Is Microsoft about to release a Windows "kill switch"?
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:rolleyes: Wow, you sure are proving the assertion in the post you replied to about "otherwise intelligent people" That's going to great lengths to prove an assertion with a horrible analogy.
John Cardinal wrote:
That's going to great lengths to prove an assertion with a horrible analogy.
You really can't prove an assertion using an analogy based on a hypothetical scenario, since you can just make up anything and cherry-pick the details to make it seem like it's backing up your point. What, didn't i make that hypothetical sufficiently ridiculous? :rolleyes: And BTW: i maintain that any claims i might have to membership in the group of "otherwise intelligent people" (or its supergroup "intelligent people") are invalid, based only on the false impressions i inspire in people who don't know me very well... ;) :-O
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I've explained this many times before, but here's a short version... they are better built then your typical PC components. Although, I'm starting to wonder with the whole yellowing of the MacBooks. Anyway, that's the way it's always been.
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
Hell, you can only put 2gb of ram into those things, while a typical PC can hold four.
You need to do your homework young jedi. ;P The G5s can hold up to 16GB of RAM. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
they are better built then your typical PC components.
Oh you mean the same Macs with the over-heating problems, the fans that speed up on their own when the computer isn't being used, the fans that are just plain too loud, the LCD panels that suddenly stop working, or "super" drives that fail on an all-to-regular basis? Those same Macs? Oh yeah, I din't use ANY OEM parts in the system build-out I described above - all retail and all brand name. You can't hear that system over our ceiling fan running at it's lowest setting, and it's been powered on for three months straight with nary a problem.
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
The G5s can hold up to 16GB of RAM.
And start at $1995. The bang/bucks ratio diverges even faster at the top-end, and who here need, can afford or even justify 16gb of RAM? Time to come back down to earth younger jedi. :)
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
John Cardinal wrote:
A voice of reason in all the silliness posted in this thread.
$20 says you'd change your attitude if your corporate network went down because a few key machines suddenly stopped working thanks to MS and their new gizmo. Jeremy Falcon
In a prior job I was a network engineer to hundreds of different companies and I can say with at least some authority that the only time the machines suddenly stopped working was all due to user error, not upgrading hardware or software, doing stupid things etc etc. A well maintained and designed network with quality hardware *never* goes down. Of course there are those that could not afford that degree of protection and so they had various issues but they all came back down to the importance that the owners placed on their computer systems. And no I wouldn't change my attitude, I'm firmly on the side of Microsoft with this one. Anyone can agree they have made mistakes but this isn't one of them.
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John Cardinal wrote:
That's going to great lengths to prove an assertion with a horrible analogy.
You really can't prove an assertion using an analogy based on a hypothetical scenario, since you can just make up anything and cherry-pick the details to make it seem like it's backing up your point. What, didn't i make that hypothetical sufficiently ridiculous? :rolleyes: And BTW: i maintain that any claims i might have to membership in the group of "otherwise intelligent people" (or its supergroup "intelligent people") are invalid, based only on the false impressions i inspire in people who don't know me very well... ;) :-O
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John Cardinal wrote:
Heresay. Everyone seems to "know" someone who somehow was affected blah blah blah.
Are you accusing me of lying?
Ryan
"Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"
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John Cardinal wrote:
Heresay. Everyone seems to "know" someone who somehow was affected blah blah blah.
Are you accusing me of lying?
Ryan
"Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"
I'm just saying you may have been misinformed or the person relating the information to you was mistaken or exaggerating for dramatic effect. I haven't heard of anyone directly who had a problem with activation other than the obvious problems of doing things that clearly will require a reactivation like trying to install it to more than one pc or changing certain hardware etc. If it was a simple change in hardware that caused a need for reactivation that's hardly microsoft acusing someone of piracy that's a normal part of the system and requires reactivation. If it was a case of the user installing windows on more than one pc, that's piracy. I'm not sure how either of those cases are to blame for Microsoft. It's like a lot of less knowlegeable computer users think they have a virus when they accidentally delete a document or their computer boots slower than they think it should. When they tell someone they have a virus that doesn't make them a liar, just misinformed. Most of the stuff I've seen that is critical of activation falls squarely into the realm of the slashdots of the world.
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I'm just saying you may have been misinformed or the person relating the information to you was mistaken or exaggerating for dramatic effect. I haven't heard of anyone directly who had a problem with activation other than the obvious problems of doing things that clearly will require a reactivation like trying to install it to more than one pc or changing certain hardware etc. If it was a simple change in hardware that caused a need for reactivation that's hardly microsoft acusing someone of piracy that's a normal part of the system and requires reactivation. If it was a case of the user installing windows on more than one pc, that's piracy. I'm not sure how either of those cases are to blame for Microsoft. It's like a lot of less knowlegeable computer users think they have a virus when they accidentally delete a document or their computer boots slower than they think it should. When they tell someone they have a virus that doesn't make them a liar, just misinformed. Most of the stuff I've seen that is critical of activation falls squarely into the realm of the slashdots of the world.
