skeeter@tritel.net wrote:

>If I buy a new car with Goodyear tires I can removing
>them and put them on my other car or any another car I
>want.
>If I but a new computer with XP or Vista why can't I
>remove the OS and put it on my other computer.
>Can some explain this in simple terms? I'm sure it's
>been asked before.
>Why is Microsoft special? Has anyone taken them to
>court on this issue?
>** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

When you purchased the car you acquired ownership of the vehicle and
all of its components, including the tires. Therefore you, as the
owner, can do almost anything you want with them. Note the "almost
anything". For example, you cannot (in most places) burn the tires
becauise of air pollution laws.

When you purchase the new computer with Windows preinstalled you do
not acquire ownership of Windows. That remains the property of
Microsoft. What you acquire is a license (or permit if you prefer) to
use one copy of Windows subject to the terms and conditions specified
in the license. And one of these terms in the license for
preinstalled Windows (commonly called OEM Windows) is that the license
is permanently locked to the first computer that it is installed on
and cannot be transferred to another computer under any circumstances.

Microsoft is not special. All software companies are legally
entitled to specifiy the terms and conditions under which their
software is licensed, and these license terms have been upheld in
court on a vast number of occasions.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."