Dabunk, "Let see now, Microsofts new Vista program (replacing XP as we speak) per their "rules" can only be installed on one computer. If your hard drive fails, you as the legal owner of that software, cannot reinstall it on your own computer. You will be required to buy a whole new OS license. Can you spell legal "rape" another way???"

This is not true. If you have an OEM version of VISTA (ships with the computer) you may not copy it to another computer but you can replace the O/S on a new hard drive on the same system.
Recent controversy has been over your rights to copy the "retail version" (ususally bought in a store or online or volume licensing) to another computer if you erase it from the original computer. The license agreement said that it could only be done once. However, after user feedback, Microsoft changed its agreement (EULA) and now will allow you to copy it to a different computer as often as you require as long as you only use it on only one computer.
The significant change is that if your VISTA is not recognized by Microsoft as a genuine version, it will stop working after allowing you a period of time to get a genuine copy or work with them to show that it is genuine. Currently Windows XP will continue to work if it is not recognized as genuine but updates will not be allowed. I expect that Office 2007 will also have similar protections. If you are using "copied" software, you may need to learn Open Office or another program because soon copies of Microsoft products will not work on your computers.