC with windows installed (which tells me the company is probably paying Microsoft for the license, even though you aren't getting one (likely a bulk agreement where they pay microsoft per system sold instead of per license installed))
Building your own computer has, for years, been the only way to ensure you got your ideal machine, without having to also buy a windows license to run an operating system you already own, or are allowed to get for free.
I've built my own computers exclusively for nearly 20 years... though I must admit that I've slipped a bit here, I'm starting to look to a new computer now, and I haven't kept up with the latest news on components, It's not as easy as it once was to figure out which part is better than which other one, and without having kept up it's a bit of a daunting task to select the right parts this time... I'm debating just buying a pre-built system, but I don't really want to go that route after nearly 20 years of doing it myself.
Re:Free (as in beer)? (Score:3, Interesting)
You can get paid for your labor if you can find someone willing to pay for it, that is, you can get paid for the act of creating the software. But you have no right or claim to compensation for every copy that gets made after the fact. And you're committing a logical fallacy there about legality. You're appealing to authority, which says nothing about the correctness of the process or outcome. Our legal system reflects our morality, more or less, but often times it is at odds with it.
Re:Free (as in beer)? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why do you think every single user out there is a pirate that would never convert? I for one used to pirate Windows, for my home machines. That included Win 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000 and XP. With Windows 7 I got myself a legitimate, but discounted, full version (I don't remember how much it was, $40 or something). If they offer Windows 8 for a low price, I'll buy it.
In 2010 I paid over $3000 to buy components to build my workstation/gaming machine. Paying an extra $40, i.e. round 1.3% more to get the right software added no significant burden to my budget. I have no problem to pay for a software that I use everyday single day for a couple of years as long as I don't feel it is a rip-off. Since this is
Re:Wonderful? At What Cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
There is a blacklist, but it's very, very hard to get on. You basically have to be installing Windows onto different motherboards on a weekly basis. For that reason the only person I know to ever end up on that list did motherboard evaluations for a living.
Re:Wonderful? At What Cost? (Score:4, Interesting)
Unless you were selling the PC the OEM license was never legal.
Sure you could get it, but then you might as well pirate the OS.
Re:cheaper? from a company? sure... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Priced to reduce piracy. (Score:3, Interesting)
How much for the stripped down version? I want a version of windows without Windows Media player, Internet Explorer, or even Windows Explorer. I have no need for any Windows, no accessories please, i use my own notepad, calculator, paint program.
Hell, just give me a version of Windows good enough to run Steam.
It's a nuisance because, I know MS makes a full OS, and it's a fine one. I still prefer Gnome or KDE even with their warts but Windows isn't useless. Windows has a lot less features than Linux Desktops but even I realize they are less crash prone. I can see why other people wouldn't buy a Windows Lite. But a lot of us do. We are an untapped market.
Oh well I'll just jailbreak an xbox... it's basically what I want. Or I can wait for the a SteamBox, Or upgrade one of those Ouyas...
Re:Is it just me (Score:5, Interesting)
Death nails. Slapping out of the business field. Niche markets.
Sorry, but that reads to much like fanboi talk for me.
Quality product? Not exactly - why don't we revisit WinME and Vista? You are correct with the "secure hold on the desktop market", but there were a lot of questionable ethics involved there.
Your dream world of Microsoft's world dominance is really a nightmare, or at least a dystopia. Enjoy the dream though - if you can. As for me, I'll continue on with Unix-likes, no matter what the world does around me.