There was a link on the main page to a site which allowed us to buy legit software for a very cheap price. Something like office and Win XP for $80 because they were not boxed and no manuals were with it - does anyone still have that link?


Thank you

That sounds like a pirated stuff...

no manuals = no cdkey

It isn't!!! well i wouldn't have thought so since the link was on THIS website on www.msfn.org where other cool links are too, i visited the website and they too said its not pirated all there disks were not boxed and without manuals, they buy them in bulks or something.

Yeah, possible. That might have been OEM versions they were offering (though you can't sell OEM copies outside OEM channels, so its illegal). Well, probably you saw this link from the Google Ad-Sense bar at the top of the forum pages.
There's nothing that MSFN can do about it - its google's syndication. Keep visiting back, different pages on the forum, and you might see the Ad again.

Ok i dont want XP and office illegally. So if this is an OEM thing as you described does it mean its not supported by Microsoft if not why are these people saying its perfectly legal. Sorry about the zillion questions but i need proper copies and not illegal - i dont want to be one of those people who buy something under the impression that its legal when it isnt.

That's the spirit jpatto. We need more of people like you, at a time when piracy is eating away the software industry.

Now for the fact... OEM copies of windows are supposed to only be given along with the purchase of a new computer, and is supposed to be the responsibility of the manufacturer (HP, Dell, Gateway, so on...) to support. MS's responsibility ends at the point where they gave the OEM manufacturer "X" number of licenses to bundle along with new purchases.

So as such, it is not totally wrong, but it IS wrong to buy an OEM copy. Retail is your best bet - costs more, but you get the satisfaction of being on the correct side of the law and the EULA of Microsoft. And you're supported too, with retail boxes!

For people in the UK that want to buy an OEM copy (legal) -

www.overclockers.co.uk
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Onl...oftware_33.html

But how about the following. Is this legal:
I buy a computer at a computer store, and a few weeks later, i return to the store and buy an OEM version of windows XP for my new computer.

According to terms of agreement, its not acceptable. But no one seems to care...
You CAN do that, but you still are breaking the terms of EULA of OEM.

The problem here is that the EULA from M$ states what you may and may not do with the software, but that this EULA is in fact in violation of some laws, depending of the country in which the software is bought.

For instance, in the USA the EULA from M$ is perfectly legal, but in the Netherlands it isn't. According to Dutch law, once you've bought the software you can do with it whatever you like (resell, put on a new computer, whatever except copying). According to the OEM EULA you only buy the right to use the software on the PC you bought it with. The Retail EULA states you may only use it on the first PC you install it. Of course that is quite hard to prove and that's why retail versions cost much more. That is also one of the reasons for Windows Activation policy. Because activation uses a per hardware unique identifier, M$ can (theoretically, anyway) see wheter you install you're Windows software on more than 1 PC. Through this, M$ also wants to prevent that, when you scrap your old PC and buy a new one, you would re-use your legal copy of Windows on your new PC. Understand why I refer to M$ instead of MS?

For the same legal reasons, in some countries it is legal to sell OEM licenses apart from a PC.

Hope this helps,
Refthoom