Pirates crack Vista Activation Server

Yes:

So who said Micro$oft doesnt encourage innovation? Well done to the pirates, who show that no matter what Micro$oft do, there is a always a crack. Business is war someone said and Micro$oft always seem to lose the piracy war. Maybe they might lower the extortionate prices on their ridiculously bloated Operating System, stop trying to put innovative 3rd Party software houses out of business and people just might pay for their software. Until then all power to the pirates!

Anonymous:

am i getting one copy too?

Robin Hood:

Yes i agree 400$ for a OS! MS are crooks! until they bring down the prices to be affordable for average consumer under 100$ we will continue to steal their product and give it out!

Anonymous:

As usual, the honest people are the ones who suffer under such schemes... the hackers don't.

Microsoft should drop these schemes. They will be seen as a "cool" company and more than make up for any loss.

bill bo:

Linux all the way. Screw microsoft and their privacy violating policies.

Anonymous:

But Vista Enterprise does not require a product key, it only requires activation.

Pritpal Singh:

hi
i installed vista 1 day ago but i cant find anything yet for activate it ,, can somebody please help me with this ??

regards
pritpal

APC administrator:

Sorry Pritpal, APC cannot provide specifics on activating an illegal copy of Windows. We report news on the software industry including major exploits/cracks, but we don't condone or encourage people actually doing it.

Anonymous:

install and activating is done in a opk from the clintsever and the licences are held on the server

jgbiggs:

People are more prone to pirate things that are overpriced. They don't feel the need to pay for something that has no vaule.

Who wants to shell out big money for an O/S that is bloated, buggy, and requires me to upgrade my hardware, when you can get linux for free?

Anonymous:

Go away, Linux geek. Geez, you guys are getting old with your schpiel.

ST4LK3R:

Sure... Linux is free and is a great OS if you know how to use it... but soon Microsoft will be in the same boat... with all the new advancements made Vista Is just as Hard to use as Any Linux Distro... Don't get me wrong I love and use Linux and Windows but when it comes down to cost... lots of people are side stepping to Linux

Redneck243:

i feal i do have a bit to say about this i have ben using microsoft os for a wile started goofing off with pc's when ther was dos 6.22 and windows 3.1 and 3.11 and i have found over the years that windows suck and is a crapy knock off of mac. and to tell you the truth mac prity much sucked till OSx
and i do have vista it came on my lap top
and i am triple booting it with xp and ubuntu linux os and for every day use i prefer Ubunta it is so cleen of a os and mail wear is no problem it is just a safe os
and yes it is free but it was easer to install then Vista by a long shot i will keep 1 copy of vista around for 1 reasen only dx10 gaming and i have xp for dx9 gaming do to the fact that under Vista with dx9 games ther seems to be a big lag problem and my system in no wus with 3gig cpu 3 gig ddr 2 800 and 300gig hd with a 7600 gt vid and i have found vist just sucks.,for every day use i pick Ubuntu

Anonymous:

Problem with Linux now'a a days too is that they try to be too much like Windows by mimicking them and yet, they're mentality is so 'anti-MS' and/or 'anti-anything_not_linux'. Linux now'a days is even more bloated and slower than say WinXP. Even the Linux kernel (and most over fragmented Linux distros contain non Open Source code, binary blobs, NDA's up the wazzu (contrary to Linux's *original* goals and beliefs). The only *true*, OSS, secure, clean and not bloated is and will always be OpenBSD! www.openbsd.org compare for yourself.

Peter Hickman:

"but the fact that it’s taken the acquisition of a KMS server shows that Vista activation is still holding strong in its own right."

It doesn't matter which link in the chain is the strongest, only which is the weakest.

Snappy!:

Its true. But in the case of home versions, the KMS server is not part of the link anymore; Vista activation is, and which in this case seem to be holding strong, and hence is the 'weakest' strongest link ... at least for home versions.

tin:

Ha!
This is the kind of activation workaround I'd always expected. Of course since the activation servers were previously a closely guarded secret, it was harder before...

MS would have been better off just sticking with the no-activation-for-corporate deal.

raindog:

The greed of the hacker verses the greed of Microsoft, hasn't this all got a bit silly with both these camps driving legitimate users through all these hoops. You can choose to go through all this palava but if all you really need to do is run office applications in a quick and stable environment then the older versions have a lot going for them. It's a piece of software and nothing more and it's time a lot of the industry gained a little perspective. Software lockdown is a holy grail that will never be achieved and it has become a major annoyance that makes we the legitimate users more and more receptive to alternatives. If Microsoft put the same effort into innovation that they put into rehashing and securing the same old donkey the would have little or no concerns about lost revenue.

Anonymous:

i couldn't have said it better myself :)

justthething84:

CMON one grand for a OS too expensive

Desmond Foulger:

Greed is the key word here. If Microsoft charged reasonable prices for their software (Look at the cost of Apple's OS X for example) then the need for piracy would diminish. The old rule of "Halve the cost, triple the profit" would apply here. Of course this brings into question whether its too little too late. With Apple's OS X 10.5 about to hit the shelves coupled with their reliability and virus free environment, Microsoft should be ordering disposable daipers. Withs Macs actual market share accelerating daily to a current 6.8%, then vista may well go down as Goliaths last stand.

syed murtaza zaidi:

hi
this good window
iam relybale
plz send mee ok

Herbys:

First, the average price for a Windows License is about $40. I don't know how much does OSX retail for, but there are two differences you need to consider:
1) OSX is attached to hardware from the same manufacturer, so you could say it is partially subsidized by it.
2) Each minor build of OSX is for profit, and stuff equivalent to the changes included in Windows XP SP2 were paid for in an Apple release, so if you add the charges for the successive releases of OSX you get way above what you pay for Windows. There are a lot of good things you can say about OSX and many bad things to say about Windows, but Cheap OSX and Expensive Windows arent two of them.

Second, halve the cost, triple the profits is a dream in this case. Worldwide piracy level for Windows is well below 50%. If Microsoft halved the price of Windows, even if 100% of the pirate copies were suddenly replaced by leval versions, they would still be making less money than what they are making today. So apparently Microsoft managers are at least not dumber than you: they can do math.
By the way, Vista's market share is today way bigger than the whole Apple market. Why would microsoft order diapers?

Tenoq:

I'm sorry, but please link me a location where I can buy a fully functional version of Vista for $40. You can't even buy a Vista Home Crippled (tm) version for $40 at cost price. If we could, we would already have phased out XP so we could make an extra $60+ on every PC sold by selling with a cheaper OS.

The fact is, Vista costs $100 for an OEM license of the crappiest, crippled version. If you want a fully-functional version, you're looking at a helluva lot more. While the price has limited relation to piracy (other than the fact people only 'buy' Windows when it's bundled with a PC) it is still an important consideration when you look at cost vs. benefit. You could pirate and get a working version for nothing - or you could pay and get an version that constantly requires reactivation, that sometimes breaks and will treat you like a criminal while you use your own PC.

Gee, a tough choice.

Acidripp:

well... i think you will find very interesting what i have tosay. I installed windows vista a few days after it's release as RC2 ultimate. Of course, after 30 days i got a message that sayed that i have to activate my product, but i closed it. My computer was running a little over 2 days when that happened. 18 days later i unfortunateley had to restart it, and guess what! windows was not working anymore and required activation... in the hope that i could work my way arround that, i clicked other ways to activated and choose the phone call. The software gave me a Romanian phone number where i called and i was transfered to the US activation service. A microsoft employee answered... i think her name was Christie, and asked me for the first 6 digits of the activation number and in a few minutes she gave me the activation key. Now i'm proud to say that my windows vista displays a Microsoft genuine product logo in stead of the 30 days trial period :D

Anonymous:

did you use one of the key's listed on one of the many different serial sites or what?

Anonymous:

I used torrent file, Vista business full, and installed Vista Ultimate with comming serial. But, when my PC started up it asked for activation key! Since my notebook has wireless connection I couldn't turn it off previously. That may have given the MS chance to blacklist me!
Now, the problem is severe than I could have thought, this because my laptop is blocked, I cannot get into and may be I have to reinstall my clean XP remoeving all previous softwares installation and data!

Regards
Giri

aa:

please u can share windows vista activation code with me i would be very thank full to u .

BatWing:

I think that perhaps raindog should gain some perspective. Just to

remind you Vista is just a product. Companies sell products to

attempt to make profit to make further products. This concept has

nothing to do with greed. They do put effort in to innovation, that

is why they have to put so much effort in to protecting their investment in research and development. So to

confuse normal business models with greed is a surprise to me.

