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Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has announced a program to 'establish a vibrant community of computer refurbishers across 133 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa who will be authorized to re-install its Windows operating system in donated pre-used PCs destined for schools, charities, non-profit organizations and under-served communities...Microsoft will provide re-installation of Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000 Professional in over 18 languages. The refurbished PCs will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) and a special End User Licence as evidence of a legally installed operating system.' XBruticusX submits a story on news.com about the program.
A way to fight back as all the recycled machined getting Linux/*BSD installed on them. That's why they're "giving" Win98 for the lower end machines.
How odd that they would officially support the installation of an OS that's been EOLed (WinME is the oldest 16 bit still supported, yes?)
Bad management trumps ideology - Show the world you want better leadership. http://www.timefornewmanagement.com
so you'll essentially pay for the license for a computer that already most probably had a license!
So I guess this makes sense for them(microsoft).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
So Microsoft can get refurbishers to pay again for an operating system that was licensed and installed on the system in the first place, since 99+% of PC's ship with windows when originally sold? Nice deal.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
I'll bite this bait:
Why pay to reinstall the same OS that came originally on the system?
If It came with 98, then it has a legal license for 98, no need to buy a new one. If I donate it to a charity, then I donate my license.
If Some Evil Company manipulates the EULA to prohibit this act of charity, then I will just keep legal ownership of the PC and allow the charity to use My PC and My Licence to the OS as they see fit.
Just what we need, the entire third world running unsupported Microsoft OS'es. I thought Microsoft wanted to stop spam, not encourage it...
Anyone going online using one of these computers in a year or so will find out the hard way what the term "HaX0red" means.
Who's going to do windows update on these? These PC's will be one big DDOS launcher and spam host for all the spammers and kiddies out there. There are three upcoming remote vulnerabilites in windows 2000 according to Eeye's upcoming vuln. page.
x .h tml
http://www.eeye.com/html/Research/Upcoming/inde
I dont think these will be patched any time soon.
I see it a bit differently. Microsoft (and other software vendors) are desperate to maintain the fiction that shrinkwrap/clickthru EULAs actaully mean anything (they viiolate just about every common law principal of business agreements).
By getting people to agree that they *need* to worry about the transfer of license when a PC is sold, they reinforce the idea that the EULA actually means something.
It's a lot better on the ol' PR than suing an orphanage somewhere over EULA viiolations.
Welcome to the Turing Tarpit, where everything is possible but nothing interesting is easy.
No money in the budget for training and support, fundamentally no need, and, for related reasons, I've seen exactly zero interest in maintaining old, cheap, hardware.
Here in town, the Civic Guild donated a gorgeous 19" LCD color monitor to the local library. Seniors manning the desk were tiring under the strain of using the new electronic check-out system. The aging CRT that had served well enough before went to the dumpster when no one would take it even as a gift.