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Windows Vista EULA to users: Go to hell!

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Hellie:
I tried to rewmove WGA and it completely trashed my PC and I could not reinstall XP from the OEM disc.. I took some expert from my IT Dept and trying to remove WGA had left my brand new PC seriously ill.

Problem solved I downloaded SUSE Linux Eneterprise Desktop. Its just brilliant $50 per year for updates, thats fine. I have tried Fedore and Ubunto but keep going back SUSE as I work from home it does everything I want it to.

Even though like Carol I have invested in Software I am prepared to lose that investment. My PC is much more stable using SUSE no more expensive Firewalls and AV and forking out for software. The benefits to me far out weigh the occasional incompatibility issues.

Helen

 

dk70:
Policies can change over time. If more than occasionally pain in the butt even MS will have to adjust. May be WGA will be perfect on Vista but still have problems on XP - you will know what to do.

Exclusive Vista features they can probably argument for. But why is it they push XP SP3 down the road, 2008 now. SP2 will be close to 4 years old by then! Hard to avoid feeling like a sheep.

NeilS:
Policies can change over the time. If more than occasionally pain in the butt even MS will have to adjust.
-dk70 (October 22, 2006, 09:03 AM)
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I'm not even sure if this will be necessary. As nasty as the new EULA sounds, we don't have any way of knowing at this time if MS will enforce the "one move" rule to the letter, or if it's just a legal measure to give them more ability to say no in cases where they suspect foul play. If the previous EULA wasn't entirely clear about situations in which MS would say no, then I can imagine that MS had a few cases where they suspected foul play and their lawyers told them to back off a bit because the EULA might not stand up in court as well as they would have hoped.

So there is the potential that, with the new EULA, nothing will really change for the vast majority of people, even most enthusiasts. Of course, this assumes that the spirit behind the EULA is somewhat less draconian than the actual wording in it, which I suspect it will be. The problem MS face is convincing people of this, which they don't seem too bothered about just now, not that I'd expect it to do any good if they did try to reassure people.

Jimdoria:
NeilS, adopting software with a nasty EULA is like playing the backwards lottery. You are betting that you won't be the one to get the hammer dropped on you. But no matter how good the odds are, it's still a bet.

Josh said:
Heck, I bought the XP license I am using now for $25 and that covers a full copy of WinXP MCE 2005.
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Oh, please share! How does one achieve such a remarkable feat? If it's part of your MSCE cert or requires you to register as an MS OEM, then it's hardly fair to tout it as a viable option for very many people. Unless you include the costs of meeting such requirements in the price.

...which is why OEM's get such a good discount for the software.
--- End quote ---
Hey, it's great that OEMs get such a good discount for Windows! Too bad they aren't the ones who have to USE that bargain basement copy of Windows. Jump over to Ed Foster's Gripelog at gripe2ed.com (or more to the point, to this specific article)  and you can read about the OEM cusotmer whose motherboard died, and when their local PC shop swapped in a new one, Windows wouldn't run due to product activation. MS woudn't help them - "OEM isue" dont'cha know - and the OEM wouldn't help them either. So because the OEM saved some money on the Windows license, the end user is looking at having to pony up for a full retail copy, in addition to the copy they have. Hardly a savings. And who makes the determination that the mobo is the piece of hardware that defined the "computer" the license was attached to? Is a computer with a different motherboard a different computer? This OEM said yes. And I'd bet the same argument could be made for a PC with a different hard disk or, these days, even a new video card, if a vendor were so inclined.

And it you say "well, doen't buy from that OEM," that's certainly easier said than done. Dell doesn't offer you the option of a full retail license if you buy a machine from them. Neither will any of the other major PC vendors. (It's my understanding theat MS does not ALLOW them to.) So where are you supposed to find this "other OEM" that will sell what you're seeking to buy, when all OEMs are goverened by the same central licensing policy, set by Microsoft? Can you point me to a single vendor who sells their computers with a pre-installed, full retail version of Windows, with appropriate disk and documentation, including the approriately installed drivers for the vendor's hardware?

At least with XP you have the option of installing a full retail license if you can swallow your indignation and spit up $100 or $200. Seems like with Vista that won't even be an option. This stuff is not just intended for what they say it's intended for. It's also cudgel marketing.

NeilS:
NeilS, adopting software with a nasty EULA is like playing the backwards lottery. You are betting that you won't be the one to get the hammer dropped on you. But no matter how good the odds are, it's still a bet.
-Jimdoria (October 23, 2006, 03:24 PM)
--- End quote ---

Well, that's one way of looking at it. But if you assume worst case always, then you'd never cross the road, because you're betting that some idiot in a car won't hit you, no matter how good the odds are.

Anyway, it's nothing like a lottery, because a lottery is entirely random. The enforcement of the EULA is going to go one way or the other (in general - obviously there will be rare cases where someone get screwed or gets something for free), and it's going to depend on how MS decides to balance profits agains negative PR. If people really aren't sure how the EULA (or rather, how MS intends to enforce it) will affect their usage model, and if they can't afford to fall foul of it, then they'd be advised to wait and see how it affects people in a similar situation.

There's a slim chance that an outcry at this time will cause MS to change the EULA, but it's exactly that: slim. It's going to be pretty hard to get enough people shouting loudly about it when no-one has actually been screwed by it yet. However, if they do enforce the EULA to the letter, I expect we'll hear some fairly loud shouting sometime early next year.

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