Cheapest place to get Windows XP

[matticus008]

Well we agree on that too! I think we agree much more than we disagree, and I think it has been a useful discussion.

I'm almost positive that we agree in interpretation of the EULA and policies . I think it was just the fact that you didn't mention the full version license at all in your original post that prompted me to respond.

My main point is this. There is not such thing as an OEM upgrade licenses, only retail Full Packaged Product labelled as such. In order to qualify for this upgrade you need a legal, upgradeable, license of a product than Microsoft has deemed eligible for the upgrade installed on a PC or available to be installed on a PC.

Sorry, my wording might have been confusing. The upgrade license (which is as you say only available in retail form these days) can be used to upgrade a prior retail, full version of Windows without a second thought. An OEM, full version of Windows may or may not qualify, and a previous upgrade version (retail or OEM [though OEM upgrades no longer exist, as you say]) could also go either way. For example, the Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 Upgrade ->Windows 98 Upgrade path was not always legal. I think Microsoft has cleared this up starting with XP (and the elimination of OEM upgrade licenses had a big part to do with this). They're moving in the right direction, but it's still pretty messy.

So I guess I'm saying:
OldWindows Full Retail -> Windows Full Retail = no problem, can be installed simultaneously.
OldWindows Full Retail copy -> Windows XP Upgrade = No problem.
OldWindows Full OEM copy -> Windows XP Upgrade = Usually okay, check your specific OEM license.
OldWindows Upgrade (via OlderWindows) -> Windows XP Upgrade = might be problematic; just fine starting with XP onward into the future.

Installing the upgrade revokes your old license and gives you a new Windows license that is now governed by the retail EULA I linked to. Said retail EULA gives you the right to internally transfer said new license to another computer, which may or not have been your right under the old license.

More or less correct. The installed upgrade becomes the "top layer of paint" on the stack of licenses below it (Microsoft licensing terms have varied on whether you can upgrade an upgrade...some wordings have required you to alternate between full version licenses and upgrade licenses). If you transfer that license, the "old layers" are also transferred, as the whole ball of wax is a single unit. You can choose to install any licensed OS, but only any ONE of them at a time. Strictly speaking, you can't even dual boot Windows 2000 and XP Pro if the XP Pro license was an upgrade, even though you have that Windows 2000 license and media. However, this is a quirk of law and even the RIAA would probably not prosecute for a dual-boot on the same system.

Of course, I'm not saying that's the way things should be, only that that's the way they are.

the XP license itself was derived most recently from a separate Windows 95 license I no longer know where the floppies (yes, I said floppies) went. I know I have them, just not at my fingertips.

Dear god, I remember those days. Windows 95 came on something like 42 floppies (or a CD). Thankfully, it was the last OS to do so. At the time, I had a handful of computers with no CD drives, so I had a stack of licenses and floppy media. Eventually, I destroyed all but the first disk and the license when all of the machines were upgraded or replaced with ones with "high speed" (4x, I think) CD drives.