“Microsoft’s Vista is still months away from formal release, but the next version of Windows is already raising the hackles of many consumers,” Steven Musil reports for CNET News.
“Under changes to Microsoft’s licensing terms, buyers of retail copies of Vista will be able to transfer their software to a new machine only once. If they want to move their software a second time, they will have to buy a new copy of the operating system. In the past, those who bought a retail copy of Windows needed to uninstall it before moving it to another machine, but there was no limit to how many times this could be done,” Musil reports.
“‘How much longer will consumers allow Microsoft to bully them?’ one CNET News.com reader wrote in the TalkBack forum. ‘It is precisely because of actions like these that Microsoft products will be hacked more than ever,'” Musil reports.
Musil reports, “Security companies also have been crying foul over the new OS–and they might have been heard if only they had gotten into a meeting scheduled to field their complaints. Microsoft had set up such a meeting with security companies to discuss some of the changes it has promised to make to Windows Vista in response to competitive concerns. But the conference, which used Microsoft’s Live Meeting technology, crashed about 15 minutes after it started, and both Symantec and McAfee were unable to log back in.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Get a Mac. It just works.
Related: Microsoft Vista Speech Demo Goes Bad:
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Microsoft’s Windows Vista spyware may prompt users to upgrade to Apple Mac – October 09, 2006
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IT Managers: Do you need Windows Vista or should you ‘Get a Mac?” – September 11, 2006
Infoworld: Microsoft’s WIndows Vista not so revolutionary after all – September 11, 2006
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Development approaches of Mac OS X Leopard vs. Windows Vista yield very different results – August 15, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
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Sophos: Apple Mac OS X’s security record unscathed; Windows Vista malware just a matter of time – July 07, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
You’re dead to me boy. To me you’re deader than you’re dead mother.
It isn’t even going to be the holy grail that will be denied to those that buy Vista – it’s just XP SR3.
They’re showing ads on TV now in the UK that draw little castles around laptops etc to show how they’re improving their security.
So MS is down to literally drawing little castles around their software as a means to protect it. The same way an uninterested (and unresponsible) grade schooler doodles on a homework assignment.
What next, Ford improves crash ratings by drawing magic shields around their cars?
If only the masses could see the blatant truth for what it really is.
How can a religious person conscientiously use Windows! It is beyond me!
Considering MS is outspokenly atheist, nobody should be surprised.
Gates considers religion a waste of his valuable time. So either he doesn’t have to use or fight Windows himself (talk about wasted time), or his head is hopelessly up his ass. I say it’s probably both.
With all the comments about the crash during that meeting, the essential news about the limit on Vista “transfers” seems to have been lost.
MS will be lucky if they don’t have a major consumer revolt over this “feature.” Will somebody please explain to me just how this “feature” protects Windows users?
Really, MS has got to be their own worst enemy.
MDN word: choice. How appropriate.
Good article…Vista and the notoriously ridiculous “Genuine Advantage” checks are what bumped me over the edge. Yesterday, after a half day of contemplation, I took the plunge and bought a Macbook Pro.
I ran a release candidate of Vista and found it to be horrid, not even mentioning the obscene amount of popups every time you run an installer program (put there to save you from yourself). Bottom line – I’ve HAD IT!! And I don’t think I will be the only one after Vista propagates the world – I feel bad for those people who buy a new PC early next year and find they abhor Vista and there is no recourse. What I mean by no recourse is that they couldn’t go back to XP because most PC manufacturers won’t give you a restore disk with the OS anymore – another reason I jumped ship. I refuse to pay extra for a disc that has what I paid for on it.