Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) software was originally used to refer to software programs that came installed on the PC at the time of purchase. Software piraters have taken over the name and use it in invasive spam attacks and online schemes to sell pirated software.
Businesses need to be very aware of licensing requirements and be certain that all copies of business software are legal and covered by the required licenses. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Online businesses have become very efficient at making software look legal (down to the exact copies of business logos, candy boxes and jewel cases). Buying OEM software from the original manufacturer or reputable reseller is the safest bet.
PCs purchased with OEM software installed are legally licensed by the PC manufacturer. Generally the purchaser of these PCs needs to register the software and keep a record of the product key or license. Large businesses generally buy multiple licenses for software through volume licensing programs.
Most PCs today are sold with a Microsoft Windows product for the Operating System. They generally have either the Microsoft office suite, or Word Perfect office suite, antivirus software and an internet interface as standard applications. PC manufactures provide restore CDs with these applications incase a reinstall is necessary. Generally support for these applications has to come from the PC manufacturer rather than the Software developer and it can be difficult to get decent support when problems occur.
Criteria to be considered when purchasing OEM software include:
- Cost
- Is software legal?
- Support – OEM software on a purchased PC usually comes with little or no decent support
- System resources: Not usually an issue, but sometimes small business environments are on over-taxed hardware already.