Pointless and stupid, a way will be found to get around it eventually anyways.

People will always find a way around this...always

Ms will just run away people for life.More to convert to mac and linux.o well.

btw,check the programs that are being made for mac.They have better programs,when they make them.

Try linux if you dare :p

one thing to mention most users of windows don't have the skills to change to linux, they don't have the skills to even keep their pc up to date, they need ms to do it for them ( and even that wasn't enough). Remember many people still use the words pc and cpu like they were the same thing. A mac switch may be possible, though macs are typically more $.

More converts to linux and OSX...
Fine with me...

Thanks MS for making such a POS OS... Ha

Linux? You'll have to make it easier to use to get Mr and Mrs Windows to adapt to it.
God, I've tried most of 'em and they all suck in one way or another, and that's just a fact Jack.

and Windows sucks in more ways than one.

The most ludicrous thing about the current Windows XP activation system is that you can't go in to change your network settings if your copy isn't activated. So you often can't activate via the internet and have to use the phone activation which isn't always operational.

I love windows no doubt...but wow the price...the price you guys talking about ($200US) thats like over $500 for me...plus shipping...god i feel like crying...anyway, i think microsoft spends more money on developing better protection for themselves than they do in developing a good OS for the consumer...and andrewvos...the amount of money you proberly make, could probly be cut in half and you still be driving in fancy cars...anyway...tell microsoft we gotta eat to eh

I have never bought a Microsoft OS. EVER. And I never plan to even if I do use the OS. Vista will be no different then all that came before it for me. Monopolize and force consumers to use your f*cking OS? Ok, we'll use but we won't pay. Id like to give a shout to the brilliant heroes of all time that "level the playing ground" between the little people (you and i) and evil (e.g. ms):

Crackers. Without them we'd be in a world of total software HELL.

Careful what you say here, these people take it to the bone. They have illusions of legitimacy here. However, I for 1 support piracy :-D.

I look forward to the day when our society has enough sense to put criminals like YOU in jail.

it's a self stabilizing system, there will always be a % of people that will pirate it for whatever reason. ms isn't forcing you to do anything, you have choices, you just don't like them. and it doesn't level anything, since it drives prices up for people who do pay for it. if i pirate it, it would be simply because i can and i don't want to pay for it. it's honest and delusion free.

kaiser sosa is behind it all!!

35billion lost, cry me a friggen river.

If it were your 35 billion you would cry a river.

35 billion might seem a lot to you, me as well. To MS it's about the same as two months of your salary. Let people rip you off every year for two months salary and see if you feel annoyed about it.

Vista is looking good so far for me. only started using it but there new network section is a little easier to get around. and navigating through sections is a little better too.

I'm agree with this new anti-piracy policies. But, why they don't make some cheapier software? There're countries like latin-america or others where the Microsoft software cost literally 'an arm' or 'an eye'. The should see that too.

Microsoft is retarded. They are just putting themselves in a corner that nobody will want to visit.

I will never buy or use Windows Vista.

Just read why you don't need Windows Vista:
http://www.winsupersite....se/winvista_xp_apps.asp

What's funny is that Microsoft has spent all this time working on a new OS and it's really just a bunch of pretty eye candy. There is not much in Windows Vista that makes the OS better or gives you more functionality.

Microsoft, you suck. My next computer will be a Mac and my other older PC's at home will be reloaded with Linux. Take a hike.

;-)

although your comment has "some" weight to it, I find it a bit vague. you dont specify why its "retarded" and your comment about vista is also vague as far as why you wouldnt use it. SImply going by someones article (which I read) that you posted the link for, shows lack of reasoning. You show us someone elses view, escaping your own. How can you claim you know this OS inside and out when the final release isnt even out. also you dont even claim to have tried the RC1. I myself have been testing it for quite some time and have found a lot of useful tools compared to XP. True I wont be waiting in line to buy it and quick to change, but also can speak from experience in my claims, not by someone elses...

enjoy your linux and your "Maybe A Computer" which is nothing but a overpriced unix box.

This article describes how to lower Internet Explorers privileges in Win XP to surf the web with near Vista security.
========================
Browsing the Web and Reading E-mail Safely as an Administrator

Michael Howard
Microsoft Security Engineering

November 15, 2004

Summary: Michael Howard discusses how you can run as an administrator and access Internet data safely by dropping unnecessary administrative privileges when using any tool to access the Internet.

http://msdn.microsoft.co...html/secure11152004.asp

i agree, people love rant but let's be honest, sooner or later most of them will switch to vista be they will have to if they want to use newer software. Also while linux has it's benefits many people forget that 95% of users aren't IT savvy or IT pro's. It's easy to think Linux could be such an easy switch, but remember that your basing that on your personal experiance. Most user's technical experiance peeks at making a myspace page, scary huh, especially if you seen some of those pages.

Microsoft is retarded. They are just putting themselves in a corner that nobody will want to visit.

I will never buy or use Windows Vista.

Just read why you don't need Windows Vista:
http://www.winsupersite....se/winvista_xp_apps.asp

What's funny is that Microsoft has spent all this time working on a new OS and it's really just a bunch of pretty eye candy. There is not much in Windows Vista that makes the OS better or gives you more functionality.

Microsoft, you suck. My next computer will be a Mac and my other older PC's at home will be reloaded with Linux. Take a hike.

;-)

Joe Dirst

I'm with YOU 100%
I won't never buy Windows VISTA!!!
I will put Linux In My 2 PCs
And i'm also planing to buy MAC!!

Mac & Linux is the BEST!
Microsoft s*** LOSER!

I think Microsoft will sell popcorn and will make a restaurant under name "microsoft's Restaurant" soon for that s*** Prtoection that they made in the new windows.....

I wanna just to say something...
Me for example: I have been downloaded a hacked Windows XP SP2 Genuine from the net for FREE of course..
but when i see it good I have Bought a Linced One With MONEY

Nobody will be satisfaied to but that fraggin wondows....

That all i can said....

note the proper spelling and english grammer there. Makes it kind of obvious why he cant run *any* OS. good luck with that there bud.

Quit complaining get your Mac now. You deserve it. GO NOW!

I hope english is his second language :)

Amen, just mention "drivers" to a linux user and see what happens :)

I saw a comment, where somebody said "Hasn't Microsoft made enough money on Windows XP", and I am thinking how anyone could really believe this comment.

I mean nobody says "Has Apple made enough money on IPODs, so they should be cheaper", or "Has Ford made enough money selling cars, so they should be cheaper"

I mean come on people, those that live in the United Sates of America, are the VERY reason this country is going down the s***ter. Your the reason other goverment official ( the other party ) hold off on giving information to the fbi, on a state congressmen that had some very sick conversations with a page, just to release it a month ahead of time.

