Everybody Saving Money For Windows

[Richard-BKK]

If Microsoft thinks you are running a pirated version of its next-generation Windows Vista, it will shut down your access to the operating system and, within a month, to most everything on your computer.

Microsoft is adamant that these technologies "cannot and will not turn off your computer." But the measures raise the question of: What's the difference?

According to a White Paper issued by the company yesterday, Microsoft will severely limit what the operating system does when the product hasn't been properly activated, using a product key, after 30 days.

Like a frog in a slowly heating pot of water, the PC of a user using an allegedly unlicensed copy of Windows Vista will gradually lose functionality, until he or she can do nothing but surf the web one hour at a time, then be logged off by Windows.

Windows Vista, which Microsoft insists will ship to business customers in November and to consumers in January 2007, will be the first operating system to include technologies that the company calls "Software Protection Platform."

So are all going to save money to buy our new, and very expensive, Microsoft Vista which comes with little extra's so probalby have to keep some money for MS Office.

Or is this the moment where alternative operating systems have been waiting for, with the latest version of Wine or Crossover Office it is possible to run most of the current Windows programs while using Linux.

What I not get is what if the Windows computer is not connected to the Internet, how will it connect to the "call-home-server". I think that this is the end of my last Windows server, cannot think of connecting that server to the Internet so it can update it's validation. It is not the first time that hackers hacked the Windows Update website and distributed spyware over the Microsoft link

[astral]

I am still running Wondows 2000 because I do not like the way MS handles XP authentication.

When I bought my new notebook it came with XP Home, when I wanted Pro, so I just loaded my trusty

version of 2000.

This news of Vista just emphasises my worries.

If you are in a similar situation then I suggest you read this thread and consider loading the Ubuntu release of Linux.

It is the best I have seen so far, complete with e-mail, Firefox browser, music player, photo viewer etc.

[The Coder]

I totally agree ubuntu linux is the way to go. People will be pleasantly surprised to find it also comes with a full suite of Office apps (like word, excel, power point). It integrates nicely on a laptop and the look and feel is very intuitive for Windows users. And you can't say it enough--it is a FREE and legitimate download! The only reason I can think of not to use it is if you need to run specialized Windows applications. Typeical users who just need web, mail, office, photos, cd-burning, and such will love ubuntu.

Edited October 5, 2006 by The Coder

[Rice_King]

It is not the first time that hackers hacked the Windows Update website and distributed spyware over the Microsoft link

Could you please reference this statement Richard? If it (the Windows Update website) has really been hacked, I would like to know. I'm NOT saying that it did NOT happen. Until 2004, I worked in IT and supported the Windows platform for 1,000 users. I never heard of any instance where spyware was distrbuted over the Microsoft link. This is news to me.

Edited October 5, 2006 by Rice_King

[britmaveric]

MS is mental - there will be work arounds for their supposed security on Vista. Actually microsoft/security is bit of an oxymoron.

[Sporting Dog]

I was told by our IT guy that Vista needs a Gig of RAM to run properly!!!!!!

<deleted>!!

[astral]

I was told by our IT guy that Vista needs a Gig of RAM to run properly!!!!!!

<deleted>!!

If that is true it is yet another example of MS bloatware..............

[waldwolf]

Yesterday (04-Oct-06) Microsoft also announced that, in addition to individual consumers, licensed business users will also have to activate their copies of Windows Vista, Windows Servers and other new products within 30 days, or the product(s) will automatically revert to a "reduced functionality mode".

Microsoft is introducing a new Multiple Activation Key (MAK) options for customers with fewer than 25 PCs and a Key Management Service (KMS) option for corporations with more than 25 PCs or more than five Windows servers. These licensed customers must also activate within 30 days or also be forced to use the crippled version of Vista. (The existing Windows OEM activation option, allows PC makers and system builders to pre-activate Windows for their customers via a System-Lock Pre-Installation.)