Perhaps you do like to work for free? Perhaps you do like to have

your hard work stolen or undervalued. If you can't personally

afford to own a computer with a legal, paid for version of an

operating system then there are internet cafe's or some charity or

library may let you use theirs. You seem to find the

"inconvenience" of software activation such an impost, perhaps

maybe take up a sailing career instead? That is of course if you

don't expect the yacht builder to provide a life time of free

sails.

It isn't rocket surgery :) Good day to you.
BatWing

Riptide:

Dude you miss the point here... When most of the executive at microsoft are bilionaires it is safe to say that there is some milking of the system. It is a well known fact that microsoft has in the past eliminated competition in some verry dubious ways. And thus have the courts been full of lawsuits . Eg. Antitrsut suits Monoply suits etc. Read the history on this Dude and then maybe open your trap.
Later man
Have a nice day

BatWing:

Dude - I disagree with your arguement. They are billionaires because the produce and market some of the most widely used products on the planet. People use their products for all sorts of purposes and in tern to make their own money from their businesses. To equate wealth with milking the system without displaying evidence is ridiculous. Regardless if you are a fan of their products or not, they have made many people rich. Not just themselves.
Have a great day Sir. BatWing

Spiralsorrow:

To lend a little perspective to the practices of Micro$oft:
90% of the actual coding done by microsoft deals with limitations such as DRM, Product Activation, and Obfuscation. The DOS kernel was bought, not created by microsoft. Since its inception microsoft has "Borrowed" innovation from others, all the while claiming credit. Examples: Vistas new "Desktop Search Feature" Which M$ claims was their ingenious implementaion of Googles Desktop, is actually a clone of GNU's Beagle tool, which has been available on linux for years. The Aero eye candy (Only user appreciable feature of Vista) is based almost wholly on composite implimentation that was originated by the open source/Linux community (See Compiz, Beryl, xcompmgr, Xorg). This list goes on a very very long time.
As for M$ being wealthy due to providing a superior product: Microsoft has yet to release an OS that is not broken to its core. Windows 98 first edition was so broken that 98 Second Edition had to be issued to replace it within a year. XP is completely useless without installing the Service Pack 2 package (Which was M$'s clever way of selling an incomplete product and finishing it nearly a YEAR after releasing XP. Service Pack 2 is LARGER THAN MY ENTIRE OPERATING SYSTEM.
I recently recorded an mp3 file from my computer mic and sent it to several friends who run XP, and none of them are capable of playing the file. They recieve an error that is essence says, "Uncle Bill has not authorized you to play this file, as microsoft doesn't have a record of having made money from the file in question". Vista has tightened rather than loosened these restrictions, which I believe just may mark the downfall of the Giant...when people can no longer play a simple audio file without first calling microsoft to certify the file to appease the Windows Genuine Advantage malware, MacIntosh, Linux and other options will become more and more attractive. Microsoft has held the baton on computer technology through the decades for 1 and 1 reason alone: A fantastic Public Relations department. As long as Microsoft is associated in the public eye with innovation and security, it doesn't matter that they produce the least innovative and secure OS on the market. Image is everything. Or so it has been...times are changing. People are coming to realize that productivity is more important than Appearance, and thus are quickly finding that the windows operating system simply lacks the power to handle much of anything. As the false public idea that "Windows is the only user friendly operating system" vanishes, and people are presented with the beautiful interfaces found on Linux/MacIntosh and others, the glamour is dissolving...for the first time ever Microsoft is going to be forced into a "Put up or shut up" contest on a field that is not theirs to rig. They are choosing to enter that field with a vastly inferior operating system (Vista), and the Aero interface is the only thing it has to offer that the average user can see. 5 years ago this may have been enough, but with the strides being made on alternative OSes, Aero is too little too late. I do believe Microsloth has shot themselves in the foot with this one, but time will tell just how much invasion the average consumer will allow in their lives before saying, "Enough is enough"

Matt:

batwing, the fact that they are billionaires are proof that the majority of the public are buying the software rather than cracking it. Cracking Vista (especially in this sort of way) requires a fair amount of knowledge in both networking and general computing.

Perhaps milking the system is a harsh term, however one cannot deny if one looks hard enough with open eyes. Why will DX10 not be ported to XP when it so obviously can? is this not a primary push for users to upgrade? I would be quite a happy gamer were it not for the fact that i now have to purchase an overpriced resource hogging operating system which basically requires a hardware upgrade (mainly ram) just to be on-par with the performance i have now in XP.... and yes I have a 8800gtx and must buy vista just to use it to it's full potential. If that is not milking the system what is it? an extreme case of having a business opportunity and using it to their advantage. The difference seems sleight if at all.

Anonymous1238120947014:

The only reason their products are most likely used is because they are smart. But if you know the facts they don't program half the stuff the just copy it and they are complaining about all the hackers, well if they sold it for lower prices there wouldn't be as many it only takes about $10.00 to make one. And also the people who bought the products made their money by themselves anyway not because of microsoft, anyway microsoft is easy to hack im only 14 and i can bypass most of its security so in turn it makes people broke and thats why alot of people have problems with it. The only reason that i have it is because all the games come out for it unfortunately. And also Microsoft is saying my copy of Vista isn't genuine cuz they are idiots alot of people have always had this problem both with Vista and XP.

Turtle:

It doesn't matter how wealthy executives are, except to the stock holders as part of a compensation package, or a violation of the law. You know like Enron. When did making money become wrong anyway?
All companies want to be the only ones in a market and don't really want competition, fortuneately that's not the case in a free enterprise system. I quote, "Greed is good."
There are few companies that haven't had lawsuits - the larger the company the more lawsuits they incur. The rule of law does prevail.
Buy another O/S or write your own Operating System and you won't have to use Microsoft anymore. Tip when it is as good as theirs, market it and become a billionaire too. Based on all the complaints Microsoft earns on every O/S shouldn't be difficult perhaps for you, Dude. You can always keep the O/S one you purchased with your computer in the first place. I have an Apple //e that works today as well as it did when I bought it-it does run VisiCalc and Applewriter but not Excel or Word. :o) I suggest, finally, if you want to use Microsoft's product line-pay the price or buy something else.

Turtle:

It doesn't matter how wealthy executives are, except to the stock holders as part of a compensation package, or a violation of the law. You know like Enron. When did making money become wrong anyway?
All companies want to be the only ones in a market and don't really want competition, fortuneately that's not the case in a free enterprise system. I quote, "Greed is good."
There are few companies that haven't had lawsuits - the larger the company the more lawsuits they incur. The rule of law does prevail.
Buy another O/S or write your own Operating System and you won't have to use Microsoft anymore. Tip when it is as good as theirs, market it and become a billionaire too. Based on all the complaints Microsoft earns on every O/S shouldn't be difficult perhaps for you, Dude. You can always keep the O/S one you purchased with your computer in the first place. I have an Apple //e that works today as well as it did when I bought it-it does run VisiCalc and Applewriter but not Excel or Word. :o) I suggest, finally, if you want to use Microsoft's product line-pay the price or buy something else.

Ballero:

True microsoft do put effort into their products, but can you really say the cost of each vista is relative to the programmers salery, microsoft are making billions here... and we, the consumer, are getting raped into spending huge amounts of money on their products... and about activation, its all a load of bolllucks!!! how can anyone copyright what is essentially 1' and 0's, !! all is does is make the product annoying... not everyone in your sad little world earns loads of money so after we buy a computer it annoys us off that we have to pay another £400 to have 'Legal' and 'Legit' software... THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A PILE OF WANK

Anonymous:

Full stand alone versions windows vista ultimate are going for $399 at some vendors

Anonymous:

I'd like to know who are the vendors offing full ultimate for $399?

deniz:

Windows Vista Ultimate for CHF 279.-- CHF is Swiss Franks, 1.24 CHF = 1.00 USD that means 225.-- $
Here you go:
http://www.brack.ch/aspx/default.aspx?ID=4074&mod=gruppe

Matt:

very nice comments raindog, however i still believe that MS's greed is greater overall. Keeping DX10 for vista only is not only selfish it's on the boarders of criminal.

Serves them right i say. both extremes are bad, but one must have the other in order for balance to be maintained i guess...

raindog:

Greed is greed, Microsoft's greed is no more or less contemptible than that of the pirates.
It's a question of balance and I believe Microsoft have tipped the scales. I know only too well what it is like to have intellectual property stolen, but I cannot lock my wares down to a point of limited customer usability and still expect a marketplace.
Microsoft has become so paranoid of competition and piracy that they have lost the ability to innovate. All their efforts are now devoted to quashing competition and dictating how the marketplace should suck it's eggs.
The more Microsoft disadvantage the consumer the less attractive their products become. Something Batwings simple profit model doesn't take into account.