I mean come on people, we are the only country where you can start out with nothing, and in the course of 30 years be the richest man in the country ( I believe thats right ).

Microsoft is a company, its job is to make a profit, $200 for Vista is not alot of money, hell people the compareable versions costs almsot ( within $10 ) the same as Windows XP.

Windows Ultimate, is the exception, YOU DO NOT NEED THIS VERSION but everyone that "attacks" microsoft who is breaking the law by using an illegal version uses the excuse "I don't have $400 to spend on my OS" so don't spend $200 or even less to get a legal OS.

heh they thing is everyone in this country believes they are entitled to everything. and imagine the actuall profit from the os after you pay the thousands of employees and then all the legal hoops they have to jump through just to put out an operating system.

no, just entitled to free thought and ideas.

the rest of your comment kinda made me laugh though.

"Has Apple made enough money on IPODs, so they should be cheaper"

that would be "hasn't"

and they are cheaper. get a clue.

the only ones that are "cheaper" are older models. Try to keep it civil....

There will always be a work around just like before. A group of hackers / crackers put up a slew of software to remove wpa inside of safemode using a strange method of removal. This included up to activating by method of phone and type out random numbers. MS immediately took action and released a security update on the wpa server looking for this action to force the user to activate. The question of the day, did it work? Unless extra precautions have been taken a line of code is all that will be needed for someone or some group to replicate the process as they did in the XP enviroment And since XP is the former Whistler, and Vista is formely known as Long Horn. Who's to know how the following release of Black Comb which will keep it's name so far will do. Sadly I will not be able to download or purchase Vista as it requires to much processing power. Maybe in the future.

Yeah, we know - NO ONE is going to get Vista because of the need to activate the software - just like no one bought XP because of the need to activate it.

And everyone is going to run to Linux - especially in the Enterprise market - as if there are sufficient applications available for the desktop that are compatible with the legacy data and resources that must be dealt with...as well as 'easy' communication between Windows and Linux platforms! Can you say you LIKE Hummingbird Exceed????

If any of what so many say were true, they would be running to the Mac with its inherent Windows file compatibility in OSX! Yet most abhore that idea!

So sure you are...
Talk talk talk...
The show includes everything but laying on the ground and kicking and screaming.

Besides, for the vast majority on this site, you are not in a position to determine nor to control what OS you will deal with in an enterprise environment anyway!

The fact is, the PC MS market is so fragmented with the Windows user base distributed over versions of Windows dating back to 3.1 that the real impact will be on the inability of MS to stimulate a compelling reason to stimulate widespread deployment of products such as the new Office, as it requires the new OS. MS will be looking at an installed userbase for Vista of 15-20% after a 1-2 year period as many hold off due to product cost and limitations imposed by machine resource & compatibility issues.

Amen, my users have little say in what OS runs on their PCs.

as long toy can code, you can crack..... nothing more..

IF you have the pussiblity, why dont do it

Microsuck can dream about keeping me from using a pirated Windows. I will never pay for their pirated lines of codes. When Microsuck stop using pirated codes in their OS then i stop using pirated Windows ! Vista ? Never i install that crap. I am more in to try some Linux - or even maybe Mac, but NOT Vista ! Anyway, the same day Microsuck release Vista, the same day the "piracy protection" will be cracked !

yet you wont actually be doing any of the work now will you? you wont crack it yourself, just like you wont pay for it, or even help make it. lets face it you are a leech. society as a whole would be better off if you jumped off a high cliff onto some pointy rocks.

Hairykebab,
They do not use pirated code. Indeed, the original code is still owned by IBM, and licensed to MS. There is an earlier thread on this board about the recent expiry date of their current lease, and what would transpire if it was not renewed.
Now, notwithstanding that MS does not invent anything themselves, other than marketing strategies that encourage us and manufacturers to continually upgrade, their ability to re-engineer apps copyrighted to others' and make money from it. This is the way it should be, and I will argue & defend their right to do so as long as I vote Republican.

Once again the day will come when you will find out you're not quite as smart as you think you are. You'll get caught eventually and by then we will have learned to put criminals like you in jail or if you're too young, time out :)

I'm one of these lucky people who has to phone up every time I want to activate Windows, mostly as I've reinstalled over a dozen times. Of course, some might ask 'Why?' but I'm in the habit of trying endless software, and too lazy to take an image of my system to restore to. I find just throwing in the Windows CD and reinstalling to be less hassle. It's ironic that laziness now means I have to spend a lot more time doing everything, like activating :)

Still, none of that goes against the licensing. There's no rule that says "if you reinstall too many times on the same hardware, we will be a pain in the a** and distrust you". And yes, I am using the same hardware my OEM copy of Windows came with.

Rant aside, I guess I might finally bite the bullet and start using Linux, or FreeBSD. I miss the hassle free day of a serial code, installing, and bam, done! I just hope emulation gets to the stage all my favourite apps, classic games can work via emulation without too much hassle.

It's times like these you realize Windows really does have an irongrip on the market. It's only for the reason of industry standard applications (like photoshop), PC games, and lack of drivers for other OSes which stops me moving away from Windows. Yup, just about everything of importance for my daily computer life.

As some final food for thought, I can see Microsoft doing the same thing as they do with XP. Ie, if you get a new motherboard, you are supposed to get a whole new copy of XP. And of course they'll try and tell us all we're buying a 'license' and not the 'software'. It's sad that these big corperations are allowed to slowly take away our rights. A quote for you all, which should mean what MS are trying with 'licenses' would never stand in a court of law yet they and many others continue to be allowed to do it - completely unchallenged.

'Reselling the original software. Licenses often say that the buyer does not buy the software but instead pays for the right to use the software. In the US, the first-sale doctrine, Softman v. Adobe [1] and Novell, Inc. v. CPU Distrib., Inc. ruled that software sales are purchases, not licenses, and resale, including unbundling, is lawful regardless of a contractual prohibition. The reasoning in Softman v. Adobe suggests that resale of student licensed versions, provided they are accurately described as such, is also not infringing.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/...nfringement_of_software

I wish the laws would get reformed. Such as, ensuring no company is allowed to use this "you are buying a license" bullcrap when you really -are- buying the software. Yea, it's laughable thinking such a useful change for us poor, completely screwed over, consumers would ever happen. I'll just walk back into fantasy land.