With the new Vista. should a consumer fail to active the product within 30 days of purchase, or tries to activate Vista and fails, the following will be disabled:

- The "Aero" user interface

- Windows Defender

- ReadyBoost performance enhancer

- Internet Explorer 7

- Windows Media Player 11

......and that's just the beginning!

waldwolf

[GonewiththeWind]

No, by the way if you want to run Vista Ultimate (highest version) then you need 1g of RAM, other versions need 512mb.

I can run Aero and Vista Ultimate. Yay.

[endure]

If Microsoft thinks you are running a pirated version of its next-generation Windows Vista, it will shut down your access to the operating system and, within a month, to most everything on your computer.

Microsoft is adamant that these technologies "cannot and will not turn off your computer." But the measures raise the question of: What's the difference?

According to a White Paper issued by the company yesterday, Microsoft will severely limit what the operating system does when the product hasn't been properly activated, using a product key, after 30 days.

Like a frog in a slowly heating pot of water, the PC of a user using an allegedly unlicensed copy of Windows Vista will gradually lose functionality, until he or she can do nothing but surf the web one hour at a time, then be logged off by Windows.

Windows Vista, which Microsoft insists will ship to business customers in November and to consumers in January 2007, will be the first operating system to include technologies that the company calls "Software Protection Platform."

So are all going to save money to buy our new, and very expensive, Microsoft Vista which comes with little extra's so probalby have to keep some money for MS Office.

Or is this the moment where alternative operating systems have been waiting for, with the latest version of Wine or Crossover Office it is possible to run most of the current Windows programs while using Linux.

What I not get is what if the Windows computer is not connected to the Internet, how will it connect to the "call-home-server". I think that this is the end of my last Windows server, cannot think of connecting that server to the Internet so it can update it's validation. It is not the first time that hackers hacked the Windows Update website and distributed spyware over the Microsoft link

So you're complaining about the fact that Microsoft would prefer you to buy their products rather than steal them?

[robhudd]

I am sure that we can all appreciate why Microsoft would like us to purchase their software from them rather than from our friends at Pantp or Fortune, I would certainly want the money!! However I think that microsoft are being short sighted with their approach of forcing checks and disabling parts of the user interface for less than legitimate versions. There is a very simple reason why Microsoft is so successful, most people dont know there are viable alternatives. The instal base for Windows etc. is so huge that most companies have no choice but to use Microsoft products, they perceive (thanks to claver Microsoft marketing) that to change would cost them far too much in training their employees to use a different OS and different Office system. Boxed software does not make up a large percentage of Microsofts revenue (this is an educated guess) as oem and corporate licensing would account for a lot of their revenue. What I see happening now is that Microsoft have given the average ome user a choice, pay up to a US$1,000 for an OS and Office combo or look at an alternative. As most of us know there are many alternatives for a great price (even better than the prices at Pantip etc. FREE).

So this decision by Microsoft could really be the "tipping point" for open source software. Home users are forced to look for an alternative because they can not afford the microsoft solution, the adoption of home open source systems increases, the big PC manufacturers then offer an alternative for their preinstalled (oem) software (not just windows, but linux etc), corporate IT managers realise that their users are comfortable with other systems rather than just windows and MS office so conversion costs plumet. In a couple of years Microsoft has lost its dominance simply because they want to make more money from people who can not really afford their products.

Or am I just dreaming

[Sporting Dog]

I remember quite a few years ago when it was thought that IBM was invincible - and tried to run the market to suit themslves rather than the customers. Look what happened to them.

I agree about the tipping point mentioned above. I use computers - I don't really want to get too hung up on the OS etc etc. (to me, its like cars - I drive them but I don't want to dick around under the hood). BUT I think the time has come look into MS alternatives - Linux is the obvious starting point. I don't want to but I'll be damned if I am going to held to ransom by MS...after all I am the customer.

[Simmo]

The only reason I can think of not to use it is if you need to run specialized Windows applications.

You're not thinking hard enough ... GAMES!

