No more Windows for me
by ::G @ 2005-01-26 01:05
According to an article on c|net, Microsoft is going to start requiring users to verify if their copy of Windows is legit prior to allowing download of upgrades. That means Windows gets the boot from me, though I may run a machine behind a hardware firewall (with plenty of virus protection, of course) due to the amount of PC hardware that I currently have.
The reason is this. I paid a lot for Microsoft software when I was a student—when I didn't really have disposable income to spend on bug-ridden software. I legally purchased Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, and NT 3.51, 4.0, and 2000. XP I didn't buy, because I object to the registration of user hardware information with Microsoft (an invasion of privacy). I'm still using Win2k at home, but I had obtained an OEM copy of XP that doesn't do the hardware keying. My rationale for using this copy of XP would've been that I'd paid hundreds of dollars for several OSes that were unstable, caused me to lose time and data on multiple occasions, and in some instances, didn't even work properly (Win 95, NT 3.51 and 4.0). Having spent lots of money on defective software, I think a bit of restitution would not be out of order. (Besides that, I once won a copy of Office 2k in a drawing at a Microsoft seminar on campus that never materialized. The MS rep said that they didn't get a copy in time for the event, but they'd mail it to me later. I gave them my address, but surprise, surprise, the copy never showed up. Scumbags.) Well, I was considering switching my PC over to XP but that's not going to be useful for me now, not with all the security holes and bugs that Microsoft is constantly fixing. Or maybe I should install it, and download as many patches as I can before February 7, heh.
Screw Microsoft. Mac OS X has just become my primary OS. Perhaps with a little bit of Linux and FreeBSD thrown in ^_-
The reason is this. I paid a lot for Microsoft software when I was a student—when I didn't really have disposable income to spend on bug-ridden software. I legally purchased Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, and NT 3.51, 4.0, and 2000. XP I didn't buy, because I object to the registration of user hardware information with Microsoft (an invasion of privacy). I'm still using Win2k at home, but I had obtained an OEM copy of XP that doesn't do the hardware keying. My rationale for using this copy of XP would've been that I'd paid hundreds of dollars for several OSes that were unstable, caused me to lose time and data on multiple occasions, and in some instances, didn't even work properly (Win 95, NT 3.51 and 4.0). Having spent lots of money on defective software, I think a bit of restitution would not be out of order. (Besides that, I once won a copy of Office 2k in a drawing at a Microsoft seminar on campus that never materialized. The MS rep said that they didn't get a copy in time for the event, but they'd mail it to me later. I gave them my address, but surprise, surprise, the copy never showed up. Scumbags.) Well, I was considering switching my PC over to XP but that's not going to be useful for me now, not with all the security holes and bugs that Microsoft is constantly fixing. Or maybe I should install it, and download as many patches as I can before February 7, heh.
Screw Microsoft. Mac OS X has just become my primary OS. Perhaps with a little bit of Linux and FreeBSD thrown in ^_-
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Going with Apple instead of MS huh? What are the chances that Apple ends up with a similar piracy prevention scheme? Too be fair, Apple doesn't need to worry so much about piracy of their OS because they make much of their profit from the initial purchase of hardware (and software).
I just purchased XP Home & Office 2003 through EPP setup with MS (since my current company has deals with MS). It's amazing the discount you get from dealing with the devil directly.
I assume you are still going to be stuck with Windows at hgst - that's only 75+ percent of your computer time ;-)
I don't mind paying for Apple's OS because it works properly, and also I don't have a bad history with them like I do with Microsoft. The problem really isn't the registration scheme. The problem is two-fold: 1) Microsoft charges far too much for their buggy software, and 2) Microsoft is doing this now, after too many users have gotten hooked on their software. MS could've done some sort of per-install registration in the past, but it would've limited the number of users that would've bought their crummy wares. Now that most users have broadband and most of the rest have dialup, Microsoft seems to see fit to add it. So Nth generation computer users have invested money in PC hardware, sometimes specialized to MS's OS, e.g. only having drivers for Windows. At MS's prices, maybe users didn't buy Windows for every machine, instead buying one copy and installing it on 2-3 machines in their home. MS says is not legit, yet who in their right mind would pay extra for overpriced crappy software for their other household machines when they don't have to. That's precisely the point, I know. It's a basic economic truth of software, albeit different from and more ethical than pirating from the start. Now users are beholden to Microsoft—the boys in Redmond have their consumers by the balls, so to speak. Pay more for the bad software, or you don't get security upgrades for bugs that never should've been there in the first place. What a great scam! Doesn't that sound like the standard smoke and mirrors from MS: get something makeshift out so that users become dependent on it, then change the rules of the game in mid-stride.
Of course if one doesn't like MS's software, they don't have to use it. That's why I'm using OS X. Yet there is the hardware dependency—even if one uses Linux, there could be hardware that one can't use. As always, consumers will have to vote with their wallets. If I have to pay a lot of money for an OS, I choose the better alternative.
I'd buy XP if it was $50 for the first license, plus up to $20 for each additional machine. They'd have to guarantee provision of software upgrades (mostly security-related) until the next full release of their OS, or two years, whichever is longest. (Unless you're a hardcore computer geek, odds are you don't budget funds to build/buy a new machine more often than that.) They'd also have to not send information about my hardware to their servers (but how would one tell if they did or not?). That's none of their damn business. If they want, they can register the S/N with my name and address to validate that I'm not pirating the software. There's no need to resort to draconian measures—unless one is trying to protect a monopoly!
But you're right, I'll still spend most of my computer time using XP at work anyway *sigh* I wonder if I can turn that psychological stress into a work-related injury somehow...? ;-)