Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation 1067
CasterPod writes "As of February 28, Windows users who purchased their PC will no longer be able to reinstall without calling Microsoft and answering a series of questions. The move is part of an anti-piracy effort to close 'a loophole that enabled unscrupulous resellers to use Windows XP product keys that were stolen from large OEMs.' Specifically, Certificate of Authenticity (COA) labels on PCs are often unused because OEMs preinstall Windows and bypass product activation. The product keys can therefore be stolen and reused. First WGA, and now this."
Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Funny)
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
ttyl
Farrell
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
They're going to force you to call them, they'll probably have all their call centers outsourced to countries where english isn't the main language. Half the time you won't understand the question and if you do manage to decifer the accent, they won't understand yours.
The only reason left to use windows is gaming. And even that is becoming less and less of a reason...
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Ya know, if MS were to say "Since this will cut down on piracy, we're going to pre-emptively lower prices..." I might be a little less offended. But this never happens, does it? I mean, billions and billions of dollars are claimed to be lost due to piracy, but has Valve made HL2 cheaper? Ugh.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Informative)
And here I thought Bill was finally smart enough to realize that charging for the ASW product would be a pittance in revenue compared to the bad publicity about charging for fixes to one's own flaws.
When in reality, the point of releasing the ASW software for free was to put the other companies out of business and force 100 million upgrades to XP SP2, thereby generating billions more in revenue.
In other words, as Cringely puts it, even Microsoft's "good" actions have a predatory purpose.
Fortunately Cringely also suggests this will hurt Microsoft later.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
The idea of a company selling you on something with quality and good service is so, well 70's
Get with it.
Freedom is no longer a right, it is now a pivilege.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
When I leave Fry's I sometimes have the receipt out for them to glance at, and I rarely break stride on my way out the door. Wal-mart has been checking receipts for unbagged or large items, too; so far I've been with my girlfriend every time and don't want to embarrass her, but the fact is that once you buy it, the product and the receipt are both yours and you are well within your rights to just walk on by.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
The scam they're looking for is you walking out with (say) an iPod and some headphones but the cashier only charging you for the headphones. Then you take the iPod to a fence and you and the cashier split the proceeds. That's why harass you for the most stupid and cursory check.
So yea, they suspect you of being a criminal, but their employees hate them so much (and vice versa I suppose) that what you're actually seeing is a manifestation of a festering pool of mutual hatred.
Really makes you want to go and shop there, right? For stuff they sell, stick to mail order.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, of course, I had gone out only for 20 minutes and came back in (entrance is seperate from the exit, so he didn't see me), but on my way out again, he stepped in front of me and said, 'You are not leaving until you open your bag.' I replied 'Wrong. I'm leaving. Call the police if you like.' More yelling ensued.
A public library! I was there with my (mortified) girlfriend, who happily opened her bag twice. The worst part is that their 'examination' of the bags are so cursory as to be useless. My girlfriend had four books in her bag from another library, indistinguishable without removing and examining them. But she gets waved by. They have a magnetic-strip-beeping-system-thingie, so what's the point? Better to post those goofs somewhere where they can prevent real damage and loss to the library: making sure that people don't bring food in. While I was there--I'm not making this up--I saw a guy with a whole Big Mac meal pawing through a stack of journals from the thirties. Gimmie a break!
Bah.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Perhaps this is why it's less common to see this in the UK; over here there are also certain reasons for which a non-police officer can lawfully arrest you, but on the flip-side you are entitled to use reasonable force to resist a wrongful arrest. Depending on the circumstances, that could involve anything up to taking the guy out... permanently. :-/
This is probably why UK store detectives (generally a pretty professional bunch, from what I've seen) tend to steer well clear of the one that got away, and s
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Informative)
I think I called the police once, on a guy who stole a $0.95 auto-trader magazine. It was pretty funny
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
If you want to have some real fun, just keep walking out the door when the Wal-mar security alarm goes off. It is even more entertaining when the door nazi tries to stop you. But if you walk with just the right spring in your step and determiniation that you are not going to stop, they will let you go. Most states have laws stating that in order to be stopped someone has had to watch you from the moment of concelment to the point of leaving the store. Since most employees don't do that, they rely on the fact of you admitting the theft when you are caught. I have had one Wal-mart guy stop me once. I just looked at him and asked him, "What did I steal?" He just looked at me with a blank stare. I then told him that if the inept cashier would do his job and disable the security tags that it wouldn't have happened, and for him to have a nice day. I walked away, got in my car and left. No problem.
