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Wrong. While the motherboard may not be able to handle all new CPUs, there is a chance it can be upgraded, even if just a little.

XP OEM, no. But XP Retail, yes, it can be used with other motherboards if I'm not mistaken. Simple HDD swap between different machines? I haven't done it, but it sounds possible. http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html
(It'd probably be best to clone the HDD to a fresh drive incase the swap fails.)

Newer laptops probably don't need to be upgraded so often. While they are becoming quite faster in just a few years, if it works, it works.

Was it before or after the OEM license changes? In particular, see this posting from a Microsoft employee regarding the recent changes.

You're right.

The article poster might want to refer to this page on computer repair, which covers the OEM license. Generally, Microsoft will not require a new OS license for a motherboard replacement that is truly a replacement (i.e., same OEM/model). If you're trying to replace the box with a non-OEM motherboard, you're hosed, because this is not in compliance with the OEM license agreement, which is different from the retail EULA.

If you're replacing with the same/equivalent OEM motherboard, then just state immediately that the repair/upgrade was made in compliance with the OEM EULA right away, as this will save you a lot of time and hassle.

The legal method to handle this is to purchase an OEM version of Windows Xp. You then perform what is known as a "repair" install. The cdkey change tools will not work. You must do the repair install. That method will not change any of the settings or loose programs. http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall. htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=Windows+XP+Key+Ch anger

I guess that "+5 informative" needs some "-1 overrated" side-salad, huh?

I'm pretty sure the reason it doesn't work is that the version of Windows supplied under the genuine advantage program is different from the version that my customer's nephew installed. I believe it was Windows XP Professional Corporate Edition that was installed, and I'd guess that the CD supplied by Microsoft when she clicked on the "Get Genuine" link was either OEM or retail (it was certainly Windows XP Professional, and was a hologrammed CD).

The way I fixed this was to do a "repair install" of Windows XP. This worked perfectly & retained all the user's settings and documents, although I was pretty nervous about doing it and a number of drivers did require reinstall. Honestly, if you're undertaking this, be prepared to back everything up with a Knoppix CD & a portable hard-drive and to do a format-reinstall if necessary.

Ned.

Um...compare that to:

Mac OS X Version 10.4 requires a Macintosh with:

        * PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
        * Built-in FireWire
        * At least 256MB of physical RAM
        * A built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
        * At least 3.0 GB of available space on your hard drive; 4GB of disk space if you install XCode 2 developer tools
        * DVD drive for installation (get CD media for $9.95)

(http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements. html)

I think you could max a G3 at 800Mhz and it ran at 200Mhz on the low end. Not sure why Firewire is needed, but I think the requirment of a graphics card it smart:-p

3GB of space is still hefty, but not compared to Vista.

The specs are comparable to XP:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#01

# PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required; Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family or compatible processor recommended
# 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features))
# 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.
# Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
# CD-ROM or DVD drive
# Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

I have never seen XP run on anything slower than 800Mhz, but I have seen OS X, and it runs pretty well; it is responisive to say the least.

So let us say that both OS are full installs (bc, quite frankly, there is a lot of features (such as language support that you can choose to not install, on both if I'm not mistaken) AND clean installs of both work at comprebale speeds on similar (particualy old) hardware , XP is roughly half the size and uses less memory (I'm assuming 128MB min for full functionality). But that's assuming XP runs well at 128MB RAM (never tries, so I cannot say). Now I'm not going to get into, or start a feature war, but I think that both are reasonable expectations for what you get. Vista is not...

So, even my MS standards, Vista specs are horrible.

BTW: 128MB video WTF? What about comps w/ integrated video? Ans since when is a white box ship with a gig of RAM standard?

Actually, according to the EULA...

My understanding is an OEM copy of Windows is not transferrable to another machine. Nor are you eliglble for the upgrade price of a newer version of Windows.

Although not straight from the horses mouth per se, this article has some interesting Q and A's on this...
www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

If you buy the full retail version then I believe you are correct, the license is transferrable, if limited to one machine.

My favorite work around is to get these guys to send me as many copies of their OS as I need. By post. For free (as in beer:-)

"If you currently have a fully functioning windows machine, with apps, docs, etc installed. What's the deal? Can you pop that HDD in the compy and get the Mactel to recognise it"

I doubt it. With Windows XP, MS have deliberately made this a complex and dangerous process on any computer that can end up with your XP installation being trashed or permanently deactivated. Check out the following link for information:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

"If it's the latter I think there's still an uphill battler for Apple"

It doesn't seem to have had an adverse effect on MS, and they're the ones making the job difficult, not Apple. BootCamp simply provides a BIOS emulation layer for EFI, a boot manager, and some Windows drivers for Apple hardware, not a complete rewrite of Windows XP, so it will not change the behaviour that Microsoft have deliberately programmed into their operating system.

ViewKeyXP

You can change motherboards in Windows without having to reinstall. You just have to do a repair install part of the way and it should be happy (should being the operative term).

I couldnt get the 2k machine to boot by using the cd or any form of rescue disk

So, uh... how did you reinstall 2k then?

Not that a repair install could've helped you at that point. Once you booted the HD with the new MB you were pretty well screwed.

More info on how to accomplish a MB swap w/o a full reinstall is available here and here.

Yes, Linux does it better. I'm not disputing that. But changing out a MB doesn't necessarily mean you must reinstall (it used to though).