Microsoft caves in over Vista EULA

Good news for hardware enthusiasts who are going to be using Windows Vista.  Microsoft has caved-in to pressure and changed the license terms.  Here's the latest information from Microsoft:

In preparation for the launch of Windows Vista, Microsoft recently published the retail license terms for the Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate SKUs of Windows Vista. After the terms were released, users responded with requests for more flexibility to the licensing terms with devices.

Today (11/2), Microsoft announced a change to the retail license terms for Windows Vista based on feedback from our customers and the community.  Specifically, the terms now read that “You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices.” [emphasis added]

Microsoft expects this change to give hardware enthusiasts the latitude to upgrade their PCs or reassign their license to a new PC, while still making clear our intentions to protect our software from piracy.

This does not affect OEM where no transfer of the license is allowed, but it does bring a greater level of flexibility to the retail license.

This is great news for hardware enthusiasts and those that buy their operating system separate to their PC, but I'm still going to be going through the new EULAs with a fine toothed comb to make sure that there are no other surprises waiting in there for us.