The problem with Vista is ... well, there's about 200 ways that sentence could be completed, now, couldn't there? Let's add another one to the mix.
Ed Bott of ZDNet is reporting that one of the new licensing stipulations with Windows Vista is that you are no longer allowed to move an individual copy of Vista from one machine to another indefinitely. At least, that's what the wording in the new EULA would have us believe:
15. REASSIGN TO ANOTHER DEVICE.
a. Software Other than Windows Anytime Upgrade. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the “licensed device.”
b. Windows Anytime Upgrade Software. The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time, but only if the license terms of the software you upgraded from allows reassignment.
Similar rules are in section 16 of the EULA, regarding transfer to a third party.
Now maybe this is just very bad wording. Perhaps all they are implying is that you only have the right to move a given copy to one other machine, and then you can only move that one copy to one other machine, and so on. In other words, you can't move it to five other machines.
But somehow I doubt that. And what's most worrisome about this particular stipulation is how it would affect people who are constantly tearing down and rebuilding; they wouldn't be able to use Vista reliably at all. Also, what about folks who upgrade continuously and don't stay with one hardware profile for any given time?
Unless Microsoft comes out and clarifies this particular issue a little more aggressively, I'm going to have a real hard time seeing this as being anything other than disgustingly unfair. Maybe it's fine for people whose copy of the OS is tied to the machine they bought it on and replace both PC and OS at the same time, but those of us who don't fit that profile are going to be -- and already are -- spitting mad.
I'll keep you all posted with any developments on this issue, but I suspect it's going to be a real deal-breaker for me.
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