Oh... and as I seem to have ranted more about general Microsoft and business practices - no I don't care if they want to lock out pirates. I do care about the sad reality that in their attempts to lock out pirates - and again, is true for many companies - legit people can also get a raw deal. The poster below is a fine example, changing certain hardware means reactivation or land you needing to buy a new 'license'? I mean -come on-, it's ridiculous.

I know, it's too late now. The majority of the world sat back, beautifully ignorant, and now we're here. It's delightful[/sarcasm] :)

nice post
:-)

"In the US, the first-sale doctrine, Softman v. Adobe [1] and Novell, Inc. v. CPU Distrib., Inc. ruled that software sales are purchases, not licenses, and resale, including unbundling, is lawful regardless of a contractual prohibition."

i hope more people become aware of this and stand up for their rights.
MS is not the lawmaker in regards to the uses of computer software, their own or others.

Babylon2x,
I do a reformat on my 2 notebooks about every 10 days, yep that's right. What I recently learned to do was create silent installers' (many thanks to msfn.org), and one D Petrie & The Elder Geek . Can now do a full reinstall in about 20 minutes. These include all my necessary apps slipstreamed, each one is different due to the purposes for which I use the particular notebook. Even include my serial, registration details & language (only use 2 US and another version of English), time zone etc.
To get to me point eventually, it still treats the new install as a pirate, then I have 2 options, can run remove WGA or activate online. I pay a certain amount of $$'s each year to be an MS partner, ergo have no problems activating.
Usually choose the latter, yet sometimes just to be a smarty I might have a jellybean.

Had to edit, another issue I forgot to mention was, does anyone here recall the original issues raised in respect of licensing when you have a dual core processor, which most here would now have.
There were several threads pertinent to the premise that Acrobat, MS, Symantec & or's were going to charge twice if your pc/notebook had 2 processors.
Sorry, my friends' should not have raised this, the devils should not have been reminded.

I can't activate online, which was my point. My license code -is- legal but it doesn't work with online activation, so I have to go through the phone validation process, talk to an adviser, all that hassle. I paid enough for my copies of XP, I'm not buying more or giving MS extra money because their online activation system doesn't seem to like my perfectly valid serial code anymore.

It's important to note I was referencing to WPA vs WGA, which do differ in their usages though the overall intention of them both leads us to the same place.

If only more people would notice... sadly it seems to pass people by, so the chances are MS and many others (Symantec, for example) will continue to write software agreements how they like. I can see us having 'licenses' for many years to come, until they've wormed their way into goverment pockets and changed the law so it really will be how it stands.

If Microsoft wants to protect their investment fine, all power to them. I’m willing to purchase and activate it only if the activation process is simple, available online and allows me to install it on a single machine. If I later upgrade my machine, ie change the hardware components – CPU, Video card MB or whatever, the ability to re-install and activate it MUST be possible, unlike XP which treated subsequent installs as a new machine, resulting in activation failure. Corporate Volume license got around this and has served me well the last 5 years… Hopfully MS improves flow of activation, if it is a nuisance again a hack/workaround/ some form of volume license edition etc etc will be the solution… yet again.

Price though is not too bad.

Haha.. Please read the story again: Every protection "feature" already exist. Every single one. Micro$oft marketing is great, but don't believe a single word of it.
Nothing new under the sun. Another M$ OS release that you'll need to wait some years to install because RTM will suck, as every release from Windows 3.0:
3.0? No, only 3.11 was barely usable
95? Nothing until 95SR2 worked.
98? Not until 98SE
ME? It never worked (no second release)
2000? Not worked until SP2
XP? Infect itself in less than 1 minute online if not with SP2 or a firewall, and even with a good firewall is a security nightmare with the terrible IE incrusted in the kernel.

Don't buy a Microsoft OS in their first release, they finish the product with YOUR money, and they have enough money, time and resources to build a decent, not crippled or terrible bloated OS...
Ok, maybe I'm a idealist, but I'm going to wait for Google OS, or a decent Apple hardware to use Mac OS X.

"Boo hoo, Microsoft won't let me steal their software. Someone call the waaambulance."

Amen

Wow... that is really making SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop a lot more competitive! Seriously, at the rate of $399 for the Ultimate Editon (which doesn't include Office), I could have one copy of SLED supported for six years and still have money to blow!

What's more is that activation is permanent! I think someone needs to "Get the Facts."

The pieces are apart. Its a matter of direction putting the puzzle the way the Astalavista teams see fit.

As to Windows update & Windows Genuine Validation, in the pirate version, it will be disable taking you to a Kickme.to website,for its upgrades and up to date patches. thanx to Anna RUForce, Fosi and his team.

Its MS team and its group of companies Vs The Astalavista World Undergound of Handlers.

Always ahead

2007 Let the games begin!

Microsoft cannot afford to clamp down a 100% on the pirates. Think about it, 80% of all Desktop OSes before Windows XP in most of the european countries and South Asia are all pirated. If MS put its foot down fully, then it would lose its market share and we all know that MS hates to be out of the lime light.
Fact: Windows 98 and Windows 2000 are is the most pirated Windows Copy yet.
-GGR

Boo hoo, Microsoft won't let me steal their software. Someone call the waaambulance.

Damn it, I guess I'll go back to Linux again.

Thanks Microsoft, I was just starting to like Windows again. (Yes, I buy 100% of my software)

if its makeable its breakable

lol vista will be cracked in one day

Arrrrrr, I be a swashbuklin' linux/unix pirate too!

Great, I'll be called a thief again, although all my Micro$uck software is entirely legal. I've not been "genuinely advantaged" for two months now--after two years of having no problems with completely legit software.

Thanks for all the future troubles, Macro$suck. I guess it's not so bad when you also don't offer anything close to resembling customer support.

And again, Microsoft, one of your sales reps cheated me ten years ago. I have not forgotten, and will not forget your dirty trick to weasel a much-needed personal introduction from me. And you wonder why you're rated the most distrusted firm in all business surveys? Duh! Try not cheating people.

Zen, from Rancho Cucamonga?

Microosft Windows Vista RC1 Has Already Been Cracked. I will Give the Official copy Microosft Windows Vista 1 to 2 weeks before it is Cracked Wide-Opened. Only if Microsoft Knew The Power of The Dark Side of the Computer World.

Cracked for how long, dont you think MS will jump on any unlicienced version of Vista ?, dont you think they will send out bounty hunters to seek out the rebellion and make the little beggers run round the galaxy jumping though hoops whenever they see fit ?

no ? ...

The force is weak in this one .... Shortsighted he is.

Well when you make something idiot proof, they WILL make a better idiot....

Nothing is unhackable and by announcing that it will be is just slapping the hacking community with a gauntlet. Watch what happen now.....

