OT: Windows is too expensive

[Fyron]

That's not what this is; it is an OEM copy of XP. It is not an upgrade copy, it is a full installer. You don't need to provide anyone any information to install or activate it. The "OEM" version simply means that its activation is tied to a motherboard, and you can't transfer the license to a new machine (like you can with a Retail full edition). When you buy the thing AZ linked to, you get a full, working copy of XP that is installed from a clean slate, not linked to upgrading any previous edition of Windows.

Where the upgrade comes into play is with Vista. In order to pacify customer complaints about Vista being delayed past the Christmas season, MS has offered discounted (or free, depending on what you have) upgrades to Vista for recently purchased OEM systems. They apparently also let system builders do it too, if they purchase an OEM (rather than retail) copy of XP. What Newegg is doing is simply providing you with information on this potential upgrade path.

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When the time comes, post about any software she needs and we can probably provide a Linux alternative (unless it is a win32 only game, then you really need Wine/Cedega).