Windows Vista Phones Home

[Lemur]

It seems as though every week there's a new detail emerging that helps us understand why we really, really don't want Windows Vista.

Key quote:

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.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Yes! Treat all of your users as criminals! That's the Microsoft business savvy, right there.

But it doesn't matter! We have fancy transparencies!

[doc_bean]

All hail Linux and OpenGL !

[drone]

"That's a nice system you've got there. Be a shame if anything were to happen to it."

[Mikeus Caesar]

Another reason for me not to get Vista.

And i'm serious there. I don't fancy paying a hefty fine, or imprisonment.

[caravel]

CA definitely need to start porting their games to Linux.

This is the typical software developer/publisher attitude of hitting the paying consumer hard, and crippling them with restrictive software that takes control of their system, tells them what to do and constantly needs to "phone home" in order to check for the software's legitimacy. The user of real pirated software on the other hand will have avoided all of this completely and not face any such restrictions.

Because of the product activation I didn't upgrade to XP on my own machines until 2004. I despise this kind of blatent spyware, in the same way that I dislike copy protection that checks my machine over for certain software.

And all of this from a company like M$ that lives off piracy. If M$'s software wasn't so massively pirated worldwide it wouldn't have become the de facto standard it is today. And other companies would have found a niche for a rival OS, especially in parts of asia, africa, south america and eastern europe. As is the widespread illegal copying and distribution of M$ software has stifled any competition before it could even begin.

We have fancy transparencies!

Precisely. More overweight, security hole ridden crap, with more emphasis on the eye candy than the functionality. XP was a hog, this is bound to be even more of a hog. You pc has been upgraded and runs XP nicely now, but fear not Vista will soon slow that right down again. Your pc is a mine of hardware resources for the new OS to gorge itself on, not for you to use for running apps.

[MSB]

Thats just completely put me off putting Vista on my internet computer (I am currently running pirate windows - that dammed computer shop !). Thing is isn't this idea going to invade your privacy?

[doc_bean]

. Thing is isn't this idea going to invade your privacy?

I forsee another big legal battle between the EU and Microsoft. Privacy matters more in Europe I guess.

[TosaInu]

I forsee another big legal battle between the EU and Microsoft. Privacy matters more in Europe I guess.

Talking about that, a PC magazine (CHIP 11/06) mentioned that the US wants the EU records of cyber traffic to fight terrorism. In the US, hosting providers do not log anything, but in Europe they do.

[R'as al Ghul]

Excuse me?
Did I miss the memo telling us that Microsoft is now the official law-enforcer?
What does Microsoft have to do with any non-Microsoft products?
Are those secondary companies paying MS money for checking the machines?
What's the motivation behind this?

What I do on private machine is my private business. Stuff like WGA is already an annoyance, but if done right could be accaptable. Anything more is criminal. Installing a backdoor to check my installed software? Yeah, right. I predict some wonderful exploits for that, that most probably need fixing on a weekly basis, if you can prove that you bought the beast.

R'as

P.S.: Just a thought, will you be able to run it on a PC that's not connected to the web? I seriously doubt it.

Key quote:
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.

[satchef1]

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.

Anyone care to bet against Vista going nuts at Copy + Pasting the R/M/MII/S:TW directories (for modding)?

Another alternative for gaming is Transgaming- their products (Cedega for Linux and Cider for PPC) supposedly allow Windows based games to run flawlessly under Linux or OSX. The downside is that you have to pay for the software ($5 a month or $55 a year) in order to keep it up to date with support for new game releases. Also, full support for a game will obviously lag behind the game's release date.

hmm, Vista, £200. Transgaming $55/year = £30/year. Vista will last about 5 years. Total cost of Vista, £200 or 5 years Transgaming £150
TG sounds damn cheap to me!

[BDC]

Who else bets all this anti-piracy stuff is seriously downgraded in the first patch? You know, when it screws over half a dozen of their biggest corporate partners who then threaten to move to Linux or take legal action.

[caravel]

hmm, Vista, £200. Transgaming $55/year = £30/year. Vista will last about 5 years. Total cost of Vista, £200 or 5 years Transgaming £150
TG sounds damn cheap to me!

TW games still refuse to run under Cedega. I have heard of people having limited success, after great difficulty, but it's not a case of just entering it at a terminal and it's working. If it was I'd be doing it now.

[Xiahou]

TW games still refuse to run under Cedega. I have heard of people having limited success, after great difficulty, but it's not a case of just entering it at a terminal and it's working. If it was I'd be doing it now.

That's a good point- not everything works under Cedega. This link has a searchable list of officially supported games, games that work, games that partially work, and so on.

For the record, I don't use Cedega since my gaming PC runs XP Pro so Im not really an expert on it.