How funny that Microsoft have decided to do this at a time when it's easier than ever for a user to switch to Linux, and Apple sales are on the increase.

I've tested RC1 and was hugely dissapointed, especially with the pricetags they're discussing.I am now finally back on XP with Aero, widgets etc. Certainly won't pay much for Vista and will probably migrate to another OS. Bye Bye Microsoft

Aaaargh! Microsoft damn thee, but I'd rather walk the plank than switch to Linux.

Oh - and who needs "Vista" anyway . . .

i agree. i'm perfectly content with XP and will continue to use it after Vista is launched.

"The Profit Protection Platform has been under development for several years,"

Well I guess XP is the last OS I will ever buy from Micro$oft. I certainly can not afford to pay $300 a pop for all the computers in our household.

Thanks for pricing my family out of the market M$!

Well, man - this is THE point.

They're doing this for a long time now without even giving one single thought about the underdogs - not really, cause BG giving away a lot of money has nothing to do with any consideration for prices by the income. Just take a look for WHAT his money is used . . .

The puritans knew that "Wealth obliges.", which simply meant "if your're a real rich one, you are obliged to those who are poor". This attitude has been lost in a world that gives out mottos like "miserliness is cool".

It just a matter of time before you I will get a hack verison......Key word..."time"

" This represented some $35 billion in lost revenue for the software industry."

where did that money go?
that's right, it wouldn't have been spent in the first place.
there was no money lost, MS just had hurt feelings because people were using windows without their ok.

has MS not made enough money on windows xp?
do they have to sensationalize the fact that software can be pirated?
how much time and money and real product creation WAS lost creating this anti-piracy initiative?
how much money is GOING to be lost taking in costomer problems and complaints regarding this Initiative?
is this why Vista is so un-sensational?

seems like more money spent on a useless and lost cause.

you see thats the funny thing, microsoft makes more money from the pirates then from the legal users. when they get their hands on pirates they ring them for every penny, instead of just a few hundred. they are just making pirates easier to catch, thus increasing profit.

WOW!! Another great Microsoft advertising campaign to a captive audience.

Vista will be like a gucci handbag. You can spend silly money to have the real thing and be very impressed with yourself or be like me and prefer utility to bling.

I would prefer a bag that holds something without me having to stitch it together myself.

If you can't cook at least there is take-out.

lock pirates out of an MS-OS....

man i almost spilled my coffee on that one!

Aaaaaah im happy that i switched over to dark side to Oooo booon toooo
Easy as very very easy to use.
Never been happier.
Flexibility is amazing.
No DRM crap or copyrighted s*** everything is free.
Bye windows bye, you were good but there is somebody better.

Avoid Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack SP1a and SP2, Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1a and and SP2 SP2...

If you follow the directions above you computer run more stable and the performance will increase dramatically...

Install ZoneAlarm Free to protect your computer from incoming and outgoing internet traffic...

Stop Using Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Download Mozilla Firefox...

If you can find it purchase: Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1. This version of Windows is 150 times faster than Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack SP1a and SP2, Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1a and and SP2 SP2.

As for security, I have never experienced a security risk with Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1. I have been using this version of Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1 for the last 4 years. It is more stable and the performance and speed is equivalent to that of Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4.

Also when Microsoft Windows Professional with SP1 is installed on a computer, there are only 18 proceeses running by default after the installation has been completed. Compare that to Microsoft Windows Professional with SP2 which has 25 to 40 processes running by default after the installation has been completed.

What the world needs to understand is that: The more code Microsoft adds to Windows, the slower Windows runs. Aoid Vista! Microsoft Vista will be the biggest failure Microsft has ever encountered. If, possible: stick with Microsft Windows XP Professional SP1. Never install Service Pack 1a and SP2. I have been running Microsft Windows XP Professional SP1 for the last 4 years and have never experience any problems with a security risk. Plus it is 150 times faster than SP2.

Dumb, Da Dumb Dumb Dumb!

Vista was built from scratch and is not an extension of XP.

It is the dinosaurs in our industry that is ruining it, not Microsoft. Quit attacking the easy target and learn some new software once in a while. You might like it.

"Vista was built from scratch and is not an extension of XP. "

They could find nothing worth keeping?

Never trust the programmer who says it needs a complete re-write.

Vista was NOT built from scratch. End of story.

How many times do you feel the need to post your ignorant BS?

Kindly return to your bomb shelter...

What the heck is "Microsoft Windows Professional"? I've never heard of it.

"Vista was built from scratch and is not an extension of XP."

and who told you this?
your computer geek buddy over coffee?

Huh - I didn't know that - I thought it was just XP 1.1

(XP = Windows 2000 1.1)
(Windows 2000 = NT 4 1.1)

Do you have any idea how ownable your computer is w/o sp2?

Clearly you dont.

My mistake, I mean Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1.

**** OFF... WE Know Who The True Geek Is...

Yep, me.

Thanks for the confirmation.

heh

they will bend to corporations.

"It would also make widely distributed volume-license product keys -- traditionally supplied to corporations -- harder to use."

Admins that have to handle large number of upgrades arent gona be happy. Microsoft will fold to these companies, and in fact make it just as easy or more easy.

Microsoft wants fast adoptation of Vista, they will bend their own words to acheive it.

sorta tell the public one thing, and do another.
sounds about right.
MS seems good at distraction tactics, make em seem more honorable that way.

hmm... I mean the idea's right I guess.
Since most of the corporate people won't use those fancy interface.

However, I do wonder how long it'd take to crack those stuffs..
maybe a week? or two weeks? before release?

Vista is the OS that will change PC's fundementally forever and for all the wrong reasons. Trouble is everyone thinks they know how to use a PC, when in fact they know the bare minimum that allows them to turn it on tinker a little. The amount of times I goto people with computers and find that they are running XP without SP2, running XP with a dodgy key and cant do windows updates, running p2p apps to get dodgy copies of films, music and apps.

You cant blame MS for wanting to earn money out of there business of software, neither can you blame them for there success.

If the Vista train makes it very hard to keep running without a valid activated key then XP will remain the OS of choise for the people not prepaired to buy licenced copies of there software. Sure Vista will be hacked, patched and such, but i can see now its going to be a upwards struggle to keep it going, and in the end most people will find it just too much of a hastle to maintain.

I can see linux being a big winner in the next few years, and to be honest after installing ubuntu on my spare home machine i can see its appeal. But its not windows, and I still prefer XP, but its growing on me, and with more people jumping to it will get better im sure.

It sure is a good moment in computing time and im looking forward to it unfolding.

