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.
Here's what I do to avoid those problems. I quit whining about what somebody didn't give me for free, and equip myself with the best products out there.
DirectDVD is an awesome DVD player, you can even zoom in and out to cut out those annoying widescreen bars off the top and bottom. It comes with a codec that will work with any other software player, and I got a lifetime subscription for fifty bucks, got it loaded on about 5 systems already, some have been reloaded several times.
I also have anonymizer, they will allow you to anonymously surf the internet, and block basically anything that may try to come up the wire to your system. You basically pass through their secure systems both coming and going, and can even encrypt the traffic where your ISP can't even tell what you're up to. I think I paid $30 for a 1 year subscription and got a second year free, also loaded on all my systems, although I don't use it all the time.
Or you can keep whining about it, and sell out to some foreign freeware originating from likely communists. I've made my choice, good luck with yours.
I just don't keep much on my PC anymore, I know they are in, I see them in my logs, I like to play around and knock'em out with a port blocker. LOL
I posted to the effect that when someone has a problem with windows the problem usually lies between the chair and keyboard which was said partially tongue-in-cheek for the purposes of this thread but based upon my true belief.
YOU are the one who changed the subject and "going on about" why xp is the pits and started talking about how programs won't work with xp and that you use dual-boot for those apps. I said something relating to what my experiences have been with xp and you started talking on a tangent.
You have changed the subject yet again by saying that SOME software won't work AFTER sp2. There is no reasoning with you because you keep changing the issue and subject.
My money says that if you would uninstall all apps that previously worked with sp1 but now won't work with sp2, clean out the registry entries that relate to those apps, reboot, shut down all running programs and re-install the apps then they'll probably work.
However, I doubt you would do that because your mind is made up, you are apparently close-minded, you can't adapt and you are not receptive to change. ( Don't confuse you with facts, your mind is made up. )
I was merely answering your responses to me.
Also, in response to your previous, sarcastic question about whether or not I was teaching my pets, ( which I forgot to answer, ) my response is as follows:
Apparently, I am teaching people who are more open-minded and receptive to change than others I know. :-)
Now let's see how you'll change the subject again and skirt the previous issues.
When computers present problems to me I treat the problems as if there has been a personal attack on me and the problems have said to me, "You can't fix me!" When that happens I attack the problems with a vengeance until I fix them. I refuse to do a format/re-install but only as a last resort. It is rare for me to do a format/re-install. In fact I can't remember the last time I had to do a format/re-install even with a customer's computer.
Quit whining about xp and associated software and FIX the problems. Or maybe you would like to give to me a list of those programs that worked before sp2 but won't work now so that I could research the fixes for you?
Try the "troubleshooter" approach some time. You may like it. :-)
ROFL
Yeah, poor, ol', unlucky Bill.
I have seen that happen to him a few times over the years. It must be a vast Mac wing conspiracy!
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.
That Microsoft is doing this means that Microsoft will be replaced by Linux in a lot of boxes there. I don't mean to say they can't assert their property rights any way they see fit, but I can certainly understand why the average Chinese guy operating a basement PC room doesn't wanna pay $200 for a single box's Microsoft commercial use "license."
Why do you think Microsoft is varying the price depending on the country and it's GNP per person ?
Actually, there is a difference, and it's subtle but important.
Part of the reason that Microsoft holds such dominance and Apple manages to keep its toehold in the market is that both have managed to maintain their user groups through early education. People get used to certain programs, and while Linux is improving, if you're used to Microsoft, you don't feel eager to change, no matter the improvements Linux might present. It's why WordPerfect took so long to kill, and why it's still in the market. It's why you use a Qwerty keypad instead of a Dvorak one, even though Dvorak should be a more efficient one (even if minimally so).
If Microsoft makes it unlikely that Chinese users or Czech users or whoever can't update their software without paying, some who are users now will switch to Linux. The result will be that, when the market is more incorporated into the Western IP regime, users that would have been forced to pay to continue using Microsoft will now be acclimated to Linux.
I think in the long term, this probably won't make a bunch of difference. IP laws will make it to China and Microsoft will have close to the same market share there it has in the U.S.
But I would have held out until the music and movie businesses felt safe with IP there. Their work is far more illegally traded. After RIAA and the others get their laws passed, then Microsoft could have gone in as the cleanup crew. But they probably figure that they can make enough money now with their dominance and the Chinese/Czech NEED to deal with the U.S., that it won't be an issue. I hope they're unpleasantly surprised, but given Bill Gates' track record, I won't bet against him, I suppose.
Because the three people who buy XP in Lesotho don't matter much to the market, but the 15 folks in the Waxahatchee trailer park could resell their OS CDs to people who are just as wealthy as Bill Gates. /sarcasm That'd be the official line, I bet, but it comes down to the fact that the average American gets squeezed by the libs' constant "give your crap to the poor or we'll get government to take it" corporate guilt-tripping.
