buy oem softwareDo i have to buy OEM software if i buy OEM hardware?

I am building my own computer. I dont know tht much about Oem and wht it is.
OEM software is a just a disk. Retail is a disk with manual fancy box etc.

OEM stuff is the component without all extra stuff. For example a OEM processor would ship just the processor and nothing else.

Retail stuff come with manuals, some accessories, etc. An Example would be a retail computer processor, it comes with manual, warranty, heat sink. It is a little more expensive but many times worth the price.

You aren't required to buy one or the other. However if say software comes with a separate purchase, they will ship a OEM copy usually.

Go with your preference. Processors are the only item I can think of that get a big advantage when buying retail. For anything else ask yourself if you want the extras.
i don;t know of any reason you would HAVE to buy OEM software, but it usually costs less tobuy oem software buy it that way
NO, you don't have to buy OEM softwate to install on OEM hardware. What out for those OEM products. OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer and they don't offer warranty if any. Look for retail products that do offer a longer warranty. If you install OEM software to you only have a limited amount of times you can install it to take that into consideration. Hope this helps.
No, it just tells you what your're getting. Normally when you buy OEM or Orginal Equipment Manufacturer, you're buying something made by one company that is being marketed by another. For example Panasonic made the CD Rom but it's being sold as a House Brand or under another name. It also means that you're probably going to be getting a 'condensed' version of the original 'retail' version. This means that you're going to be missing the nice 'store' packaging, software that may have come with the ebuy oem softwarequipment originally, cables, manuals, etc.

Basically you're just getting the equipment with no 'extras' when you buy OEM. It also means you have a basic warranty instead of the 1 year or more warranty that might have come with a 'retail' version.
OEM is much cheaper than retail, you can buy either but you will save money with OEM just realize you dont get retail support from the manufacturer of the software, The OEM stuff that SPAM is made of is pirated as MS doesnt sell downloaded software you need a disk with the hologram and COA, and with the WGA you be foolish to use anything but legal software, and considering the support Microsoft provides it is a bargain to buy legal software. I build my own computers and XP pro can be purchased for about $135 and XP home is about $90, I only use XP pro