" i can see now its going to be a upwards struggle to keep it going"

it always has been.
Vista will change nothing except peoples view on MS and their ability to make a decent OS.

no it hasnt ... i personally am running a licienced version. But I know plenty of people using a pirated version of XP, using keygened or someone elses key. And yes, they all update on the MS sites.

What the world needs to understand is that: The more code Microsoft adds to Windows, the slower Windows runs. Aviod Vista! Microsoft Vista will be the biggest failure Microsft has ever encountered. If, possible: stick with Microsft Windows XP Professional SP1. Never install Service Pack 1a and SP2. I have been running Microsft Windows XP Professional SP1 for the last 4 years and have never experience any problems with a security risk. Plus it is 150 times faster than SP2.

My Win XP Pro SP2 is as zippy as can be. I can't imagine any previous version of Windows XP running any faster. And, when using hibernate, it starts up/shuts down in less than 10 seconds.

This is Total Impossible. There is no version of Windows available that starts up and shuts down in 10 seconds. Unless you have a version of Windows that Microsoft and the World doesn't no about.

My copy of Windows Media Center 2005 w/ SP2 running on my Dell Inspiron E1505 notebook can enter and return from hibernation in 12 seconds. For booting, it takes about 30.

If you would have READ his reply instead of spouting your ignorant BS you would have seen that he said "using hibernate".

And honestly, once you get past the BIOS post screens, you can make Windows XP SP2 boot pretty darn quickly, you just have to tweak it.

the day i have to pay for windows is the day i switch to linux... vista may be pretty, but still, it's like putting lipstick on a pig... windows is still windoze, and real pigs are smarter

"it's like putting lipstick on a pig... "

lmao

Already transitioning to Linux here because of just this sort of news. Windows should be nothing more than an "as-needed" running on an old computer by the time Vista is prime time.

Good riddance, Microsoft. If you were a person, you'd be a whining, fat, ugly, and expensive date.

MS 'whining, fat, ugly and expensive date' LMAO... couldn't have said it any better

From release time to cracked time I'll give vista 48 to 72 hours.

Those hackers and crackers sure love good challenge.

"Data from the Business Software Alliance that indicated 35 percent of all software installed in 2005 was pirated and unlicensed. This represented some $35 billion in lost revenue for the software industry."

I always love arbitrary numbers. A large number of people with say, Photoshop on their home PCs didn't pay for it. And most of those people use it for little more than converting formats, removing red-eye and some really basic stuff that dozens of freeware or $20 apps can do.

If there are a half million pirated copies of photoshop being used, I'd imagine only 10% of those people would actually buy it from Adobe if they could no longer get it by other means. Everyone else would do without or find a cheaper app. So that $325m in lost Adobe sales might really be closer to $32 million.

Yeah, but this isn't Photoshop, is it?

You can't compare an application with an entire OS.

I bet you that number is much lower then 10%...I'd be surprised if it's 1%.

The point was, provided people can't get Windows for free, only some of them would choose to buy it, while others would choose to use cheaper alternative (Linux).

Then use Linux. No one's stopping anyone from using any alternatives. The idea MS has behind their prices is "you get what you pay for" and it's true. You can have all the biased opinions you want about it but Windows is still going to be the most widely supported and versatile system out there.

Once again, the point was that so called "loses" due to free copying are imaginary. That's all.

Marketing 101:
Market a product to a wider customer base and you don't have to charge as much for it to make a profit.

In other words, the reason why there are so many pirated copies of Microsoft operating systems is because of how expensive it is.

If Microsoft was smart, they would drastically reduce the price of their operating systems, and concentrate on marketing it to a wider customer base. If they charged less for their operating systems, more people would be willing to pay for it, which means Microsoft would make more of a profit in the long run.
And Bill Gates is supposedly the brilliant marketing mind behind the internet revolution?

Hey Bill, stop trying to charge so much per copy, and focus on volume! Hello!

If I were the CEO of Microsoft, I'd restructure it completely, and I promise you the restructuring would generate more profit for the company than they've ever seen.

But I have no desire to be the CEO of Microsoft, because Microsoft was founded on Software Piracy!

That's what upsets me the most.
Here's a multibillion dollar company that is trying to eliminate software piracy, yet every version of Windows has had some form of pirated code implemented into it.

It first started with the code for the mouse, which was developed by some genius programmers at Xerox, in which Steve Jobs got permission to use the code, but Bill Gates did not, and instead jacked it behind Steve Job's back.

Don't even get me started in the switch from OS2 to Windows in the first place, or the switch from SCO to NT.

Yeah Microsoft, I know your history! You can't fool me!

Volume? Look, I hate the clampdown too, but how many more users are they gonna get? The reason they are looking towards enforcement is because they don't have anything left in the Western world to add. If they added every Mac user, they add 10% to their user base, right? Every Linux user another 5%? OK, then what? Third world countries? They can't expand. The only thing left is to squeeze freeloaders, and OEMs.

LoL . Yeah, ive always found it kind of ironic that Bill Gates/Microsoft tried everything they could think of to keep people from pirating/stealing from them, when Bill Gates is the biggest pirate of all. After all, didnt he get his start stealing from IBM after he and they got divorced? Not to say that he wouldnt have made it to where he is even if he had never worked with IBM, but a pirate is a pirate !

Umm, one of the MANY points that you failed to note is that the primary objective of starting any business venture is to attain and maintain profitability.

Employees (especially those of a technical nature) tend to demand salaries so that they can freely pursue such whimsical goals as buying food and providing shelter for their families. Maybe filling up the old gas tank on the family car from time to time.

If you think that a paltry couple of hundred bucks for an operating system is "too pricey" then perhaps you SHOULD be running Linux.

Companies like Sun, Microsoft, etc spend hundreds of millions of dollars to bring a product to market. It is only logical that they would expect something in return.

Maybe this whole concept of paying for stuff is alien to those of you who are over the age of 21 yet still living at home with Mom, but most of us who support themselves have to pay for things like utilities, mortgages, food, and clothing. That requires a salary. So all the arguements about how software (or anything, for that matter) should be provided for you to use at no cost are unrealistic masturbatory exercises in stupidity. I'd bet that you cheap f#ckers would be among the first to cry foul if your job was moved to India or China as an offset strategy to contain costs. HYPOCRITES!

Get a clue.

If you racked up tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars on an education, and you were expected to pay off all those student loans while still trying to keep up with rising health care costs, unexpected "emergency" expenditures like one of your kids getting sick, etc, then you would sure as hell expect a paycheck each week. Or is this too unrealistic for all you Microsoft-bashers out there?

