{"id":880,"date":"2015-06-26T21:08:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T21:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/?p=880"},"modified":"2020-07-07T16:18:42","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T16:18:42","slug":"difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/","title":{"rendered":"Difference Between Retail and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever tried to buy a license for Windows, you\u2019re familiar with the challenges that come up. The concept may seem simple &#8211; buy the license and be on your way &#8211; but you have to decide upon the cheaper system builder (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/custom-build-program.php\">OEM<\/a>)or the more expensive retail license. In theory, these two options are built for different audiences: normal Windows users and those building their own workstation PCs.<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, most Windows users don\u2019t go out and purchase a boxed copy of Windows. Instead, the program comes pre-installed on the computer they purchased. But another group of people exists, too. Those who are building their own gaming computers and need to pre-install Windows onto their system.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at the differences between the two licenses.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Retail:<\/b> The retail version of Windows is the full version and the standard \u201cconsumer\u201d version. Anytime you walk into an electronics store and see the boxed sets of Windows, you\u2019re looking at the retail version. It\u2019s designed for people who want to upgrade their computer or buy a new license. The license can be installed on any computer, and it comes with full support from Microsoft.<\/li>\n<li><b>OEM:<\/b> The OEM version of Windows is a system builder and primarily used by large computer manufacturers as well as local computer shops. Computer enthusiasts can use them on their workstation PCs, though Microsoft has gone back and forth as to whether or not this is allowed. The OEM version is tied to a single PC forever, and it doesn\u2019t come with support from Microsoft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can imagine, the OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version, but it\u2019s also far more limited. This isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing if you\u2019re building your own workstation PC and every dollar counts. For example, you will still receive updates from Microsoft Update; you just won\u2019t be able to connect to them directly for support. Generally speaking, though, retail is best.<\/p>\n<p>When you choose Velocity Micro for your gaming PC, only retail parts will be used. We prefer retail parts because the higher performing computer parts are used in retail, while the slower performing parts are sold in bulk to OEMs. OEM companies then use the parts in their systems, and the consumer ends up with a gaming computer that runs slower than it should. More information about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/retail-vs-original-equipment-manufacturer-parts.php\">why we use retail parts<\/a> in our workstations and gaming systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever tried to buy a license for Windows, you\u2019re familiar with the challenges that come up. The concept&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Difference Between Retail &amp; OEM | Velocity Micro<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Difference Between Retail &amp; OEM | Velocity Micro\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Custom Gaming &amp; Workstation PC Blog | Velocity Micro\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VelocityMicro\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"VMPete\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"VMPete\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"VMPete\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a1cd28385f8903358bbe6a45b1e0fdf\"},\"headline\":\"Difference Between Retail and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\",\"name\":\"Difference Between Retail & OEM | Velocity Micro\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Difference Between Retail and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Custom Gaming &amp; Workstation PC Blog | Velocity Micro\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Velocity Micro\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/VMLogo_Black-HD.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/VMLogo_Black-HD.png\",\"width\":2229,\"height\":420,\"caption\":\"Velocity Micro\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VelocityMicro\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VelocityMicro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a1cd28385f8903358bbe6a45b1e0fdf\",\"name\":\"VMPete\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/326cc25b5e29eda331024f8b8059d6eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/326cc25b5e29eda331024f8b8059d6eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"VMPete\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/author\/vmpete\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Difference Between Retail & OEM | Velocity Micro","description":"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Difference Between Retail & OEM | Velocity Micro","og_description":"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/","og_site_name":"Custom Gaming &amp; Workstation PC Blog | Velocity Micro","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VelocityMicro\/","article_published_time":"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00","author":"VMPete","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"VMPete","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/"},"author":{"name":"VMPete","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a1cd28385f8903358bbe6a45b1e0fdf"},"headline":"Difference Between Retail and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)","datePublished":"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/"},"wordCount":424,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/","url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/","name":"Difference Between Retail & OEM | Velocity Micro","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-06-26T21:08:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-07T16:18:42+00:00","description":"The OEM version of Windows is much cheaper than the retail version. Let\u2019s take a look at the difference between retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/difference-between-retail-original-equipment-manufacturers-oem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Difference Between Retail and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/","name":"Custom Gaming &amp; Workstation PC Blog | Velocity Micro","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Velocity Micro","url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/VMLogo_Black-HD.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/VMLogo_Black-HD.png","width":2229,"height":420,"caption":"Velocity Micro"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VelocityMicro\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/VelocityMicro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a1cd28385f8903358bbe6a45b1e0fdf","name":"VMPete","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/326cc25b5e29eda331024f8b8059d6eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/326cc25b5e29eda331024f8b8059d6eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"VMPete"},"url":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/author\/vmpete\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions\/2399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.velocitymicro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}