But for some real fun, you take the undisabled security tag and then put it in your wallet. Everytime you walk into a store or leave a store the security tags set off the alarm. If you get five or so of your buddies to do the same thing, and enter and leave a store at the same time, one after another, it causes some real fun. You usually get the store manager throwing some vague threats of calling the police. Since you didn't steal and they can't prove it, the ensueing frustration is always entertaining. BTW, only do that if you have a little time.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Funny)
I like saying "No, thank you". Throwing in the "thank you" confuses them long enough that they don't even try to insist until you're out the door.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Cool. I can hardly wait to get to the office today.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
Hey! It worked for Steve Jobs
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
It is like a law of nature, probably closely related to the Second Law of Termodynamics.
Simply, when company reaches certain size, no matter how bright the individual leaders or technologists are, they loose the ability to critically think and reason as a whole. Call it "BigGerman's Law Of Corporate Evolution"
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
For those who don't know, the Second Law of Termodynamics reads as follows: "For every post that contains a correctly used term, another 5 posts on slashdot will contain misused, mithspelled(pun) or misunderstood terms.
This is closely related to the Theory of Repostivity.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead, it'll be the users asking the stupid questions.
"I bought your Linux at Barnes & Noble. Why doesn't it work?"
"Last week I called and you told me how to install your Linux. Why doesn't my Word Perfect CD work any more?"
"The other day you made me install something called StarOffice. I think that messed up my son's Doom 3 CD. It used to work before we installed your Linux."
That'll be fantastic.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
People are perfectly able to understand the difference between Windows, OSX and Linux - they just don't particularily care. And in that situation, yes, put up enough roadblocks to Windows use and people will gradually switch, just like US people abandoned domestic cars for Japanese ones when they became compelling enough. Not everybody switched, and not all at once (since everybody has a different tipping point), but certainly enough to change the commercial landscape.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
People aren't stupid. Let me say that again: people are not stupid, they are not dumb, they are not morons
Yes, they are. People are stupid. Individuals are intelligent. People are not. Here is a little advice for you. If you go through life thinking people are stupid you will be a lot less dissappointed. Keep your expectations set low and you will seldom be let down.
--
All spelling, gammer, and logical mistakes are intentinal because I'm to fucking lazy to look it up. If you don't like it, Fuck Off!
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a rather biased statistical sampling though. Yes, you will get an unending stream of remarkably stupid people calling tech support. As a total percentage of computer users, however, they make up rather less than you think. The GP post is correct - the majority of people don't really care (because it is not important to their lives) about Linux, but that doesn't mean they will be stupid enough to try and run Windows software on Linux.
Yes, you will have an unending stream of stupid people who tried to run Microsoft Word on Linux and don't understand why it works. Remember that you also had an unending stream of people that couldn't even use Windows either. If everyone was as stupid as the average tech support caller the internet would be practically content free.
Jedidiah.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Then they call tech support.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
The people under discussion here are trying to use a complex piece of computing machinery and expecting to be able to use it out of the box, without putting any effort into learning how to operate it effectively.
Maybe I'm just another jaded support tech.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people just now entering the market for computers aren't "trying to fly the plane", either. To continue the analogy, these people want to be passengers but are instead told they need to learn to be pilots.
This trend is not new to computers-- earlier this century the first radios required considerable setup and weeks to learn to use. The first phonographs were notoriously hard to use, again taking several weeks for smart folks to learn to use.
The only reason radios and record players (now CD players) are so widespread is their usage was simplified. The earliest ones even had two competing incompatible standards (Edison vs. Victor.) Sound familiar?
The book "The Invisible Computer" by Donald Norman goes into gory detail on why the continuing efforts to blame the users for failing to learn their equipment aren't going to work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Booksources/
This doesn't mean that in the current state of things people should be lazy about their responsibilities with a networked computer-- e.g. not patching because "it's too hard" is a lame excuse.
If this is too hard, then disconnect from the network or find a computer/OS combination where it isn't too hard. If there is no such computer/OS combination, then start asking the manufacturers for one.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
You can't have "manslaughter" without "laughter".
