Aero To Be Unavailable To Pirates 630
An anonymous reader writes "Users thinking of pirating the next version of Windows may have a surprise in store: no Aero for you. The upcoming Microsoft OS will run a check to ensure the copy was legally purchased. If it comes up short, the shiniest part of the OS will not be available." From the article: "At first an optional program, the piracy check eventually became mandatory for many types of Windows XP downloads, but was not required to run any aspect of the operating system itself. Microsoft has identified reducing piracy as a key way for the company to grow its sales of Windows, which is already used on more than 90 percent of personal computers. But it's not just pirates who will be blocked from Windows' fanciest graphics. The Aero display also won't be available to those who buy Windows Vista Basic, the low-end consumer version of the operating system."
A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not going to hide anything, I pirated Matlab and Mathematica in college. But I wasn't selling them or making a profit off them, I was simply installing old versions of them so that I could get my homework done without having to go to campus and be restricted by lab hours. I have since uninstalled them and don't feel wrong for using them to accomplish assignments.
I think there are a lot of pirates here in America and overseas that just want a functioning OS on which they can install their games and quicken and other such Win32 software. Even I would prefer a Windows "Lite" over Windows with Aero. The last thing I want is some fancy pants CPU hog with Rosie O'Donnel sized memory footprints running around in the background!
I would really like to see a free Windows OS "Core" kernal system that doesn't have any features but can be downloaded and installed easily. You could purchase more and more expansions or just buy the loaded omgwtfbbq$999 version of Windows right off the bat with everything from Office Suite Complex SP8 to Windows Media Player with more skins than an 18th century fur trader.
The real pirates are going to try everything to be able to crack and sell these advanced copies. They'll do it regardless of what features Windows has. There's already speculation on how to do it [com.com].
If you're making one version more secure than another, you're simply admitting that you're not too concerned about the minimal package being pirated but you cannot afford to have Aero pirated. I think that says a lot about how you really view the core operating system and how it's becoming recognized more and more as a necessary tool and not some software bonus. Many software models have developed into being very successful by offering a "Lite" version of the software product for free and encouraging an upgrade to more features by buying a full fledged license from the homepage. The very piece of software I'm using right now to author and spellcheck this post (Textpad) is marketed in this manner.
So I welcome this new news that only the rich, powerful & non-collegiate will have Aero. Let them have their bells and whistles!
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Duly Noted (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Duly Noted (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Duly Noted (Score:5, Funny)
I would upgrade that to "natural law".
Re:Duly Noted (Score:3, Funny)
Eccchhh.
Re: I heart Textpad (Score:2, Insightful)
There's a whole slew of consultants in my field who always beg me to get JDeveloper up and running in their dev environments and I always recoil in horror and start asking pointed questions of "Why?"
Huge footprint, doesn't play well with the products I develop for, and has crashed more than once. Give me the simple elegance of TextPad any day of the week; I can program my own debugging lines and watches into it if I need them. -1 offto
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Insightful)
MS is shooting itself in the foot in doing that.
The only reason everyone uses Windows is that everyone uses Windows.
I use Windows because I want to be compatible with everyone else. Companies write Windows only software and drivers because they want to be compatible with the majority.
Force a fraction of society to switch to a cheaper alternative, and you will precipitate another big chunk into doing the same.
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft probably won't realize this until after they release the full blown version (sometime in 2015) but by splitting their users in this way most companies will not bother to use the enhanced capabilities of the more expensive OS since only a small percentage of users will have it. Expect to see people continue to use XP for many many years to come since upgrading won't provide any need to have features.
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:5, Insightful)
If MS can detect that your Vista is pirated, why not just shut down the Vista altogether? Instead they're just turning off eye candy.
MS wants money, but on the other hand it must realize that a user on a pirated Vista is better than a user on Linux.
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:3, Insightful)
It also begs the question of why would anybody let alone a company pay for "eye candy" when that is not needed to get the job done?
Expect people and companies to continue using XP for the next couple of d
2D GPU; Pricing; Policing (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd argue that offloading the graphic generation from the CPU/RAM to a video board and video memory might be a good thing. It could mean a more responsive GUI, less bogged down processor, and a better user experience.