There is no less piracy now with all this genuine advantage, and product activation guff than there was in the days of DOS, Yet the newerMicrosoft systems Genuinely Disadvantage the honest consumer, making the product unsuitable for its intended purpose.
If Microsoft believe that blocking protocols and buying or hindering competitors is the way to go then that is their choice.
I care little that Bill and his cohorts have luxury yachts and the trappings of success, good luck to them. But if they think they can continue to survive by re-releasing more and more hostile version of the same old stuff, then good luck to them too, they'll need it. History has a habit of repeating itself, remember IBM?

dramenbejs:

What? Software lockdown never achieved? Do we live in the same galaxy?

LoadStar:

The KMS server - based on everything I've been reading here at work - is available right now, as long as you don't mind dedicating a Vista desktop to be a KMS 'server.'

What comes next year is the plugin for Windows Server 2003 to be able to do KMS as well.

Anonymous:

There seem to be alot of "fanboys" here, making statements that the whole world should move to linux... well, you're being very short-sighted if you think this is realistic, or even possible, for the majority of people. At home I use a combination of Windows XP, Ubuntu linux and Puppy linux, and have to say that most the time I use linux. It is a great day-to-day O/S, with loads of decent software available. However, linux has some MAJOR drawbacks which prevent it from being adopted. Whereas I am quite prepared, when necessary, to visit one of the excellent online forums and/or ask questions, and configure things using the command-line, how many "ordinary" PC users can really be bothered with this? Lets face it, linux is a steep learning curve for "newbies". Also, what happens when something goes wrong & they want to call a friend to help fix it (as is so common with Windows users)? Consequently, whereas I use it extensively myself, I would NOT recommend it to any of my friends as I would be the ONLY person they could call if something broke (plus I would most likely have to set it up for them in the first place;)) My point is, most people use Windows, and Windows alone, for one good reason... it's what they know, what everyone else knows, and it would be a load of hassle to change.

Anonymous:

So if everyone know Windows XP WHY do they need to install an unknown OS like Vista?

I will tell you, because they want to play 3D GAMES and MS owns games development thanks to directx. Now that WINE is getting directx 9 done, they have to move to directx 10 and force people to move to Vista for that reason.

non-geek pleople use windows because they are so dumb that are unable to try other things.

Windows just has one advantage over Linux, it is that A LOT OF PEOPLE use it. So please stop that loop and move to a better, FREE alternative.

ashok pai:

This is the best news in several years! Microsoft has hopefully finally chopped their own feet. now all the governments, end users and anyone using windows can all move to linux en masse!

Anonymous:

"...end users and anyone using windows can all move to linux en masse!" You've obviously never met an end user. You think that secretary down the hall has trouble with windows, drop a linux box in front of her and see what happens... Linux is nowhere NEAR ready for the enterprise user. GREAT servers...sucky desktops/apps.

Anonymous:

How do i install linux? Can i play pc games or access my files as if i were using windows? I need to know cause i am a gamer and my games dont run on linux

Anonymous:

So if everyone know Windows XP, WHY do they need to install an unknown OS like Vista? I will tell you, because they want to play 3D GAMES and MS owns games development thanks to directx. Now that WINE is getting directx 9 done, they have to move to directx 10 and force people to move to Vista for that reason. non-geek pleople use windows because they are so dumb that are unable to try other things. Windows just has one advantage over Linux, it is that A LOT OF PEOPLE use it. So please stop that loop and move to a better, FREE alternative.

BatWing:

I am confused as to why you think a new version of windows is different to any other new version ever released? Some will go to it straight away, some will change to it later when they feel the need/desire. People who use windows are not dumb. You are only dumb if you change to a new OS (of any sort) just because it is cool or trendy without a real genuine business/entertainment need. Important to note that not everyone is into computers like most of us reading this. Remember - that is a good thing :)

Good day to you sir. BatWing

Anonymous:

Funny that! I told my niece's that if they wanted to use my computer, they had to use Linux. Funny thing happened the next time they visited me. They asked if they could use Linux as it was faster on opening Pages on dial-up than Windows XP was. They had no trouble using the menu to do what they wanted. You don't have to be a Linux Nerd to use Linux these days. The desktops are getting better and better as each week goes by. Do the Linux test run a Live CD on your computer for a month and see what happens. No more virus's, Spyware and having to update them all week after week.

BatWing:

Well well. A young person being able to use an internet browser. Gee you are a break through merchant.
See here's the thing. You shot your argument in the foot. One one hand you are selling the idea of linux because it "gets better week by week" But you finish by saying that with windows you have to update week by week. So by your own admision you would infact have to update your linux week by week because you claim it gets better week by week. I am not anti any operating system or sofware or company. I am anti-illogical and irrational comments with no backup thoughts. hmmm. You also imply there are no viruses for other non windows operating systems. I think you better stay with simple web broswing for now my dear fellow/lass.
Good Day. BatWing

Annonymous:

You cannot understand it. it's about developing, not about upgrades!

tracyanne:

quote:: You've obviously never met an end user. You think that secretary down the hall has trouble with windows, drop a linux box in front of her and see what happens... ::quote

I did, she has no trouble using it.

Linspirefan:

Ever hear of Linspire? That is better than XP and has complete XP compatability and lets you use all your xp apps on a Linux box via Lin4Win

Lindows is Gay:

lol. lin4win is just wine renamed. run anything that uses directx and your sunk. There is only one OS that has "complete xp compatibility" -- and that is XP.

SF:

Sure, move to linux en masse.... but not before they give Jehova's Witnesses and Heaven's Gate a try. ....Fanatics

Anonymous:

"Sure, move to linux en masse.... but not before they give Jehova's Witnesses and Heaven's Gate a try. ....Fanatics"

Umm let me get this straight..
I use the free OS that doesn't require activation genuine disadvantage or spending $400 for a new license every time I upgrade a hard drive or moboard, not to mention viruses & more money for antivirus antispyware blablabla

and WE'RE the fanatics??? hmmm.

Anonymous:

You've got previous versions of Windows, Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Ubuntu, Fedora, other distributions of GNU/Linux, Haiku, ReactOS, MenuetOS and all variations in between. Not to mention Firefox and OpenOffice.

Nobody needs Vista.

Rarrararar:

This is serious stuff, but my only sincere reaction to this is to laugh. Vista is severely bloated and just as insecure as any of M$ previous releases, even given the big delay to 'fix' Vista. Where is the increased computing power being used? (KMS? Oo, "Flip"? HA!! No, wait, let's give the standard response for every new release of Windows: "Ease of use", "increased security" (right....), "more (useless) eyecandy, I mean 'features'!") What a flop! What is to prevent users from keeping their current versions of Windows or moving to Linux? Some are saying 5 years, but I'll give Microsoft 10 years of life before Linux, Reactos, Darwin/OSX and BSD overtake it. Windows is still a convenient necessity, and it will be for a while down the road as well. But the road is still downhill.

zune this.:

hey, i'm no MS fan, as i write this on my iBook, but it will be a very long time before MS loses any traction with corporate customers. ...until there's true cross-platform compatability, even with web-based apps, the small consultant will have to use MSOffice in order to survive.

tin:

Actually, I'm hearing more and more corporate users leaving the MS camp. A lot are seriously concerned by Vista, and most are sticking to XP while they work out what to do. Plans vary from "wait and see" to "we're going to xyz platform".

R2:

It's supply and demand; Vista is more expensive so there will be more hackers out to break it. Make it a lot cheaper and nobody bothers to hack it. I say sell vista for 50 bucks and this is NO issue. It's ALWAYS been like this and always will. Microsoft thinks to outsmart the hackers but there is always someone out there smarter than Microsoft. I'm surprised micorosft STILL hasn't figured that out.

BatShit:

How quickly M$ forget, M$ DOS became the dominant OS because M$ priced it well below other flavors. Now they have the market tied up with Windoze, via ever changing API's, they no longer feel the need to please. However we should not be suprised, M$ has displayed aggresive, predatory tactics from day one. We are the ultimate power but we choose not to exercise this power through ambivalence and ignorance of our collective power. Instead of bleating about which OS is better find an online blog where M$ and others can be informed of our wants and needs.

BigRon:

How quickly M$ forget, M$ DOS became the dominant OS because M$ priced it well below other flavors.

Wow.. that comment gives misrepresentation a bad name! M$ were asleep at the wheel, when DR remembered that their agreement with IBM gave them the right to publish OS's for ANY IBM system. They hadn't thought that the PC would ever amount to much.. so they'd allowed MS to have the market. Their re-emergence (with DR DOS 5) scared the sh1t out of Microsoft - it was a FAR better product. M$ rushed to match the features in DR DOS... and DR came out with DR DOS 6.0. Microsoft's market share was steadily shrinking in the face or a superior rival product. SO, they did indeed "reduce the price". They went to hardware manufacturers and effectively offered to give them FREE copies of MS DOS if they'd please stop offering customers DR DOS as an alternative. Microsoft call this (often used) strategy "Cutting off the air supply". When they can't compete on quality... they resort to "dirty tricks". DR, Netscape, BEOS ... it works every time!