No no no, that's supposed to be:
One manslaughter is another man's laughter.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
Eventually, people will have to pay for the greater service workload or deal with the hotline themselves.
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, you'll also have to add being able to buy software off the shelf, and Plug and Play hardware, and not having to learn how to compile or write drivers, or search forums filled with people calling you a "st00pid n00b" to find said drivers.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Good Move Microsoft!!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't worry, it shouldn't affect you. According to the Juniper research guy in the article you don't really need to reinstall your computer after all.
"Seeing as how the typical OEM would normally preactivate Windows XP, most legitimate users shouldn't have much need to go through the activation process,"
See, it's all better. When you buy your computer, that's the OS you get to use for the entire life of the computer and certainly no one at Microsoft tech support or anywhere else would ever ask you to reinstall. Have a nice day.
TW
Re:Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:4, Informative)
Set up my computer the way I want it, All MS Software activated, such as office. (FYI this works with Windows Server 2003)
1. Boot to Gentoo Live CD
2. dd if=/dev/hda | bzip2 >
When spyware or just general Windows Entropy slows the system down too much, I back up my data...
1. Boot to Gentoo Live CD
2. dd of=/mnt/where/I/mounted/my/rev/drive | bzip2 -d >
3. Reboot
4. Use windows normally, have to re-install games
5.
6. Profit?
The one "Bad Thing"(TM) about this is that data has to be on a separate disk. You can also modify the above to use partitions and have all data on a different partition. Though with any windows reinstall it is a good idea to reformat, with slow version, the partition to NTFS. So you'd have to do this in either case.
Anyway This works well and gets around that stupid reactivation crap, now I'm *VERY* glad I do this.
And remember kids, ALWAYS backup your data on a normal basis. HDs will fail!!! There is no question, they will fail. If I was not clear let me repeat that, THEY WILL FAIL!!!!! You need backups, and if you do this as you should, the above process will be less of a fuss.
Re:Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah... except for the fact that the first thing you really should do when you buy a new system is wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows to get rid of all the crap that OEMs load your computer up with. No.... I don't want musicmatch jukebox or Real Media Player.
Re:Great. Just what I want to do. (Score:3, Insightful)
Rus
Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:4, Insightful)
Whaddya gonna do - install *another* OS???
Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:5, Insightful)
Then again, until I can play _all_ of my games (at least the relatively current ones) on it, I'm not switching. Although I do use Gentoo on my non-gaming systems.
Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:4, Interesting)
- Sure they have that right, but they're adding more and more conditions on how you prove it. They're also starting to restrict more and more things that customers require until they can prove they own the software. (Security updates, reinstall activation so far. What's next, will they require you to prove you own the OS before you can install a driver?) What about customers who lost their CD/CD Case but have a legit copy? Is it right to tell them to FOAD because of that? Should I really have to waste 3-5 minutes of my time to
- prove I'm not a crook. That's what it boils down to, MS doesn't care so much about their customers, in fact they're beating them to death with the anti-piracy club while the pirates happily install their no-activation copies they downloaded.
You should be thankful they're not giving it away free or you could kiss goodbye to something other than Windows ever being on a computer's desktop.Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:3, Interesting)
In my experience, when you've lost the CD case you've also lost the CD that comes inside it. Of course, unless you're actually one of those VERY rare...and I mean VERY rare person that makes a copy CD of all your software. (yeah, I know there are a ton of people that fight for the right to keep/burn a copy of their software disks, but come on, who really does this? No one I've ever met or worked with or known has ever done this...ever. Y
Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Microsoft to Disable Online Windows Activation (Score:4, Insightful)
- I disagree, personally I have so many CDs (software, audio, backups, etc.) that I keep everything in CD wallet/notebook binders (whatever they're called). For me it's far easier to find the CD than the case. I'm much more likely to lose the case than the CD. I don't think I'm alone either, most all the people I've helped fix their computers keep their software CDs in binders too, it's really easy to put all the software in one small wallet and keep it by the computer, much more compact as well.
But getting back to your statement, if you've lost the case, you've lost the CD. Or, if you DO backup the CD to another CD, wouldn't you write the code ON the CD...I mean, you're going through all that trouble to back up the media, so why not back up the code?- Well yeah, I do, but what about your average user who got a computer from an OEM and just thought to back up the CDs, not realizing they needed to write the codes down? That's the people this is going to hurt, you and I (and the whole
/. crowd) will have our codes on the backups and we'd be fine. Well maybe not fine, we'd likely be ticked at the inconvenience, but we'd not be up the creek without a paddle.