Don't make it 1K and you'll be in business. Take Adobe's offerings for example. 1600-2000USD for Production Studio ( http://www.adobe.com/products/productionstudio/ma
Pricing always leads to pirating. Make it a pain in the @$$ and offer it for $50 for home users, or sell groups of licenses (4 computers per street address) and most people will buy. Make it $500 and people won't. Windows XP is $200USD, Word in itself is $180USD! It's a question of value. These days the OS costs as much if not more than a new PC!
Sell high to enterprise, and low to home and small business. Get people hooked on Office, so that if they go to a place of business, they're pre-trained in it. Make it cheap and attainable for home users and few-man office shops.
I don't think this is it. If an organization is pirating Windows, which is extremely common in businesses, then they'll stand out like a sore thumb as I'm sure the 'basic' version won't be a corporate offering. It's like a call-home. The 'Microsoft Police' come in and will very simply see what computers look crappy and which don't. You know where the licenses are right away. You can't assume a license is there, as you'll see it. As a user in a University, you'll see right away which PCs are legit.
-M
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:4, Interesting)
It's an interesting way of looking at this. But I would be surprised if that is ENTIRELY the intent. Why? Commoditization.
Microsoft seems to be doing a lot to try and avoid the perception that an OS is a commodity. A hardware platform that became a commodity environment meant IBM lost control of the market. And that is the real threat from the likes of Linux, *BSD, etc. The last thing Microsoft wants is for a perception that the entire platform - hardware and OS - is immaterial or at least a very distant second to an application. Remember that this was the mantra Netscape liked to push before Microsoft performed its historical turn-on-a-dime strategy shift. And one might even note that the vast majority of consumers are almost to this point anyway (how many average users really understand the implications of an OS).
Now - its entirely possible that despite Microsoft's best efforts, the market is pushing in that direction anyway. This may be a slight capitulation to this kind of pressure. But I would not expect Microsoft to do anything that would drive home the commodity perception until well after it has already taken hold of the market. I doubt the market is at that point yet.
If anything, this is simply part of Microsoft's attempt to avoid their OS becoming a commodity. It started with WinXP. Before then, who really cared about "piracy"? After all, the major players (OEMs, business, etc.) already pay. The "Linux Refund Day" exercise showed what a consumer Windows license is worth. Up to a certain point in history, accepting "piracy" helped ensure Windows continued to proliferate as a common environment while not getting in the way of paying customers. Introducing rudimentary copy protection didn't happen until commodity OS platforms started to really gain attention. And even then, it didn't really do much to stem "piracy". But it did drive home the point that Windows wasn't a freebie - keeping it out of the same mental pigeon-hole IT managers stick "freeware" commodity platforms... specifically Linux.
Aero is not an important component. But it is the more visceral piece - it's prominant in screenshots and marketing. Linking copy protection to this component continues to push the message that Windows is something special. And if for some reason a paying customer runs afoul of that copy protection and Aero shuts down, they will likely still be able to limp along doing their important activities until the situation can be resolved - perhaps only annoying them instead of really upsetting them and producing more fodder for various switcher campaigns.
Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed (Score:3, Interesting)
The "educational" and "non-profit" excuses are VERY meaningful. They were original exceptions to this whole robber baron mentality that seems to pervade creativity these days. The idea isn't to be a Rockerfeller wannabe even if you happen to be in it just for the money.
These overhanded ideas are wrongheaded even for those of us that make money off of all of this.
Alternatively: needlessly forcing people to "do wit
We knew this was coming. (Score:5, Insightful)
So unplug the damn thing (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a good solution, seriously. Think about it. Just don't allow the thing to dial home. Unplug it from the net. Run your games or uber-business apps on it, and have a $300 Linux box for web/email. It's an optimal solution even today.
because you won't want to (Score:4, Insightful)
On the otherhand I like this solution to piracy. If it detects a piarate copy it hobbles the OS but does not shut it down. That makes it safe to use in case it glitches on you and mis-detects it's lic status.
I'd take it one step further and change the mouse to an oversized hot pink X with a desktop that says "Liscence key not valid". Anyone seeing that on someone elses computer would know it was stolen and there might be social pressure to pay for what you can steal.
