Posted on 05/06/2009 1:25:03 PM PDT by JoeProBono
If Windows 7 were priced reasonably ($40-$50), I could be persuaded to give it a go. As it is, I won’t bother even with the free pre-releases, because at some point, MS is going to come looking for their due, and I already know it will be too much.
“DRM?”
Digital Rights Management. They’ll tell you what to play, when to play it, how often you can play it, what machine you can play it on and they’ll remove it when they feel it’s time. No copies, no rights. They’ll own it. M$ caved in to the MPAA/RIAA.
DRM is a big part of Vista/W7.
“I don’t know where this DRM crap is coming from, but I have never seen an example, on any modern Microsoft computer, where an mp3 wouldn’t play.”
As an example consider the audio books from audible.com. They are encrypted and only allow specific users to decrypt and play them. Just the beginning... DRM takes this concept to a whole new level.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
I know I wouldn't want it on my system. That said, it appears the implementations up to this point only affect content that has been specifically protected. ie. protected wma's, streamed content, specifically protected CD's etc. Other stuff such as unprotected CD's (which are the vast majority) user created content, and obviously analog to digital conversions such as the user digitized LP's are unaffected.
I have to admit that I am surprised that the current implementation of DRM in Windows make no real effort at curtailing the CSS decoders used for for DVD decryption and copying. I mean the DMCA is quite clear that ANY circumvention of copy protection is strictly illegal, and CSS is exactly that. So if MS is making the effort to include the plumbing for DRM at the OS level, what is making them wait to close this rather blatant hole?
So again, while its nothing I would want on my system, the current the implementation of DRM is pretty tame.
No it doesn’t.
It’s just FUD. There’s no truth behind it.
> I'm running Windows 7 on a similar box. It runs like a sparkly 486.
"486"...HAHA!!! Oops, new-keyboard time....
Buzz off to back Slashdot.
“No, audible uses *DRM*.”
That was my point. An example of where DRM is in active use. What’s yours?
No, people just like to make stuff up. I’ve ripped and copied many, many CDs.
“No, people just like to make stuff up.”
This isn’t made up. ‘Til Vista and W7, DRM has been at the application layer of the OS. W7 will have DRM features embedded IN the OS. Third party companies will be able to take advantage of the DRM features via a variety of APIs.
I’m not saying this is good or bad. It’s just a fact of life with what’s ahead with future Microsoft releases.
Do some searching. Keywords “DRM vista w7” will get you there.
Exactly. I know there is supposed to be a DRM boogey-man lurking around the corner someday, but I’ve yet to see it.
I fell for the Mac hype and purchased a 17” Macbook Pro Unibody a few months ago thinking that I would enjoy Leopard (OS X) since i prefer Linux to Windows, but due to necessity have to run some Windows programs for work. While I simply love the laptop itself (hardware), I despise Leopard (OS X). A more dumbed down OS I have yet to see. Ubuntu (and a few other flavors) are a far superior desktop OS. I would be furious if it wasn’t for bootcamp allowing me to now boot Windows 7 instead of the OS for the mentally challenged. Windows 7 runs rings around Leopard on this Macbook Pro.
My husband, who isn’t overly techie had been wanting a Mac for years and hoped to take my laptop from me when I told him I wished I had purchased a Vista 64 machine. He used my MacBook for a few days and said he was as shocked as I to find that the OS is simply junk. OS X was even too dumbed down for him. He will be purchasing a Windows 7 laptop as soon as they hit the stores instead of a Macbook Pro.
Try Windows 7. It’s fabulous. I will be purchasing it as soon as it comes out to put on this Macbook Pro that will never boot Leopard again. ;)
It is the MO of all software companies to add bells and whistles to new products so they can charge more for them, Windows 7 will be no different, probably will work better than Vista but one never knows and I would bet the farm there will be multiple problems with it at first, and maybe forever.
I see no reason to upgrade from XP, I tried Vista, hated it and came back to XP, I will keep it this time, thank you.
“Nonsense, Progaganda. I have NEVER had any problems playing audio, videos on Vista and or XP”
It’s not nonsense or propaganda. It’s fact and it is going to be in W7 (and Windows 8 when it comes out circa 2012). I never said that you would have problems playing audio or video. If you stay within the confines of how they want you to play the game, you’ll probably never experience difficulties. But if you want to do something as simple as making a backup copy of a DRM protected file, you may have problems. It depends on the policies they impose on the content. The fair use doctrine explicitly says you have the right to backup your media.
To date, there isn’t very much DRM restricted material available. Bluray comes close but it’s already been hacked. DRM restrictions will become much more commonplace. audible content is a good example of DRM at the application layer because it’s restricted to a certain number of devices and to a specific account. I think we can agree that this sort of DRM might be reasonable.
Do some research. google “microsoft drm api specification”. google “drm w7”. There are thousands of legitimate technical documents out there describing what they intend to do and how they intend to do it. XP never had DRM at the OS level. W7 does. At some point in the very near future, the technology will be there to wrap any arbitrary content in a very tight box, restricting how you have access to the content.
Some examples. Things like pay-per-play videos and music would be trivial to implement with DRM. Microsoft Zune reportedly has DRM music content that expires in 3 days. PDFs and DOCs could be locked to specific domains and hardware. EBooks could expire unless you renew them. Microsoft could force you to use a specific media player to play content, disallow installations of other media players and reject media that doesn’t conform to their specification. Applications could be pay-per-use. These restrictions need not be static - they could change based upon a change in the author’s use policy.
To what degree the restrictions will become draconian depend a lot on the public’s reaction to increased controls over content. The technology will be there. How it is to be used is the question.
DRM is coming. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Whats not to like? maybe that I payed for a copy of that crappy Vista a year ago, and MS will expect me to pay full price for their “new and improved” OS.
You missed an important one. DRM built into Windows creates a system where no OS other than Windows can access protected content. Most here wouldn't care about that, but some of us think its not a good road to go down.
I know that, but SO WHAT? If you want to play protected media - such as Blu-Ray - you need DRM. BFD.
I haven't had an opportunity to test any of this on Win 7. The above issues I have personally seen on Vista. Both 32 and 64 Home and Ultimate.
Please correct me if I am wrong; but I'm under the impression that among those 'core-count' are the extensive parallel processors and RAM that are located on the video card, and are essentially dormant on non-3D applications. The article I read, essentially stated that OpenCL allows non-3D applications to off-load routines and algorythms to these parallel GPU processors, thereby allowing the CPU to run more efficiently. Is this correct?
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