Unnngh.
Posted on 07/27/2005 1:22:51 AM PDT by kingattax
Get ready to register with Microsoft if you want to update your Windows operating system.
In a shift toward greater monitoring of personal computer systems and potentially less copying of software, Microsoft will require users to let the company place a software "key" on their systems if they want the free, regular system updates it provides.
Privacy advocates are concerned, but Microsoft said the system is anonymous and won't be used for anything other than verifying the operating systems' authenticity.
Called "Windows Genuine Advantage," the system is designed to limit the spread of copied software, a widespread practice that has grated on co-founder Bill Gates since the earliest days of personal computing.
Today, Microsoft claims to lose billions in sales to counterfeiting and works with police to aggressively pursue bootleggers.
Since it began testing the system last September, more than 40 million users have voluntarily registered.
Starting today, registration is mandatory for anyone seeking updates, such as the updated versions of its media player or graphics program, glitch fixes and other features the company may issue 10 or more times a year. It works with Windows XP and 2000.
Older systems don't require validation for updates.
Security updates are not part of the system. They can still be downloaded free without the validation process.
The system works by identifying unique characteristics of a system and implanting a software key that can be read by Microsoft when updates are requested. The only way to remove the key is to reformat the hard drive, said David Lazar, director of Genuine Windows.
The key won't be used to identify individual users, only individual systems, he said.
"I would go back to our privacy policy, which says we have no knowledge of the identity of the users, so a user shouldn't be concerned about the use of that key," he said.
But privacy advocates aren't sure. Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's San Francisco office, is waiting for a technical analysis to gauge the system's invasiveness.
"It's a march onto trusted computing, where basically the user is not trusted anymore."
Hoofnagle is concerned Microsoft may share its user database with the government, or limit usage somehow.
The system is also part of a broader effort to add copy-protection technologies to more media and devices, he said.
"The ultimate goal of companies like Microsoft is to have it in the personal computer, so the operating system can effect a high level of control over the user, including things like being able to enforce policies against forwarding e-mail," he said.
To make the program more palatable, registering customers will receive discounts for other software products and services, as well as a free downloadable photo-editing program, screensaver, card game and video tutorials.
The system isn't foolproof, however. A researcher in Bangalore, India, cracked it last month, developing a way to generate keys for illegal copies of Windows, according to Indian news site Rediff.com
Unnngh.
Competition really would be good for Microsoft...
Ugh....is right!
Another happy Microsoft customer
Could they make this any more of a pain in the ass? Gates is sadistic.
They seem bound and determined to force me to teach myself Linux...
All I want in an OS is for it to do what I need it to do with the least hassle possible- each added annoyance and impediment, like this damfool idea, is one more reason to ditch Microsoft. I mean, the basic question is this- you pay them for their bloody product, so do you actually own it, or are you just leasing it in perpetuity? Do they have claim on your first born as well?
Been a user since DOS 3.1, but if they keep this stuff up... well, I've got Mandrake burned on three disks, and copies of Ubuntu sitting on the table next to me...
I'm kinda okay with this. If you pay for the OS, you get the service. Just like any other vendor in the world.
OS X
Linux if you're a masochist, which I am sometimes.
My thoughts exactly. I wonder what flavor of Linux is best for me.
Hack around too much with your peripherals and Gates-o-matic will call you a phony.
The fact is, most users get pretty much what they need from their machine.
So selling software upgrades does not meet a need as much anymore, and the alternative is maintenance fees.
By subscription.
I absolutely agree- there is a level of pricing, and annoyance, that simply becomes too much to tolerate.
Heck, MS paid a small software shop for the original version of DOS. This company (SPC) stole the operating system code form CP/M and modified it slightly and called it their own. Don't worry they paid for theft, Microsoft eventually negotiated a deal to buy the copycat DOS, no royalties or licensing fees, for $50,000.
I read Microsoft has paid over two billion dollars in anti-trust settlements for code and technology they have stolen. Yet, they are concern you might upgrade your PC with a newer version of Windows operating that works!!! Most of the upgrades are to fix extreme shortcomings in their operating system.
I don't mind paying Microsoft a reasonable amount for a reasonable product, but I can't imagine this not being an annoyance that would cause me to consider upgrading to Linux.
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