Windows 10 OEM vs Windows 10

[Arihant Kalithkar]

Hello.

Many individuals recommend Windows 10 OEM for building a pc for the first time

what are the benefits?

[jakep0802]

Just now, Arihant Kalithkar said:

Hello.

Many individuals recommend Windows 10 OEM for building a pc for the first time

what are the benefits?

There are no benefits (I think). One is directly from Microsoft and one is from a third party retailer such as Newegg or Microcenter

[mxk]

The only actual difference between the two, is that 

• The OEM version can only be installed once, so on one PC, then if you wipe the PC you'll be buying a new copy
• The non OEM version can be moved from PC to PC, or reinstalled if you do a wipe

[GoodBytes]

4 minutes ago, jakep0802 said:

There are no benefits (I think). One is directly from Microsoft and one is from a third party retailer such as Newegg or Microcenter

No

1 minute ago, mxk. said:

The only actual difference between the two, is that 

• The OEM version can only be installed once, so on one PC, then if you wipe the PC you'll be buying a new copy
• The non OEM version can be moved from PC to PC, or reinstalled if you do a wipe

No

[mxk]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

No

No

good to know, thanks. For the future, what are the actual differences?

[jakep0802]

3 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

No

No

Oh? Thanks for correcting me. Could you also tell me what the differences are?

[GoodBytes]

12 minutes ago, Arihant Kalithkar said:

Hello.

Many individuals recommend Windows 10 OEM for building a pc for the first time

what are the benefits?

You have 2 licenses of Windows 10 (technically more than that, but let's focus on we, most of us, have access to)

• OEM
• Retail

OEM costs the least. However, it targets audience is system builders. You have a lower price, but you have no free Microsoft support to help you install the OS and get started (which, I don't think you care, but I am just mentioning), you don't have the fancy box (again, I don't think you care), but more importantly, the license is not transferable.

 

You can re-install Windows as many time as you want on the system, but the moment you install Windows 10 on the system and go online, Windows 10 will lock itself to your motherboard. You can upgrade the system CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD/SSD, etc. But if the motherboard is replaced, then you'll need to buy a new license. That said, Microsoft is nice, if your motherboard is broken and you can't find a replacement to your liking, and you are forced to change your motherboard, and your nice, Microsoft will give you an override code to allow a single transfer.

 

Retail license, you have that setup and getting started support, nicer box, and you also have the power to transfer your license form 1 PC to another. The downside is that you pay more for your license.

[GoodBytes]

5 minutes ago, mxk. said:

good to know, thanks. For the future, what are the actual differences?

 

2 minutes ago, jakep0802 said:

Oh? Thanks for correcting me. Could you also tell me what the differences are?

You guys are too quick

 

[Arihant Kalithkar]

what are the differences?

[jakep0802]

1 minute ago, GoodBytes said:

 

You guys are too quick

 

Lol. Thanks for explaining the differences.

[mxk]

29 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Snip

Thank you!

[mxk]

28 minutes ago, Arihant Kalithkar said:

what are the differences?

GoodBytes just explained it. Read all the way through