Having worked for MS back in the 90's I can tell you from personal experience that this is a company that used to treat their employees pretty damn well in terms of compensation. It's not like all the money goes to Bill Gates, kids. If you truly fail to see the economic realities for what they are, then these points will be lost on you. If you are willing to lay your biased rants aside & concede the logic in this post then perhaps you will begin to understand that (given all that goes into the release of a new operating systems) the current pricing index for the Windows platform is pretty damn reasonable.

If, however, you are the type of lazy bas**** who believes that the world somehow owes you a living and that everything should be handed to you at no cost, then you probably aren't worth any marketing department's budget dollars anyway.

my two cents,

-michael

"If Microsoft was smart, they would drastically reduce the price of their operating systems, and concentrate on marketing it to a wider customer base.
Hey Bill, stop trying to charge so much per copy, and focus on volume! Hello!"

How much wider a customer base do they actually want? Linux+Mac doesn't even make 10% in the installed desktop space. The people that don't pay for it now (either OEM or boxed) aren't likely to pay for it no matter how much it costs.
Your grasp of business is pretty poor I think.

That is one of the best posts I have seen on betanews.

"Having worked for MS back in the 90's"

and just look what they did with the place after you left.
:-p
this isn't the 90's anymore, MS isn't the same company it was either.

While I agree with the content of your post, I think that Microsoft is charging WAY too much (look at their profit) for example:

Windows XP Pro: $309.99
Microsoft Office: $359.99
Money 2007: $89.99

That's almost $800 in software that will be tossed aside and unusable when the newer versions come out and people spend another $800+ to upgrade to the newer vista, office, and money. This is stupid, but apparently the market allows it so shame on all of us.

You know what - new thought. Let's have DONGLES!

I don't care what they charge. It doesn't matter. MS makes their money with OEM OS sales. Buy a $400 OS, or buy a $1200 puter. I go with the new box.

Wrong, Office is their cash cow.

so, I am left wondering how will this work in corporate environments where admins ghost hundreds of machines off of the same image?

Are they going to provide ANY forgiveness or am I going to have to install apps 200 times over?

Seriously, I understand they want to protect their product, but this is a bit much.

"so, I am left wondering how will this work in corporate environments where admins ghost hundreds of machines off of the same image?"

They already have deployment tools in test for corporates. Won't have any significant impact for those set up correctly.

It's a crime that business and organizations charge so much money for their software. Do you actually think someone in the ghetto with no money that might be able to afford a computer is going to spend thousands of dollars to buy your crappy software? Piracy won't stop so maybe save your time and money and make a better product.

Like if anyone should be entitled to freely use anything they cant afford, lol.
If you cant afford it don't use it and stop whining, or install a Linux distro.

And yet "someone in the ghetto" can always manage to scrape together enough money to buy crack. Go figure, huh?

Wow. THAT was rather prejudicial.

"All people who live in the ghetto smoke crack."

Nicely done.

LOL@windoze users jumping through 10,000 hoops just for their OS to work...

Sorry MS, not me.

Since when is product activation something new?

Having it call home constantly is an inch short of a dongle...

to pirate or not to pirate, that is the question. I would do it for science. If it is a hastle to keep it "genuine" then it would be time to buy or use my IT credentials to somehow have work or ms give me a free one.

Well I'll guarantee that it will be a hasle to keep it genuine. My friends tell me enough about XP to know, it already is.

"artje cited data from the Business Software Alliance that indicated 35 percent of all software installed in 2005 was pirated and unlicensed. This represented some $35 billion in lost revenue for the software industry."

And I bet 33.5 billion was Microsoft's right? Sorry I don't feel bad for your Microsoft. You are still making about as much money as just about every other company in the software industry put together. So what are you complaining about? You don't invest but a small percentage of that into windows or office development. Instead its put into losing markets, like xbox, zune and everything else.

So once again, I have no sympathy. Microsoft simply won't be happy until the software and computer industry is just like AT&T was at one point. When you think of the computer or software you think and buy Microsoft. Simply because everything has been either destroyed or bought out. It's already happening. Microsoft buys a new company every month practically. Either that or they enter a new market with the intent on losing money simply to start to starve the leaders already in place. They go out of business, Microsoft is the raining leader now innovation is eliminated and stalled and Microsoft moves to the next market and does the same.

Microsoft is quite simply a cancer of the industry. No company has a chance against them. Not even Linux which is free with limited advanced hardware support or apple which just doesn't have the hardware/software support period.

Microsoft has got to be broken up and be forced to compete without the advantage of buying out companies that would be potential competitors. I mean most of these companies that have advanced innovative products are only worth a few million dollars with no brand recognition and are start ups with practically no money for marketing. Microsoft takes those products and makes billions within a few years. Simply because they have the marketing power, promoters and reps to do it.

There could quite possibly be a windows clone out there that is 100 percent secure immune to viruses and is free of charge but Microsoft has effectively contained the news and had the inventors kidnapped and killed. Who would know? Microsoft in its current state has the power to do anything that includes pay small fines from governments, pay off people and whatever else they see fit to do with their money.

There could quite possibly be a windows clone out there that is 100 percent secure immune to viruses and is free of charge but Microsoft has effectively contained the news and had the inventors kidnapped and killed. Who would know?

Sorry, I can't resist. I have a car that runs on water I can sell you, I have it in storage next to my free-energy machine.

mythbusters? :p...I love that show, hehe

I WISH, MS would give each INDIVIDUAL, the ability to install per license, on 3 pcs. I think that would be grand. I have my laptop, my trusty old general use pc, and my high powered gaming/media pc. BUT I'll settle for a single license.

Of course I'm just talking pricing wise, I'm a bit on the poor side :)

The only thing this will do in fact is prevent a whole lot of people from upgrading. I can bet there are millions of copies of xp pro running on volume license keys. Do you think someone is going to dish out 200 dollars on a new legit os from that simply because they can't use vista?

When xp support goes out the window, which should be within a few short years of vista release (it has been 5 years since release already and that is typically there support window) People will stay with it xp and risk the net and everything else from the massive holes that will no doubt still be discovered.

So what will that leave? Linux and mac os x. Now granted games once they require directx 10 which will only be available for vista come out it will tempt people to upgrade. But if there is only a 10 percent install base of vista then why would game developers switch to that new version? They wouldn't, I mean it took years for games based on 9 to come out.

So point is, Microsoft is really starting to push pc users buttons. Not only that but people are going to be extremely confused with 5 different versions of vista on the shelf. They are going to pick up the 99 dollar upgrade home basic edition and start to wonder why it has less features then xp and is 10 times more confusing but 10 times more marketing for ms products.

