Robert Heller wrote:
Unfortunately, this is no longer an option as these days when you buy a Windows PC you do not get any installation media, merely a recovery CD/DVD. Yes, you are reading this right - you are paying money for the OS but you ain't getting no disks with it!
NO, you were *never* paying for the OS! When you 'pay' for MS-Windows you are paying for the right to USE a COPY of it. You do not *OWN* anything. Microsoft *does not sell* the O/S, only licenses to use it. MS is just getting 'smart' -- by not shipping a installation disk with OEM copies they are just preventing pirating. Read the EULA.
furthermore, its not even necessarily true. you can order media with the system from many vendors, most others will supply the DVD for a nominal S&H fee. Anyways, its not Microsoft who's not shipping the OEM DVD, its the OEM vendor. You're less likely to get a disk with an elcheapo bigbox store retail system, where the $1 or $2 saved by not packaging the media is a significant chunk of the narrow profit.