Illegal XP owners beware, Microsoft has quite a suprise planned

[HendrixFan]

NFS4, we have two legit copies of WinXP in our household, and neither are currently installed on the 5 machines we have. Even with a legit copy of WinXP, you have to use product activation, after installation and after upgrading and swapping components. I dont like the fact that MS controls access to my legit copy of Windows, and if they choose, I can be locked out of it.

 

[pac1085]

I'm glad I finally made the switch to linux...learning a ton and loving it. KDE 3 rocks, and gnome 2 isnt that bad, once it matures more I'm gonna use it over KDE. I love having all the choices for software that I have right now...its great.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: yakko

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Just don't install SP1..simple

True but I want SP!. I only use the coporate key so I don't have to worry about activation of my legal copy.

Then use the *new* corporate key from serials 2000 after you DL sp1.

This year I plan to make an OS change because I also dont think MS should be invading my privacy. I never register anything and won't start for a company like MS. Mac OS seemed buggy when I had an iMac, and linux is just too geeky for my abilities or time to learn. Maybe I'll run solaris 2.8? This sucks.

 

[HendrixFan]

Carbonyl, Mandrake Linux is pretty easy to learn and use. It has the smallest learning curve of any Linux distro. Linux carries a myth of difficult ease of use, but its simply not true. Its no more difficult than Windows, and probably a little more intuitive. Its just different and you have to learn it. Slackware is considered a more difficult distro, and my mother was able to get the hang of it when we tried it out. If she can, anyone can.

 

[Johnbear007]

I have a legal copu of xp, but will never update to sp1, because of the windows media player crap.. this is no big deal, just dont get SP1, and you are fine!

 

[kami]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: kami
I wonder how long it'll take before WinXP isn't a "valid" OS? Just recently, I think it can be said that Win95 (at least A and B versions) is not a valid OS since there are a lot of things that will only work on Win98 (sometimes Win98SE) and above. Should WinXP experience the same lifespan?

I believe M$ is planning to drop support for Win2K early next year.

ouch! that blows. I'm sure Win2k will work much longer than that, but no updates at all (including security ones) really sucks.

 

[Linux23]

Originally posted by: yakko

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Just don't install SP1..simple

True but I want SP!. I only use the coporate key so I don't have to worry about activation of my legal copy.

i agree, but if i have to go back to WPA, then i'll keep the original XP/.

 

[Turin39789]

ugh, when will MS and RIAA stop trying to plug the dam with their fingers?
It is just a headache for those of us in IT and a joke to those in warez

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: HendrixFan
Carbonyl, Mandrake Linux is pretty easy to learn and use. It has the smallest learning curve of any Linux distro. Linux carries a myth of difficult ease of use, but its simply not true. Its no more difficult than Windows, and probably a little more intuitive. Its just different and you have to learn it. Slackware is considered a more difficult distro, and my mother was able to get the hang of it when we tried it out. If she can, anyone can.

Linux install is easy. I guesw what i meant was all the 8000 other programs you get in an intall and telling which are good and which are not. It's simply easier to go with the "standards" like Word and Excel which almost everyone uses and I'm much more accustomed to. And Games I read reviews here or at magazines. But with Linux, everyone and their brother is writting apps and how the heck can I know a) what close to a standard b) which are good and fulfill my needs without being a total geek and reading the hell out of all the LINUX sites.

This is the main reason why Linux has'nt taken off. It's not a nice easy package and some people like to do other things than learn about the software.

 

[boi]

If I wanted to, I could crack that, but I don't need to because I use linux.

 

[Fritzo]

Hmmmm....why is it I'm having a hard time buying this?


There have been so many "MS is coming to get you" stroies before that have never panned out, why should we beleive this one?

 

[brtspears2]

Originally posted by: chrisisbored

Originally posted by: The_good_guy
Another reason to stick to W2K or go Linux.

Ditto

 

[xaigi]

Are we back to entering the 4th word on the 7th line of the 23rd page og the manual yet?

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: xaigi
Are we back to entering the 4th word on the 7th line of the 23rd page og the manual yet?

Hahahaha,i remember doing that kinda stuff. OLD-skool.

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: kami
I wonder how long it'll take before WinXP isn't a "valid" OS? Just recently, I think it can be said that Win95 (at least A and B versions) is not a valid OS since there are a lot of things that will only work on Win98 (sometimes Win98SE) and above. Should WinXP experience the same lifespan?

If you were a software developer, would you write code to run on Win95?

It has nothing to do with being a "Valid" operating system. New operating systems appear on the market with more features that allow developers to do so much more than the old OSes. Developers write to the new OSes cuz that's where the money is.

Eventually, it's more expensive to maintain and support the old OSes than it's worth. Win95 is now 7 years old, which is an eternity in computer time. Newer OSes that have been released since then can do so much more than Win95 did, and the number of Win95 users is dwindling to such a point that it's no longer economically worthwhile for developers to ensure their products run on Win95.

It's called capitalism.

 

[HendrixFan]

Here you go Fritzo.

