Buy Windows from American dealers for cheaper?

[mikeymike]

In the UK, the best prices for (legitimate) copies of Windows 2000 and XP Pro tend to be about £100, which is approximately $180.

XP Home goes for about £60, which is approximately $110.

If anyone knows of a reputable American software dealer who sells Windows licences for cheaper than that, could you let me know who they are?

Tiger Direct is about $159 for pro, but shipped to the UK, it all about balances out.  

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=26

I'm all the time getting spam from people promising to sell me "real Windows XP Pro full bundle" for about $65 USD but would never bet on the legitimacy (or installability) of that product.

You might also check e-bay, if they still allow people to sell it there.  At one time they did, then they didn't, then they did again, so who knows?

Wayne

[seer]

Well, look at this. They sell OEM copies of software.

If they're a reputable American software dealer I don't know, but AFAIK, they are legal. (Just "abusing" the OEM license, buy a copy and get a piece of hardware for free or something like that).

Haven't bought from them tho..

/edit

Just read the FAQ... No mention on getting a piece of hardware..

[Holley]

lol, and the prices I look at read like a ripoff (select licenses with educational discount - XP Pro is about £55 ATM, Office is £35) ...

[seer]

Don't you need to be a student to use that ?

[mikeymike]

seer wrote:
Well, look at this. They sell OEM copies of software.

I was hopeful until I saw Photoshop 7.0 for $60, now I'm suspicious.  I might take a risk on trying a copy of WinXP from there though.

[seer]

I was hopeful until I saw Photoshop 7.0 for $60, now I'm suspicious.

Well, it is without box, manual and support from Adobe (as per OEM license AFAIK).. Tho if a manual and support costs 290..

[Ilwrath]

NewEgg sells Win XP Pro OEM for $141.  (You have to buy a piece of hardware to buy OEM software, but they conviently link you to a $0.99 power splitter cable to include with your purchase!) Or Win XP Home OEM for $90.

And, from NewEgg, I would guarantee that they are legit legal OEM versions.  I use them quite a bit for buying hardware components, and they have always come through with exactly the product advertised at exactly the price advertised.  (They don't try to sell an OEM part as a retail, or an imitation as an OEM, or any junk like that.)

The one time I did have a problem (I got a DOA CD/RW despite it being sealed in original packing) they were very prompt with the exchange and picked up shipping.  So, in short, I highly recommend them as a US company to deal with.  I don't know how overseas shipping would work, though.

[Holley]

Don't you need to be a student to use that ?

Either that or work somewhere education related ;-)

BTW the only real difference I know of between home and Pro is that Home has the domain related parts of Windows networking disabled.

[blobrana]

M$ Has a page about the differences, with a handy guide to what you really need.... < Ed- lobotomy?>

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 XP Pro and Home Editions have basically the same common core code, but they are really very different...

    * Backup—XP Pro has the standard Win2K backup program; XP Home has no backup program (but can be hacked).

    * Dynamic Disks—XP Pro supports dynamic disks; XP Home doesn't.
    * IIS—XP Pro includes IIS; XP Home doesn't.

    * Encrypted File System (EFS)—(it  lets you encrypt files on an NTFS partition) a very useful feature for mobile machines. XP Pro includes EFS; XP Home doesn't.

    * Multiple Monitors—XP Pro supports up to nine monitors; XP Home supports only one monitor
    * Multiprocessor—XP Pro supports up to two processors; XP Home supports only one.

    * Remote Desktop—XP Pro adds to Remote Assistance by letting any machine running a Terminal Services client run one Terminal Services session against an XP Pro machine.

    * Domain Membership—XP Pro systems can be domain members; XP Home systems can't, (er, but they can access domain resources.

    * Group Policy—XP Pro supports group policies; XP Home doesn't.

    * IntelliMirror—XP Pro supports IntelliMirror, (includes Microsoft Remote Installation Services, software deployment), and user setting management; XP Home doesn't support IntelliMirror.

    * Upgrade from Win2K/NT—Only XP Pro supports this upgrade.
    * 64-bit Support—Only XP Pro will have a 64-bit version that supports  Itanium systems.

    * And, yeah, Network Support—XP Pro includes support for Network Monitor, SNMP, IP Security , and the Client Services for NetWare ; XP Home doesn't.

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