Windows XP Price

Just seen this on a U.K. site:- ------------------------------------ It«s a sad reality that many people out there have illegal Operating Systems on their PCs. Many won«t even know that it«s illegal, as it was installed by a friend or a relative who just wanted to help them out. Others choose to acquire "cracked" or "hacked" copies because they think Windows XP costs hundreds of pounds and they want to save money, but all they do is leave themselves open to the viruses and spyware that software pirates work into their discs. There is a solution. It«s cost effective, safe and most importantly, it«s legal. Windows XP OEM is usually shipped only with a new PC, but in a drive to make computing safer for everyone, Microsoft have now declared that it can be sold with just about any hardware purchase. Even a cheap mouse such as the one this link points to! So take advantage today - get legal, get secure, and enjoy safe computing. ----------------------------------------

The quoted price is UKP 93.48, including tax for the OEM version of the full Pro edition. What intrigued me was the price (on sale at UKP 203 elsewhere) together with that claim "Microsoft have now declared...."

Office 2003 (Pro, Full) is UKP 208.13 rather than UKP 376, but that depends on the purchase of a M-B or a CPU or a HD.

(1 UKP is approx 1.82 USD)

So what gives? Is this MS dropping prices here at last? - and how do they then pull the strings? The OEM is generally bundled WITH a computer, most likely installed ON that computer, and licensed only FOR that computer, is it not?

Bill