Note that the general trend in prices for software is DOWNWARDS. You pay less for the version you use today than the earlier version you used five years back. Unless that is it's published by Microsoft. in which case... you pay more.

Anonymous-Poster-Guy:

Yes, DR-DOS was a better DOS than MS-DOS. Yes, a lot of companies and software went under because of predatory practices by Microsoft, but thhe death of BeOS was at the hands of Apple. Not Microsoft.

The death of DR-DOS was also brought on in large by Novell when they purchased the rights to it and then failed at its continued developement.

I'm not a fan of MS, but atleast get some of your facts straight before you go off on a rant.

I know these posts are really old but oh well.

BatWing:

Thanks for your comments R2. People pirate and copy anything they can. music CD's, individual mp3's and whatever you care to name. Those items are worth a lot less than 50.00 as per your example. Therefore price is not an issue as per the basis of your ideas on the reason of product piracy. It was not a well thought out argument of yours was it?

BatWing

Anonymous2:

G'day
I saw Vista in a store the other day and I am convinced I would have bought it for fifty dollars on the spot! you are right even if vista was fifty bucks it would still get pirated, however piracy does not necessarily represent loss of sales people are more likely to use pirated stuff if the software that they need is expensive and a pain to have running. especially if you have no internet. like me I live on four hundred acres in Australia and my b'room is about 200 metres from the house (600 feet for all you americans) my computer is in my room runs on six batteries, no internet for me yet microsoft assumes I have internet. That’s a pain you know virus definitions and music info. I am thinking of a family who owns five computers they all have XP and have only bought a proper copy of XP once. Where did the other five come from? in that case they made a huge loss. I wouldn't be surprised if microsoft is hiring you by the way you talk.

Anonymous:

This does not reduce the value of the KMS service to customers like the University I work for. The primary purpose of the KMS server is to protect my license information from getting out. This hack may allow some folks to use Vista, but KMS is still much better than the old VLK keys because those hacker are not using a key that belongs to a coporate customer. KMS may not be protecting MS from hackers, but it is certainly protecting coporate customers and thier license information.

davidrock:

I'm not for the pirate and hacker. As long as they exist then I can be assured that Microsoft will continue to put out faulty software because so much time and money is spent on trying to defeat them that they don't have enough to go around and make good software. How much money does Microsoft loose in trying to prevent something that will always exist. They loose more by trying to defeat them than if they would just let them be.

Dave:

Well, after reading all these comments has left me thinking of the age old war of religion! "You wrong, I'm right!" - "You're going to Hell, I'm going to heaven!". If it was not for hackers, more people would be using alternatives to MS Windows. Windows has been built on a piss poor foundation and that's why it has to be so top heavy with armor. The irony is that users are still doing the same sort of activities with there desktops but it just costs them more and more each year to keep doing them. The hardware has to get faster and more expensive to keep up with the MS demand. I recently purchased Windows Media Centre and after installing and activating it, decided to use my dual CPU box instead. I completed the install and tried to activate the OS on the new hardware only to find that I couldn’t. I phoned MS and asked them to assist and was told that it was not MS policy to allow registering on new hardware and that I need to purchase the software again! After 40mins on the phone with MS, I hung-up and went on the net and found a crack. Inside of 15mins my install was up and running.
Why would I want to purchase software that I already own again? Linux is stable and has free updates. You don't have to know Linux to command level to run all applications. Why then would you want to spend money on an OS and then on an anti virus and anti spy ware when there are perfect alternatives that don't require a monster of a PC and an OS and then on an anti virus and anti spy ware to do the same thing? Why would you want to take an 18 wheeler truck to drop the kids off at school? Someone once said to me that they went to buy a TV and when they got home found that it was faulty! The store was very helpful trying to fix the problem but would not replace the faulty device. All I can remember was how great the after sales service was but not how great the product is! Makes you wonder if people aren’t stuck in the same mind set! If you are selling a product with known bugs, at least sell it at an affordable price MS!

curtis:

Ya. When you call up Micro$oft (888-521-2048 is the cannadain number anyway) to activate windows you cant tell them that your installing it on 2 systems... Just tell them this is the only system you are installing it on, or that you had a hardware failure on the old system. I have never had a problem activating a genuine key, sometimes up to 4 or 5 times on different hardware with the same key. No need to crack. You just have to fool those poeple in india as to your intentions.

John Biles:

To be truthful, you can use what ever Operating System you like. While Windows continues to get bigger and bigger requiring $$$ updates to your hardware to run it, Linux continues to offer versions that allow you to go out and by an old crappy under $100 computer and make it usable for ever day use. Don't get me wrong, there are versions of Linux that keep getting Bigger also. Let Windows users buy Vista and enjoy it, I'll stay with Linux and it virus free way of doing things.

Thomasson:

I recently switched to Linux with all the enthusiasm and goodwill in the world. I hated the thought of having to shell out yet more dollars for Vista and thought Linux would be a new way for me. I installed Suse Linux, which works great. Then the shock. There are NO professional grade video editing packages for Linux. Yes, you can do word processing, spreadsheets, CAD, etc, but when it comes to the apps that really matter today, Linux just doesn't cut it. I'm sorry to say. And yet, if the Linux community got its act together and provided some stronger software, I believe Linux would take over the world.

john:

I agree, Suse 10 is pretty horrible. I recommend Linspire. I would buy Vi$ta tho when it comes out, I want to see what the fuss is over that is I would buy Vi$ta if I bought a whole mess of new hardware just to run it.

AkleyMac:

If you want an alternative to Microsoft for editing video, then I would suggest Mac OS X. It may not be free, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper as an OS than Windows (once you already have the hardware mind...) and there is certainly enough professional video editing software around.

mrguitarmann:

Try Cinelerra.

The potential is fulfilled, it just needs to be realized by the masses.

safgbadsfsbdvab:

Windows Vista is the beginning of the downfall for Microsoft. Most people I know say they will stick to XP, switch to Mac or Linux "Make Linux easier for dumb users" Ahem Ubuntu wow need I say more with the release of 7.0 it will have all drivers for use of every piece of hardware cedega for games if your a gamer but everything else wow total price to own 60 bucks for cedega and 0 for the os office and other apps once Linux has the market there will be no stopping it... It jus needs something to drive users to have a need for it well I see this as a huge push way to go Micro$oft make it hard for your common user to use ur product and easier for us technitions to push Linux on a user 400 dollars vs 0-60 dollars Linux is more secure and easier cheaper never dies I say thanks to ms and pirates let them keep fighting and pushing more of my customer base to Linux I want a happy customer who in 6 months is happy with their computer being just as fast then as it was right after they bought it giving them a feel for wow computers are nice maybe I will buy another one not because I need it but because I want it and as everyone knows a need is a need and if someone feels you violate their needs they will not use your product on principal you cant trust me I hear from alot of my customers well Linux does well I will use that I train them now that their needs are met and they feel good about owning a product they will want to buy more of that product bravo ms bravo pirates

Anonymous:

Hint, full stops.

Tekel:

That was the most difficult thing I have ever had to read. If you don't like Vista or think it costs too much, stick with XP through its support cycle, or Linux, or whatever. Piracy should not be an option. The degenerate crowd feels justified in pirating an MS product because of the price, but in actuality, the price is affected by rampant piracy. Sure Microsoft makes plenty of money dispite the piracy. Welcome to capitalism, the American way. You build a better mousetrap and you get rewarded.

Anonymous:

All you Linux freekos....apart from getting a dumb OS for free....is there anything else thats possible with Linux. For every other damn thing you are hampered in your work. RedHat/Novell are making money because you freaks stupidness.

tin:

Show me one thing you can't do.

Things you can do just fine:
Word processing and spreadsheets and such.
Web Browsing and email
Games
CAD in various forms
Graphics work
Video editing
Audio recording, editing, playback

And that's just thing's I have done recently in Linux.

Chxta:

Err, what version of crack are you on? > 70% of the super computers on the planet run on Linux. That alone is giving back to society. I haven't even begun to mention anything else...

William K:

Is this Vista itself hacked, or is this only a minor part?

Anonymous:

I am worried for Microsoft. If they succeed in stamping out piracy, they will lose the largest segment of their customer base (pirates). Economics usually has a way of winning the battles in the market place.

