Better think twice if you’re using Windows, because Microsoft wants you to get a new Windows license with every motherboard upgrade. This is one of the latest revisions to the Windows end-user license agreement (which nobody bothers to read, anyway): it says installing a new motherboard is tantamount to your getting a new computer, which means you have to purchase a new Windows license.
An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a “new personal computer� to which Microsoft® OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required.
According to Microsoft, the motherboard is the only base component that defines a PC. So you can change changing everything else on your system–your hard drive, optical drives, monitor, casing, power supply, RAM, input devices–and it’s still essentially the same machine for Microsoft.
I think this is ridiculous.
(via Aviran’s Place)