differences to a retail activation?

[chconnor]

What are the differences, if any, between a MAS-activated system, and a system activated with a purchased retail key, in terms of hardware changes, os upgrades, etc? Do you lose or gain any options/flexibility/etc?

(I think i understand that a MAS activation can't move to a new computer where a retail key can, but you can just run MAS on the new computer anyway.)

[WindowsAddict]

There is no difference; the HWID option in MAS activates with an official digital license, which is the same as if you have bought a genuine retail key.

[chconnor]

Thanks! - I thought that with retail keys (as opposed to OEM) you could transfer them to another machine, but that with MAS it was hardware linked and thus non-transferrable? What have I misunderstood?

[WindowsAddict]

You would need to run that key again if the hardware is changed (license transfer is not reliable, same with MAS), and new uses of retail keys are limited.

And you can run the MAS again any time you need on new hardware.

[chconnor]

Thank you again. If one day Microsoft removed activation for MAS keys, or if significant hardware changes led to deactivation, it would likely be possible to activate the machine with a regular retail key, yes? (I understand you could also run MAS again in the latter case, just confirming my understanding.)

[WindowsAddict]

Correct.