Vista Licenses Limit OS Transfers, Ban VM Use

TechWeb ^ | October 12, 2006 (1:53 PM EDT) | Gregg Keizer

[Golden Eagle]

Well his experience, as well as mine, is it doesn't run well on older hardware. Especially not the newer versions, unless you get some stripped down version that might not even include a GUI.

[Mike-o-Matic]

  This was answered a long time ago. A system change means a motherboard change. Not just a replacement of a defective motherboard, but an upgrade.

When I have a 1-3 year old motherboard smoke out on me, there's no way I'm gonna go out and locate an exact match. That'd just be foolish -- I'd pay a premium for now-rare hardware that's inferior due to the passage of time.

This whole stupid idea is a non-starter. Shame on Microsoft.

[Golden Eagle]

Any Linux can, what's probably slowing it down is the desktop (Gnome, KDE, etc.), which can be too slow for an older system.

See.

[Golden Eagle]

A system change means a motherboard change.

Why is that? There's not anything the O/S on the disk drive needs to boot that's dependent on if the motherboard is original that I know of.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

No, you are right. I did 2 system upgrades in the last year that involved a new motherboard, and both times I had to re-authorize Windows XP. The first time, I had to call because it wouldn't authorize online. It's effing ridiculous because the whole time I've had 2 systems and 2 purchased copies of WinXP. M$ is going to be even more unpopular for making people spend another $100 every time their MB craps out, after the first time...

[Golden Eagle]

I generally reformat the hard drives on all 3 machines about once a year.

I'd say get a good image backup product like Acronis, so instead of reformating you recover from backup.

[Golden Eagle]

I seriously doubt there's any way you'd have to re-register your windows if you had to replace your motherboard. atomdevil is creating hype and must be refering to a motherboard upgrade or system overhaul.

[Golden Eagle]

Wow. Microsoft's legal and marketing guys must be getting paid under the table by some rich Linux guys. I couldn't think of a better way to disenfranchise their customers, giving them a strong motivation to find something else.

Looks to me like they're just saying if you want to and can afford Windows, you can run it. If you can't or don't, then don't. Nothing different than what Apple's position has been all along.

[Leto]

If you price an iMac against a pc and include the display and software not much of a diff.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

The two best Linux distros for a new user are Ubuntu (or the derivatives) and Suse.

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Have been doing some hands-on learning with Suse 10. Anyone familiar with the update process with Suse?

Is the Suse Linux distro vulnerable if not kept up to date? Any issues with updating? Etc?

Thanks!

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Ping-O

[pepperhead]

I don't think Microsoft will pull anything on Office 2007. I do think a couple of years from now they will start making MS Office and other new programs only run on Vista though.

[Golden Eagle]

Linux and can be found at most computer superstores like Fry's, Best Buy, et al.

I've never seen a single copy of Linux in any store, and I shop the best stores. I'd recommend Apple, instead, if you feel the need to change from Windows.

[blowfish]

Well, I have had the opposite experience. Any OS can be brought to it's knees if you run enough stuff on it. KDE is pretty adjustable, so you can enable or disable some of the bells and whistles depending on the horsepower.
That said, there is certainly a lot of work going into continuing to improve the performance of the KDE desktop. That's certainly one advantage Microsoft has: if you can dictate terms to the hardware manufacturers and maintain a monopoly on the UI you can tweak things to your liking.

[MediaMole]

YAST should show the security updates. Most distros will keep crucial security updates coming for some time even after a new version has been released.

Most user-friendly distros can be set up to show an icon when updates are available.

[Golden Eagle]

I just love it when the droids at Fry's insist that what I'm doing is impossible...that these boxen "don't support Linux."

Wait. I thought you just said they sold Linux on systems there? Yep, you did.

[Golden Eagle]

MS is screwed from both ends - both low & high

It's possible, they have little elsewhere to go but down. But thin clients and open source have been all the rage for a decade now, there's nothing earth shattering there. I'd say handhelds are the next frontier, and right now Microsoft is well positioned.

[Prime Choice]

Wait. I thought you just said they sold Linux on systems there? Yep, you did.

Nope. I said they sold Linux. Please brush up on your comprehension skills, child.

[Prime Choice]

I've never seen a single copy of Linux in any store, and I shop the best stores.

Yeah, and I'll bet you just go out of your way to look for it. Look, son...I know you missed out on Logic 101, but here's a big ol' clue for ya: just because you ain't seen something doesn't mean it ain't there.

Now stop wasting my time, boy. You were boring two messages ago.

[ItsForTheChildren]