VMware + WindowsXP guest + license?

[charlie derr]

Derek Broughton wrote:
> NoOp wrote:
> 
<snip>
>> "In addition, they cannot transfer an existing OEM Windows
>> desktop license into a virtual machine."
> 
> Again, that's not a legal opinion, it's a _fact_.  You can't do it without
> hacking or convincing MS that the key you have is faulty.


I've found the opposite.  I have a Dell laptop that's less than a year old which came with XP pro.  I can boot from native XP or 
from a number of debian and ubuntu partitions.  When I'm running debian (almost always), I also have VMWare workstation running 
and I installed XP Pro as a virtual machine (from an install CD that had nothing to do with my original laptop).  I put in the 
number from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop for the license key for the XP instance that was running in the virtual 
machine.  I was able to validate both the virtual machine instance (which I used more often) and the native XP and get all updates 
for both instances.  Since I couldn't physically be using both XP instances at that same time, it never occurred to me that I was 
in violation of the license (and I still hold the position that I wasn't).  In the meantime, my XP virtual instance actually grew 
too large so I deleted it to save space, and when I installed a fresh XP virtual machine more recently I did it with a valid (but 
distinct) group license this time.

	obviously ymmv,
		~c