But regardless of all this, MS is shooting themselves in the foot. The only one's they're hurting are the legit owners of their products...as always when it comes to piracy issues. It's like no one really get's it.One thing I wonder about is the article says the customers (aka victims of unscrupulous computer companies) will have to answer a series of questions to basically prove they at least _thought_ they had paid for a legit copy. What are they going to ask to prove this? "Do you swear allegiance to Microsoft and promise to buy all our future products?" :) Seriously though this seems even more moronic as what idiot isn't going to answer the questions in such a way to make it sound like they thought they'd bought a legit copy of Windows on their PC?
Stupid (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
The big pain in the ass in activating over the phone is reading the installation ID. It's not an actual person you talk to- you read the number aloud (as opposed to touch tone) to a computer. You have to speak slow and deliberately for it to understand the numbers correctly, and ultimately it will read a confirmation code back to you. The whole process takes about 5-7 minutes, depending on whether the computer understood you correctly the first time. That's the part that pisses me off about this. Whenever we have to reinstall Windows at my shop, it was easy enough to plug in to our router and activate in 2 seconds (all with legitimate keys mind you). If this holds true, it will piss off many many computer shops around the world. Two seconds vs. five minutes is a pretty big deal.
Re:Stupid (Score:5, Informative)
You can speak slowly and deliberately to the computer, but you can still enter the numbers by touchtone.
Re:Stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
Why bother? It probably cost you more time replacing the version than you'd ever spend activating.
The lock-in argument: one day they might stop running the activation service? Sure, but one day they might release a service pack that detects your pirated version and stops it working. So the future isn't certain either way.
So why bother?
Only makes sense (Score:3, Insightful)
This can only be good for free software however. Part of the Windows dominance comes from the fact that it is free for those who want it.
Original Media (Score:5, Insightful)
rus
it will be bypassed... (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand : this will just make the difference between Windows and OSX/linux even more apparent. Every user-restricting move of microsoft is, in the long run, a shot in its own foot
Re:it will be bypassed... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, the activation code has been stripped out of Windows XP in the pirate community since before day 1 of its official release.
Almost any type of copy protection, activation or otherwise is rapidly stripped out of software by cracking groups and released into the pirate community.
This announcement is a non issue for actual pirates of XP. It has zero impact to them. It impacts the PAYING user the most by making a procedure they shouldn't have to deal with in the first place an even bigger pain in the ass.
These types of measures always punish the paying customer and leave the pirates shaking their heads in disbelief over M$ not getting it.
Take your own advice (Score:5, Informative)
The fact is, users may not be versed in fine points like configuring a firewall or understanding security threats (then again, 90%+ of programmers have no clue about security either), but they _can_ Google, you know. You'd be surprised how finding a copy-protection crack for just about _anything_ takes mere minutes. Even little old grandmas know how to google nowadays, or get told how to real quick.
Also those users do _not_ live in a vaccuum, as the software companies and movie producers seem to assume. They seem to think the Earth is made of some 6 billion hermits, each living on a separate mountain top, and never talking to each other. If one of them found out how to download a crack or warez on P2P, surely noone else can learn that from him or her. Sad to say, that's not how it works.
If they're friends or family of a pirate, guess what? They'll get an already patched CD from that pirate. Or a CD and including the patch program separately. And then copy that CD further for others.
Or they'll get pointed at www.gamecopyworld.com, or whatever other crack site fits their particular problem, by someone who knows. E.g., someone like me.
Now I don't support piracy, and in fact I'm firmly against it, but I support idiotic copy protection schemes even less. Copy protection just doesn't work. Period. As was said, the _only_ ones affected are the honest paying customers. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna support that kind of thing.
When someone bought a product, it wasn't because they're too stupid to google for a crack, it was because they actually wanted to go buy it. Whoever wanted to pirate the stuff, actually went and pirated it.
And then going and dragging the paying users through indignities like having to call tech support to get their product activated (oops, some kiddie with a serial number generator already used yours, so more time on the phone is needed), or like having copy-protection-related trouble in the game they paid for (we'll just make your game crash because your CD drive is called "E:" instead of "D:", so surely you're a bloody pirate with CD emulator software), is just stupid and uncalled for.