Anonymous:

..."they will lose the largest segment of their customer base (pirates)" What? I think you're mixing up pirates and the retail consumer base. If one doesn't pay for a product but intentionally pirates/steals it, they are not a customer and should not be treated as such. Even as complicated as it is, those who purchase a valid license of Windows would have less trouble activating Vista than trying to wrap their small brains around any Linux distro. I'm not trying to pull fanboy status here, but I just wonder why so many people try and pirate and use Windows software all the while claiming that Linux is superior in every way. Why even bother? Spend your programming time improving Linux and making it easier for the average person to use it--that's the only way you're going to get basic computer users to work outside of the Microsoft box.

Anonymous:

Have you heard of Ubuntu -- we have made it easy. Point is M$ is greedy. They can be profitable and sell an OS for less than 300 bucks and an office suite for 499? Come on. It's straight greed. They will never stop piracy. They could slow it down however by making the price more reasonable.

Anonymous:

I think you have it somewhat wrong. The people cracking Vista aren't necessarily the people that use Linux. There is a lot of money to be made selling illegal copies of Vista in other countries. A lot of the people pirating Vista in the states are just piggy-backing on the work the pirates that work for profit are doing. Of course, some hackers do it just for the challenge. :-)

Anonymous:

They still won't buy a licensed Vista... What they will do perhaps is dive straight into Linux !! That is not what Microsoft wants... I suspect all the so call pirates who crack the code are tip off by Microsoft .. reason: to makesure that Microsoft continue to dominant the OS market....

Anonymous:

No, actually, you seem to be confused. Pirates and the retail customers become the same thing after they install the OS. They're windows users now. Every other product depends on the OS. While MS may not have gotten their money for Vista, odds are they'll get it for Office, of from any of the new games under the "Games for Windows" banner, or in windows license agreements with 3rd party software companies who pay just to be able to write programs for the OS. It's a loss leader just like anything else. They sell the Xbox at a loss because they know that games and accessories will make up the difference. If MS wanted to stamp out piracy they would, but they don't. Then they would lose their "90% share of the market" like they've claimed they've held onto for years and years. Having your OS pirated may suck, but having 90% of the globe using your product more than makes up for it.

Anonymous:

...its because as a sum of its parts Linux is NOT better then Windows, not even close. For someone who is not completely blind this should be proof enough.

Anonymous:

Most modern Linux distributions are far easier to install and use than Vista ever hopes to be. The hardware recognition is vastly superior considering you can install it on anything from a 10 year old computer to something current and for the most part will just work. Try doing that with Vista. But...if you want to continue spending thousands of dollars a year trying to justify your use of Microsoft products, be my guest. I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Jubal:

... is an oxymoron when it comes to Linux.. Have you ever tried getting 3D working on a Linux box when you are not using a nVidia or ATI card? If you try installing Linux on something like a VIA or SiS chipset, you're screwed. Linux will recognise hardware that is 10 years old, but will have more trouble recognising hardware less than a year old or stuff that is not considered mainstream. Anyways, I think M$ is just wasting their time with trying to secure Vista.. the very nature of the problem is such that it can always be defeated. From the end users' POV, there are more serious issues at hand.

whistlerspa:

Yes I installed and ran Beryl 3D manager on an ATI Radeon 9600 in Ubuntu 6.1. A bit fiddly but it ran. Crashed occasionally or failed to load on boot. Ditched it [beryl not Ubuntu] because it detracted from reliabilty. Also installed it on an intel based Toshiba laptop. You don't really need 3D for any practical purpose it's just resource hogging eye candy in my opinion

Anonymous Coward:

I built an AMD64 box with an SiS chipset. Seems to work just fine. Makes me wonder when the last time you tried to install a distro of Linux was.

Wayne

satanix76:

A real crack will happen when retail version is released, thats all they are waiting for , no point hacking a RTM version which most will not get, i know of a few crackers who say they can do a full crack but are waiting for the retail version, either way it is going to happen, the pirates always win .

Tim Polmear:

Big deal. Pirates will always [crack the MS Activation Server]. It's what pirates do, but I'm sure no one at Microsoft is losing any sleep over it. It's just all part of the game.

Numerous people have commented that Vista is 'bloated'. Backwards compatibility (well, it's the thought that counts)and feature richness come at a price. It seems Microsoft is trying to make an OS that is all things to all people, and you can't do that without adding code that many people may never, ever use, like animated help characters (shudder) and Really Useful Wizards 'n' stuff. Nowadays, folks expect an OS to deliver an 'experience' and, yep, that means a lot more code.

I just want an OS that lets me do what I want and keeps the hell outta my way. Oh, and says '1 file selected' instead of '1 file(s) selected'.

halcon:

Plenty of talk by lovers and detractors of Microsoft Windows has been said recently.
Microsoft has won the hatred of the so many dissatisfied user base the ones that have bought their products after being given false promises of better user experience and performance.
When a new version of software is released, is being hailed as the very best, the retailers throw a party to "celebrate" a new beginning and blah, blah blah!
Microsoft have abused for too long with its policy of the so called "anti-piracy" methods, the Windows Genuine Advantage is nothing more than a spyware in disguise; if you need to update critical patches or get some ad-ons you are forced to go to the process of the WGA to "validate" your OS, take Internet Explorer 7 for example, after spending time in downloading to your computer and try to installing it , you must "validate" your installation.
Microsoft should be regarded as a criminal organization hell bent in world domination, its people the ones that work for it should not deserve any respect because they are not honorable; they have become a bunch of robbers.
Make your voice heard, write or phone to the ACCC, the Fair Trading and your Parliamentary representative, tell them to investigate and charge Microsoft for its illegal conduct.
For too long Microsoft have brainwashed the innocent users to spend more and more money on its products, putting a lot of excuses to justify its products.
If I were a Judge, I would find Microsoft Guilty, for being arrogant, out of touch and greedy; I would jail Bill Gates and his closest executives without food , water and No Computer for a week, and order them to take out the WGA, Windows Activation and reduce the software pricing to a more affordable level.
If you use another OS, good on you, but if you are still using Windows don't upgrade to Vista, is a waste of money, the only new features are cosmetic and no real improvements.
Keep using Windows XP or start using Linux (you can dual boot if you need windows) after all, Microsoft does not deserve to earn more money than it has now.
go to this place: http://www.linux.org/lessons/
there are lessons on how to use Linux for beginners, Intermediates and Advanced users, these lessons are free get them while you can; I will study these lessons too.
Remember, there is no evil who will withstand 100 years, someone with better ideas will come sooner or later and when the day comes it will be the downfall of the tyrant called Microsoft.

Neuraxis:

I can understand them wanting to stop priates who sell the OS on the side or to poor people buying PCs.

But trying hard to stop your AVG computer geek who spends alot of money on the hardware and really can't be assed spending it on the OS which is way over priced.

Really the OS should be free you don't buy a XBOX or PS3 and then pay for the OS, MS should just right of the OS as cost price. Really its all the other software people use IE games, office and more that really makes the money.

isolee:

Trying to compare purchasing a proprietary device (xbox, ps3) to a PC in terms of a software sales business model is ridiculous.

By your suggestion we should all be using MS Proprietary Hardware, where we get preinstalled OS for free.

Comparing poor people who buy a PC and have no money for OS with computer users who spend alot on hardware and "couldnt be assed" buying the os are two very different things.

People will spend $100 on a game that they get 6 weeks of play out of, but wont spend a cent on the OS that they use every day.

man... crazy

TINBIN:

well i hope the pirates do crack vista
no way am buying it at that price..
too expensive....
microsoft are greedy bb they could
bring there prices way now, then more will buy vista i would buy if it was
at a resonable price....

Sarxass:

Well said!

I agree 100% with you! M$ are the real pirates; only, they are doing it all "legally".

Supporters of the tyrant (M$) note that they owe much of their dominance to the pirates they are trying to fight 8but eventually will lose); because Windows would never have been this widely-used if it wasn't for the pirates! Windows is still full of first-rate bugs (OK, Linux is also not perfect, but it is getting better much faster) and god-knows-whats. By the way, who can guarantee (prove) me that nothing unwanted is running behind the curtains of Windows? Who can prove that my privacy is protected by M$? At least with Open-Source software you know exactly what you are getting (that is of course if you understand the source code). By the way, why all the governmental and military organizations around the world are leaving, actually banning, Windows and move on to open-source software like Linux? Has anyone thought?

Microsoft, being one of the strongest companies in the world if not the strongest, does not add more than cosmetic features to each their programs; and oddly, they require much more system resources to do the same job! What does new version of Office provide that the other one does not (BTW I am talking about Office 2003, as I don't have; and not planning to, the 2007 version). Why they do not fix the annoying bugs, instead of spending so much effort for an impossible war?
For example, some "Settings" for Windows and Office can not be altered from the appropriate Settings menu; you have to change the setting from a totally different location. As an example, I bought my latest Notebook in the Middle East, so Arabic is an installed language, and it is the default language for the Office. No matter what you do from the Office Settings, or Windows Settings for that matter, you can not change it! I even tried unloading the language; still no go! The correct place was something called Microsoft Office Language Settings. Why bother to put a setting that does not change anything?

