Tweet
Of course Microsoft has patent rights to crippling software. They've been doing it since the days of BAISC. The problem is, they haven't figured out how to uncripple it, no matter what we pay. 
-
Last edited by cgallery; 05-21-2009, 11:22 AM. -
I don't know about breaking parts, or exactly what they're doing now, but Intel and AMD did cripple runs of chips. I used to be into overclocking. Both AMD and Intel had various ways to lock their chips. Multiplier locks for Intel, other ways for AMD. I modded a pair of AMD XP-1800s into MP chips with some conductive paint.
A backup program I use at the office has a few doezen unlock codes for different options.ErikComment
-
They're probably getting ready to release a "free" version that only boots to an upgrade wizard.
It seems that the more press MS gets that even suggest limitations or additional cost the more "viable" the alternatives become.
I agree that this is nothing new and only MS seems to get hammered for it. But there are OS's available that can do nearly anything MS can do without any limitation or cost, but there's a learning curve and not everyone can live without the idiot lights.Comment
-
And that's where the argument falls apart, to be honest. When you buy a copy of Window, Office, or the latest Sims game, you're NOT buying "the bits." You're buying a license to use the bits, and a piece of media that contains a copy of said bits you bought a license to use. You're buying that agreement you clicked "I Agree" to when you installed the program - and that license details exactly which of those bits you have paid to use.
So any analogy comparing buying a car to buying a piece of software, in actuality, just doesn't work. A better comparison might be your cable box. Your cable company provides the cable box, and then you pay a certain monthly fee to receive certain programming on that box. All the "bits" are still there over the wire, but the box will only decode the stuff you're paying for.
Similar to the cable box, the software vendor provides you a CD with the all the bits that make up their software, and you pay for a license to use some subset thereof.
Like folks have said, it's really nothing new, and it's not any indication that MS is about to start making you pay for upgrades to use basic functionality like installing peripherals or other software. It's just a way that they can safe a couple bucks by making one master Windows DVD that gets tucked into every box of every Windows variant they sell, yet make sure that what you actually can install is what you actually pay for. Cheaper for them than pressing a million DVD's for Vista Ultimate, and a million different DVD's for Vista Enterprise, and a million more different ones for Vista Home, and so on and so forth...Comment
-
In fact, that's exactly what they are doing with Vista - the license key determines what is version is installed over a standard base. The big difference is the script that the key allows to be fed to the installer, not the contents of the media itself. MS will happily sell you additional keys for whatever version your willing to pay for with a slight savings for forgoing the media.
Another example is back in the Dos/Win98 days when you installed an upgrade you simply had to provide an earlier installation media (ie Win95) the installer would simply check your media for a valid upgradable version then proceed to do a full installation of upgrade even to a clean hard drive. I don't know if that still works, haven't tried.Comment
-
I remember for at least 10 years running, it was Apple that took the hammering, and seemingly nothing that MS did could be wrong. I think Apple did learn from MS. MS wanted to include everything it could as "Part" of the OS - and that was part one of the monopolistic law suits. If MS's intentions had held, there would be no such thing as "Choice". Now Apple is basically getting away with the same thing but in a different way.
Part two of the lawsuits against MS was it's exclusionary clause that prevented major hardware manufacturers from selling any other OS if they sold Windows, there by eliminating anything to do with "choice".Last edited by leehljp; 05-21-2009, 07:02 PM.Hank Lee
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!
Comment
-
AND THAT'S WHY I OWN
A MAC
Bruce
"Western civilization didn't make all men equal,
Samuel Colt did"Comment
-
With Window's 98, it looked for one file. You could either copy that one file off another machine, or make a file with the name and extension, and the upgrade would install like the full version. The benefit that method provided, is the upgrade discs, could be used to "solve" problems, by reinstalling the os, without having to clean off and rebuild the machine (aka people who didn't back up, or a company I know).
Now, that said, Mac could get some more sales out of this, Linux could get some more use, or depending on what people do (especially with the growth of netbooks/notebooks), things like Exressgate, or Phoenix's new Hyperspace, could really start killing the need a lot of people have for the os (basic uses).She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.Comment
-
Possible through XP. Vista no longer supports it. If you purchase a Vista upgrade, you must have XP already installed. So if you have to wipe your machine for some reason, you will have to install XP, then do the Vista upgrade. What a PITA. There are apparently some workarounds, but common...Comment
-
Comment
Comment