Dual Installs Cancelled

OEMs are no longer likely to offer PCs that, on first boot, give the user a one-time choice of Microsoft operating systems (OSs). Known as “dual install,” the practice typically gives users the option of selecting Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Professional when they start up a new machine for the first time. The end of dual installs could make it somewhat more complicated for companies that have standardized on an older OS to set up new PCs.

OEM Licensing Change

Dual installs are likely to disappear because of a change in Windows licensing for OEMs. Microsoft formerly allowed OEMs that configured a PC for dual install to pay for only a single version of the OS, even though two were installed on the PC. Now, however, OEMs that want to offer a choice of Microsoft OSs will need to license each copy on a PC. Since few OEMs are likely to do so, customers who want to use Windows 2000 Professional will have to either special order Windows 2000 Professional or delete Windows XP and install Windows 2000 on new PCs. (OEMs remain free to ship Windows and a non-Microsoft OS as a result of the consent decree that ended the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust action against the company.)