Will the OEM version of Windows 7 install properly on a Macbook Pro

Question

We are considering getting a Macbook Pro but are quite heavily tied to windows application so want to install Windows 7 on it.

Can you install the OEM version of Windows 7 on a Macbook Pro or do you need a full licence?

I'm fairly sure there should be no difference, I've installed OEM version of Windows an quite a few machines before I was wondering if there was anything that would stop it working on a Macbook.

Also are there any limitations on which SKU of Windows 7 will run on a Macbook Pro (Home Premium, Ultimate, etc.)

Answer 1

Do you know what OEM stands for? Original Equipment Manufacturer. Apple is the OEM and has not purchased a license for Windows.

You need a full license to legally use Win7 on the MacBook.

I'm fairly sure there should be no difference, I've installed OEM version of Windows an quite a few machines before

I read this as:

I don't understand the difference between retail and OEM SKUs

Answer 2

There's actually two different OEM varients - the one that you get at some hardware retailers in a jewel case is the 'system builder' varient, and licence aside, is fairly similar to retail. The other one is what big companies use, and relies on a key stored in bios for activation.

Chances are the former SHOULD work, but it would likely violate the licence. There's no obviously conceivable way you'd find the latter on a mac.

In theory any commonly available varient of windows 7 (home premium/pro/ultimate) should work on if the drivers supplied with bootcamp support windows 7, which if you're running the most recent version of OS X should be the case - there's no major hardware support differences between them