Tip: Buying the Right OEM OS

When purchasing new PCs, business customers are likely to order them with Windows XP Professional Edition, the recommended client OS for business use. However, some customers can use volume licensing to reduce the cost of new PCs.

The Windows XP Professional Upgrade gives an organization the right to upgrade from any previous Microsoft OS, going back to MS-DOS, and including Windows 3.x, and even IBM’s OS/2 and various Unix OSs (but not Linux).

Depending on their volume plan, discount level, and OEM, some organizations might be able to order PCs with an older OS (Windows 98 is still available from some OEMs, but even Windows XP Home Edition is typically US$70 cheaper than Windows XP Professional Edition when ordered through an OEM) and then upgrade the PCs to Windows XP Professional Edition, rather than purchasing the more expensive Windows XP Professional from the OEM.

This is particularly important for Enterprise Agreement and Open Value Company-Wide customers who purchase the Enterprise or Desktop Platforms (respectively). These include the Windows XP Professional Upgrade for every PC in their organization. If these customers purchase a lower-cost OS with their OEM PCs and re-image those PCs with Windows XP Professional Edition, which they can do at no additional license cost, they benefit immediately from that upgrade license.