They also try to make everything automatic, the way they think is the best, and reduce the user's control on everything. OK, I understand that there are so many inexperienced users who should not bother with such things, what why tie the hands of the more experienced users? I think the reason they are doing this is that they are trying to create a new profession, the so-called MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer), who knows where to look for some specific things.

Everything they do is just another sign of their never-ending, ever-growing greed. They are trying not only to dominate the world, but also to make it into a monopoly under their control.

Wake up, guys! Nobody managed to control the world, not even Suleiman the Magnificent, and you can not do it!

M$ know that they are losing the battle, and they are playing their last cards. They are attacking everyone around them, just like a wounded lion. And Genuine Windows users are the ones paying the price. I never condone pirated software; but it is not fair to ask for such a huge sum for an essential software like an OS.

And I agree with people who believe that M$ could have at least slow the piracy, if they wanted. I think they are aware that the more their softwares are pirated, the stronger their domination gets. And they not only make you pay a huge amount for their OS, but also pay a fortune for a computer to run it on; because it is almost certain that your current computer, no matter what the configuration, will not be able to run Vista.

I, for myself, will not upgrade to Vista until absolutely necessary. I always get a new Genuine copy of Windows if they come for free with the computer I purchase, and otherwise do not bother. I will continue to use XP, although being a hardcore gamer, I wish Linux could run games as easily and good as Windows; which I believe will happen in time.

And do not believe M$'s claims of "better user experience" or that kind of stuff; because the changes will most likely be cosmetic, or useless for the common user. They will just consume much more resources for a slightly better appearance, which can be obtained for much less with programs like WindowBlinds and such.

Actually I pity for M$, they could easily do much better with the resources they have; but they just don't bother!

Anonymous:

When is APC going to fix its RSS feeds ... they keep on serving up old stories.

APC administrator:

We recently changed our site CMS, so your RSS reader may still be trying to access our old site feeds. (They don't exist but unfortunately many RSS readers don't alert you that the URL is no longer accessible).

Our current RSS feeds are listed in the "rss feeds" link in the "apc" banner at the top of each page. 

isolee:

Why the hell did you bother posting? You said nothing at all. Linux users: Understand that you gain nothing by gaining converts. Just shut up and use your OS. As a network administrator I use the right tool for the right job. Unix where relevent (DB, App) Windows where required (Desktops, Exchange, ISA, DC, AD, etc...) I know that I could put in a *nix based DHCP, DNS Server, or DC but we havent, through our choice. USE THE OS OF YOUR CHOICE. AND SHUT UP

john:

"33: Can't do what exactly in Linux? Show me one thing you can't do. Things you can do just fine: Word processing and spreadsheets and such. Web Browsing and email Games CAD in various forms Graphics work Video editing Audio recording, editing, playback And that's just thing's I have done recently in Linux." Being a Lniux user, I find Vi$ta no end of entertainment.But there is one thing that Linux can't do that I have found ... you can't back up your own DVD's. Window$ can copy your own store bought dvd's as ezy as pie. Linux can't do it for anything.

Anonymous:

Re: DVD copying on Linux
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?s=dc15e83a6ed2bb2a59fe7d138a9dd711&t=52178

Engin:

Greed is the key word here. If Microsoft charged reasonable prices for their software. For example OsX.

halcon:

Yes, its Windows Operating Systems sold with a new Computer are not free, Windows XP Professional OEM is costing around $220, this amount is added to the cost of the computer and the final price will jack up more, so it is not free.
If some of you want to use Windows Vista ultimate (but see the price is sky high) then go to this place http://www.windowsxlive.net and download the Windows Transformation Pack, this utility will emulate Windows Vista Ultimate edition.
I tried to download some utilities from Microsoft for my Windows XP installation but I can't get them because I have to "validate" my installation.
Microsoft think is dealing with mongrels and pushing to the edge the legitimate users.
I will not buy Vista and not more Microsoft products until Microsoft remove completely all this nuisance of Genuine Advantage, program Validation and program Activation moreover Microsoft is not satisfied to make the live of their user base a misery by including a long 25 digit product ID to type in when a new product is bought and being installed.
Microsoft is abusing because our Authorities will do nothing against this company, the ACCC has taken to court to Telstra, and other rogue bastards, its time for Microsoft to face the consequences too!

halcon:

Attention to all folks, do not buy Microsoft Windows Vista until you read more about the traps that await you in store if you attempt to buy it.
According to The Free Software Foundation (FSF) "launched BadVista.org, a campaign with a twofold mission of exposing the harms inflicted on computer users by the new Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free software alternatives that respect users' security and privacy rights". Read the whole article on: http://www.fsf.org/news/badvista-launch
As you can see for yourselves, its time to do something about, Microsoft has abused for too long to have a license to pirate, raiding the wallets and pockets of its users and brainwashing them with fake promises.
Tell all your relatives,friends and workmates everything about this, we shall declare war to Microsoft!

andy hien:

We haven't much choice. Windows or not.
Of course, everybody're so glad if they get free software.But it's got undesirable things. At that time, who will support us to fix that problem. It's difficult to solve.
Anyway, I hope that MS'll be down the WV's price for all people can get new tech. of WV with reasonable price.
Best wishes

bill_15:

Man the hardware and stuff you need to run vista is just nuts and the extra $1000 for the OS. YOUR LOOKING AT OVER $3000

Johnar:

I'm worried that the added complexity of Windows VISTA will simply translate into a bigger and bigger challenge for security. I work in a mixed environment and what I hear are those supposed MS supporters complaining that Microsoft has now made it difficult to 'rip things off'. I'm afraid this suggests a double edged sword. MS knows rip offs are scandalous and have tried to do something about it, but I'm not confident they can do it. If they could legitimise all of those rip-offs how big would the market share become?
Time will tell. I'm not making my mind up for at least 9 months. THAT will be the time to look again.
PS - I have no concerns at picking up the latest MacOS (and more and more Macs are appearing) and getting on. Confidence really matters.

BatWing:

Well hang on. Too much? Why bother posting such a comment? If it is "too much" then that means you can't afford it. So better keep using what you have until you can hey bro !!!

BatWing

APC administrator:

Just because it's expensive doesn't mean people don't want it, and don't have a right to air their gripes about the cost :-) 

BatWing:

I agree with your sentiments. There are always going to be things in society that are "too expensive". But it is all about priorities. Yes people can air their gripes about cost, but it is just a business like any other. Some of the gripes are way over emotional and not logical or reasoned that is all.

BatWing

Batshite:

Microsoft is more than just a business, it is a anti-competitive monoliath which stifles innovation and progress through aggressive takeovers and marketing hype/BS. I use WIN XP because I have to for work and linux is not even close to being ready for what I need to do.

I will not pay for windows anymore as previous versions have failed to deliver what was advertised and expected. How will Vista be any better, its more expensive, requires huge computing power to operate? Flawed security, bugs, crashes, BSD's and now i need a super computer to use this bloatware.... pffft, Vista will do as well as Windows ME did.

When linux allows me to play all my favourite games, and provides cross platform support for many of the graphical apps I use for work, then I will ditch my winblow$ once and for all.

BatWing:

What doesn't it deliver that you want?
Anti-competitive? What should they do? They are a business dude. I dont' know what you expected from a computer but perhaps you are using the wrong tool for the desired outcome?? Maybe something to consider here. Good for you if you find another OS that does what you want. Go for it. See there is competition.
Perhaps get a gaming PC just for gaming, another pc for work stuff?? Computers have always needed higher specification harware over time. Nothing new here. Not rocket surgery, or would you prefer things to always stay the same and no innovation?
Have a great day Sir.BatWing

andalite77:

I think batwing is HIRED BY MICROSOFT to promote their product on forums. I have a friend who works for microsoft, and he tells me that they send numerous people all over the place into communities to promote the product, and appear like an average user.

kjkjh:

I agree. I have never come across anyone that has defended Microsoft as aggressively as Batwing

Anonymous:

coming from a inviroment that used linux quite a bit and now being in a more XP position I can see both sides of all the arguements given.The point I wanted to make being a person who loves new tech and programs is, if MS folds for any given reason, does anyone think we will have any sort of progress without somebody to develope and research new ideas. Even the Linux guys must admit that most of what the lixus guys use, have and see is some sort of copy or equivalant of what MS has already developed. Where would any of us be if Win3.1 was not released. and would any of us spend years developing if we new there was no money to be made, ever. Given Vista is expensive and there are equivalants, but there must always be somebody that has money to spend on developement to give us nice goodies and drive the hardware guys for the future.

