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View Full Version : What to buy?

FlakMonkey
07-01-06, 10:15 AM
Well I nee to get myself a copy of XP Home, and don't know what to get. There are the OEM's and the Retail and I don't know which is right for me. I will be putting it on just my computer for now.

What I mainly don't know about is that I heard the OEM version can only be installed and used once. If this is true I will definitly need the Retail.

I would also like to know where the best prices for these can be found. Thanks for any help you can offer, cause I have no clue where to start. Thanks.
Captain Newbie
07-01-06, 10:24 AM
Home is useless. By pro. Use OEM because it costs less money. Retail's for suckers.

Of course...All of the above are restricted by license to single-machine only. I use Pricewatch (www.pricewatch.com) although no matter where you go you're basically bending over for Microslotfh, so it doesn't really matter.
FlakMonkey
07-01-06, 10:26 AM
Can you provide reasons? I don't doubt you, but I would like to know why.
Captain Newbie
07-01-06, 10:33 AM
Can you provide reasons? I don't doubt you, but I would like to know why.
I consider Home to be somewhat crippled as most of the networking code is dyked out or disabled. You also don't get an encrypted file system or any concept of access controls like you do with professional, which makes it unsatisfactory from my point of view. You can't join an AD Domain, and finally, you can't change the language of the user interface in Home[1].

[1] I think this is a big deal; you may or may not care. If they can do it for free (http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/philosophy), I expect the functionality to be present in payware, especially since everyone should have the ability to interact with their computer in their own language without paying more.
FlakMonkey
07-01-06, 10:36 AM
With the OEM, after I do the initial installation, I can still use it again for a reformat correct? Or is one use, literealy one use?
Captain Newbie
07-01-06, 10:38 AM
With the OEM, after I do the initial installation, I can still use it again for a reformat correct? Or is one use, literealy one use?
You may use it as many times as you want...on that machine.