Is it a sin to buy OEM Software

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porriwiggle

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Software is a serious expense, and I have recently purchased some OEM software because it was the software I needed at only a fraction of the price. I was assured that this is legal - although I am now having my doubts about that.

A friend of mine told me that he wouldn’t buy OEM software because it was “wrong”, and now I am worried that I might have sinned by buying it.
 
porriwiggle said:
Software is a serious expense, and I have recently purchased some OEM software because it was the software I needed at only a fraction of the price. I was assured that this is legal - although I am now having my doubts about that.

A friend of mine told me that he wouldn’t buy OEM software because it was “wrong”, and now I am worried that I might have sinned by buying it.
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What does OEM stand for?
 
I think, if you hardware was from the same OEM, you probably not have a problem. Where you may have a problem is when you buy the HW from one company and SW from another. Unless the two companies have an agreement, you may have illegal software. Check the licence agreement (you may need a lawyer for that).
 
No it should not be a sin. I build my own PC’s and build for friends. OEM OS’s/applications are the full version without the manual and such. Also tech support for it is the responsibility of the OEM. (Me in the case of my PC builds) The biggest difference from retail copies is that it is forever tied to the PC you first install on. You cannot move it to another PC. That’s it. No sin.
 
Stephen_C said:
No it should not be a sin. I build my own PC’s and build for friends. OEM OS’s/applications are the full version without the manual and such. Also tech support for it is the responsibility of the OEM. (Me in the case of my PC builds) The biggest difference from retail copies is that it is forever tied to the PC you first install on. You cannot move it to another PC. That’s it. No sin.
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Exactly 👍
not a sin… although anything to do with Microsoft always makes me wonder :rotfl:
 
As the other posters have stated, the biggest difference is the packaging. With OEM you do not get an owners manual and are not entitled to free technical support for the software. As the Director of Information Technology for my company, I purchase OEM for operating systems and when I am buying multiple copies of other software that I already have a full version (complete with manual) because I only need 1 manual and I don’t need tech support.

This goes for all sorts of software. Do you realize that MS Office STE(student and teacher edition) can be installed on up to 3 computers as long as they are not using the applications at the same time? That is so you can put it on your home computer and your laptop because you can’t be using them both at the same time.
 
BlestOne said:
As the other posters have stated, the biggest difference is the packaging. With OEM you do not get an owners manual and are not entitled to free technical support for the software. As the Director of Information Technology for my company, I purchase OEM for operating systems and when I am buying multiple copies of other software that I already have a full version (complete with manual) because I only need 1 manual and I don’t need tech support.

This goes for all sorts of software. Do you realize that MS Office STE(student and teacher edition) can be installed on up to 3 computers as long as they are not using the applications at the same time? That is so you can put it on your home computer and your laptop because you can’t be using them both at the same time.
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Actually, I believe the STE license allows for installation on 3 machines even if they are being used at the same time.
 
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