John Cardinal wrote:
I'm just saying you may have been misinformed or the person relating the information to you was mistaken or exaggerating for dramatic effect.
No. They were both good friends and both times I actually went and looked at their computer for them. One was upgrading from Win98, (to XP Home) the other from WinME (to XP Pro). Both times the only solution was to call Microsoft and explain the situation.
John Cardinal wrote:
If it was a simple change in hardware that caused a need for reactivation that's hardly microsoft acusing someone of piracy that's a normal part of the system and requires reactivation. If it was a case of the user installing windows on more than one pc, that's piracy.
It was neither, both were fresh installs. Of course I've had people say complain about having to reactivate Windows when they upgrade their computer. If that was the situation I wouldn't have mentioned it! I'm not stupid. Thankfully, Microsoft are very good with their activation policies, and they will allow you to reactivate Windows if you can prove it's legitimate. However, I'm not in favour of some automated tool being able to decide that a particular installation of Windows can't be used any more without human intervention.
Ryan
"Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"
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J. Dunlap wrote:
A number of people who wouldn't otherwise may seriously start considering a switch to Linux one of these days.
I hope so.
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Greeeg wrote:
J. Dunlap wrote: A number of people who wouldn't otherwise may seriously start considering a switch to Linux one of these days. I hope so.
It feels like I hear this all the time, yet it doesn't seem to happen...
Well I've already migrated my entire organization from MS Office to OpenOffice and people actually prefer it. At the same time we just saved close to $50,000 by not upgrading our license to MSO 2007. Other than Windows XP, the only other non open source or non freeware product installed is Symantec AntiVirus and believe me when I find a suitable alternative to that piece of crap it's going out the door too. I think Microsoft's downward spiral is finally beginning to gain some serious momentum. A fairly significant number of their talent has jumped ship already. And their strong arming of decades long customers with these fascist tactics is not going to help out a lot either. It's going to be quite a learning curve for me, with a lot of pain thrown in I'm sure, but I'm doing my best now to get comfortable with Eclipse and ditch Visual Studio as well. I had been a long time Microsoft supporter dating back to the days of DOS, but now I've pretty much had enough. Keep rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if you please.. Regards, Dave
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FTA:
- I have an XP Media center with a promise RAID 0 4-disc array. When I installed the WPA it broke the drivers for the array by causing failed delayed writes (half of the array just “disapears”.) If I do a system restore to before the installation of the WPA everything goes back to working just fine.
- [S]ince installing WPA … I’ve had blue screens and a total inability to boot. I had to run the XP repair function to get the computer to boot. I had a damaged boot sector on the hard drive. I am running two drives on a RAID 1 config.
- I purchased a SEALED OEM copy of XP Professional. WGA said the license key was already used. I called MS and they said I should uninstall and buy another copy. I told them I wasn’t made of money and hung-up.
- Microsoft rejected the product key that came with the ThinkPad I’m using. I had to call in and they gave me another code to enter which supposedly worked but now I get the blue screen of death about every other time I reboot. I’ve also lost all internet connectivity.
- I sent my Compaq Presario notebook for service repair, and it fails the WGA check. I have a legal version of windows xp professional on it. But I have no way to correct this problem.
X| Come on Microsoft!! A number of people who wouldn't otherwise may seriously start considering a switch to Linux one of these days.
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I am sure to get flamed for this but what the heck............... 1. Microsoft is a public entity, trading for capital gain - i.e. they want to make money and the more the merrier 2. Surely every public company that sells a product that is in demand is entitled to make as much out of their product as the market will allow? 3. If I sell a product (software hopefully) I want to get paid for this - this is what I do as a professional developer - surely I am entitled to secure my software to ensure that I get paid for it. I would love to sit around developing open source freeware that kicks ass and that I give away, but in my world I need to earn real money 4. What other alternatives to Windows as a general use, user-friendly OS are there in the world? Linux - be serious guys - not everyone is keen / capable / feels like going the distance in the corporate / small business world 5. If you don't want to own / licence (or whatever the EULA calls it ) the software, don't install it 6. If you want to install cracked / pirated / bootleg software, pay the consequences - MS has a right to protect their software 7. If you want free software, download Linux, tweak it, learn the man pages and puff your chest because you now "know" your OS inside out. 8. After playing get-to-know-your-OS, learn how to use Vi or emacs or whatever is the best - start dreaming in regex - it helps I have bills to pay and work to get done - on an MS OS I am happy to pay for using an IDE I am also happy to pay for (try working Ecplise for a while - it's free by the way ha ha) In short, if you are not happy with an MS OS and WGA, unistall it and return it (you will be refunded, it says so in the EULA - then download a free OS and ................... Flame away!
