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Aero To Be Unavailable To Pirates

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-shiny-for-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Users thinking of pirating the next version of Windows may have a surprise in store: no Aero for you. The upcoming Microsoft OS will run a check to ensure the copy was legally purchased. If it comes up short, the shiniest part of the OS will not be available." From the article: "At first an optional program, the piracy check eventually became mandatory for many types of Windows XP downloads, but was not required to run any aspect of the operating system itself. Microsoft has identified reducing piracy as a key way for the company to grow its sales of Windows, which is already used on more than 90 percent of personal computers. But it's not just pirates who will be blocked from Windows' fanciest graphics. The Aero display also won't be available to those who buy Windows Vista Basic, the low-end consumer version of the operating system."

5 of 630 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A Pirate In Need is a Pirate Indeed by MindStalker · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    sorry to inform you but omgwtfbbq has been demoted the new specification requires you to use the full syntax. ombwtfbbq is now omgwtfbbqip (IP meaning its ponies)

  2. Re:So unplug the damn thing by Yocto+Yotta · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Yeah, but does Linux have Internet Explorer? Yeah, I didn't think so . . . you should really think your argument through to it's logical end next time. What are you going to say next, that Firefox runs on Linux?!


    ;)

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  3. Re:Microsoft Monopoly & Windows Genuine Advant by westlake · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    I would assume that it costs money and requires licensing and such to get a driver signed. Doesn't this qualify as a form of extortion and abuse of Microsoft's monopoly? By requiring signed drivers, they're effectively forcing everybody to pay them an "extortion fee" in order for other companies to be able to make hardware for users to run their systems.

    Grow up.

    No one is being "forced" to build hardware for 95% of the world's PC market. They are there because that is where the money is.

    The cost of a signed driver will be barely visible as a line item on page 36. Insignificant compared to the other barriers to entry in this market : engineering, production, marketing and sales.

  4. Re:We knew this was coming. by ivan256 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You're totally full of shit.

    You clearly have no idea what qualifies as a major piece of business software. Here's a hint. You can't order them online, and they don't come in a shrinkwrapped box. They come with a sales engineer and a five or six digit pricetag. They don't call home, or they don't get bought, because major, business-critical servers don't have internet access.

  5. Re:Nedit by Fulg · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Nedit is the quickest most efficient editor with a GUI of ever used.

    ...and yet it fails my simple 2-second usability test: you cannot use a black background for text editing.

    It's amazing how many editors trip up over that one. For me that's an instant disqualification. I guess I'm in the minority...

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