[Richard-BKK]

Attention Rice King,

If you where in the IT business before 2004 you probably will remember the Code Red worm.. I can probably find more, as I can remember more security problems (harder to find because I forget the name). But it is almost a monthly event that one of Microsoft websites (not all the update website) in the world is changed by hackers, I can remember the French, Taiwan and New Zealand website (again there are more)

In July 2001 Microsoft's own Windows Update site has fallen victim to the Code Red worm. And was distributing this Code Red worm to anybody who had Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher.

the Code Red worm attacks what's now called the .ida vulnerability, an unchecked buffer in the IIS Indexing Service ISAPI filter, which, if exploited, can yield system-level access to an intruder.

The fact that the Windows Update site, which provides a portal to product updates and security patches along with advice on critical updates, wasn't itself up to date with the latest security patches is richly ironic.

Security experts at MIS Corporate Defense warned that because the bug allows system level access, the possibility that links on the site had been changed to point to maliciously crafted updates (possibly containing Trojans) needed to be ruled out. Whether Microsoft carried out such an audit before putting the site live again remains unclear.

The Code Red worm, which first appeared on 13 July, defaces Web sites with the message: "Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!" and will periodically send 100KB of junk data to Whitehouse.gov as part of an apparent denial of service attack. The worm sets itself up on the infected system and creates 99 other 'threads' which provide a means for it to spread itself to other Web servers.

Code Red was not saved as a file, but injected and executed directly from memory. What made it even more difficult to find.

[silvero]

@Richard-BKK

Your original post says:

It is not the first time that hackers hacked the Windows Update website and distributed spyware over the Microsoft link

The context of the word "link" is of Windows validation.

Code Red was not spyware, and it wasn't distributed over the Microsoft "link", by which I can only imagine you probably mean Windows Update or WGA, even if Microsoft had a server compromised.

I would also be keen to see further information about spyware distributed over Windows Update or WGA (except WGA itself!) or any monthly hacking events.

[Richard-BKK]

Another point is that most computer users need serious hardware upgrades to run the new MS Windows version.

First the new Windows version is a lover for large amounts of internal memory, and VGA-cards with DirectX compatibility lower then DirectX 9 hardware acceleration can forget eye-candy screens. And will be forced in game play in one of the lowest resolutions.

If that is not enough, Microsoft cuts the feature for full HD playback in the 32bit version of Windows Vista. So everybody who have not a 64-bit processor are forced to buy a new hardware and pay again for the Vista 32-bit to 64-bits upgrade.

Microsoft explains that the definition of HD playback are all the next generation high definition content, including BluRay and HD-DVD movies.

By far the majority of PCs use 32-bit processors, because despite AMD’s efforts to push 64-bit CPUs into the marketplace

[Rice_King]

Attention Rice King,

If you where in the IT business before 2004 you probably will remember the Code Red worm.. I can probably find more, as I can remember more security problems (harder to find because I forget the name). But it is almost a monthly event that one of Microsoft websites (not all the update website) in the world is changed by hackers, I can remember the French, Taiwan and New Zealand website (again there are more)

In July 2001 Microsoft's own Windows Update site has fallen victim to the Code Red worm. And was distributing this Code Red worm to anybody who had Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher.

the Code Red worm attacks what's now called the .ida vulnerability, an unchecked buffer in the IIS Indexing Service ISAPI filter, which, if exploited, can yield system-level access to an intruder.

The fact that the Windows Update site, which provides a portal to product updates and security patches along with advice on critical updates, wasn't itself up to date with the latest security patches is richly ironic.

Security experts at MIS Corporate Defense warned that because the bug allows system level access, the possibility that links on the site had been changed to point to maliciously crafted updates (possibly containing Trojans) needed to be ruled out. Whether Microsoft carried out such an audit before putting the site live again remains unclear.

The Code Red worm, which first appeared on 13 July, defaces Web sites with the message: "Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!" and will periodically send 100KB of junk data to Whitehouse.gov as part of an apparent denial of service attack. The worm sets itself up on the infected system and creates 99 other 'threads' which provide a means for it to spread itself to other Web servers.

Code Red was not saved as a file, but injected and executed directly from memory. What made it even more difficult to find.

