MS OEM licensing
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I have a question for anyone out there: How is it that an OS software company (Microsoft), can dictate to hardware OEMs like Dell, Gateway(? are they even still around), IBM et al how they can sell their products ? The question relates to the whole selling of an OEM machine with no OS. How can MS legally make the demand that they (the OEM's) not be allowed to sell PC's without an OS? I understand that MS can play hardball and say, well if you want Windows, then this is how you have to play ball, but isn't that illegal ? Just wondering...
You've hit it on the head. Jim Crafton wrote: I understand that MS can play hardball and say, well if you want Windows, then this is how you have to play ball, but isn't that illegal ? No it's not illegal, but if you want to stay in the computer business, you have no choice but to comply. That's why we got out of the computer scene; the terms and conditions were too ridiculous. This was around '97. MS said that we had to include a modem with our consumer PC's in order to be PC97 compliant. Systems that were to be sold as professional systems (i.e. servers) were not required to have modems in order to be PC97 compliant. As for MS saying "you must", it related to the logo compatibility testing. Most consumers like to see "Windows x compatible" or "Runs on Windows" blah blah... A similar MS tactic is this new driver signing. Pay them and you're clear, don't and Windows shows a nasty message box stating that the driver you are about to install has not been certified with MS and could destroy your entire system ...ok, not that bad, but I get a funny feeling when I see that popup on my screen…More MS Brainwashing!!! Another example of MS power: When we were in the PC business, we had to include MS-DOS x . MS said that we had to buy X number of copies of the OS over the next few years to get a decent price on that current OS. However, MS also stated that they were releasing a newer version and they would not be supporting (in the OEM sense) the older OS that we were still required to buy. If we didn't by the older OS, fine, but the next time we wanted to use a MS OS, it would be at least twice the price! MS charged us $75 for each PC that went out with DOS. Regards, Paul...