Microsoft doesn't want that (Score:3, Interesting)
But they don't want that. Microsoft has never really tried to cut off illegal users in all these years, although it could've done so at any point. They were content with that fact that piracy made their products spread and made them a de factor stan
Re:So unplug the damn thing (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So unplug the damn thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because technology lets you do something doesn't mean you should.
He was talking about illegal copying of DVDs, of course
I know, I know
Re:We knew this was coming. (Score:3)
* Not making that up
Re:We knew this was coming. (Score:3, Insightful)
No they don't. A major piece of software is one that a business selects all the rest of their components and utilities around. It's the critical piece, and all those other little things would be replaced by something else were the situation to change. Those other things, while being business software, aren't *major*, they're auxillary.
Also, most of those smaller pieces of software, the ones that get
Pirate "Lite Edition" sounds OK, actually. (Score:4, Insightful)
FTA: With the new operating system, Microsoft is offering plenty of new graphics tricks, including translucent windows, animated flips between open programs and "live icons" that show a graphical representation of the file in question.
Many 'pirate' copies currently run on less-than-optimal hardware, yes? Microsoft's plans will make this 'pirate edition' less of a resource hog so for many it actually sounds like a pretty good upgrade over the legit version.
Re:Pirate "Lite Edition" sounds OK, actually. (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yes, but... (Score:2)
Re:Yes, but... (Score:2)
I'm not quite able to give up commerical software (I need the heavy commerical multimedia apps), but I'm going freelance as a multimedia developer and ditching windows in favour of the way of the Mac, now that I'm working for myself.
BTW has anyone heard anything about the new Intel/Mac workstations? I'm having to go with a 20" iMac but will get a workstation after they decide to launch. Someone at apple please just walk up to me and sell me one now!
Re:Yes, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
*chuckles*
I had the same idea. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I had the same idea. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I had the same idea. (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advantage (Score:5, Insightful)
I understand and respect Microsoft wanting to be able to ensure that as many copies of their software is legit as possible, but from what I understand, Vista is going to *require* signed drivers for it to work, which I would also assume plays some part in the Windows Genuine Advantage program. I would assume that it costs money and requires licensing and such to get a driver signed. Doesn't this qualify as a form of extortion and abuse of Microsoft's monopoly? By requiring signed drivers, they're effectively forcing everybody to pay them an "extortion fee" in order for other companies to be able to make hardware for users to run their systems. Doesn't this present problems for Microsoft? How can they be allowed to do this, considering their monopoly status?
I really don't like the idea of Microsoft forcing me into using signed drivers and such in order to take advantage of the software I legally purchased. There's countless reasons for this, but I would think that Microsoft's monopoly status alone would be enough to stop them from abusing these sorts of practices.
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:2)
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:3, Insightful)
No one gives a shit about enforcing anti-trust laws in the current administration.
Sadly, that is not the biggest of our concerns. If we make it to 2009 without nuking someone, I will be happy. We can worry about corporations raping the public after that.
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:5, Informative)
For a legitimate hardware manufacturer it is not difficult at all to get their drivers signed through a certificate authority. This is not done through Microsoft (and is different from their certification programs).
Here's the text from http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/64b
To obtain a PIC, a publisher must first obtain a VeriSign Class 3 Commercial Software Publisher Certificate. Registration with Verisign results in establishing a credential that can be used to establish a Microsoft Windows Quality Online Services (Winqual) account. The publisher can then use that certificate to authenticate itself to Microsoft. If the certificate is valid, Microsoft issues a PIC.
A publisher typically completes the authentication process once a year through the Winqual Web site. The process is completed over a channel that is protected by the secure sockets layer (SSL). Figure 1 illustrates the process of obtaining a PIC. For more information about Winqual, see "Resources" at the end of this paper.
Figure 1. Obtaining a PIC
Important: The process of obtaining a PIC is separate from the Windows Logo Program submission process. The PIC signing capability does not replace the WHQL program. Microsoft encourages publishers to use the WHQL programs such as the Logo and Driver Reliability Signing programs, whenever possible. The primary purpose of the PIC program is to introduce identity into the kernel-mode and driver ecosystem, in cases where participation in the WHQL program might not be suitable. The PIC signing capability does not require the publisher to pass certain Windows Logo Program testing requirements associated with WHQL.
