Does it make any difference if I purchase Vista from the US to use in UK

[Irish Grinch]

If I purchase the new Vista or Office 2007 from the USA I take it there is no difference using it in the UK? Probably sounds like a daft question but due to the exchange rates I can purchase it a lot cheaper and have it shipped over.

Am I missing the point?

[Saab Dastard]

IG, MS will find out where you live and pay you a little visit :uhoh:

Just kidding (I think...)

SD

[PPRuNe Pop]

I did it with my original copy of XP and its not a problem. Why should it be? When I am there I always look for the bargains against the rip-off world we live over here.

[BOFH]

due to the exchange rates

I am afraid not. Please read this and weep:
http://www.theregister.com/2007/02/14/pricey_beta_bugger/

The stand-alone version of Vista Ultimate retails for €600, or $780 here in Ireland. Amazon.com is selling this $780 version to Americans for $380. Or, to put it another way, Europeans are subsidising Americans by $400 on every copy they buy.
...
I bought the Home Premium upgrade for this series of reviews, and paid €250, or $325. Amazon sells it to Americans for $154, or €118.

Home premium upgrade is €197 in Germany, 135GBP (about the same) in the UK. The disparity cannot be blamed on VAT alone!

BOFH

[seacue]

I have a minor connection with a major R&D outfit here in the USA. The outfit has a pro-active in-house computer support operation. It forbids the running of any version of Vista on any computer connected to the organization's in-house network. The support operation intends to examine how software important to the users runs with Vista and then decide whether Vista will be allowed. Also what changes the users will have to make in their computing activities / equipment in order to use Vista.

I wouldn't touch Vista today unless I was a born experimenter and my PC wasn't just an important utility. I'd imagine that others feel the same way and this will have a negative effect on PC sales. Or is there a way to get a new PC with XP instead at no extra cost? I understand the Linux option, but some people don't want to / can't go that way.

[planecrazy.eu]

Dont think your missing the point. If you cant use it in the UK then Amazon US and all the other US sites wouldnt ship it here. Software is more expensive over here due to VAT, The exchange rate, and greed and the UK retailers know we are willing to pay the higher prices, and its not just retailers, M$ sell it to the retailers at a higher price too. They use some sort of price index to determine how much it will be sold for.

You can buy it from other countries too, i would have thought some eastern countires will be cheeper that the USA.

If MS didnt want it sold on to other countries, they would have build in something to stop it been purchased from different countries, lets face it, VISTA is full of security and anti piracy features.

I got vista for free from MSDN anyways, if your company has an MSDN subscription you can download a copy with a key from MSDN and save £150 or so, its the Pro version only on there though. Or if you are at Uni, AAMSDN does it for free too.

[P.Pilcher]

During the recent Vista hype, I seem to remember Uncle Bill going on record stating that he doesn't intend Vista to be any more expensive in the U.K. than in the U.S. Over there you have state dependent sales tax, over here in rip off Britain we have VAT. No doubt someone will find an excuse to ensure we pay more, but it is not Uncle Bill's publicly stated intention.

P.P.