Indeed I remember the code red worm. Our solution was to deploy a script that stopped the IIS service (and disabled it) on the Winows machines. (We didn't use anything that required IIS to be running anyhow.)

As a precaution against getting bad updates, we built and deployed a MS "SUS" server (now referred to WSUS). In this way, all updates were tested on lab machines prior to deployment to the "real world" client machines.

I still do not recall getting bad updates / worms / viruses from the MS Update site. As far as that goes, we never had cause NOT to distribute an update or patch from MS.

[The Coder]

The only reason I can think of not to use it is if you need to run specialized Windows applications.

You're not thinking hard enough ... GAMES!

That is a big one for me too. I plan to fork out $'s for Vista and Office next year, but that will hopefully be the last iteration of Windows stuff I will need. But check this out for some good news on the Linux gaming shaping up:

World of Warcraft for Linux

Codeweavers has released a beta version of their CrossOver Linux which allows Linux fans to play World of Warcraft (WoW). CrossOver Linux Standard beta 2 came out last week and can also play Half-Life 2 and Windows Flash Player 9. The beta is currently available as a free download.

CodeWeavers isn't the first company that has succeeded in making WoW playable on Linux. Ubuntu Linux fans have been playing WoW for a few months and Transgaming's Cedega, a competitor to Codeweavers, has been running WoW for about a year.

[Richard-BKK]

Crossover Standard Beta release 2, I run Crossover Office Pro 5.03? I belief you mean Crossover Office release 6 beta 2

Edited October 6, 2006 by Richard-BKK

[nikster]

I remember quite a few years ago when it was thought that IBM was invincible - and tried to run the market to suit themslves rather than the customers. Look what happened to them.

It's not so much as turning point as watching the Titanic sink in slow motion - the Microsoft ship is going down slowly, frantically trying to find other markets to enter which doesn't succeed because no one wants to play with a company that has a history of destroying or buying out partners.

Name one company which has done business with Microsoft that didn't either get killed by MS or bought out. There are none.

The new Vista security measures I find just weird - I simply don't understand why MS cares so much about the few percent of customers who steal their OS. Most of them are in developing countries like Thailand where people just don't have the money. If their security measures actually worked in these countries, these countries would switch to Linux.

But developing countries is not what makes or breaks Microsoft. What makes or breaks Microsoft is a simple fact: Businesses don't need Microsoft. The nowadays need the software that runs on it, but the alternatives are knocking at the door.

A perfect example is governments. Governments can just decree that from now on, they won't accept .DOC files, only PDFs. So for Governments and all government offices, Linux is a lot more cost-effective than Windows. It can be adapted to exactly their needs. It prevents (for now) people from spending all their time playing games. It's virus-free (for now). And it's free.

The city governments of Vienna and Munich have realized that and are switching to Linux. Because OpenOffice is just as good as MS Office, even better in some respects. And it's all free for now and more importantly for ever into the future. Vista will have the effect of pushing Linux in even more government offices.

After that, other large businesses will follow (I think IBM is trying it) and after that small businesses follow. Microsoft cannot win. Making their software even more user-unfriendly just speeds up things a bit for Linux.

The more MS enforces it licenses, the more it costs for businesses - in cash out the door but probably even more in IT support and general time spent on hassle.

Anyway. I really don't get why MS is so crazy about their licensing enforcement. You can't buy a new computer without a legal copy of windows in most parts of the world in any case, so windows pirating has come to a halt in all 1st world countries. And I bet 99.9% of users never upgrade their OS until they buy a new machine. There will be a handful of geeks purchasing Vista, but compared to the vast masses of computer users it will be a drop in the bucket.

[chingching]

You can't buy a new computer without a legal copy of windows in most parts of the world in any case, so windows pirating has come to a halt in all 1st world countries.

I thot quite a bit of computers sold in u.s.a. had pirate copies (xp). I think i read somewhere like 25%. But agree that the momentum for windows has shifted. Many home owners will still use it bc that's what they have loaded on their machines at work. But as businesses and governments switch to Linux the trend away from MS will accelerate.