So here is my current line of thought:
Vista is going to be released soon with MSPP (Microsoft Software Protection Platform). This is basically an anti-piracy thing. Some estimate that half of all copies of Windows installed are pirated. Microsoft is losing money, so they are trying to crack down on non-legit copies of Windows.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/38345/Microsoft_Patches_Holes_to_Make_Piracy_More_Diffic ult_in_Windows_Vista
Under the new Microsoft Software Protection Platform, Microsoft will tighten the regulations on how software is installed.
Any users who decline or fail to validate their copy of Vista during installation will be barred from using certain features and will receive a bombardment of messages on the screen that read "this copy of Windows is not genuine,? urging the user to validate or purchase a key. As Computer World reports, users will be blocked from Aero, Vista's updated graphical user interface; ReadyBoost, an application that uses flash memory to add to RAM and boost system performance; and Windows Defender, which protects against viruses and spyware.
After 30 days of not validating, the operating system will go into a mode similar to Windows Safe Mode and give users one final hour of access to a Web browser to register or the purchase a license over the Internet.
|
I have never paid for a copy of Windows in my life, nor have most of the people I know. To me, the headaches I deal with as a result of Microsoft?s notoriously inferior products are payment enough. For once, it looks like Microsoft is actually going to force me to buy Windows if I want to use it. While I am confident that the hacking/cracking/warez community will deliver to me (as they always have before) a free and unencumbered installation of Windows with no purchase necessary, if they somehow fail to do so, I have already decided that I will not buy it and I will convert everything to Linux come hell or high water.
I wonder how many others are saying the same thing? There are plenty of people out there who have never paid for Windows. Will Vista drive these people from Windows to Linux? What impact would a market share shift of 10% have on Microsoft?
This should be very interesting, to say the least.