Not that it will stop greedy corporate fucks from doing it anyway. There's a class of people for whom money is the only thing in life, and worth pursuing no matter what collateral damage they cause. Even when they don't even get that money.
The thought "but we could make 100 extra bucks from the only 2 guys in the world who don't already know how to download a crack" just overloads their brains. They just _have_ to get that 100$ at all cost, even if it means kicking every single honest user in the teeth. With steel toed boots.
Re:it will be bypassed... (Score:5, Insightful)
The simple fact of the matter is that Microsoft software, compared to its competitors, is far and away the most expensive desktop software ever. Most people I know who pirate Windows do so because they simply can't afford to buy a copy. Granted, that's not many people since Windows comes with the computer, but I can say that I only know two people who have paid for their copies of MS Office - everyone else either pirates it or uses OpenOffice because they aren't at liberty to drop over half a week's pay on it. And in college I didn't know a single person who actually paid for a legal copy of VisualStudio - the unscrupulous pirated, and the scrupulous moved to *nix.
Which leads me to my point - if Microsoft tightens Windows down too much, people are going to start thinking, "Holy shit, this is expensive, and I'm sick of hunting for friends with Windows CDs. Hey, my Mac using friend never has to reinstall his OS, and a Mac Mini only costs an extra two hundred. .
I honestly don't think Microsoft is free to get too strict with its licensing policies. Piracy is the only thing that is keeping skads of mildly dissatisfied people in their camp where they might not be contributing to M$'s coffers directly, but they aren't working against Microsoft's stranglehold on the market, either.
Re:it will be bypassed... (Score:3, Interesting)
Customer (Score:5, Insightful)
Hope they're up late (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hope they're up late (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft NEEDS Piracy (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft depends on the ubiquity of Windows (and Office, Outlook, et al). When everybody is using Microsoft products, everybody needs Microsoft. Their proprietary formats are a de facto standard (except Massachusetts), so if you want to do business with people who use Windows (et al), you have little choice but to also use windows.
As their piracy initiative starts to pick up steam, this will only enhance the "value" of free (or at least lesser cost) alternatives. I predict a large swell of Linux usage-- on the desktop, in these emerging markets, or other areas where the hight cost of Windows (et al) simply locks people out. With that will come a groudswell of support for open formats.
Consider what you need if you are going to do business with the government of Hamburg. You will need to provide and exchange documents and other material in a format they can read (it won't simply be Word and PowerPoint). Now the same thing will happen in these emerging markets, creating more of an interest in these alternative formats, and thus alternative applications (e.g. OpenOffice).
More choices are good for everybody. Use the application of your choice, on the platform of your choice, and produce documents and other material in a format anyone else can read. Right now, I have any number of such choices to produce graphics for a web page (jpg, png, even gif). The formats for Flash and Acrobat have been opened up, and happily they are becoming more standard. But the U.S. Government still requires all RFP submissions in Word.
More choices, however, is bad for Microsoft. They don't want open formats and lots of choices, they want (and need) everone using and exchanging MS Word documents. They want (and need) everybody using Outlook and Internet Explorer, and of course, they want (and ultimately need) everybody using Windows.
Thanks A Lot (Score:5, Interesting)
As if installing windows isn't enough of a headache. I had to reinstall windows in Japan, and let me tell ya, my Japanese isn't what it should be.
On a side note, I envy the Mac people here in that they can seamlessly switch between English and Japanese versions of their OS just by setting a preference.
In windows land, it's purchase both or suffer. Now more activation heedaches.
Thanks guys, thanks a lot.
Aw man.. (Score:5, Funny)
oh.. ONLINE activation only... *WHEW*
Not Quite as Bad As It Sounds... (Score:4, Informative)
Picking on the wrong guy (Score:3, Informative)
Sign O' The Times?
Copy Protection SOP (Score:5, Insightful)
Step 2: Legitimate users are hampered by the copy protection while illegitimate users breeze by it through various means.
Step 3: Company either ultimately removes copy protection with a black mark on its reputation or people just stop buying its products.
I know of no historical case that deviates from this for a major software release. Of course, you have various vertical applications that use dongles and other such things, but anything that is mass-distributed (like Lotus Notes or Turbo Tax) that has used copy protection either removed said copy protection or stopped selling their product.
