Posted on 10/13/2006 7:22:58 AM PDT by Señor Zorro
Microsoft has released licenses for the Windows Vista operating system that dramatically differ from those for Windows XP in that they limit the number of times that retail editions can be transferred to another device and ban the two least-expensive versions from running in a virtual machine.
The new licenses, which were highlighted by the Vista team on its official blog Tuesday, add new restrictions to how and where Windows can be used.
"The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.
The new policy is narrower than Windows XP's. In the same section, the license for Windows XP Home states: "You may move the Software to a different Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must completely remove the Software from the former Workstation Computer." There is no limit to the number of times users can make this move. Windows XP Professional's license is identical.
Elsewhere in the license, Microsoft forbids users from installing Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium in a virtual machine. "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system," the legal language reads. Vista Ultimate and Vista Business, however, can be installed within a VM.
Vista Home Basic, at $199 for a full version and $99 for an upgrade, and Vista Home Premium ($239/$159), are the two most-affordable retail editions of the operating system scheduled to appear on store shelves in January 2007.
Although the Vista team's blog did not point out these changes, it did highlight others. "Two notable changes between Windows Vista license terms and those for Windows XP are: 1) failure of a validation check results in the loss of access to specific features; and 2) an increase in our warranty period from 90 days to 1 year, which brings Windows in line with most other Microsoft products," wrote Vista program manager Nick White.
Specifically, the Vista license calls out the ramifications of a failed validation check of Vista.
"The software will from time to time validate the software, update or require download of the validation feature of the software," it reads. "If after a validation check, the software is found not to be properly licensed, the functionality of the software may be affected."
Vista's new anti-piracy technologies, collectively dubbed "Software Protection Platform," have met with skepticism by analysts and criticism by users. Under the new program, a copy of Vista that's judged to be in violation of its license, or is counterfeit, is disabled after a set period, leaving the user access only to the default Web browser, and then only for an hour at a time.
lol....I've always assumed that anyone who writes "M$" or "Micro$oft" doesn't really know what they're talking about when it comes to computers. I've never been proved wrong, either.
"When will you folks learn that using M$ only shows your socialist bias?"
Oh grow up. This has nothing to do with socialism.
How geeky does one have to be to learn to use Linux?
Simple distros like Suse and Ubuntu are little more difficult than MacOSX. You shouldn't have to hit the command line to do anything.
Do you buy or build your own machine for it
Either. A machine that is a year or two old is actually best, since all the hardware should be supported natively. It can take some time for new hardware to be supported out of the box.
, and where do you get the software?
In most distros, there are software repositories. Ubuntu uses a program called "synaptic" to manage the software. You simply select a program from a list and click install. There are a few difficult areas -- primarily proprietary video codecs and DVD playback. The software is out there, but not officially supported.
Is it hard to learn to use?
If you can learn Windows or OSX, you can learn Linux. There are good books and helpful websites. Ubuntu has great forums for technical assistance.
Can you use Windows Office, Quicken, Adobe Photoshop, Palm Desktop software, browse the Internet, .. and other commonly used software on Linux-based machines (for example, my wife takes college courses part time and must use Power Point)?
If you REALLY NEED Microsoft office, you can run it under wine or Crossover office. There are Linux programs that do all the office functionality, including OpenOffice (which includes word processing, spreadsheets and powerpoint compatible software), GNUcash (for finance), GIMP (image editing), Evolution (Outlook -- it also supports Palm devices). They have their strengths and weaknesses. If you use the really advanced features of some of the Windows programs, you may be let down. Otherwise they are good programs.
And of course, I presume you can browse the Internet using Linux, download, etc.?
Firefox runs on Linux -- it's included in almost every distro. The Internet is really Linux's desktop strength.
Office 2007 is pretty impressive
In other words, criminals.
Linux is a derivative form of the original System V UNIX (SVR4), which was pioneered by Bell Labs and spread from there. The Linux kernel was authored by Linus Torvalds (hence the name "Linux").
Right now there are over 100 variants of SVR4- and BSD-style Unix. Some are incredibly user-friendly and others require a higher skill set to maintain. Red Hat and Debian rank as the more user-friendly editions of Linux and can be found at most computer superstores like Fry's, Best Buy, et al. There is also Linspire (formerly "Lindows") which touts itself as the easiest-to-use Desktop Linux.
Linux graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are a lot like Windows, only much more stable. And yes, you can even emulate the Windows environment on a Linux system using any number of software emulators like WINE or Win4Lin.
As for how to install, you can either scrub your system and load Linux exclusively, or you can use a product like System Commander to have dual-boot capabilities; keeping both OS's on one computer.
Hope this helps.
What do u mean no cd copying and no dvd backups?
Yup...thanks to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), it is now a crime to make a monkey out of slothful corporations.
You see this?
Microsoft understands this and, quite frankly, doesn't care. They know that when the average consumer buys a new system, they'll take whatever OEM OS and software is bundled with it. That is how Microsoft corners the market and that is how they assure their anti-competitive practices will remain intact.
Windows Vista will make it into your home. The only variable in the equation is when. And you can bet that it will precisely coincide with your next PC purchase. Microsoft has seen to that.
Microsoft must really WANT to lose its place to Linux. I worked with a Linux X-Windows box and used open office - it was a pretty darn good interface. Any windows users should be able to get comfy in short order.
Well, sticking to the auto analogy, back in the '80s, Honda offered their Accord (iirc) in a total of six (6), that's right, six configurations.
GM's Buick division offered a model available in over 30,000 configurations.
Which company isn't having problems?
What's easier to build, or in the OS world, support?
Surprise, bunny. Here's the exception to your rule.
For all the bluster from the mac crowd about microsoft, apple still has like 3-4% of the market and microsoft 90%.
Oh, that's easy. I wrote a tutorial on the subject years ago.
What's your point? Bigger is better? You must be in hog heaven, then. Microsoft is really getting huge.
Yeah, I've thought about that, since I find XP adequate to my needs. But you know M-soft will cease to support XP at some point after Vista comes out (yes, I understand one may can run XP w/out support, but isn't it possible due to hacks and viruses that fixes might be needed at some point?)
Except that I don't buy PCs, I build my own.
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