Vista CD and other Inspirons..

Hey everyone,
My sister is planning on buying an E1505 and I was wondering if when shes pays the extra for the Vista cd like how we do it today with the XP, will I will be able to install it on my E1505? Probably a dumb question, any thoughts? Thanks a lot

 

Well you can use the CD but you cant use the same serial number on two or more computers, that is a no-no.

For example, if she install Vista on her computer and enter the serial number, that means you cant use the same serial number to install your computer. But if she decides to not to install, that is fine.

JC

 

Thats what I thought. So what if She purchases it when vista is being shipped already on Inspiron notebooks and she requests a CD, is the serial on it going to match her laptop only?

 

That would be my guess.

JC

 

aww thats bad news for me cause i have like 4-5 computers at my house (my dad's desktop, my dad's laptop, my laptop, my dad's girlfriend's desktop, and maybe one other), so that means we have to spend about $500-$1000 if we want to upgrade all the computers, but we will most likely just upgrade his desktop, his laptop, and my laptop...but still...it sucks a lot that we are gonna have to spend so much money cause you cant install the OS on more than one computer. do you think they will come out with a version taht can install on up to 3 computers, like Norton did for their Anti-Virus line?

 

The serial and the CD will work on both the notebooks (Cos the DELL CD is not restricted to a particular PC or a serial). But you can only install it on one of the notebooks, you cannot run two copies of Vista using the same serial on two PCs at the same time.

 

You can purchase a 5 seat volume license for Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/buy/software/open-license.mspx

 

Ok her computer comes with vista pre-loaded like XP does now. She requests the extra Vista CD. Will that extra CD be able to run on one separate laptop or will the license match her inspiron only?

 

I wonder if the vista CD will let u install it to any Dell computer like the XP ones do, (yea I kno its against the Microsoft commandments, but im wonderin if its doable anyway)

 

My guess is that the CD will work on any PC, because XP does and I am guessing Vista will be same. Getting a Vista disk is not your biggest problem because if worse comes to worst you can always download it off the net. I don't know how law works on pirated Windows OSs installed using a valid key; the way I see it as long as you have an authentic key it shouldnit matter how you got the CD, right ?

Your problem is using it. Even though you are able to install it on several PCs you cannot run multiple copies using a single license. It is illegal and Microsoft will (or already has) develop a mechanism that will block a certain key if they detect it running on several PCs.

Vista is good, but it is not a big leap from XP. And for most people XP will be good enough for at least for another year or so. Read this article : Sticking with Windows XP in a Windows Vista World. Even Microsoft says that Vista will 10~15% slower than XP for gaming. Given the price, hardware requirements and performance issues I don?t think Vista is worth the trouble right now.
I wouldn't buy it unless it comes preinstalled, not now at least.