There likely IS a means test for businesses. The bigger the corporate site license, the cheaper it probably is per station. And education gets `em cheaper, I hear.
Gawd, what is that, a PC XT? How long has that pic been on the web?
I dunno, that new $499 Mac is pretty sweet.
But developing code isn't the only cost of software. There's also support. Big site licencees often don't need all the support that smaller customers need.
Yeah, but I'd have to learn Chinese AND Linux...
:)
I'm thinking about dual OS on my next computer, but I'm also considering a Mac. My laptop is unable to handle video any more. HP lied to me and told me they couldn't service my computer overseas at one service center, then a week and a half later told me at another service center, overseas too, that they could fix it--but it'd cost me $800 since the warranty was now expired! Never mind that NEW, the computer cost $900!
Carly Fiorina can eat my poop. I won't buy any HPs after that #$@%#@%. ANY. @!#$#@!$#@! HP SUCKS!
Was that tirade off topic? Sorry.
#292 - rwfromkansas . If you like the "do it your self computer case stuff" check out TheBestCaseSenario
They have cases like this Metropolis case: 
I find it to be faster than XP which is more important for the older and slower computers on my office network. Windows 2K does not have validation although some of the software you can run on it like Office XP or Office 2003 do. I wouldn't bother upgrading any computer that has it installed to XP. On the other hand there will be less and less support for it in the future. SP4 is the last service pack for 2K; from now on there will only be rollups of patches released since the release of SP4.
Most PC manufacturers like Dell will only install it on new computers as a downgrade from Windows XP. You buy an XP licence and serial number, get XP documentaion and software disk but they install 2K without giving you 2K media or documentation. Downgrading is important for people like me who run expensive vertical applications. Often it takes a year or more after a new version of an operating is released before those applications fully support the new operating system. It keeps hardware vendors happy, because customers don't put off their purchases of new computers while waiting for applications to catch up in compatibility with new OS versions. Then when the applications do catch up, it is costless to upgrade the OS.
Also, my laptop (and quite a lot of the world's laptop population) has a built in Firewire port but no USB2 port. I need my CardBus port for other purposes than to run a USB2 interface card. I deliberatly get either Firewire or dual Firewire/USB versions of devices whenever possible.
The only Mac viruses I'm aware of are the Windows Office macro viruses: we ONLY need virus scanners to prevent passing on to our windows using friends windows viruses embedded in email we received from OTHER windows using friends. It's a courtesy thing. That having been typed: get your FREE Anti-Virus Scanner for Mac System X Here. ClamXav http://www.clamxav.com/ This Program ROCKS: Found EVERY Useless Virus on my System!! (Those "Bottled" ones in my Collection - ). Sorry - No One makes a Free Spy ware scanner for Mac OS X - No Need! And only pure ignorance would claim a non-replicating shell script THAT HAS to be MANUALLY INSTALLED At the Computer ITSELF (like SH/Renepo-B) is a VIRUS. or is anywhere NEAR a threat as the simplest of the over 100,000 known Windows Viruses!! You KEEP your beloved Windows XP sp2 Systems - You DESERVE Them!
"People say Mac is better for graphic apps and well... thats mainly what I do... So.... Maybe I should learn to use it."
I do page layouts at work, and I would not go back to PCs for that. The graphic designers in my department swear by Macs.
We are currently switching from Quark Xpress to InDesign. Though I've only skimmed the surface of InDesign, I highly recommend it because everything I know how to do in both programs is easier in InDesign than in Quark.
No one changed the subject, you didn't read the posts before commenting. Quit whining and give it a try sometime, you may like it. :)
"Can we at least be honest and stop faulting the Mac mini for not including a keyboard, mouse, and monitor"
Surely you jest. No. A computer needs a keyboard, mouse and monitor. It is part of the cost. With a decent monitor, this is about an $800-1,000 computer. Let's not forget speakers either. Dell is selling a decent, working computer for $399 with everything right now.
The Mac mini is what it was designed to be. It's a tiny box that Apple can claim costs $499. If that's what you are looking for, you will buy one. Apple seems to be targeting the "cool gadget" market, as they have before. The mini is, in fact, a cool gadget. As a computer geek, I want one. I won't expect to use it as my primary computer, but maybe I'll run my Ipod from it.
That said, I don't believe they are targeting the vast, home computer market with this product. Home computer users want to run PC games and they definitely want a mouse, keyboard and monitor.
I'm pleased to see that I can use my spare monitor with the mini. Maybe I'll order one for the office right now. Does it come with built-in wireless networking?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.