OEM & SWOutlet - safe?

At SWoutlet I found a good price for a certain AntiVirus program I want to buy. Their ad says it is an OEM copy. I have never ever bought from that company before. I have 3 questions...

1) Has anyone had a good or bad experience in buying stuff from SWoutlet?

2) What is an OEM copy?

3) In your opinion, will the AntiVirus company support an OEM version of their program that I bought from a third party such as SWoutlet?

 

OEM is there version of a software product that is used by PC manufacturers and system builders, it differs from a "Retail Version" in that it is only designed to be put on one machine. eg XP OEM will ship with a machine and can only be installed on that machine once it has been activated. A Retail Version can be uninstalled from that machine and installed on another. Generally speaking OEM is supposedly only sold along with a hardware purchase, but from experience many people are selling them without the necessity of a hardware purchase. That's my understanding of it anyways as an end user)

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/glossary/f/oemsoftware.htm

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=70317

Assuming the software is a genuine OEM version then the software company will support it just like any other.

 

Hi bellgamin, years ago I had some good experiences with SoftwareOutlet.

 

OEM copies are usually without documentation and may not have all of the features of a retail version. Also, they may not qualify for upgrades!