Posted on 01/26/2005 1:59:43 PM PST by Happy2BMe
Aiming to crack down on counterfeit software, Microsoft plans later this year to require customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system.
Since last fall the company has been testing a tool that can check whether a particular version of Windows is legitimate, but until now the checks have been voluntary. Starting Feb. 7, the verification will be mandatory for many downloads for people in three countries: China, Norway and the Czech Republic.
In those countries, people whose copies are found not to be legitimate can get a discount on a genuine copy of Windows, though the price varies from $10 to $150 depending on the country.
By the middle of this year, Microsoft will make the verification mandatory in all countries for both add-on features to Windows as well as for all OS updates, including security patches. Microsoft will continue to allow all people to get Windows updates by turning on the Automatic Update feature within Windows. By doing so, Microsoft hopes it has struck a balance between promoting security and ensuring that people buy genuine versions of Windows.
"We think that the best foundation for the most secure system is genuine software," said David Lazar, director of the Genuine Windows program at Microsoft. "We want to urge all of our customers to use genuine software. (At the same time), we want to make sure that we don't do anything to reduce the likelihood that a user will keep their system up to date."
The program, known as Windows Genuine Advantage, also offers perks to those who verify their copy of Windows. Those who do can get free software as well as discounts on other Microsoft products and services. Microsoft is upping the ante a bit, adding some additional discounts on MSN Games as well as on the company's recently announced Outlook Live subscription service to the existing list of benefits, which includes free access to the company's Photo Story 3 program.
Customers do appear to be interested in double-checking the status of their operating system. Some 8 million people have been asked to participate in the program since testing began, and more than 5 million have taken part.
And those numbers have come with very little recruiting on the part of Microsoft, Lazar said.
"More and more we will be marketing the offers to broaden the participation," he said. "People do like free stuff."
Piracy is a major problem for Microsoft and others in the software industry. One software industry study estimated that more than
a third of software is pirated, costing the industry $29 billion a year. Microsoft won't put an exact figure on its losses, but said it is certainly in the billions over the past 10 years.
The validation effort is just part of Microsoft's threefold program, which focuses on educating users, engineering products in ways that minimize piracy, and enforcement through the legal system.
As for the added security risk, Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry said that people are putting too much of the blame on the software maker.
Cherry said it is not necessarily Microsoft's responsibility to protect people who aren't paying the company for its products. He likened the situation to buying a fake Rolex and then expecting warranty service if the product breaks.
The problem with that analogy, Cherry acknowledged, is that a broken Rolex doesn't put other watch owners at risk, whereas vulnerable computers connected to the Internet threaten all PC users. However, Cherry said that many of the computers that are at risk are using genuine, but older versions of Windows.
"There's a growing chance that the people whose machines are being taken over are running older systems which aren't really securable," he said.
Cherry said he thinks the company is acting appropriately, noting that making sure people are running genuine Windows is important for all customers.
"I think they are entitled to do this, and I think it is in customers' best interest to know that they have a genuine version of the software," he said. Counterfeit copies could contain their own bugs or viruses, and there is no way to guarantee that security patches will work, even if the user can download them, he said.
While Microsoft is the obvious beneficiary if piracy rates go down, Cherry said programs like Genuine Advantage also help level the playing field for smaller computer builders who play by the rules and find themselves undercut by dealers offering PCs with bogus copies of Windows.
"Those are the people I hope the program is helping," Cherry said.
My song-writing partner was long-time 98 hold-out. Whatever floats your boat. Whatever works for you but the WMD drivers greatly outperform 98-era drivers.
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From India no less?
Thanks for the tip, I'll try changing the order of start up.
Not true, back is about '86 or '87 there was at least 1 virus out for it. I used to have the remover program for it.
Macs have their share of viruses. When I was in college a few years back it was stuffed with infected Mac computers. I learned that the hard way myself when a floppy disk with data that wasn't backed up got infected.
I tried to download something from PCWORLd this week and ran into this "voluntary" validity checker. Althought I've been accessing MS for two years, all of a sudden my computer which came with installed software is supposed to have a registration number which is not valid because the number is one that some hackers got ahold of and used.
Which way to the Linux store?
It runs with fewer problems than any I've ever built also.
Go figure . .
It's not that I'm knocking XP, I like them both. For XP I find the video applications work better and so I've installed the latest Nero Recode to backup movies. Both operating systems serve their purpose but in different ways.
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Ducklin said Opener disables Mac OS X's built in firewall, creates a back door so the malware author can control the computer remotely, locates any passwords stored on the hard drive and downloads a password cracker called JohnTheRipper.
They changed their mind - support was to be discontinued last year.
Second there's nothing like a dual boot and I wouldn't think of going back to a single operating system setup, the benefits far outweigh whatever advantages there are to XP/NTFS alone. I may even add Linux to the mix soon.
Dual boot is cool - XP on fat32 is not. With the low cost of PC's - I prefer multiple machines to dual boot.
Here is another option - mulitple drives - most bios' allow you to select which drive you boot from - install the operating systems on their own drives.
Plug in 'WindowBlinds' or the new 'StyleXP' and skin it with a MAC skin and have a blast.
Crashes are usually the result of the same ol'.....if someone has a problem with windows the problem usually lies between the chair and keyboard.
NTFS has better security features and allows for larger sized files but other than that I really don't see much of a difference. Yes I did run XP for a while as a single OS with NTFS.
Your option of using multiple drives I've considered and may do in the future but most likely I'll go with third party software that lets 9x read NTFS. For now except for a few crashes of older programs on XP everything works pretty well and I'm satisfied with this setup.
Consumer Reports had a story last year on PCs in which they put on their cover "59,940" reasons to buy a Mac." The gist of the story was that while there were over 60,000 known PC viruses at the time of writing, there were only 60 for the Mac. Upon further digging, all 60 were targetted at Microsoft products, none could do any damage to OS X.
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Lemme get this straight. PCWorld asked you for a Microsoft Operating System validation number?
What difference does it make to Microsoft if the Chinese guy is using a pirated copy of Windows or a legit copy of Linux? It's not an issue until user/owners of legit copies of Windows switch.
Nope, there are always shaman that can make a quick buck on the uninformed. I've talked to quite few folks who have switche to Macs and bough AV software because they thought they needed it. Yet, those who learn about Mac's realize that it is a waste of money. We have about a dozen in our company, many of which are used by folks that do network security for a living, none of them run AV software on their machines.
I have two of my own, I don't run AV on either.
Lol and everything is perfect in your world I take it?
That sucks.
Ok. Why do you need a MOTU 2408mk3 AND a Gina20? Do you really need that much I/O? I use the Gina20 and a MOTU MTP-AV and I have never had a single problem. Were you using old drivers (non-WMD) for the Gina? I have never had a problem with XP losing drivers.
What audio software are you using - I have been using Cakewalk/Sonar since the late 1980's
I have had my share of computer issues over the almost 20 years I have had a studio - I feel your pain. Nothing like wanting to make music but ending up spending hours or days with a computer or equipment (or wiring) problem.
Try SUSE 9.2 Pro. I haven't yet tried it on my Thinkpad/WiFi setup, but they do document wireless support for many of the more popular chipsets. I just installed it on my desktop system (an upgrade from Mandrake 10.1) and found its install to be very good, very polished.
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