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, I'm sure that's what they told you. Oceania has always been at war and all that shizz, you know?
Hackers will find ways to bypass these restrictions easily enough. Security holes (old AND new) will allow dishonest people to do whatever they want anyway.
That's not even counting on the possibility of hackers getting their spyware signed. Remember when people managed to get keys signed in Microsoft's name? You REALLY trust Verisign with this? I sure don't.
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:5, Insightful)
But it won't do anything to stop Hacker McSony
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:3, Interesting)
What this means is that low-volume hardware becomes instantly more expensive, and amateur driver developers are locked out. You won't even be loading a test driver into your system without getting it signed. That should make driver dev a whole lot of fun.
What do you get out of this? Why, DRM, and nothing else, of course.
This is yet another reason that I *must* avoid Vista in my organization. Some of the
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:5, Interesting)
-matthew
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:4, Insightful)
No, this isn't the case. You can sign drivers yourself if you have a code signing cert from Verisign and have registered with MS to get a cert signed by them. The manditory signing is only on x64 versions too.
This means "beta" drivers will be signed by their developers and runnable on Vista. The net effect of the code signing is it just raises the bar a little on who can write drivers for the system, and potentially causes headaches for open source drivers like ext2 and winpcap (which is where I see the main problem).
Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant (Score:3, Informative)
The implementation makes sense - it stops lusers from getting rootkitted by running a bad attachments, yet allows those who know what they are doing to bypass the checks.
Thank you Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
As a poster in a previous article said, I'll keep my copy of W2K running as long as I can and when, for whatever reason, it is no longer useful I will devote my time and resources to learning how to use Linux though Apple might come first.
Thank you Microsoft. Your ineptness will be your undoing.
I can't wait to see what happens when businesses realize the cost to upgrade to your latest abomination and all the attendant problems that will occur.
Re:Thank you Microsoft (Score:2)
I feel the same way about XP. I have to say, it's been the most stable version of Windows for me so far, and I don't see a real need to change it. Knowing MS, they'll keep supporting it until the last XP programmer contracts Alzheimers and by then I'll have one or more L
Re:Thank you Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
And besides, if you're a "customer" who only uses software he can pirate, I'm sure MS will really miss having you as a customer.
Re:Thank you Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the Linux adoption will continue to be slow. I've got Ubuntu running on my laptop that I use at work. I was running it with KDE at work last week. It's got a snazzy desktop, nice icon theme and one of my co-workers strolled into my office to ask me a question, noticed my screen and asked how I got Windows to look like that. I told him it was Linux. And that it was free... as was all of the software that I have on it. I showed him OOo, Firefox and the FirstClass clien
Couple of questions (Score:5, Insightful)
2) How does Aero differ from numerous attempts at 3D desktops that are already out there? Why will users really miss it?
3) What are the chances that Aero will stay off-limits to "pirates" for any extended period of time?
Re:Couple of questions (Score:4, Informative)
One of the BFD's about Aero is that apps can be rescaled etc. (Hence all the vector-based stuff going on with the video card.) The idea is that Vista will support 300DPI monitors. I read a story a couple of years ago about how Microsoft and
As for Aero's other graphical nicities, well it's hard to say. Everybody here claims they don't want to waste the resources etc, but everybody gets all giggly and bouncy when there's new OSX or KDE screenshots.
Re:Couple of questions (Score:5, Informative)
Ok, might as well post this here, even though I have seen tons of people not know anything about it...
Aero is the 'glass' UI of Explorer and Window Frames, you also get a few functions that are also part of Explorer, like Flip 3D.
However, the scaleable UI of applications and Windows Vista itself have NOTHING to do with AERO.
The scaleable UI and the new graphics subsystem and API in Vista is based on WPF (Avalon) and this NEVER turns off, even if your Video card is VGA Only from 1990.
So everyone please STOP assuming this has anything to do with the Vector composer, the new API replacing GDI+ or any other cool rumor people that know little about Vista want to dig out of the closet.
Here, check out this great site calle Wikipedia.com, it even will explain this to you. Or people could go to www.microsoft.com and actually read this for themselves.
