“Until a couple of days ago, like many others, I was looking forward to the long awaited release of Windows Vista. Then the news broke about Microsoft’s intention to crack down on software piracy by putting what amounts to spyware on users’ computers. Now I’m thinking twice about whether I really need or want this new operating system,” Stan Beer writes for iTWire. “As sure as night follows day there will be many cases in which the SPP will make mistakes and label legitimately acquired software as pirated. In such cases, users will have to convince Microsoft that they bought their software legitimately and, if they don’t succeed, they will have to hand over extra money or their system will be disabled.”
Beer writes, “Perhaps we should be grateful to Microsoft for letting its intentions be known in advance of the Vista release. It gives us a chance to evaluate the alternatives.”
“There is of course Linux, an operating system that enterprises are considering with increasing frequency. Relatively few have made the jump to the Linux desktop but they now have a clear choice between moving to Vista with its tight validation controls and Linux distributions without such controls from Vendors such as Red Hat and Novell, as well as freely available distributions such as Ubuntu,” Beer writes.
Beer writes, “As far as consumers are concerned, unfortunately no Linux distribution has shown itself to be ready for prime time. Perhaps for them, the best option is to upgrade to an Apple Mac. Then they can run their Windows XP stuff in a virtual window using Parallels or in dual boot mode using Boot Camp, while also taking advantage of all the cool Mac applications that come with their system.”
Beer writes, “Microsoft’s decision to try to nab Vista software pirates using spyware may be the best thing that ever happened to Linux and Mac OS X.”
Full article here.
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