If you had any reservations about it, they were probably cleared up when you heard about the licensing change in Windows 8.
If you’re an average PC enthusiast building a PC, you probably purchase a System Builder edition of Windows because it’s cheaper and shows up on top of Amazon and Newegg. Look, this is a completely absurd situation. Yikes! Who can keep track of this stuff? Want a Legitimate License? Those Cost Extra
Before that, Windows 7 didn’t consider you a System Builder, while Windows Vista and previous versions of Windows did - according to Microsoft’s website, although the license agreement itself was vague. You’re not - at least according to Windows 8.1’s terms, although you were a System Builder under Windows 8’s license. This message is also purposely vague - you might think you’re a System Builder because you’re building your own PC. Otherwise, shop our Windows 8.1 titles.” But come on - we all know normal people are buying the System Builder editions. When you search for Windows 8.1, Amazon displays the message “If you’re a system builder, Amazon offers Windows OEM products.
The licensing information on sites like Amazon and Newegg doesn’t clearly say “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BUY THIS FOR YOUR OWN PC” - that’s what it should say if Microsoft is serious about enforcing their license agreement. People are clearly buying these system builder licenses for personal use.
In fact, the System Builder copy of Windows 8.1 Pro is $46 cheaper than the standard retail copy of Windows 8.1 Pro on right now. However, it’s now more than a year later and you can still find System Builder copies of Windows 8.1 near the top of Amazon and Newegg when you go to buy a copy of the latest version of Windows for your new PC. “Microsoft is shifting gravity away from System Builder builds except for OEM partners and others that buy its operating system in bulk from distribution partners.” In September 2013, TechCrunch reported that: In fact, press reported that Microsoft was killing the “System Builder” copies of Windows so everyone could just buy the standard retail copies.
Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 system builder software does not permit personal use, and is intended only for preinstallation on customer systems that will be sold to end users.”Īt the time, Microsoft announced they’d be removing System Builder copies of Windows from typical consumer retail channels - computer stores and online retailers like Amazon and Newegg. “If you are building a system for your personal use or installing an additional operating system in a virtual machine, you will need to purchase Windows 8 software or a Microsoft retail version of Windows 8.1 software. This is spelled out very clearly on Microsoft’s “ Windows system builder licensing for personal use” page: You may have purchased a System Builder copy of Windows 8.1 after hearing this problem was solved in Windows 8, but sorry! You’re using a non-genuine copy of Windows in Microsoft’s eyes. The personal use allowance was removed from the Windows 8.1 System Builder license. Windows 8.1 is considered a completely new operating system, and it has a new license agreement. Windows 8’s license changes were widely reported on at the time. “With the Personal Use License, end users can buy an OEM System Builder License and use it on a machine they self-build, or as an operating system installed on its own partition in a dual-boot configuration, or in a virtual machine.” Really, they were just undoing a ridiculous licensing change they made for Windows 7.Īs Microsoft’s Windows 8 licensing guide puts it: This was good, because people were doing this anyway.
This means that you could purchase a Windows 8 System Builder license and install it on a new PC you were building.
To fix it, they added a “Personal Use License” allowance to the Windows 8 System Builder license. But Microsoft did licensing right with Windows 8 - they saw that the Windows 7 OEM System Builder licensing situation was crazy.
Microsoft knows exactly how it got to that #1 position - because normal computer users bought it. Just look at the screenshot below - the Windows 7 Home Premium System Builder edition, which is “intended for pre-installation on a new PC for resale,” is the #1 best selling operating system product on.