2009/2/20 Kelman, Tom <thomas.kel...@commercebank.com>: > If a company has a license for Windows itself can Microsoft restrict what > hardware it is run on?
Well, IANAL etc, but there do seem to be two major MS WIndows licence types. The Retail licence doesn't say anything about what it runs on, and you can move it as often as you like, as long as it doesn't run in more than one place at a time. The OEM licence is tied to the machine it came with, i.e. MS claims that the hardware and software are licensed as a bundle. You can upgrade or repair the hardware, but they seem to have taken the approach that replacing the motherboard is what crosses the line and makes it a different machine. There are also various Volume licences that large companies use, but I think they are closer to Retail than OEM. That all said, MS can change its licences for new software any time it wants, subject to potential regulatory and antitrust issues, of course. > That is as long as it is a licensed copy of > Windows that gets run, and Mantissa isn't coming up with a Windows look > alike. In that second case Microsoft would have a patent infringment > case. I seem to remember that when IBM and MS split over OS/2, IBM retained the right to use the Windows 3.1 source code, and also to clone the Windows user interface going forward. But obviously things have moved on from those days, and I doubt anyone is in a position technically or financially to produce a Windows lookalike. It also seems inplausible that running Windows desktop on a z box is going to make sense. Surely it will be Windows server flavours that have the potential go move to big iron. And Windows servers are much easier to produce a functional lookalike for; already Linux can do pretty much all of that file serving, database, and related stuff. Tony H. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
