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Eric Ligman points out that a new System Builder Agreement went into effect on September 1 that prohibits selling OEM copies of Windows XP and Microsoft Office without selling and installing them on a “fully assembled computer system.” While I understand why Microsoft would like to close an obvious loophole on products which are also sold at retail, this will be a hit on folks building their own systems from piece parts and looks like it will also put an end to hardware hobbyists building their own XP x64 and Media Center systems, since these variants of XP are not offered as retail packages. Unfortunately, the full text of the new agreement seems only to be available to members of the System Builders program.
Revised at 12:50 EDT.
