[Retired Tech]

Microsoft has released licenses for the Windows Vista operating system that dramatically differ from those for Windows XP in that they limit the number of times that retail editions can be transferred to another device and ban the two least-expensive versions from running in a virtual machine. The new licenses, which were highlighted by the Vista team on its official blog Tuesday, add new restrictions to how and where Windows can be used.

"The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.

The new policy is narrower than Windows XP's. In the same section, the license for Windows XP Home states: "You may move the Software to a different Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must completely remove the Software from the former Workstation Computer." There is no limit to the number of times users can make this move. Windows XP Professional's license is identical.

Elsewhere in the license, Microsoft forbids users from installing Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium in a virtual machine. "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system," the legal language reads. Vista Ultimate and Vista Business, however, can be installed within a VM.

Vista Home Basic, at $199 for a full version and $99 for an upgrade, and Vista Home Premium ($239/$159), are the two most-affordable retail editions of the operating system scheduled to appear on store shelves in January 2007.

Although the Vista team's blog did not point out these changes, it did highlight others. "Two notable changes between Windows Vista license terms and those for Windows XP are: 1) failure of a validation check results in the loss of access to specific features; and 2) an increase in our warranty period from 90 days to 1 year, which brings Windows in line with most other Microsoft products," wrote Vista program manager Nick White.
Specifically, the Vista license calls out the ramifications of a failed validation check of Vista.

"The software will from time to time validate the software, update or require download of the validation feature of the software," it reads. "If after a validation check, the software is found not to be properly licensed, the functionality of the software may be affected."

Vista's new anti-piracy technologies, collectively dubbed "Software Protection Platform," have met with skepticism by analysts and criticism by users. Under the new program, a copy of Vista that's judged to be in violation of its license, or is counterfeit, is disabled after a set period, leaving the user access only to the default Web browser, and then only for an hour at a time.

Microsoft Software License Terms for Vista Home Basic - Vista Home Premium - Vista Ultimate

[Advertisements]

"The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.

So!?! What happens if you are unlucky and have two PCs go dead? How is someone going to put the OS on the third machine?

Hopefully, it just takes one call to Micro$oft...

[Hyperspace]

"The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.

So!?! What happens if you are unlucky and have two PCs go dead? How is someone going to put the OS on the third machine?

Hopefully, it just takes one call to Micro$oft...

[Retired Tech]

Some say you would need to re-assign the license if you rebuild

[SOORENA]

Dude this totaly sucks! Wait, so does that mean you can install it on the same machine more than a couple of times?

Edited by SOORENA, 17 October 2006 - 07:54 PM.

[Hyperspace]

Some say you would need to re-assign the license if you rebuild

I see that you can re-assign to the second machine...I'm talking about if you have went though 2 PCs and now are on a third.

How does someone install on the 3rd machine?

as in...2 PCs broke on me with Vista...and I have a third I need to put my copy of Vista on.

Edited by Hyperspace, 17 October 2006 - 07:59 PM.

[Retired Tech]

Not looking good for that, if you rebuild your existing PC it counts as a move / re-assign, so putting it on a different PC is only OK once, evidently

It could be water testing, see what they say after the whole world and his friend e-mails them

[Hyperspace]

Not looking good for that, if you rebuild your existing PC it counts as a move / re-assign, so putting it on a different PC is only OK once, evidently

It could be water testing, see what they say after the whole world and his friend e-mails them

That's major crap of M$ does that!!!

[Retired Tech]

Microsoft amends Vista Licensing Terms

The new license will be included with the retail boxes of Vista and will be posted online later today.

It states: “You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices.”