On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 07:41:29 -0500 Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: Some people, like myself, have gone out of the way to purchase 'retail box' editions of Microsoft Operating Systems. They cost considerably more than the 'OEM' version or the 'Upgrade' version, but in many instances they WERE (and are) available. The owner of a retail-box edition of Windows 98, for instance, is entitled for perpetuity to run that software on any single machine. Windows 98 'retail box' 'for systems without a Windows operating system' was $189 instead of the $89 for an 'upgrade' copy, and the two packages were sold beside each other on the same retail shelf. And OEM versions, if purchased at a 'screwdriver shop' type operation, and not bundled with a specific machine from Compaq or Dell, are 'bound' to whatever piece of hardware they were purchased with. I don't know that it's been tested in court, but if I buy an OEM edition of Windows 2000 at a computer store bundled with a SIMM or a Hard Drive, which DOES (or did, anyway) satisfy Microsoft's OEM requirement, you could probably just tape that SIMM inside your new machine and continue to use the software. Or use it in some 'vital' capacity, i.e. as a spacer that keeps the hard drive from slipping down loosely in the case. I once purchased a new-old-stock 5-1/4" full-height 9GB SCSI hard drive from an ebay seller. He threw in a new shrink-wrapped copy of Office 97 without even telling me beforehand that it would be included. This was shortly after Office 2000 had come out, and Office 97 was still (and still is) a viable useful piece of software. It was a nice surprise and I had no idea that the software was going to be 'thrown in' on the deal (there was no mention of it on the bid page.) People get software all the time like that with laptops, etc.