This is especially bad... (Score:3, Insightful)
It seems more and more people are being driven to use cracked versions of software simply because of the DRM inconvenience.
So what? (Score:3, Insightful)
I've serviced many PCs, and let me tell you, servicing the boxes that come with a bona fide windows installation are a much larger pain in the ass then the ones with pirated copies.
With the pirated ones i just reinstall windows and thats it. Reinstalling on an original box requires me to spend 15 minutes after the fact talking to a a machine in Singapore because the local Toll Free number for Microsoft was disconnected ages ago.
sheesh...
Re:So what? (Score:3, Funny)
Of course they aren't. Microsoft doing something stupid would be completely unprecedented in the history of the industry. For instance, Microsoft would no more let an important phone number be disconnected than they would forget to re-register an important domain name.
Really? (Score:3, Insightful)
I had NO IDEA, but I guess Microsoft is giving a head's up to all of our students to hurry up and lift our keys and do their installs before the end of the month.
Nice way to alert people how to pirate your stuff, Microsoft, while further irritating legitimate purchasers.
Speaking for myself, not my employer
Yeah! (Score:4, Insightful)
One giant leap for the advocation of OSS.
I guess there's no question now as to what I'm going
to install on that new HD of mine. (As if there was doubt before this, I guess.)
What? (Score:4, Insightful)
call center (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:call center (Score:3, Funny)
Pinging? I don't understand.
OH! pimping!
I'm just pissed off that I can't see those two letters
Re:call center (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:call center (Score:4, Informative)
The end of the home user (Score:5, Interesting)
Just think all they would really need to do is roll out a good, non-bloated version of Office for Macs and Linux that is compatible with their office version of Office and they can stop having to worry about whiny home user.
RTFA! (Score:5, Informative)
They are however planning to get rid of online activation alltogether.
Hmm, I hope India has enough people to man those call centers.
Wake up (Score:3, Insightful)
Some readers here live in a dream world; it goes a bit like this. Microsoft make crappy products; Microsoft (unsurprisingly) protect their crappy products; people ultimately realise this; switch to Linux.
Here's the reality. Microsoft make pretty average products that a heck of a lot of people use. Microsoft get most of their revenues from office and windows and want to protect this cash cow. Microsoft have product activation on, something that bothers a relatively minute fraction of it's user base, and tackle piracy head on. People still view Linux as a server OS, hard to use, and not friendly to people who have less than 5 minutes to read a help file. People stay on Windows. Slash dot community still angry.
This change just doesn't affect them - and importantly - until it does, please don't expect any mass migration to other operating systems. Microsoft rightly identified an exploit that pirates are using to rip them off- why shouldn't they patch it up? It really bothers me that so many people play this out as a big bad beast cracking knuckles again - it just isn't. Since when did support piracy become so acceptable to so many people?
Mod down, (-1, Astroturfing) (Score:3, Insightful)
At this moment, there are two main reasons why people don't migrate to Linux: (1) XP has more games, (2) XP comes preinstalled. None of these reasons are affected by this XP activation issue. However, this new restriction in activation is certainly not something that will increase Microsoft's revenue.
If you consider that most people buy computers with th
Re:Wake up (Score:3, Informative)
Because this will have no impact on copyright infringement whatsoever. Peop
Oh good lord (Score:4, Insightful)
How many times do you reinstall Windows?!
I can see maybe if you're in a strange company setting where they use a version that requires it, it may be a hassle, but I don't see most people reinstalling Windows more than once or twice a year. I guess more if you completely hose a system. That's what? 3-5 minutes? When I had to call them the one time my system had determined I changed hardware too much, it took about 1 minute for them to give me the hash I needed. I don't consider that bad at all.
Re:Oh good lord (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't care if it takes .0001 picoseconds and happens automagically in response to my brainwaves.
It's not an issue of convenience. It's an issue of principle.
I swap hardware in and out of my PC all the time. More importantly, I reserve the right to swap hardware in and out of my PC whenever I damn well please.
Windows Product Activation limits this right by labeling me an Evil Pirate if I modify my system too much, or in the "wrong" way, and forcing me to grovel to Microsoft for permission to use my own computer again.
