First off, I'll observe that "buying software for a business" is OT here... better to ask on WINNT-L or at least OT: the subject line here.
Second, I get nothing from gergentol.com. Company website down is first sign of a bad choice. Next bad sign comes from the whois info (take note of status, creation date, and expiration date... bad signs all of those): Domain Name: GERGENTOL.COM Registrar: PARAVA NETWORKS INC DBA REGISTRATEYA.COM NAAME.COM Whois Server: whois.parava.net Referral URL: http://www.parava.net Name Server: NS1.MASTERGREEN.INFO Name Server: NS2.MASTERGREEN.INFO Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK Updated Date: 16-apr-2006 Creation Date: 16-apr-2006 Expiration Date: 16-apr-2007 Third, why does your boss believe that "deeply discounted" software exists? Is he reading spam? Believe this: *all* software advertised in spam are either bootleg/illegal, or at best, grey market. You may also find grey market software just searching Google for cheap software. "Grey market" is typically OEM software which has been removed from its original machine. These re-sales are not approved by Microsoft. It will probably activate, but you're unlikely to get a genuine COA label. In the worst case, the ID code may not pass Microsoft Genuine validation in the future. I would never recommend such purchases to any company. The best you can hope to do is buy genuine OEM software. That said, you will find some OEM sellers who don't require a qualifying hardware purchase. While not strictly legit per MS requirements, these companies have been doing it for many years, are top google matches, and still display MS logos. I can only conclude that MS is aware and turns a blind eye. Here's one such company: http://www.viosoftware.com. (I have seen companies that sold grey market with MS logos on their sites... months later those logos are gone). "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is" highly applies to software that is way cheaper than well known suppliers (e.g. CDW). Carl -----Original Message----- From: Windows Home/SOHO [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Poer Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 4:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Cheap sofware offered on web Can anyone point me to a comprehensive website with some good opinions on buying software at deeply discounted prices. I don't particularly like the idea, but my boss is pressuring. I need good ammo why it is not a good idea or if it is a good idea. All opinions definately welcome from this list!!n Like this one: http://www.gergentol.com/ Jim -- ---------------------------------------- To Change your email Address for this list, send the following message: CHANGE WIN-HOME your_old_address your_new_address to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Note carefully that both old and new addresses are required.
