Microsoft has decided to ease up on one aspect of the licensing of the upcoming Windows Vista. The aspect in question is the number of times a licensee has the right to transfer a copy of windows to a new computer.

Under the old version, licensees would only be able to transfer a retail copy of Windows to a new computer “one time”, provided it was removed from the first computer. Under the new agreement, licensees may transfer it an indefinite number of times to a new computer, provided it is removed from the previous computer. This is great news for “PC enthusiasts” who tend to replace hardware in their computers quite often, and were concerned over how the original agreement would affect their ability to do this. The cost of purchasing a new license every few hardware changes would certainly add up.

The changes to the license in question only refer to a retail boxed copy of Vista. The OEM copies Vista that come installed with most new computers do not benefit from the changes and are still tied to a particular computer.

This reminds me of the question: “if every board on a ship has been replaced, is it the same ship?” Well, it is still not clear what even constitute a new computer in the view of Microsoft. If my mother board dies and is replaced, is that new computer? How about adding a new hard drive and more ram?

Source: ZDNet