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[Demophobe]

Well, the other stories are cooking with dog and brimming with employees being bashed stories, what do we have in tech?

A couple of flares, but nothing really interesting.

Let's see what we can come up with.

1. Windows Genuine Advantage.

First up: Constant monitoring of the "state of your computer. Why? "Anytime Upgrade" Seems Windows Vista will ship with all 6 versions on the CD already, and through obtaining a new "upgraded" license, one can unlock and install new versions by simply inserting the disc. Any hacks to upgrade will be discovered almost imediately through this constant monitoring.

Why WGA anyways? MS thinks that people using counterfeit copies of Windows are one of two kinds: Pirates or victims. If you are a pirate, they want to make it harder. If you are a victim, you are encouraged to turn in the folks who sold you the software.

[SuperHero]

I'll be buying a new desktop next summer and getting legit vista installed, but for now I'm running XP corp - just reinstalled last week and it took a little work to get around WGA. Anyhow once I have Vista I'll be happy to be done with all the work arounds every time I re-install.

I understand what MS is doing and if I had a legit copy I wouldn't care, but as I don't I find it slightly annoying (as I should).

[Juregen]

I have slight issues with this monitorig software. In a way, I am somewhat paranoid.

That is probably the best reason for me to go pirate style, so i can keep some control on my stuff .

[Gardimus]

Back in the day, I'm sure microsoft didn't mind all that much if people used priated versions of their operating systems, because

A)Its free ridership
B)because it would help solidify DOS/Windows as the standard creating a natural monopoly out of market efficencies.

Lets face it, someone had to be the standard and MS played their cards right.

Having said that, I am all for people selling/obtaining priated copies of Windows because it would mean that Microsoft will have to lower the price for optimal profits. The higher the price windows is, the more people will illegally obtain it(or swtich to Linux).

Since the margianl cost of each copy of windows is very low compared to its price, and since the volume they will sell is so high, MS could probably turn a rather large profit selling Vista for just $15. The fact that people can get Linux for free is a testimate to the true cost of operating systems.

If Microsoft weren't so greedy, I would understand them wanting to prevent theft of their intellectual property.

[eamo]

My copy of XP fails the WGA but the Critical Security Updates still seem to come down through Automatic Updates.

It kind of makes me wonder how serious MS is about cutting off pirated copies of Windows. I think they know if they really do stop supporting all the dodgy copies with Security Updates, then all those machines eventually get compromised, then their name will be mud for allowing hackers and spammers so much opportunity.

On the ethical side of whether to buy legal or use free illegal.......I will probably buy a legal version of Vista next year. I'm not sure why but it just seems like the easier, more carefree way to go.

[Demophobe]

Great replies!

Yes, I too will stay legit with Vista. As for costs, well, they do a lot of R&D and a lot of intelligent people are working hard on Vista...it's not like it's even near done already and it's been in development since at least XP came out. I don't mind paying, as an OS generally lasts a couple or three years, so the initial cost is offset. As I said before, I enjoy MS doing a lot of after-service, so it's also part of my reasoning.

The idea of updating even pirate copies stands to good reason; a pirate copy, unpatched, can become a vulnerability that may affect legit machines. Better to keep everyone safe to a certain degree rather than put your paying customers at risk.

The critical updates are for known exploits, but not for bug patches, compatability or general use functionality. A pirate copy that can't get all the updates misses a lot of good things.

I will stick with WinXP for a good 6 months or longer...until all the kinks are worked out of Vista. There are always surprises that come after releases and a heck of a lot of compatability solutions found, so I will wait for all of that to go down.

Back in the day, there was little MS could do, and besides, big time piracy is still a fairly new thing. It wasn't until well into the lifetime of Win98 that CD writers came to be, so the protection schemes all started with XP.

Paranoid? Me too, but hey...there are a lot of people watching these companies these days...a lot of really smart and incredibly paranoid people...I will let them be the watchdogs while I just keep a close eye on tech news.

[laogaiguk]

I agree there are a lot of people watching the companies nowadays, which makes my life easier. I am not too paranoid, but I still try to understand what any software is doing to my computer.

As for illegal copies, I don't know. I think Microsoft could bring the price down some and I think that would help. Being a programmer (use to) with a degree in computer science, I know all about the field. But I've never actually decided about people using a program that was not easy to make for free. I use pirated software sometimes when I think they are asking for way too much money. Still, I try to buy games or OSs if I can.

I'd like to buy Vista, but I will probably be upgrading my laptop in a year anyways so I will just wait and Vista will proabably come with it. I just hope most of the major bugs are fixed by then...

[cubanlord]

[SuperHero]

[Demophobe]

I wonder if MS is considering the negative backlash that Vista could create. Some users will be very put off by some aspects of the OS and just stick with WinXP for as long as possible. Heck, they only just announced that they will no longer offer support for Win98...XP should last well into the future.

All privacy issues aside, Vista does have fairly steep system requirements for it to run in all its glory. I wonder how many casual users are going to want to upgrade just for the sake of an OS? Especially seeing as WinXP is, as CL said, running very well indeed. Do you think they will end support for XP quickly in order to draw users to Vista?

Vista supposedly uses 700MB of RAM, plus a pagefile when running. Wow.

Cost of the OS, upgrade costs, privacy concerns...MS may have quite an uphill battle selling this. Its only redeeming feature to the average user will be greater security (improved firewall, Windows Defender), perhaps easier to use (though XP is far from difficult) and better looking.

Flip3D, Aero, sidebar...pretty neat, if not a nod to MAC OS.

[cubanlord]

[eamo]

Maybe because it's been about 5 years since a new Microsoft OS some people are thinking this Vista thing is a whole different kind of operating system.

I checked out the preview of it and it looks like a beefed-up XP to me. They could have just called it 'XP 2' or 'XP 2007' or something like that.

I think MS learned their lesson from the whole Widows ME debacle. They aren't going to bring out OS's which are redundant as soon as they are released.

[cubanlord]

[Demophobe]

I don't think it will be an ME thing, but it does seem mostly cosmetic and many of the changes feel like they benefit MS and software companies in general.

I think it should have been called Windows PC, as in Piracy Control. I have a guy feeling that Vista is going to have many features that are built for the future; things that will try to put a cap on piracy altogether.

Of course it's ridiculous to think they can do that, but with the Patriot act being so far reaching, and MS being The Man with OSes, I really believe that Vista has a dark underbelly - one that is going to have a lot of people up in arms. No big conspiracy theory, but it's foolish to assume there aren't some features in there than George and the boys 'suggested'. The Patriot Act is already tearing parts of the US constitution to shreds, and computers are seen as the primary method of organising acts of rebellion.

I will give it a good 6 to 8 months before I buy into it, then probably run a dual boot, as I did with 98 for a couple of years. What will be really interesting is to see how people will beat this OS up and tear it apart. I think MS was surprised at how fast XP was blown to bits, along with all of its 'security' features and validation schemes. They learned a lot from that, but many of the hackers and crackers are a pretty elite group.

[ChopChaeJoe]