MS gets ready to drop Win7 Ani-piracy bomb
mod
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222900212Microsoft will introduce an update to Windows 7 in the coming days that will allow it to ensure users are running genuine copies of the operating system and have not used any activation exploits, or hacks, to defeat the company's validation process.
I guess they read things like this and wonder where all the sales are?
http://kotaku.com/5468394/windows-7-overtakes-vista-for-hardcore-pc-users
Replies
Hell, MS hasn't even forced you to need the OS to support other shit, like they've done in the past.
He's right. He was up until 5am posting, then took a break until 1pm. 20 posts total today.
THE INTERNET KNOWS YOU HAVE NO LIFE!!!
i'm sorry belias...i can't let you dooo thattttttttt
If you really don't want to pay for Windows, then don't USE Windows. There are numerous attractive alternatives these days that can be had for free. Granted, most of those alternatives won't play a fraction of the games that Windows does. But pirating software isn't making a stand. Not using Windows at all is the only way to encourage Microsoft to become more competitive with their pricing and features.
Are you implying that clueless grannies install pre-release RCs of operating systems? Or that they buy dodgy PCs from people who install illegal copies of operating systems?
At which point, the clueless granny goes to the person they bought their PC off and demands they fix their shit.
Additionally, while turning off automatic updates may stop the "genuine Windows" check, it'll also make you less able to patch your OS for actual security fixes, and other upgrades you may want (eg. WMP 10 required the genuine Windows check so you couldn't install it without verifying your OS).
But the point stands.
wellll.. you could still get around that WMP 10 verification. You also only needed to set Windows update to manual download, and not choose the Windows verification downloads.
I neither confirm nor deny my innocence with the above. I can say I have a full Windows 7 Ultimate box retail here that I got for the M$ discount from a friend. Waiting patiently until April or so for a new machine build. I also just bought a OEM of 64bit Win7 to upgrade my Moms laptop (surprisingly it was a few dollars cheaper than the upgrade).
Im sure plenty of grandkids set up PCs for their grannies, and are too poor to buy an OS or their hand me down hardware they used to create grandmas email box. That, or trying to install Linux for grandma, and she asks why she cant open the word documents, or why she has to use a console to access things once in awhile.
So Adobe and Autodesk?
I find that quite amusing, since when is wallpaper considered an important component of an operating system? Disabling internet connectivity or windows installer might be a little more shocking!
What I would like to see from microsoft is a new range of operating systems designed for professionals, running only the programs we require.
A rough example for artists;
autodesk suite||adobe suite||steinberg suite||top 3 game engines
The reason I say this is because it took me half an hour to install the o/s then 4 hours to reconfigure it for performance. These o/s are designed for the casual userbase and I feel it is high time to release a much more reliable, faster and completely streamlined o/s so we can harness the true potential of the fantastic systems some of us are running today.
All in all my opinion is that hardware technology is way ahead of software technology in terms of efficient useage, maybe there is a political reason for this?
you win "worst idea so far of 2010"
So best set windows 7 to notify you of updates but don't install the automatically.Then you can choose what you want to have installed
"You have 3 mo to turn yourself in and we won't be as harsh as we can. Or you can easily use that time to move your money around, dig in and hope we don't find you. It's you're call, but we're only going to be nice for so long."
It's partly their fault for letting the RC go on as long as it has, which is probably the reason why they're starting off so light, I suspect that a few weeks down the road it will be a little tougher and not so annoying.
the best versions of windows so far have been the performance editions, which r a hack themselves (or so i heard). when ms delivers a pure os and keep the bullshit to themselves i'd pay for it...
3dsmax
maya
zbrush
photoshop
ableton live
UDK
gaming (to a lesser extent)
become supported fully on Linux, i'll be leaving windows behind forever.
that said, it's a voluntary update, and i'm sure the pirate community couldn't care less.
@shotgun performance editions off pirate sites a stripped down operating systems, so of course its "hacked" to a certain extent. Some of them are pretty drastic, I once used one that had no default photo viewer, calculator, ms paint, or basically anything, all it had with it was firefox (pre installed instead of IE). There's also registry tweaks (like use more ram with programs). But more often then not, there are errors and issues because of all the cuts. If you're having issues connecting to the web, well that program that helps you with that was cut too. and the performance boost was hardly noticeable. Maybe a bit snappier then a 3 year old install of XP full of HP software, but if games I doubt if it increases your FPS by more than 2-4.
Would you have them pirate your models? Your textures? Your games?
Would you like to see your life's work leaked to the net as an unfinished beta?
Most pirates don't make money. USUALLY.
So feel free to pirate, because it doesn't directly affect anyone. Most people who download a software wouldn't have bought it anyway. It spreads the software or OS around and makes people like it.
Beyond that, my Vista won't update because it is missing a .dll, even though it is entirely legit.
It annoys me, and because of it my computer is supah-slow and vulnerable. Oh well, I am getting a new one next year anyway.
[ame]
in all seriousness i think its a good thing and people who are like omg microsoft out there to mooch all the money. then just dont buy microsoft
I wouldn't mind so terrible. Irking yes and I would always desire to know their motive. If they said THEY made it then, oh, well then there's gonna be trouble.
As for the beta thing, that could be worse or not depending on what it is and what could be done with it.
I doubt it will be tied to a service pack. MS tried tying the validation stuff to windows updates a few years ago, but it turned out to be a bad idea. It just meant that everyone with a pirated copy (either from a shady vendor, or from the user's own actions) ended being a host for all kinds of malware that then puts additional strain on legit machines and hurts the value of their windows brand.
This is an optional update, and it also allows you to uninstall it in case you accidentally update. This is aimed squarely at large-scale shady retailers that are selling pirated copies of the OS. These are the people costing MS the real money, as well as diminishing the power of their brand (who knows what was done to crack the OS, maybe it impacts compatibility or stabiltiy which is then attribute to windows 7 in general if the user doesn't know). I think MS has realized that the home pirates aren't worth the expenditure.
Again, this is one of the OS versions you should actually buy. I think MS is getting a track record of having a good OS every other time. Windows 98 good; Windows ME horrible; Windows XP good; Windows Vista poor; Windows 7 stable and polished.
Edit: Oh, my only bitch about Win 7: the install process for upgrades. I had to reformat my system because it didn't want to upgrade Vista Ultimate (I thought only XP was suppose to require reformatting). Not to mention, they did away with the "insert full version" when trying to install from an upgrade. So now, you HAVE to install the previous OS before you can upgrade to Win7.
All i see is vista->win7 updates.
I'm not going to pay full price tag for windows again in one years time.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-considerations.aspx
I don't think they sell different versions for upgrading.
You can do a clean install with the upgrade media; there are a couple workarounds (including some officially sanctioned by Microsoft, so it's a legit tactic). Check out the methods here:
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp
There were some great deals when Win7 came out, I picked up win7 pro for £30 and I know a lot of other people who did.