I personally don't plan on upgrading until its absolutely necessary. I have no doubt vista will have the slowest adoption rate of any windows ever and will be a bomb just like ME was.

Every single feature of vista was taken from things that were third party products for xp and yes most of not all of these things are free.

I have no doubt the activation which phones home on a regular basis will be more trouble then its worth. I mean think about this, there are a lot of computers which simply host applications on a private/classified network for corporate and government networks that never ever touch the net. How is that going to work? Oh wait, we have to let vista activate once every 2 weeks so lets expose it to the Internet. Yeah, that's going to happen. If they have a work around for it, well then that work around/feature will find its way on the net and there you have it, the way it will be cracked/worked around.

Another thing, if vista is going to have all these features for anti piracy, should that decrease the cost of the os by say , 200 dollars for the ultimate edition? Basic home should be 50 dollars for the full version? I mean just think with all the money they are making and saving what is there excuse now for outrageous pricing? It's called a monopoly with little or no competition. They can set the price at what they want which stings a bit for most people and the rest, well they just won't be able to afford it. The lowest cost vista version is home basic, at 100 dollars for the upgrade. Do you think that is the version ms will market? Nope all the advanced features of premium, so they will have to now add another 50 dollars on top of the upgrade 100 dollars for aero.

So yeah you get the point, it will be a very interesting next few years with vista. I have no doubt it will be a disaster and Microsoft will be getting a shovel ready to begin digging its own grave.

I agree with you that customers should be enraged, but I doubt it will happen. Only a small percentage of copies of Windows are bought retail or upgrade version. Most people get Windows with their new computers. So people will do as they usually do and keep using their computers until they stop working properly, and go buy a new one, which will happen to come with Vista. I'd have to hope the OEMs are very careful about this activation crap and will make sure all their customers have copies of Windows that validate properly - customers are much likely to go to their OEM and complain than call up Microsoft tech support.

I personally would love Microsoft to lose some of their commanding marketshare, but I do not expect it to happen unless they severly ruin their relationship with OEMs.

Legitimate users are gonna feel gypped.

Meanwhile pirates will patch around these restrictions and will have a much easier ride than legitimate users.

I fully agree :-D

EXACTLY!

This only hurts honest people. I am really starting to get tired of Microsoft f***ing paying customers to get pirates.

When Adobe and Macromedia switched over to activation they did it the right way -> in exchange for activation they modified their licenses to include use on two computers (work and laptop/home) as long as it is the same user. They actually care about their customers opinions.

Sounds much like an article posted about 5 years ago saying Microsoft was keeping pirates out of XP by requiring activation (and everyone was mad about that)...I'm sure this new way will work for a few weeks too.

The BSA? Why include a quote at all
if it's going to come from those guys?

These are the same guys that count any
system not running Windows as lost
revenue for Microsoft.

Look at the name:

Business Software Alliance

Pretty much says it all right there,
does it not?

The latest Vista have this, It would not lock you out, but it will not run the program.

I try using a patch for a program but the program did not allow to work.

Microsoft has Monopolized the market. If I could play games on another Op System I would.

...

"Before they do that,
I hope they increase
the reliability of
distinguishing
legitimate/illegitimate
copies"

...

Quite so !

Bro. Rat had a legit copy of WinXP bought at
Staples that Microsoft product activation found
ok.

Then, one day a couple years later, Microsoft
arbitrarily decided it wasn't a "genuine" copy
of XP after all !

Your favorite rodent was denied manual updates
for a couple months until one day -out of the
blue- Microsoft decided the PC Rat's XP was in
fact "genuine".

Microsoft is too big to listen to it's customers.
And a good reason NOT to upgrade to WinVista
is stuff like these arbitrary determinations about
whether your copy is "genuine".

...

The Computer Rodent

...

Interesting post, but PLEASE stop refering to yourself in the third person. :|

Agreed, very annoying. Plus his constant "..." and formatting makes his post more of an attention wh*** type post, and appears to just an attempt to stand out.

I doubt Vista will be cracked with 100% success without massive hassle to the end-user. Even now a cracked WIndows XP must risk detection by new Microsoft software.

But then again who wants to deal with DRM/activation?

It's a tipping point. 30% of software is pirated because it's too expensive and it loses value. Three years after a software's release it's fairly worthless, it's depreciation is faster than cars and computers. Nobody uses NT 4.0 where it was used in hundreds of thousands of installs 5 years ago. The same will probably be the case with Windows 2000 5 years from now.

...

"I doubt Vista
will be cracked
with 100% success"

...

Microsoft knows it can't make Vista bulletproof.

The idea here ~isn't~ that NOBODY can crack the
activation !

All Microsoft wants to do is keep the overwhelming
majority of those with pirated Vista from using it.
They really don't care if a handful of advanced
users find some way to circumvent the protetions.

This won't be 100%, and Microsoft will be quite
pleased if it's 97% !

The great majority of people with pirated Windows
have not the slightest clue how to find ways to
circumvent protections.

...

The Computer Rodent

...

Very true, the days of using your friends cd key are over. You must find alterante ways. Fortunately for us, theres plenty on the web to counter everything MS does.

"Fortunately for us, theres plenty on the web to counter everything MS does."

At what cost, though? YOu have no idea without detailed code analysis (read: lots of time) to determine what this circumvention is doing. It's not worth it even more the majority of pirates that typically do it.

Let me rephrase "fortunately for ME" And F$@# "code analysis", if I cared about the market, I'd be an Econ major.

LOL!

I'm guessing reading comprehension wasnt your major either plague201.

I guess not, explain

I'm sorry, but by now M$ must realize that no software is safe from pirates. Vista will be cracked, just like XP, just like 2K and just like versions that come after Vista. Somebody, somewhere will find a way.

blah blah blah.... more empty threats from Microsoft.. If someone wants to crack the activation of Vista, you damn well bet that it will be done. Just like the security on M$'s XBOX360. Flash the DVD drive firmware and you can play copied game titles til your hearts content. I think these statements from M$ are just statements to the masses to scare them away from trying to crack the activation. Meanwhile within a few weeks after the product hits the shelves, hackers will be using pirated copies with no problems whatsoever...

All true, expect that pirates will most likely have the software a week in advance, not weeks after.

The thing is, it CAN be done.

Game companies do it all the time. Have a legit key, or you cant play.

So the second someone plugs a computer in that gets internet access, and doesnt have a legit key, its game over.

Before they do that, I hope they increase the reliability of distinguishing legitimate/illegitimate copies. I mean, if I paid... say... $400 for the Ultimate Edition only to be labeled a pirate, I would obviously not be too happy, yes?