(This post is for all the people in this thread, not just the one I am responding too. If you don't know enough about Vista's Graphics and think it is like OSX's, or think the Aero 'Theme' is Avalon or any other confusing thing, either don't worry about it cause you aren't ever planning on using Vista, or if you might or have customers that might, go check it out so you aren't making silly statements.)
Re:Couple of questions (Score:5, Informative)
Aero is just a new graphics engine for Windows Vista. Removing it makes Windows fall back on the current graphics engine used in Windows XP. (Well, presumably a slightly newer version, but you get the idea.) A Linux analogy would be xgl (Aero) versus standard X.
Essentially the only limitation is that you won't get transparent window title bars and the icons won't be as flashy. So it's hardly a limitation, unless you like your eyecandy. (And some people do.)
It's not a 3D desktop, it's a plain 2D desktop that uses 3D acceleration to speed the GUI. Chances are that most people will actually find that using Aero will reduce CPU usage and (potentially) lessens memory usage for the graphics layer, since it offloads much of that work to the GPU.
Essentially it uses the 3D graphics abilities of the graphics card to handle rendering 2D graphics. This is practically identical to the way OS X and xgl work - both use the 3D acceleration abilities of a graphics card to render 2D graphics.
As for "will users really miss it" - that's a definite maybe. My dad just spent a good week or so getting xgl running on his desktop to generate Aero-style effects under KDE, so some people want the eye candy. But other people probably won't even notice it's missing. It depends on the user.
Slim to nil. :)
Re:Couple of questions (Score:4, Informative)
Ok, NO...
AERO is the UI Effects of Window Borders and the 'glass' Theme, it is also a part of a few effect in Explorer like Flip3D.
The Graphic Engine in Windows is WPF/Avalon, and it fully functions even if you have a VGA Card, and it HAS NOTHING to do with the AERO 'THEME'.
Even with AERO turned off, applicaitons will still use the NEW API that replaces the GDI+ graphics subsystem in WindowsXP, and is NOT dependant on hardware, what so ever.
If Microsoft disabled the whole new graphics API because of turning off Aero would break the entire OS, not just turn off the shinny window frames.
Check out www.microsoft.com or msdn.microsoft.com or even freaking wikipedia.com
Even Google.com, there are some cool articles that explain this in detail and even go as far to explain the Vector Composer that sets the new Graphics subsystem of Vista apart from anything else.
Re:Couple of questions (Score:3, Informative)
No, and disregard the posts stating otherwise.
Aero is simply this... The THEME, and because of the Vista capabilities the THEME adds 'glass' Frames to Windows, and also adds a few cute effects to explorer, like the Flip3D.
As for any loss of functionality, there is none, even if you are running on a 1990 VGA Video card with AERO turned off or disabled. The whole new gra
Re:Couple of questions (Score:4, Insightful)
That's just silly. Aero is a theme, not a technology. How many applications require the use of the XP "Luna" theme and refuse to run in "classic" mode?
I had plans for those CPU cycles anyway (Score:5, Informative)
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7022/1036/1600
Re:I had plans for those CPU cycles anyway (Score:2, Interesting)
The biggest killer of my uptime for Windows XP has been the security updates that require a restart in order for them to be installed. If it wasn't for these, gawd knows how long my uptime would be.
Re:I had plans for those CPU cycles anyway (Score:5, Insightful)
And what's really cool is that it looks better too!
KFG
Re:I had plans for those CPU cycles anyway (Score:2)
Same here, and I have no reason to suspect I wouldn't do the same on Vista as well. So if Microsoft hopes taking out the CPU-sucking eye-candy will dissuade piracy, I hope for their sake they have a plan "B".
Though, I do like ClearType. On a DVI-connected flat panel, it really does make small text MUCH easier on the eyes.
In other words: (Score:5, Funny)
Mexed Missages (Score:2, Funny)
That's sort of an odd message to send, isn't it? "We think you're a software pirate. Or maybe you're just poor. Either way, you don't get the shiny shiny."
ARRRRRR (Score:2)
but seriously, this will be as successful as their WGA attempt. It will frustrate legit windows owners more than it will put a dent on 'piracy'.
Fair Price for Fair use (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Haven't microsoft tried this 'validation' thing already with downloading copies of directx? That didn;t appear to work very well.
