Someone was looking for DOS 1?

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Sat Sep 19 14:35:31 1998

By the way, with all this talk about old versions of DOS (and other MS
products), and getting copies of same, I thought I should mention an
interesting aspect of MS End User License Agreements (EULAs).

At least some of them state state theat the licensee is entitled to install
and use any earlier version of the same product. For instance, the EULA for
Office 95 states:

  1. GRANT OF LICENSE. This EULA grants you the following rights:

      * Software: You may install and use one copy of the SOFTWARE
        PRODUCT, or in its place, any prior version for the same
        operating system, on a single computer. The primary user of the
        computer on which the SOFTWARE PRODUCT is installed may make a
        second copy of his or her exclusive use on either a home or
        portable computer.

When I bought Office 95, I was quite pleased to see this, because I still
occasionally used Windows 3.1, and did not own a copy of Office Pro 4.3.

Strictly interpreting the license, I would have to deinstall Office 95
every time I wanted to install Office Pro 4.3, and vice versa, unless I
had a separate license for Office Pro 4.3 that was not used to upgrade
to Office 95.

Anyhow, I've never actually found myself a copy of the Office Pro 4.3
CD-ROM. If anyone has an extra, please let me know. Since I'm legally
entitled to install and run it (under certain circumstances), it isn't
piracy for me to get a copy from someone else. :-)

The more insteresting part is the second sentence. I personally own
a copy of Office 95. When I worked at a previous employer, the employer
did not provide a copy or license of Office for my use in the office.
So I installed my personal copy on my computer at work, as the "single
computer", as provided in the first sentence of the license. I installed
a second copy on my home computer, as the "home or portable computer" of
the second sentence.

In this minor regard, the Microsoft EULA was even better than the old
Borland book-style license.

Be forwarned, however, that Microsoft does not use the same EULA for all
of their products. I don't even know whether Office 97's EULA offers
these same terms.

Eric
Received on Sat Sep 19 1998 - 14:35:31 BST