Anonymous:

Well we might be using GEM (much better alternative better to Windows 1.0 or Windows 2.0), or OS2 or .... Microsoft have always done a great job of copying the ideas of others.

Bennnn:

All you have to do is teach the masses how to use Windoze alternatives and they will change.
As long as they can browse the net ,send e-mails and write letters.

Dave:

I'm not even going to read all of these replies. All I can say is, once you make a peice of software with anywhere near the magnitude of Vista, then you can input into the "How much software should cost" debate. Until then, you have no idea.

BatWing:

One word for you sir. Your thoughts are Brilliant. I totally agree.
Have a good day sir. BatWing

Ed Worrall:

The people making the blatantly socialist comments on this site should seriously live in a socialist country for a while. the reality is that even if windows vista was $200 more expensive. microsoft would still go close to selling through for one reason. demand. see the thing is that even though you guys talk like your some big voice of the majority. The reality is that most voting people think that socialists are stupid, misinformed people that are so busy playing the politics of envy that they dont do anything to better their situation in life. Unless your a champagne socialist, in which case you should know better.

Peelmeister:

Asta La VISTA baby. Its enough to make me want to turn off my computer and go camping...

mrguitarmann:

I have used Vista on a dual-xeon 2.8GHz and it felt sluggish compared to XP. It's purposefully broke support to one of our NAS-boxes (because it runs Linux maybe?) and more eye-candy than content in that you may as well stick with XP and install a few addons (Desktop search, sidebar, defender).

Ann Nonymous:

Windows Vista Activation Is A Promotional Tool. That is a way of promoting Windows Vista by making it seem like it is hard to crack, but in reality it is very simple. Very soon Microsoft themselves will post Activation and DRM cracks for vista over varios internet sites in the guise of hackers. This is all a psychological mind game to get people to buy Vista. Believe me, Vista is fully crackable, it is designed that way just like XP.

deniz:

Keep just in mind, that even the hardest Multi-Algorithm based security system could be cracked, its ALWAYS JUST A MATTER OF TIME. But in case of Windows, the possibility to get cracked and be "totally free if you wish to" is the driving push to get as popular as it is today. Even the poorest workingpoor people can use modern technology. For me in case i used lot of software from microsoft in my jung and poor years. Now i am professional software developer and allready BUYED Vista Ultimate and have MSDN License at my Work place. But i just have payed these software becouse of my ability to do so and i am proud to have payed software as i am proud to have my TV buyed in a legal store instead of got from a dark streat from a guy who only wants 50$ for every peace he gots ;) do you get was i mean
chears, deniz from switzerland

Andrew:

By it's very defintion and implementation Vista's DRM breaks it's own licencing and it breaks common law too! The fact that DRM in Vista can disable other drivers written for Vista would break legal agreements MS has with other manufactures in preventing them from running on their OS. It also breaks the anti-trust laws!! That fact that their DRM and Anti-spyware (ant-not made by MS) software will remove software it does not like with out your consent is a personal rights violation and well as a violation of the licencing agreement of the software vendors. MS can have it's arse sued! And so it should. That fact that it violate your privacy aswell is contrary to civial liberty laws.

MS Blows:

MS is a 90 Billion dollar company mate, they don't care about human rights, they can buy them anytime, just the right to lever your wallet for a fix to XP's failings is all they want! (Has anyones CD /DVD drive stopped working?...Ahh Light globes light up!) etc!

The fact that Bill Gates creates the Gates Trust to help "Africans" and then uses it to Purchase "News and Press" in the USA at Tax free "Trust" rates should not surprise you either! Vista can go blow! I only program web sites and create music...

When Linux can run Fruity Loops and Native Instruments software, I will use it exclusively! I only play one game, it runs on Linux! lol!

deniz:

This statement is a littel bit off-topic, but there is said so much crap about Microsoft and Bill Gates in this forum!
Di you know that the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation is THE WORLDS LARGEST HUMAN HEALT ORGANISATION, and did you also know that allone in the year 2005 Bill Gates spend 10Billion of his 60Billion to Global Healt.
Did you even know this person? What a brilliant and friendly man he perhaps is?
Did you ever see a Keynote of the every-year CES where Bill talks for 90 minutes about the grandious future we are awaiting not only from Microsoft but from all future-making companies that drive technology in our days. Just look at him, doesn't he look more like a happy child in it's ellements than a money-hungry billionair????
I just love that man, no one can take that off me.
All Yours, deniz from swiss

ben123:

Well I tried vista ultimate which I got from bittorrent, on my work computer this week and after having to find drivers for the 3 YEAR OLD SATA RAID card, I was up and installing. Install went fine. Very first time the OS booted I got a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. Not a PC FREEZE, but a memory dump and rebooted automatically. Then the OS loaded again and seemed OK second time round. First thing that sticks out if the eye candy GUI and all the gradients, transperancy, fading, etc.

Tried it for a few days seemed OK but didn't have sound drivers for the board and needed to download vista BETA drivers, which worked OK. Nero Burning Rom DOES NOT WORK on vista. I needed to burn simple CD-R's so I just tried burning from direct dropping in vista through intergrated recording, like XP. Worked for one CD but DID NOT WORK after that, for both the DVD and CD recorder drives.

The only thing I see better with vista is the GUI. The drive encryption looks intresting, though. I don't need a better GUI. I use XP with the classic themes so what use would vista be really? Maybe direct X 10 for flight sim X. Pitty I don't have a $1000 8800 GTX, though. Vista is still largly based on NT when you start to dig down past the more web orientated GUI. I'll stick with my XP pro corp + sp2, without OOBE and unlimited use legit corp key which works fine with WPA for limitless amount of machines so I will just wait and see with vista ;)

The ones who crack microsoft products are sometimes microsoft programmers or ex programmers anyway. It's not a matter of if it will be cracked, but when. Hackers will do anything for the challenge.

Ben123:

^The subject at hand is not Bill Gates, though. The subject is Windows Vista, the crappy operating system that is being debated here ;)

I don't doubt what your saying about Bill Gates donating money and helping 3rd world countries. But I have no doubt that Microsoft release crappy products... something I wouldn't exclusively blame Bill Gates for ;)

Microsoft and Windows Vista is *THE* problem here. I don't know whats with this Bill Gates thing that keeps coming up. It's common knowledge that Microsoft screws with other companies and people. I don't think it's something Bill Gates is responsible for on his own accord.

spiralsorrow:

I keep seeing over and over things like "If linux weren't so hard to learn", and "Wrapping their small brains around linux". That's like saying "windows is ugly" while pointing at windows95. Times have changed, and Linux grows much faster than windows does. My 59 year old computer illiterate mother-in-law is happily running linux without issue.
Windows is indeed a suitable operating system for most folks, but to say that linux is any more difficult to learn or use is preposterous. Try your hand at Arklinux. 4 click install process, and completely designed to be self explanatory. My mother-in-law says, "I have never felt more comfortable using a computer than I do now".

Admittedly there is a great number of proprietary software that will not run under linux (Though alternatives exist for most), many users must use windows due to their job sending encrypted power point files that cannot be opened in linux, and several other advantages can be quoted for running windows. Note that the same can be said for Vista (Have a listen to those running Vista and you'll hear of all kinds of software that no longer performs correctly under Vista). But let's keep things real...if you can use windows...you can use linux.

ben123:

^Linux is great for the mainstream of tasks. Unfortunetley specialist desktop software often needs windows... linux seems to be more rare in that area or more experimental. Experimental more the word, because lots of stuff does exist, just very limited to audience. I am a PCB design engineer and use altim designer as the primary piece of software at work which to my knowledge is primaraly windows XP. People are just more in the position of being 'forced' to use windows. The other issue is high end 3D games, which is all windows. But no need to panic, windows XP is still more mainstream than vista.

Another intresting note is that there are now many Windows Vista 'cracks' avaliable on bittorrent now.

Anon:

Most people would look at the aforementioned comment, and want to kick some ass. But realistically... Think about it. Back in the 80's with Apple 2E's, 2GS's, Mac's, etc. Some kid wanted to play some video game and since he was poor, they resulted to making a copy of someone else's disk... Copy protection came into play, and kids got smarter on how to break it (Thus giving them a more indepth contemporary understanding on computer sciences whilst theyre in school). Am I advocating piracy? Not quite, please continue reading


To get a litte more current Blu-ray & HD-dvd with AACS... look arround the internet on all things relevant to AACS, this thing is right arround the corner from having its ass handed to it !


At a rudimentary grass-roots level, this could be equated to bondage. When this gets implemented in sociological circumstances, this works for a measurable amount of time and inexorably there WILL be an uprising, like now...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070403/tc_pcworld/130334


People are getting sick & tired of this silly horseshit. Granted some people have contempt & animus for the software industry in general and as a result of such will probably never wind up lawfully owning a piece of software, however most people in general altruistically feel compelled to rightfully pay for what theyve got


"Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life."


"Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality."


Both dutifully quoted from Albert Schweitzer.


That being said, when the KMS server piece gets reverse engineered to run on Linux, and people start running it from their Tivo's, Satelite receivers, NAS appliances, etc. Im sure there will be plenty of people giving MS a big smile along with a one fingered wave for them having the "Im your father", or "Big brother" mannerism's and expecting the world to follow in their proprietary step for their closed-in products that have hooks for all of the real-world things you want to get accomplished, but unfortunately only work with MS products.


Meanwhile, I feel as though my tirade has ran its course and my soapbox has got its work out today.


Good day to all... =)

Anonymous32:

Personally -- MS is dead as far as I'm concerned. Unless one of my contracts requires it and provides a laptop with the OS already installed, all of my computers for my own business and my personal one are going to be switched to either Linux or MAC within the year.

I will not buy another MS product. It wasn't worth what they were charging for it before, its certainly not worth the hassels that come alone with it even if they gave it away free of charge.

girderman:

Eh. I always wonder about these self-righteous types that rail against the "hackers", "crackers" and "pirates".

Somewhere, out there in the big-big world out there, there is something truly wrong and important going on.

Why don't you get off your lazy ass and go do something about it ?

I mean, instead of harping about retarded morality of "stealing" from the largest multi-national corporation in the history of the human race.

No one likes you anyways. That's why you have a "social conscience". Because you haven't any social SKILLS. Admint it. You'd rather be getting laid, but since that ain't happening, you've decided to become the self-appointed Pope of Peer to Peer Downloading.

Also . . .

If we Pirates knew who you were, we'd come visit you in the middle of the night and beat you in your bed with baseball bats. Just cause your a chicken punk and deserve it.

You know that too. That's the real reason why you hate what we do. Cause you haven't got the courage to hate who (and what) we are. Which is human, you gutless troll.

We're human and do things and you're a troll and live in a self-created fantasy land. And you deeply resent those of us that have the courage and the ability to operate in the real world and not in your self-created la-la land of meaningless bulls**t.

Hackers |ife:

When will microsoft and other companies they will never win the war on piracy. As soon as software is released usually a lonely coder or a team of proffesional hackers go to work; going through the code and changing things around. There are thousands of websites dedicated to piracy and hacking. Also you people don't seem to realise that most of you have done your fair share of piracy as well....remember that ripped film you thought you might "backup". I do not have a solution for piracy but i must advise that it will never end; from the 2 mb mp3 to the 1 gig film piracy is here to stay. I have pirated a number of films and some more shady things i shant go into.......... and it just becomes easier everytime. Companies do there best bu they fail to see the big picture here.

mr. no name:

I belive that piracy would not be a problem if these big companies sat down and reduced the price of their products, i dont honestly want to spend money on programs, cause i dont have enough money to afford all of them, these big companies dont think of the average person.

niokaser:

Also you people don't seem to realise that most of you have done your fair share of piracy as well...

AnonymousUltimate:

just downloaded the torrent. No activation required. Funny when I bought full versions of XP Home and Pro and yet (for what you get) Ultimate was so vastly overpriced.

Da22le:

Vista is still in beta. Microsoft is counting on millions of gullible fools to pay for the dubious privilege of doing the beta testing. Anyone stupid enough to want to infect their computer with Vista shoun't be punished more by being expected to pay for it. Vista is worthless so free is a fair price for it.

Anonymous@kkklssss09323:

i bought a new laptop with vista already on it as with most new computers now .

iam not a computer geek or anything am just a young lad that wanted a new computer. i had xp before vista and i dont care what any one says vista is rubbish. i have problem after problem with it i can not get most of the things i want on it because no one is going to make there product compatable with vista because they know it a waste of time. Take Sky Anytime -- can not get that for vista and the list goes on. Vista is rubbish and for everyone that's saying MS is doing a good job, you're having the wool pulled over your eyes. They squeeze us year after year after year for upgrade fees and will continue to because people dont like change.

Zebra:

If I could sum up the total conversation on this Vista problem I would have to say that Vista is a poor excuse for a over inflated Os to meet a deadline for the moneymakers at Microsofts huge machine in motion.
Get the damm thing out and who care's if its got bugs we will let the public do our dirty work for us and send us feedback at there expence of course why should we as long as the products out before the christmas rush and we can line our pockets with the $300.00 cad price tag and thats just the low rider end basic ver wow I feel good already Not!!
Then there are other software company's that say there product is vista ready and we like saps go out and pour more of our hard earned cash into these just to find out after its too late and the piracy seal has voided your return policy it has issues working with vista or really is not as ready as we were led to belive. and to end off this little rant of mine and yours aswell in time lets say after you have spent over $1000 or more to get less then where you were with Xp another 1000 or more it all adds up sooner or later...what really pisses me off about vista is not all to that which I have mentioned above not to say its all bad but to make an over priced not ready for the software world needed to run on it plus the bugs and crashes you cannot (CLONE) the @#@##@ OS in the event this should happen now thats what really pisses me off...ghost 12 no way bro acronis no way bro....and alot more I have tried but no way once again not in this friggen Os can you protect yourself from loss of data Oh ya you can use restore points backups copie data to disc or usb hdrives or $#@##@ try ghost 2003 or wht not install a old floppy back in that new machine and lets go back to the days of an old IBM 8088 clone why not we have the great high tec but we seem to be going in the wrong direction if you ask me.Now I can imagine a few of you will have something to add to my rants but thats ok I have paid the price to talk out about this crap Vista and cannot wait till it is hacked to the point where they donnot make a dime or atleast loose as much money as the people they forced into moving up to there new OS by means of use the new OS or no more upgrades or support for your old XP now that my friends is what is known as communistic strongarming but we take it up the $#$#$$ and smile an wave just the way B-Gates will while he sits ontop of his 3 billion dollar estate having franks over an old burnt out Mac....ha ha ha I like Mac good system too bad I did not go in that direction from the start my mistake thankyou all bye for now Zebra.

verigy chip eater:

mac os is bsd and very expensive.

microsofts os' are generally cheaper but not powerfull and lacking functionality.

unix is very secure very functional and very expensive.

solaris is generally like unix but usually handles gfx better and you have to have a sun computer.

linux is functional for the laymen. as easy if not easier to install than windows. has great functionality and awesome support. its free, but nobody uses it???

Bryan:

I think Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer need a lesson in encomics 101. The more you spend on your OS to protect it the more you have to charge for it, the more you charge for the OS while your market share is atop of all others will only entice more people to try and steal it. A bank does not have a billboard with the amount of cash on hand for any given day. Yet people still try to rob them with all the technology of today.

As for me I am tired of being in the cat and mouse game with MS, I am not going to Vista, I am going to Ubunutu Linux, even though it servers 75% of the things I due rather that deal with the Product Activation. I been done that road and have had to call them to activation because I have done it to many time while testing dual boot options and messing thinks up, they treat me like a criminal for messing up the boot partion and reloading the OS.

gothicvhin (New user):

hgfh

gothicvhin (New user):

mmm owesome this site great this all i can say.. im one that using pirate WIndows OS i have a crack of 98 to vista its not a trojan virus but sometimes some of other are you can select the best one. its easy to use and 99% working without a risk. i am using all version of vista in one crack only. if you have already installed version of windows vista just run the crack then restart the system then boom its working right click MY COMPUTER then properties you will see your system Status WINDOWS IS ACTIVATED . then on the right Side Genuine Microsoft Software not the ( Enter Activation Key or Activate Windows Now ) Brelliant. im just using it only for my self in my home not for anything but if you want a copy of one i can share it, its easy to share cause its only 300 KB i cant here
but add me here if ypour interested vhin_re@yahoo.com..
why pay, if there is FREE????

grizzilly (New user):

guys.. can u give me a activation key for vista...??

snugglebee (New user):

i own windows vista but i need a new product key the one came with the cd doesnt work at all

snugglebee (New user):

i have windows vista but the product key i got with it doesnt work and i need a new product key where do i get a new 1 from.

Muscatbea (New user):

I brought a new laptop, from a very reputable large store, complete with fancy vista stickers all over it. My laptop crashed, I took it for repair to acer,who informed me it had been installed with an illegal pirate programme, so I had to pay for it to be rebooted (lost all my games now), I called the store and they didn't give a s***, I think they should reimburse me for my expenses, How do I report this store, cos its happening to 100s of people. Thx in advance.

brendan1234 (New user):

I think they should bring the windows xp approach to activating windows FULL STOP!! Becase all you had to do was go into the registry,

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents

SALAM HAZARI (New user):

HI

SALAM HAZARI (New user):

HI