2.I don't care what people say...windows is still expensive. If windows was more affordable to the average user, maybe piracy wouldn't be such an issue.
your claims of average man... (Score:3, Informative)
the average XP user downloads cygwin, ming, lcc-win32 or others for development, OpenOffice for a suite, firefox/mozilla for browsing, etc...
I cry utter bullshit on each element, and ask you to give a cite for a single one.
1-average xp user downloads cygwin
2-average xp user downloads lcc-win32
3-average xp user downloads/uses open office
4-average xp user uses firefox/mozilla
2nd, the price of XPhome+office student&teacher edition is about 325$ retail.
the AVERAGE XP user wants a
Hold up... (Score:4, Interesting)
So, what makes bubble buttons and transparency effects something I should want? Is Microsoft trying to bank on GUI wiener-size competition to get people to pay hundreds of dollars for a legtimate installation of the OS?
Oh, yeah...they're going to try to stick it in the gamer market by making everyone upgrade for DX10...which will likely only give you full performance on Trusted Hardware, just like the high-res video bunk.
Let's hear it for Microsoft. 1) My GUI looks better than yours. 2) DX10 is so much more efficient, it almost makes up for the performance lost by binding 70% of your system resources to the GUI that looks better than yours. 3) We don't like your installation of Linux on your other partition, so we're using Oklahoma power to reach in and delete it all, and install this cool IDE device driver from StarForce. 4) You're welcome!
MS admits users don't need to upgrade anymore (Score:3, Insightful)
If there were compelling reasons to upgrade, Microsoft wouldn't have to look at other means to grow their Windows' sales, the upgrade sales would carry them forward.
Who cares (Score:2)
Corporate version? (Score:5, Interesting)
If Microsoft starts demanding activation from corporate customers, I think things will get interesting and amusing all at the same time.
Still won't work (Score:5, Interesting)
The "corporate" workaround won't work this time (Score:3, Informative)
Or at least, I thought it wasn't going to until I read this list:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_edit ions.asp [winsupersite.com]
The specific line to look at is "Windows Activation Services". If this is correct, Windows Vista Ultimate Edition is going to be about the most pirated version of Windows ever.
The original story I'd heard back when the rumors of seven different
Predictions? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Predictions? (Score:3, Insightful)
That approach is pretty much guaranteed to fail. How would you spoof a Microsoft response if they take the obvious step of using asymmetric cryptography? Any crack would have to avoid the challenge in the first place or change the public key before the challenge is sent.
Re:Predictions? (Score:3, Insightful)
Assuming MS does it right.
Re:Predictions? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not on the host system you won't. To do this you would need to run in kernel space. Now remember the announcement from a few months ago http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/23/171 9232 [slashdot.org].
The new Windows kernel will
Dear Pirates: Welcome to OS X! (Score:2)
Re:Dear Pirates: Welcome to OS X! (Score:3, Insightful)
As much as I hate MSFT for being a monopoly and industry stiffler I hate Apple for being prima donnas.
My Dell laptop is just fine. It's sturdy, works in both winxp and linux, has good battery life, is fast, etc, and costs much less than the standard issue G4 laptop at the time (even though my Dell has a 3yr warranty, larger battery and HD than the sta
Heat Wave (Score:5, Funny)
And this is bad why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Or, did anyone consider the fact that these all look like crap because they can be turned off--they are only add-ons to the plain style that was introduced with Win95. They get in the way. Would anyone even consider turning off Aqua, even if you could. No, because it is part of the system, part of your work flow. (Disclaimer: I have Win2000, OS X and Ubuntu machines)
Besides, as people have noted, most individuals who are installing pirated versions have computers that can't handle Areo Glass anyway. Any computer capable enough will come with Visa pre-installed, whenever that happens to be. The rest of us be thankful that we can get the garbage out of the way, even if you believe that Visa will be able to do some real work. Me, I'll keep Windows 2000, because really haven't seen any real innovation since then--it is stable and uncluttered, which is about as good as Windows can get.
The joke's on them... (Score:2, Funny)
Installed base (Score:2)
Reducing piracy is also the most sure way of reducing the number of people using Windows.
