Wednesday, January 31, 2007 11:30 AM
Michael Geist has a great column that talks about the fine print associated with Vista. I thought I'd share my views on some of his points.
"Users activate Vista by associating it with a particular computer or device and transmitting certain hardware information directly to Microsoft"
Um...wasn't this part of the activation process for Windows XP as well? I recall that there may have been an issue if you did too many upgrades to your machine and XP saw it as a different machine. If you purchase a computer with an operating system installed, I *think* that the legal agreement actually binds that license with that computer too. So really, this is nothing new.
"...Prohibits more than a single backup copy and setting strict limits on transferring the software to different devices or users."
OK, let's be honest here: how many backup copies do you really need? You make one, you put it somewhere safe...done. And just because you buy one license of the OS doesn't mean that you can install it or share it with whomever. If that was the case, only one person would ever need to buy it and could share it with the world. That's not how licensing works, and unfortunately people associate buying the disc with buying the software...it isn't: you're buying a LICENSE to RUN the software.
"Windows Defender, by default, automatically remove software rated "high" or "severe", even though that may result in other software ceasing to work..."
Valid point here...although I would hope that there would be options to configure Defender to how you want it to scan. Still...Aunt Sally using her PC might not understand that.
Last few paragraphs on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD restrictions.
Now, this is just my opinion here...but who really cares? I have a DVD player attached to my TV if I want to play movies. I'll buy an HD-DVD player if I want to watch those movies. The fact that there are restrictions on playback...hey, you want restrictions? Can Linux even PLAY HD-DVD movies right now? Why aren't we all screaming about that? I understand the whole "us vs. hollywood" sentiment going on...but personally, I don't really see this as being an issue.
Great article for identifying what running Vista really means though.
D