Or I could use something else that will never label me as a pirate and make a few donations here and there.

Wait - if activation isn't "permanent", that means this time around it's going to call home, constantly. Brilliant!

Omg, get the tinfoil hats!

tee hee.

Whenever i read stuff like *$35 billion lost* i wonder how someone with common sense can aggree with those numbers. In most cases ppl don't install pirated software for fun or because they love being a pirate, No the reason is THEY CANNOT AFFORD THE SOFTWARE.

And if MS tries to *force* everyone to buy a license then it will instead force poor ppl to switch to linux if they can. I hope you thought about that dear Cori Hartje.

Linux would definitley be great, already use a bit of it. Only problem will be finding support for it. Primarily in the gaming market.

Everyone can try LInux right now without any changes to their system. There are these run from DVD Linux Versions that won't touch you harddrive (aka linux live cd).

For example Knoppix:
http://www.knoppix.org

Check out the screenshots:
http://shots.osdir.com/s...knoppix+5.0+screenshots

I have a dual boot setup for work. But thats work. Most people love windows because of the availability of software, (games, appz). Thats something that linux lacks, and needs for people to consider switching.

Well if its just office, media entertainment (mp3, avi, etc) and buring CDs then you can use Linux.

If you want to play computer games you will always be forced to get a MS OS to do so. Thats because whenever someone makes progress in rebuilding their plattform they "evolve" it to something incompatible with the old one.

lmao...

THEY CANNOT AFFORD THE SOFTWARE.


Oh...well...

That makes it okay then.

Thanks, I needed that.

Of course it's not totally ok, but think about it for a second the price for vista will range from $199.00 - $399.00. Thats a lot of money for the new desktop skin.

Because of MS Monopoly there is no way to determine if the price is fair or not, but let me make a guess. Its totally overpriced.

http://www.amazon.com/gp.../?&docId=1000002381

Real, you are right, it does make it ok. And dont forget. It's not stealing, if your not caught.

LOL, screw that. I WILL get vista, but no way in hell I'm paying $400 for it.

I switched everything over to Linux a couple of years ago and run nothing Microsoft. Linux allows me to do anything and everything I ever did with Microsoft (without the virus, spyware and a lot of maintenance), but as you say, it's not for heavy gamers.

Having never been a gamer, I don't really understand much about it. But, I think if I were to become a gamer, I'd just buy something like an XBox or something specifically set up for gaming. I'd think I might have a better gaming experience, doing so.

Thing is, PC games are better than console games. PC games have been running on basically HD for years, and consoles are barely catching up.

"That makes it okay then."

no, just not lost revenue.
pay attention eh.

Thanks for the explanation. As I say, I've never been a gamer, so I don't know anything about it. Linux has worked great for all my general purposes, office needs, a bit of photo stuff, ham radio applications and GPS applications.

I would like to think with something such as the consoles being so available, companies would really work on the game market. Seems they would have a pretty bright future, with the right games to go with them.

Totally agree with you though, Linux is the S%#T

Seems to me Linux is much more user friendly in this regard. I don't really plan on upspending to move to this cut down, overly exspensive hard drive gobbling eye-candy. WinFS was cut out probably because it is unworkable on current processors. Check with people who use databases for a living.

I still run Windows 2000 and noticed that some people on the net have begun a project to patch it and 98 and ME. It works for me.

in other news ..... yeah, this sounds like such a unique way of preventing pirated software usage .... too bad is actually NOT unique...
and unfortunately, will be cracked or bypassed :)

MS can try anything they want, but fact is their junk is always being cracked. Take WGA for example, its been cracked.

why would people waste time on cracking so called junk ?

Go check some forums out and ask them yourself. I'm just glad they do it.

well am not the one calling it junk... no do i know anyone who would spend time to crack junk, if you do why not show me ?

LOL, you want me to waste my time searching the web to find a cracker for you? Your curious about why they would bother cracking this junk, not me. I just know they do. So go and find your verification on your own.

Also, I think you misunderstod me when i said junk. By junk I mean the anti-piracy measures, not Vista itself.

...

"why would people
waste time on
cracking so called
junk ?"

...

Just what the PC Rodent thought, too !

He claims that Windows is "junk" but is desperate
to crack it so he can run Windows !

...

The Computer Rodent

...

Why is it junk if you are legitimate?

Your assuming too much.

Cant argue that. :-D LOL

As long as theres a way to get it for free, im there.

If this program actually work, and it does what it suppose to do. Does it translate that they will reduce the price of the software? Using the 35% from the article, Vista should be selling around $300 ($400/1.35).

Great, Microsoft is contributing to global warming. What are BlackBeard and Jack Sparrow gonna use for an operating system now??? Damn you Microsoft and your discriminatory policies!

There are always was to get around such security schemes. Nothing is ever safe from human ingenuity.

Correct, and it just pisses the genuine people off more than stopping the piracy.

By xyzcb1

posted Oct 4, 2006 - 12:18 PM

If this program actually work, and it does what it suppose to do. Does it translate that they will reduce the price of the software? Using the 35% from the article, Vista should be selling around $300 ($400/1.35).

Vista isn't $400, Vista Ultimate is $400, why does everyone want that version why not the more reasonable Business version.

"If Microsoft was smart"
I can't believe how a ****ing idiot always gets the first post.

Do you even understand how much work was put into Vista?! If you whiney little b****es ever had a clue, oh my god.

Do you even understand how much code goes into a Windows release? Wow, it costs $N!?!?!?!?! How am I going to survive.

You people need to get a life and stop showing up on my gmail feeds for some stupid ****ing reason!

LMAO, your a dee dee dee

The lost revenue claim is complete utter crap.

It's funny how the richest software company which makes billion in profit and bullies the little guys, will punish only it's real customers with the extra security.

I mean they are at the point of turning real customers into pirates, because of the invasivness of the authentications and registration, even mandatory internet connections are a huge mistake.

For what? A glorfied slower, prettier, less secure, more evasive and expensive program launcher!, that i have to spend days customizing so it doesn't treat me like i'm 3 years of age, and want balloon tips guessing what i'm not thinking of doing next.

It's just a shame that as a professional i'm forced to use Microsoft for certain application.

Linux versions of software like Houdini
or XSI can be be more than 30% faster at rendering than Windows. Until Microsoft make a better OS that actually achieves something other than being annoying. They won't get any more money from me

It's obvious that an alternate to MS OS's is needed... A consortium of hardware and software vendors need to support a linux distro.

And let's hope Vista is the thing that makes the commercial producers see that it needs to happen.

Have you written code for ms?