Question

jjmax

Is so-called 'Abandonware' illegal?

The reason I ask:

I am repairing old PCs, a lot of them were originally built with Win '98 & Win '95.

I see no reason to upgrade to another OS, for two reasons,
1 - The people using the machine don't need XP/2000
2 - The machine wouldn't be able to take XP/2000.

However, Microsoft has stopped selling '95 & '98.

So, if my customer has lost their original CD can I install my own copy '95/'98 on their machine, and get away with it?

Microsoft's official line is - NO. The only solution they can offer is to upgrade the PC, which essentially means get a new PC.

It seems Win 95 & 98 falls into the abandonware category, so is it legal to distribute it as such?

Boro

I dont think its abandonware until the publisher officially relinquish it as such. I doubt win98 falls under that, as like you said :

Microsoft's official line is - NO. The only solution they can offer is to upgrade the PC, which essentially means get a new PC.

Legally, i think you are pretty screwed if you get caught.
On the other hand, microsoft arent going to be checking your serials, so.... up to you?

stevenmu

As Boro said, they're not really abandonware untill Microsoft declares them as such. But seeing as the PCs originally had Win95/98 then they presumably have valid licenses, so you would probably be ok to reinstall them using your own serial number.

jjmax

That's what I reckon too, it's a bit **** really but I suppose you'd have to be really unlucky to get caught for it.