Which versions of Windows 10 on Scan have a Retail licence?

[ZaO]

Hey guys. Just looking at the various versions of Windows 10 on your site. Some of them state they're OEM, but none state if they have a Retail licence as far as I can tell. Is it safe to assume that the licence is Retail if it doesn't say it's OEM? I find it a bit confusing and don't want to accidently buy an OEM licence..

So this one for example - does it have a Retail licence?: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/micro...rder-for-11-08

Thanks.

[leepen@scan]

Morning ZaO

We've no retail sku's on the system We're anticipating the same approach as Win8 here if I'm honest, but there's nothing set up for retail. The official stance is that the licence is designed to live and die on the device it's installed on to...

Really shocked at this personally but professionally I can see where they're coming from... Still sat here scratching my head though...

*edit* Just updated all the stock to reflect the fact that each one is OEM - thanks for posting and helping us to make things clearer.

[jag272]

That is indeed a shame, I suspected they were going that way myself after various things they said, disappointed that actually is the case though. Hopefully they atleast leave room for part replacement in their activation system, but assuming it works the same as previous OEM licenses, that's going to make motherboard failures significantly more expensive.

I guess this is part of their licensing reforms, think its a step back personally.

[Splash]

that's going to make motherboard failures significantly more expensive.

Hardware failures are legitimate reasons to reactivate an OEM license, it's the moving of an install to an entirely new platform that isn't permitted. Cue posts along the lines of "I've reactivated my OEM on a new build"...

In all honesty I can see why they'd want to go this route - people have been calling for Windows to be cheaper for a while, and this seems like an easy way to do this. It also means that they offload support to the system builders in this case, which means that they can cut costs there too.

[jag272]

We'll have to see how it goes then I guess, there's reports on both sides of the fence regarding reactivating after a motherboard failure. I have indeed seen, as you mentioned, people managed to activate OEM licenses on entirely new builds, likewise there have been situations where Microsoft adhere more closely to their own guidelines and avoid doing so.

I suspect it primarily comes down to the person who answers the call, assuming the automatic activation fails (which it sounds like you get a couple of runs at automatic reactivation), and how strictly they stick to their guidelines. Ofcourse with the reports of people who weren't allowed to reactivate, we also don't know their background so it may be that they've activated it many times and many PCs, we just don't know.

You may indeed be right and they may continue reactivating after motherboard failures, but I would think it's also one of the first things on the chopping block in regards to licensing changes, effectively making them OEM keys but with microsoft customer support.

We may also see them finally stick to their more specific system that identifies each piece of hardware as its own identifier, and each identifier has different limitations about how much it can be adjusted before deactivation. They supposedly already have that in place, but motherboard seems to catch up with people first.

[leepen@scan]

The less you know the more helpful MS tech support are at reactivating OEM's...

[jag272]

I'll remember that if I ever need to do so then Shame understanding = suspicion but they must get a lot of calls from pirates who have read up on their systems trying to abuse it too I imagine.

[Splash]

If your motherboard fails chances are you're having it replaced with an identical or very similar model under warranty. A new chipset/socket etc isn't really a replacement for a failure, it's a new build.

[jag272]

If your motherboard fails chances are you're having it replaced with an identical or very similar model under warranty. A new chipset/socket etc isn't really a replacement for a failure, it's a new build.

Guess I've always done things differently then, admittedly I don't buy any of the more expensive high power boards, that and the waiting time for RMA. I usually just buy another cheap board that is ideally compatible with the current CPU and then if the RMA goes through I keep that board as a spare in future.

If I was buying the big £100+ boards I would probably agree however, I wouldn't want to be buying another of those any time soon unless it was a planned upgrade due to suffering performance.

Edit: Doing a replacement of an ASUS F2A55-M LK2+ board at the moment for example, as the system is unstable despite replacing CPU, HDD and RAM + the ethernet port doesn't seem to work so almost certain its a faulty board. Needless to say however, this board isn't stocked anywhere anymore, so I bought a £30 MSI AM2+ board to replace it since AM2+ takes AM2 CPUs. Different chipset, unlikely to result in any performance change other than opening up new CPU paths, but by MS standards would still count as a new machine due to the new chipset.

[ZaO]

Morning ZaO

We've no retail sku's on the system We're anticipating the same approach as Win8 here if I'm honest, but there's nothing set up for retail. The official stance is that the licence is designed to live and die on the device it's installed on to...

Really shocked at this personally but professionally I can see where they're coming from... Still sat here scratching my head though...

*edit* Just updated all the stock to reflect the fact that each one is OEM - thanks for posting and helping us to make things clearer.

I'm surprised to hear that actually. I was looking at the MS support site here (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/s...win_upgrade//1) and people were asking about retail licences. It seems like you can still have that kind of licence where you're not tied to the motherboard, whether it's through upgrading your W7/W8 retail licence to W10, or through just buying W10 retail. I guess some of the answers could be wrong though..

I have also seen retail versions listed on another known uk store. At least they're listed as retail anyway, but maybe that makes no difference to the actual licence..
W10 Home retail: Manf.Code: KW9-00017
W10 Pro retail: Manf.Code: FQC-08789

Thanks.

Edit: Just heard back from that retailer after asking about the retail licence they're selling. Their response was " Unfortunately we do not have the full details of Windows 10 at the current moment in time as Microsoft has not fully released the details of all the releases of this OS, due to constant changes being made.". So there we go. What the hell are MS playing at... Looks like I'll be holding off buying until we can find some clarity on this.

[leepen@scan]

Appreciate the model numbers... let's see what our system is showing...

KW9-00017 - USB OEM
FQC-08789 - USB OEM

Both currently listed on our site

[ZaO]

Appreciate the model numbers... let's see what our system is showing...

KW9-00017 - USB OEM
FQC-08789 - USB OEM

Both currently listed on our site

Interesting. I think you must've just missed my edit when you replied. But it seems like this other retailer are not too sure about the licences they have..

[leepen@scan]

Yep, same boat as the rest of us. Normally though at this stage (and I've witnessed at least four windows OS releases in my time here) we'd have stock, have the skus and everything would be set up and ready to go... Normally including some promotional offers or multi user licence as an incentive... but looks as though they're relying on the "free upgrade" business as the incentive this time... It's a right PIA this, my customers don't want OEM!!!

[ZaO]

Yep, same boat as the rest of us. Normally though at this stage (and I've witnessed at least four windows OS releases in my time here) we'd have stock, have the skus and everything would be set up and ready to go... Normally including some promotional offers or multi user licence as an incentive... but looks as though they're relying on the "free upgrade" business as the incentive this time... It's a right PIA this, my customers don't want OEM!!!

Yeh I hear ya haha

[ZaO]

Seeing as it's release day, could you guys check the codes for the versions of Windows 10 you have, again? It looks like they might not all be OEM versions from what I can tell..

I'm waiting for more info to emerge about the differences between OEM and Retail versions, and whether you can transfer the retail version to different computers/different motherboards as with previous versions of Windows. I think it probably is gonna be the case, judging by the Microsoft support forum. But it would also be cool to hear it from you guys once you've found out I'm hoping I know enough about it to order myself a copy by later on today. Cheers.

[leepen@scan]

Mails have been sent!