Posted on 10/09/2006 2:30:37 AM PDT by familyop
Until a couple of days ago, like many others, I was looking forward to the long awaited release of Windows Vista. Then the news broke about Microsoft's intention to crack down on software piracy by putting what amounts to spyware on users' computers. Now I'm thinking twice about whether I really need or want this new operating system.
Microsoft's so-called Software Protection Program (SPP) has been presented to intending users as a fait accompli just a month ahead of Vista's scheduled release. It will mean that those who use Vista and other Microsoft products will have to put up with their systems constantly being checked online to make sure they're not using any products deemed to be pirated software.
I say deemed to be pirated software because as sure as night follows day there will be many cases in which the SPP will make mistakes and label legitimately acquired software as pirated.
In such cases, users will have to convince Microsoft that they bought their software legitimately and, if they don't succeed, they will have to hand over extra money or their system will be disabled.
In some cases, users who have activated a legitimate copy of Vista may need to do a number of reinstalls because they have suffered a hardware failure or their system isn't running well. Hopefully, Microsoft will be able to differentiate between that and users installing a single copy of Vista on multiple computers.
Perhaps we should be grateful to Microsoft for letting its intentions be known in advance of the Vista release. It gives us a chance to evaluate the alternatives.
There is of course Linux, an operating system that enterprises are considering with increasing frequency. Relatively few have made the jump to the Linux desktop but they now have a clear choice between moving to Vista with its tight validation controls and Linux distributions without such controls from Vendors such as Red Hat and Novell, as well as freely available distributions such as Ubuntu.
While they're formulating a strategy about what path they should take, enterprises may as well stick with Windows XP.
As far as consumers are concerned, unfortunately no Linux distribution has shown itself to be ready for prime time. Perhaps for them, the best option is to upgrade to an Apple Mac. Then they can run their Windows XP stuff in a virtual window using Parallels or in dual boot mode using Boot Camp, while also taking advantage of all the cool Mac applications that come with their system.
If consumers don't like the thought of being tied to a Mac for the rest of their life, then they could use Parallels or VMware, when it's available for a Mac, to run a Linux desktop distro like Ubuntu in a third virtual window. They could then gradually migrate applications to Linux that they don't want to be tied to any particular hardware.
It's a pity that I feel compelled to write an article like this. However, the thought of being forced to pay through the nose to upgrade to a highly configured PC running Vista, only to face the prospect of constant check-ups from some server in Redmond about the validity of my software has me a little spooked not to mention outraged.
No doubt there are plenty who disagree and believe that SPP is necessary to stamp out software piracy. To them and Microsoft, I say don't try to fool yourselves. The vast majority of software pirates are in second and third world countries. Many will find a way around SPP and those that can't will probably turn to Linux.
In fact, Microsoft's decision to try to nab Vista software pirates using spyware may be the best thing that ever happened to Linux and Mac OS X.
filing
My pet peeve on all these threads is the false assumption that it has to be either/or these days. I have 4 machines. One laptop for work has XP pro. An older laptop I threw Fedora Core 4 on it - don't use it for much but it's there and works fine.
I have a desktop with XP home that I use mainly for Quicken, but also for multimedia - photos and mp3s. I have a FC2 desktop that I use as a samba server, web server, and all around stable machine.
If I could convert completely over to linux I probably would, but there are typically a handful of apps that require one to use windows. There is Quicken to be sure, and then a lot of digitial cameras are a pain to get working with linux. And at work there are a handful of apps with no linux equivalents.
Windows does crash, expecially when you wake it up from standby mode multiple times. It also slows down to a crawl from time to time. I know what I'm doing and I still get these problems. It's not me.
Hardware is cheap, most folks have more than one machine in their lives, and it doesn't have to be all one, or all another.
Anyone know whether they are referring only to MS software?
I'm not sure about Vista, but IIRC, doesn't XP require that the computer be "verified" by Microsoft over the internet within 30 days of installation in most cases?
There are a couple of things, in my view, that make the "Appleganda" more effective now.
First is that Apple still has no malware that I'm aware of in general circulation (i.e. in anything other than a proof of concept).
Second is that Apple has revised the prices of their hardware, to the extent that it's either the same price, cheaper or has a very modest premium over comparable hardware on the other side.
Given those facts, perhaps software that "phones home" is just the last straw for a few people. Hopefully you can admit that most people would rather deal with a company that trusts them than a company that makes them beg for forgiveness if they change their hardware configuration.
D
If I might proselytize a little, take a look at Moneydance as a replacement to Quicken. My tether to Windows 2000 was MS Money. Moneydance solved my problem. Its a bit different of course, but no more than MS Money and Quicken are to each other.
If your XP is crashing once a month, then something is wrong somewhere. That is not normal operation, and shouldn't be tolerated as such.
I have heard how bad ME is,but it has caused me no more problems and fewer crashes that XP;both updated with firewall,anti-virus and spyware tools.Had to o.k. WGA in order to get updates from MS.
Annoying!
Just what info do they gather ?
Next I suppose there will be remote scanning of all computers for questionable content and non-verified software;consent said to be implied by internet use. How would you know if a worm turned on the built-in microphone and camera that are part of many new computers?
Is it 2006 or 1984 ?
No you don't. They just try to make you think that. You can tell it you don't want to install it, and to not ask you again and it won't. There is also a removal tool on the internet should it give you any trouble. You must be the last person on the planet running ME, that's how bad it was. More power to you if you have it running, but that thing was a dog! Of all the pi$$-poor things M$ has done over the years, ME has to be the lowest of the lows.
Yeah, they can go to h*** for writing an o/s that requires that kind of power. I'm building a computer right now, with parts that were top of the line about a year and a half ago (Athlon FX-55, 2GB DDR 400, etc.) and MS is telling me that this is a minimum setup. I think XP will suffice for now...
MS Bob, meet Space Wrangler. Mr. Wrangler, meet Bob.
MS Bob, meet Space Wrangler. Mr. Wrangler, meet Bob.
I spec'd out a machine that met the reccommended hardware requirements for Vista, and the price, sans the OS, was over $1200. No monitor in that price. Vista is going to go over like a turd in the punchbowl with the general public for the first year, solely for the high cost associated with buying a machine that will run it. I know alot of tech geeks, and even the staunchest MS 'company guys' are a little perterbed at the hefty hardware requirements.
ME was worse than Bob. Bob was a horrible conceptualization of a not so bad idea. ME on the other hand was trainwreck, and it caused a thousand fold the headaches and gnashed teeth of anything Bob could have ever dreamed about.
Thanks, I may download the trial version and check it out.
It was Win98 dressed in a clown suit. I still have it on a fossil laptop here.
Prior to this OS, I had never heard "Windows" used as a verb before.
"Windows Me"= "Byte Me".
Well ifn yer machine dont like doin that, why do you make it do it?
There's a thing called rebooting, and clearing your caches, and cleaning your registry.
Try this program to find out exactly what is running on your machine.
I still don't know what ME really was. A dressed down NT? A poorly updated 98? A multimedia home version of 2000? It just really can't be classified. 98C was so much better that calling ME an upgrade was LOL funny.
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