This is unacceptable no matter how "convenient" they make the groveling process. I simply do not accept the premise that they have the right to lock me out of my PC based on how I modify the hardware. I don't want my computer playing cop.
It's for this reason that I've kept my Windows box at home on Windows 2000, which has no such onerous "gotchas". When Windows 2000 becomes an untenable platform (which by all appearances will be Real Soon Now), it would be nice if there was a version of Windows that was compatible with my principles. If not, I'll wipe the disk and run Fedora full time, or buy a Mac.
If it comes to that, it'll be a shame; there are a lot of nice things about the Windows environment for the home user, and I'll miss being able to play the latest games. But there are some things that are simply not negotiable, and "I own my system" is one of them.
Microsoft Self Destructs, Film @ 11 (Score:3, Insightful)
Moves like this only accelerate the vicious circle. Marvelous! Thank you, Redmond! Wow, when was the last time I said that?
And we have years and years of entertainment watching MSFT's fall from the peak market dominance. Like watching that one video of an extreme skier who lost it and rolled down the mountain...seemingly forever...unable to stop the fall and it was just one agonizing tumble after another. The only difference is you felt sorry for the skier, sort of. No pity for MSFT. Wo-ho!
Cool! (Score:3)
Seriously. Why on Earth are people still putting up with these MS fuckers when Mac OSX and Apple hardware is so damn nice? I like a mix of Sun and Apple gear. The thought of actually deciding on MS just makes me shudder. And MS just keeps giving me more and more reason to hate them and the shit they peddle.
Re:Cool! (Score:3, Insightful)
I've been building PC's for about 15 years. Now though, it is more economical to buy systems which are already built. Unless you are trying to get the absolute fastest PC you can get your hands on, in which case, I find building from parts to often be cheaper.
You do have choice though and as you've stated, you are exercising it. You don't have to buy Apple hardware or their software. Apple gets a lot of s
On phone activation... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well lo and behold after he enters in his proper key for the product he legitimately purchased when he got his Dell PC, it promptly tells him the key's invalid, buhbye and HANGS UP ON HIM. There was no option to speak to a CSR at all, and he has no recourse (Dell can't do anything about it, and there's no phone numbers to call at Microsoft to talk to someone). The whole experience has pushed him that much further towards getting a Mac and waving a not-so-fond farewell to Windows XP.
Will OEMs supply full versions of XP? (Score:3, Informative)
At that point in time, people will realise how much Microsoft is charging for a full version of their crappy OS and probably go to Linux or Apple instead.
I can't wait.
Here's another loophole... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Here's another loophole... (Score:3, Informative)
http://home.pages.at.nyud.net:8090/cw2k/Antiwpa/ [nyud.net]
The life of a MS Activation Specialist. (Score:5, Insightful)
Use Windows 2000 (Score:3, Interesting)
WPA triggers on more than just new installs! (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, I know, I ought to totally reinstall, but when I have a drive start to give me read errors, I don't feel like risking death of data by hunting down what directories it may be in.
And when I buy a bigger drive and want to use it as my Windows system drive, and install SuSE or something on the old drive, I should be able to do that, without telling Microsoft what I'm doing.
Half-true... (Score:3, Informative)
True
You can reinstall the operating system on that computer using the original Windows XP CD as many times as you want, with no activation required.
False. I have an HP/Compaq (is this vendor "major" enough for you?) notebook which came with XP pre-installed, no activation needed. But when I did the reinstall that XP seems to requi
Re:The Questions (Score:4, Funny)
I bought a Mac.
2. Where did you steal your computer from?
You.
3. How do you pronounce Linux?
"I pronounce Linux as Linux."
4. What's the Capitol of Finland?
Rejavick. Wait! That's Iceland! Umm...
5. Do you own an iPod?
*takes off white headphones* What did you say?
6. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
WTF? First penguins now woodchucks? What? Do you have some sort of animal fetish?!
7. If a train left Redmond traveling at 60MPH, and another left Cupertino traveling at 40MPH, when would they arrive in Kansas?
Nowhere - they would not be able to pay the Microsoft Transport Fee(tm) to leave their respective stations.
8. Who's your Daddy?
Harvey Birdman but don't tell anybody!
9. How much Vaseline is currently on your keyboard?
Only what I used to protect myself from this activation plan...
10. When did you stop beating your wife?
About the same time I stopped using Windows...