Compucon Personal Computers

OEM Software

On this page: Microsoft Windows 8 | Microsoft Office | Microsoft Windows 7 | Microsoft Windows XP

Microsoft Windows 8

Microsoft Windows 8: New Licensing Terms

Changes in Retail Licence

As a reminder, for Windows 7, there are two retail licence types that are offered:
- A full licence of Windows 7 for installation by end users on a PC that does not have a previous version of Windows installed on it
- An upgrade licence of Windows 7 that upgrades a PC with a previous version of Windows to Windows 7
The majority of consumers buying the retail licence are looking to upgrade. For Windows 8, Microsoft will therefore only offer an upgrade version of Windows 8 through the retail channel. This is the licence an end user would purchase who wants to upgrade their current PC from a prior version of Windows to Windows 8.

Changes in Windows 8 OEM System Builder Licence

In view of the above change, the System Builder licence for Windows 8 will include a “Do It Yourself” or DIY rights licence for end users who wish to build their own PC for their personal use or install Windows as an additional operating system in a virtual machine or a separate partition. These users will also be able to purchase and install the System Builder product.

(PDF download 40k)

Read Microsoft's 1-page summary of Microsoft Windows 8 Licence provisions.

(PDF download 70k)

View the full text of the Microsoft Windows 8 OEM System Builder Licence as affixed to software packs.

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro: Downgrade Rights to Windows 7 Professional

Windows 8 Pro includes downgrade rights that enable users to purchase a new PC with a Windows 8 Pro licence, but install Windows 7 Professional instead. Windows 8 Pro can be installed later if desired.

See our detailed Microsoft Windows 8 Downgrade Rights page.

Microsoft Office

Office 365 vs. Office 2013

See our detailed Office 365 vs. Office 2013 page for a full comparison.

Microsoft Office Installation Files

Preinstalled ("OEM") versions of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Office 2013 have been sold by Microsoft as media-less licences, without installation disks. (Compucon uses a master preinstallation kit to install Microsoft Office on new PCs.)

If you purchased a Compucon PC with Microsoft Office, and you need to obtain installation software, you can download it or purchase a backup disc directly from the Microsoft Office Backup website.

Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Windows 7: Downgrade Rights to Windows XP or Windows Vista

Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate include downgrade rights that enable users to purchase a new PC with a Windows 7 licence, but install Windows XP or Windows Vista instead. Windows 7 can be installed later if desired.

See our detailed Microsoft Windows 7 Downgrade Rights page.

Microsoft Windows 7: OEM System Builder Licence

Microsoft software available from Compucon is typically defined as "OEM" and must therefore be bought and sold within the terms of the relevant Microsoft OEM Software Licence Agreement.

OEM software may be purchased preinstalled on a new Compucon PC. Alternatively, you may purchase a sealed OEM software pack from Compucon. If you open the pack, you must preinstall the enclosed software onto a fully assembled computer system. OEM software may never be sold to end users (unless they are assembling a new PC themselves).

Microsoft OEM System Builder Licence
(as affixed to software packs)

(PDF download 85k)

Microsoft Windows XP

End of Sales / End of Support

Microsoft announced that it would stop supplying Windows XP to its OEM distributors on 31 January 2009. In practice, Windows XP continued to be available through most of 2009. However, Windows XP has now been removed from the general system builder channel.

As of 8 April 2014, support and updates for Windows XP are no longer available from Microsoft.

Find out more about your options on our special Windows XP End of Sales page.

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