So do you think with Vista could I buy the oem, do my frequent upgrades, and be okay? Is there any way for the software to tell the difference and freeze me out?
I don't know what they plan to do with OEM versions. Buying OEM version is also very popular here in Taiwan, to an extent that it's almost impossible to find a retail version. Everyone sells OEM versions.
As I said in my previous post, Microsoft did say that they want to make some checks to the hardware in OEM version (such as, for example, supposed that you buy a computer from Acer, the OEM Vista will check the BIOS to make sure that it runs on an Acer computer).
However, not all OEM versions are for large computer vendors. Microsoft would still like to sell OEM versions to small computer vendors, and it's almost impossible to lock-in for these small vendors as they are likely to use different components for different customers.
If Microsoft wants, they can make the OEM version to record the model of the motherboard, hash it and send the value through the activation process to their center database. Later, any reinstall of this copy will need to match the model hash value, otherwise it won't install. This way, reinstall the OEM version on another computer would be impossible. However, the main drawback is, this basically "tie-in" the license with the motherboard, not the computer. Of course, it's very difficult to define "computer," so Microsoft may decide that the motherboard, or the combination of several things (motherboard, CPU, harddisk, etc.), is the "computer." This will limit the upgrade path of the user.
I don't know what Microsoft will do with OEM versions. Although, they probably won't change too much. Lock the motherboard is sometimes very bad, because motherboards can fail, and when they fail, it's not necessarily possible to find the same model to replace the old one. I have one computer which motherboard failed, and the model was out of production already, so I have to buy a new one. The Windows XP OEM version failed to reactivate through the internet, but I got a new activation code through a phone call. They asked about the reason and I told them that the old motherboard failed. They didn't ask any further questions.
I do believe that Microsoft want to tighten the rules, of course they do. However, they also know that they can't piss too many customers, or it will backfire. They will want to test the market reaction, and make adjustments accordingly. This "one transfer" limit is a good example. They tested and apparently it won't work, so they back down. I am sure they want to do similar tests on OEM version, but we probably have to wait to find out how far they will go.