I only have one argument with this post. The EULA may say you can uninstall and return it for a refund, but most store policies in the USA won't allow you to return opened software. They will only exchange it for the exact title. So, you're still out the cost of the OS regardless of whether you install it or not... My main objection with WGA is the constant need for it to waste my CPU cycles running in the background, and bandwidth calling home and saying that my copy is legitimate. Once is enough. If I do something that requires re-activation (new hardware, reinstall), then check it again. Otherwise, leave my system alone. I'd much rather see something like this integrated into Windows Update and Microsoft Update rather than a "plug-in" for Windows. My computer is slow enough on some of my (few) games to have yet one more thing running in the background, heh. Flynn -- modified at 16:15 Thursday 13th July, 2006
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FTA
with a promise RAID 0 4-disc array. ... I am running two drives on a RAID 1 config.
I've seen some of the comments before. And, it is why I haven't allowed it to be installed on any system I use (work or home) as they are all raided. If MS starts shoving this down my throat I will certainly begin looking for alternatives. Hey don't worry, I can handle it. I took something. I can see things no one else can see. Why are you dressed like that? - Jack Burton
I tried looking for an alternative. The alternative for me is to ditch this stupid intel embedded raid solution and go for a 300 euro raid pci expansion card and install linux on that, because linux doesn't work with the current raid solution :(. I don't know, but my OEM windows which I bought with this new machine was a hell of a lot cheaper... Plus, its perfectly legal and I don't have any genuine problems with it. I think a lot of the more technical users of windows will start looking out for a solution in the form of a linux installation. Since they know how things work and they generally hate anything that starts to bug them too much ;P WM.
What about weapons of mass-construction? -
Well I've already migrated my entire organization from MS Office to OpenOffice and people actually prefer it. At the same time we just saved close to $50,000 by not upgrading our license to MSO 2007. Other than Windows XP, the only other non open source or non freeware product installed is Symantec AntiVirus and believe me when I find a suitable alternative to that piece of crap it's going out the door too. I think Microsoft's downward spiral is finally beginning to gain some serious momentum. A fairly significant number of their talent has jumped ship already. And their strong arming of decades long customers with these fascist tactics is not going to help out a lot either. It's going to be quite a learning curve for me, with a lot of pain thrown in I'm sure, but I'm doing my best now to get comfortable with Eclipse and ditch Visual Studio as well. I had been a long time Microsoft supporter dating back to the days of DOS, but now I've pretty much had enough. Keep rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if you please.. Regards, Dave
RogueSpear wrote:
the only other non open source or non freeware product installed is Symantec AntiVirus and believe me when I find a suitable alternative to that piece of crap it's going out the door too
Have you tried Grisoft's AVG Anti-virus. Try AVG Free on your home computer and see if you like it. Roswell :)
"Angelinos -- excuse me. There will be civility today."
Antonio VillaRaigosa
City Mayor, Los Angeles, CA -
FTA:
- I have an XP Media center with a promise RAID 0 4-disc array. When I installed the WPA it broke the drivers for the array by causing failed delayed writes (half of the array just “disapears”.) If I do a system restore to before the installation of the WPA everything goes back to working just fine.
- [S]ince installing WPA … I’ve had blue screens and a total inability to boot. I had to run the XP repair function to get the computer to boot. I had a damaged boot sector on the hard drive. I am running two drives on a RAID 1 config.
- I purchased a SEALED OEM copy of XP Professional. WGA said the license key was already used. I called MS and they said I should uninstall and buy another copy. I told them I wasn’t made of money and hung-up.
- Microsoft rejected the product key that came with the ThinkPad I’m using. I had to call in and they gave me another code to enter which supposedly worked but now I get the blue screen of death about every other time I reboot. I’ve also lost all internet connectivity.
- I sent my Compaq Presario notebook for service repair, and it fails the WGA check. I have a legal version of windows xp professional on it. But I have no way to correct this problem.
X| Come on Microsoft!! A number of people who wouldn't otherwise may seriously start considering a switch to Linux one of these days.
Although I have completly switched to linux at home over 2 years ago and at work I have migrated 100% of the department's servers to gentoo linux I still doubt it will be mainstream anytime soon. But another unix variant may gain some ground (Mac). I used to hate apple but now I applaude every single time I see one of their commercials... With that said, since I have >500K lines of MFC code I have written for my department in the last 9 years I am in no way completly switching. Also being that we are an educational customer most of this unacceptable activation crap is completly avoided. John -- modified at 23:01 Sunday 16th July, 2006