All the dirt you should need.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: HendrixFan
NFS4, we have two legit copies of WinXP in our household, and neither are currently installed on the 5 machines we have. Even with a legit copy of WinXP, you have to use product activation, after installation and after upgrading and swapping components. I dont like the fact that MS controls access to my legit copy of Windows, and if they choose, I can be locked out of it.

What's wrong with activating after installation? You have to do it with Office XP and it doesn't take but like 5 seconds. Click, click, click, DONE. Big friggin' deal!

As for changing hardware, it only makes you reactivate after you have SUBSTANTIALLY changed your hardware like adding a new mobo, video card, and hard drive all at once (doesn't affect many people very often). And even the, it's not like it's going to take you more than 5 mins to be back online after activating again.

I think people are just crying for all the wrong reason.

 

[HendrixFan]

Let me turn it the other way, whats wrong with not activating? Ive purchased a product, why do I constantly need their approval to actually use it? Even if it only takes a few seconds?

The biggest problem I have with it is once they decide WinXP is dead, they will refuse to activate it.

 

[Jhill]

So what happens exactly when someone with a pirated win xp corp version installs sp1?

 

[madthumbs]

SP1 is already available to the warez community with insignificant changes between it and the final. It's also very easy to find a keygen for xp, and although it takes a long time to produce a working key (which it checks automatically) it works. Anyone interested can look up "bluetooth" .

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: HendrixFan
Let me turn it the other way, whats wrong with not activating? Ive purchased a product, why do I constantly need their approval to actually use it? Even if it only takes a few seconds?

The biggest problem I have with it is once they decide WinXP is dead, they will refuse to activate it.

1) Do you care that you have to use a serial number for most programs that you install?
2) By the time MS stops supporting XP, there will probably be 2 or more Microsoft OS's that have already surpassed it. I typically install the most current Microsoft OS on my desktop machine. And who said that they would stop activating copies of XP?
3) For 95% of the users that obtain Windows XP (mainly, pre-installed on a new machine) or through an upgrade at the store activation is NOT a problem. They typically only have to do it once b/c they don't upgrade as frequently as us hardcore folk. They buy a machine and use it until they buy another one.

Bottom line, people are bitchin' over trivial stuff and as usual it's the vocal minority. Microsoft wants to protect their investment and stop pirates...I don't blame them one bit. I'd do the same damn thing.

 

[MeanMeosh]

Originally posted by: NFS4What's wrong with activating after installation? You have to do it with Office XP and it doesn't take but like 5 seconds. Click, click, click, DONE. Big friggin' deal!

As for changing hardware, it only makes you reactivate after you have SUBSTANTIALLY changed your hardware like adding a new mobo, video card, and hard drive (doesn't affect many people very often). And even the, it's not like it's going to take you more than 5 mins to be back online after activating again.

I think people are just crying for all the wrong reason.

i'm a part time sysadmin in a student organization, where we have 5 computers for student use. they are all old machines that we upgrade when we get funding to and such. upgrades are done only when a couple of sysadmin can get together, depending on our classes and stuff, so when we change hardware, sometimes it happens substancially. also, they get hacked into sometimes, or they just get too cluttered because of the extremely frequent use, and we have to reformat them on average about once every 3 months or so (at least, that's how we've been doing it the past year, but that could be bad luck, we got hacked twice in the same semester cause we were doing some asp development, so needed iis).

we currently have 5 copies of office xp and its a pain in the rear to have to call ms every time in order to have to re-activate it for the same machine. its 10 mins for each comp times five. one of the reasons we're sticking with win2k is cause it would be more work for calling up and having to re-activate winxp as well. its easy to activate the first time, click and you're done, but when you have to reactivate it, its a pain. just my five cents

 

[coolred]

Man can Microsoft waste money on anything else. I mean as everyone in here has pointed out, the only people this is gonna hurt are the people with legit copies. The warez people will have the crack very soon or will just not upgrade to SP1. I don't know MS's sitiuation, what i do know is they are a big company with losts of money, granted they could have even more money if all the pirated software out there was actually paid for, but going about it like this isn't right.

Like someone else says, what happens when you fall in love with XP, then 5 years down the road you majorily upgrade your computer and need to reactivate XP. You call microsoft and they are gonna have a message saying, "were sorry but you are using an outdated version of windows that is no longer supported. In order to keep you as a customer, we are offering a deal for all customers. 199.99 for Windows XXX. All you have to do is upgrade now, at this low low price and you can still use your computer.

I just think MS is quickly running itself into the ground. Next thing, they will send an MS employee to your house to install the new OS. Then whenever you need it reinstalled, you will have to call them and have someone come out and install it again. They won't let you keep the CD, they will keep it.

 

[gogeeta13]

This sucks because I run 4 systems at all times, plus I reinstall at least one of the systems every few months, plus hardware testing, plus I do a full upgrade to at least one of my 4 systems every year..

I cannot afford 130x4 in the first place, let alone reactivating everytime I upgrade. I have a computer business, I charge $45 an hour. My time is expensive.

 

[spanky]

no matter what ms does... they will always be the target of hackers and crackers. i give it a week until someone makes a "patch".