I find the microsoft stance on reducing piracy pretty half-hearted. If they can turn of Aero on pirated versions, they could also turn of the whole OS easily. They don't because the large market share, either payed for or not, helps keep them their mono
Mmmm.... shiny (Score:2)
So like they say, the casual pirates are going to have to either buy a real version, or way until the real pirates find a way to defeat the che
news flash: MS admits eliminating piracty kills (Score:5, Funny)
Awesome! (Score:2)
No... (Score:2)
No, the way to reduce "piracy" and grow sales is to
Great news (Score:2)
This would only be a problem if there were no alternative. The tighter they squeeze, the more fat corporate licenses will slip through their fingers.
Is there any way we could persuade them to squeeze harder?
Lemme get this straight... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh yeah.... (Score:2)
Let me get this straight... (Score:2)
Sweet.
No OEM versions for the Macintosh (Score:3, Interesting)
As Apple isn't installing OEM versions of the Windows OS, any OEM version running on a Mac has to be illegal. The Genuine Advantage check could easily determine if the OS is running on a Mac and if the OS is an OEM version. If so, it could flag that the version is not correctly licensed.
Am I the only one who thinks this is quite clever? (Score:5, Insightful)
So, Microsoft is putting the squeeze on those customers they know won't jump ship by leaving out the glitter, thus reducing their incentive to pirate, while simultaneously leaving the door open for the tech-savvy (who are generally much less impressed by glitter) to pirate Vista-sans-glitter, thus reducing their incentive to jump ship to OS X or Linux.
Too bad it's all going to fail miserably. I've got $1000 that says Vista-with-glitter will be pirated within the first month. Any takers?
Stick with Win2K? (Score:3, Interesting)
It will run practically everything that XP will run, and does not have that cartoon interface by default. Win2K also takes slightly less resources. I also think Win2K works well with Samba.
My guess is: it will probably be supported by hw/sw vendors for a few more years, at least.
Hey waitaminnit!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Aero isn't just eye candy (Score:3, Interesting)
This means that you'll no longer have Windows' ugly "Large Fonts" mode for high-dpi monitors (like those on a laptop that display 1600x1200 in a 14" LCD) - rather, you'll simply tell Windows the DPI of your monitor and it will be able to scale the entire system UI to fit - from icons to text to graphical elements in the GUI. Instead of having to choose between a) everything being really small, b) using a lower, non-native resolution that causes your LCD to become blurry, or c) putting up with "Large Fonts" mode, you will now simply enjoy the same-sized interface but with greater clarity.
This seems like a minor point, but it removes a huge barrier that, in my opinion, has plagued applications since day 1: dependence on pixel size. This is the most important aspect of Aero, and it really is something MS can be proud of if they pull it off. Licensing, pirating, and "activation" issues aside, the Aero interface in Vista will be something that every teenage girl and geek alike will want, in the end. It will make our computing experience just a little bit better.
Check out this video if you want to understand why Aero really is something important: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=1146 94 [msdn.com]
Vector icons: http://www.iconbase.com/iconbase/aero-eps.html [iconbase.com]
Wow! Welcome to the 1990s! (Score:3, Informative)
Isn't this pretty much what X Windows and OSF/Motif and Display PostScript and so forth were doing in the early 1990s?
Why on earth should that require any more graphics processing power than is available in the humblest modern CPU?
So let me get this straight (Score:3, Interesting)
So for about two, maybe three weeks "pirates" won't get Aero but the honest guy can't afford to pay full price never gets it?
Yep, that sounds like the M$ I know and love...
Re:Shall we start a pool? (Score:2)
Additionally, in the more rural parts, there are also plenty of people who can't get broadband... so I guess "Aero" won't work for them either!
No water, no broadband! I'm going back to Bradford
Re:What does this say about Vista? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What does this say about Vista? (Score:2)
No duel setup is ever a waste of resources, EN GARDE!!
Re:What does this say about Vista? (Score:2)
I think a more interesting question than what it says about Vista is what it says about the need to maintain the monopoly.
Were they to enforce the license more strictly, then people wouldn't use it at all.
And then the shiny new features that they'd like to put into Office would also be less likely to draw sales.
Or, the various free alternatives would become more attractive.
Re:BooHoo (Score:2)