Vista is probably not the best choice for us....

[KSoD]

I read Paul Thurott's article. Am I supposed to feel better? I refuse to accept the fact that I can't change my hardware as much as I want. Even if I never do it. Microsoft is taking away a right that is mine. I'm buying their software. Why should that be tied to the hardware I'm using? It's completely unacceptable! F*** micro$haft!

It is their right to limit how many times a piece of software can be installed with new hardware. Considering the only real hardware change that prompts a re-validation is a mother board change that is totally acceptable. We dont own the software. We just own the License. So if they say that for evey 2 mobo changes we have to buy a new license then so be it.
A new mobo does make a new PC. So why are you so upset if you dont chage your hardware that much? If you want to be like that then try Linux which doesnt have these restrictions. If you want to use M$ then you have to obey their rules. They are not that harsh. If you think they are try using OS X. They are even worse yet i dont hear complaints about Apple not allowing OS X on any machines but Apple PC's.

 

[Meithan]

It is their right to limit how many times a piece of software can be installed with new hardware.

Agreed. I am not questioning their right, legally speaking, to limit the use of their product. It is a moral question that I pose, and you should know that Law should be a reflection of morality.

Considering the only real hardware change that prompts a re-validation is a mother board change that is totally acceptable.

Yes, motherboard is quite a radical change. But the article also mentions Hard Disk, as second most important device. On this computer, I've changed HDDs two times already.

So why are you so upset if you don't change your hardware that much?

Because I don't like people, specially mega corporations, to tell me what I can't do when in principle I have a right to do it.

Also, you should know that I dual boot into Kubuntu whenever I have work-related stuff to do (astronomical image processing packages are not made for Windows, thank god). However, when I'm at home I use the computer mainly for gaming and entertainment, so I'm still forced to use Windows. Mac is very alike Microsoft, with their "all Mac" corporate policy. I'd still prefer OS X over Microsoft, but that's a different issue.

So, this is a moral issue more than anything. It's about fighting a mega corporation that is trying to limit people's right about their computers. It's like the Act for network Neutrality. ISPs could be legally allowed to distribute their bandwidth as they wish. But many people think the Internet should be free, hence such moral motion can and should be protected by law.

 

[beedubaya]

Im not getting Vista or DX10 if this is the way its going to be. I will keep using XP until I can't anymore then I will get a new PC and use an alternative OS.

Does this mean you wont even be able to call up MS and explain that you're reformatting and they will let you install? You have to buy a new copy every two installs?

 

[talldude123]

I'd imagine that Vista will come with differerent versions though.

XP has OEM, Basic, and Corporate. Vista should as well.

 

[beedubaya]

I am not sure if its true, but I heard somewhere that the Corporate edition will have crippled gaming performance, i.e. no DX10 or something similar, in order to discourage piracy among gamers, which is the group most responsible for the piracy of XP corporate edition.

 

[Meithan]

What we need is game companies to start writing games using OpenGL. Software written with it could in principle be multi-platform. That way we could say bye-bye to Windows.

 

[KSoD]

Vista is going to have Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate among other editions.

Meithan-
I think you have good points but you go wrong with the Apple conflict. You say they are like M$ but then you say that you agree with their Apple only concept. That is a morality issue as well. I choose PC's for their customization ability. Macs dont have that. Yet i wish to run OS X. But Apple wont allow it. There is your Morality conflict right there. Yet you agree with Apple but not M$?
Sorry i cant agee with you on that one. Also the thing about the HDD wont happen. I can guarentee it. The EU let alone the US Federal Govt wont allow for that kind of restriction to happen.

The Business Edition will not support DX10. But yet again this is for Business use and therefor should not be playing games while at work. Unless your job is making them. So i fully understand why they cripple Bussiness Edition from having DX10.

 

[Meithan]

Meithan-
I think you have good points but you go wrong with the Apple conflict. You say they are like M$ but then you say that you agree with their Apple only concept. That is a morality issue as well. I choose PC's for their customization ability. Macs dont have that. Yet i wish to run OS X. But Apple wont allow it. There is your Morality conflict right there. Yet you agree with Apple but not M$?

No no, I think I wasn't clear on that. Mac is just like MS in their corporate ideology to force people to do things as they wish. I do not agree with the Apple concept, I think it's the same thing as Microsoft. They enforce the "our company only" concept even further than Microsoft, since they make hardware too.

I said I preferred OS X over Windows because it's based on Unix, and it's usually more stable and Linux-friendly. But that's all. I was just talking about the programming of the OS's themselves. The companies are the same corporate crap.

 

[KSoD]

Ahh okay that does make more sense. Thank you for clearing that up. I also understand the whole gaming thing on Windows since all games are made for it.

But honestly being a tester and running VIsta only i would say this. Even with this issue at hand i would stick with XP. I know i am. The gmaes are not running that good in Vista right now and it is better to stick with XP for the time being. At least until Vista gets released and the game developers can do some tweaking to their games to get them running better under Vista.

 

[Meithan]

Yeah, I probably won't try Vista until later on the following year.

I have to admit that Windows XP (specially with SP2) is the best Microsoft OS that has come to date. I very rarely get blue screens or system crashes. Very unlike Windows 98. Also, the Security Center (a feared feature of SP2) is harmless if you know how to handle it.