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Microsoft Denies the Windows Kill Switch
WindozeSux writes "Microsoft has denied that WGA will kill pirated copies of Windows. According to Waggener Edstrom,"Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer." Microsoft also says that WGA is a necessary part of its campaign to catch those illegally using Windows XP which leads one to think what WGA really does then."
"Because we broke power management in the latest update. We will, however, make sure Windows doesn't boot once your computer is on."
...it automatically sends a raid order of your premises to Tomas Bodström and the swedish police!
Three rings for the Elven-kings in the sky
One can but hope.
Slashdot tends to shake your faith a little.
Well duh. It's not a "Kill Switch"
It's a "Happy Sleepy Funtime Switch!"
Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
On one of the computers at my church, the WGA Notifier came through MS Update. Fair-dos, I thought. But the church logs anonymous users in through the guest profile. You can see where this is going...
When I tried to use the guest profile, the system tray spouted an icon that said "you may not be running genuine Windows." I logged out, logged in as the system administrator, and asked why.
"The product key could not be read."
Well, do you think you'd LET guest users look at the product key so they can steal your copy of Windows, even if the PK isn't attached? But Microsoft contradicted itself, and I went home happy that I'd found a bug in Microsoft software. (I wasn't off the ceiling for several hours.)
Mercifully, an update was issued that allowed the program to check the PK in the Guest profile. But note the wording of the bubble:
"You MAY not be running Genuine Windows."
May? That, translated out of marketing-speak and into English, reads:
"Oh, dear. You might well have a legit copy of Windows but we believed our computer, so we assume you're a fake. So, we're going to display consistent nag screens until you cough up two hundred pounds to buy Windows."
Or throw the (beep) thing away and use Linux or a pen and paper.
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
It just says it will not turn off your computer. Windows will be dead but your computer will still be on.
I am glad that M$ has cleared this up because while I am no fan of piracy, I think Microsoft has made enough money from its products to allow for a little 'free use' - for example, the laptop I am using now to type this message is using a copy of XP enabled using a keygen program and I don't see how this is likely to affect prof.*(!"$% NO CARRIER
AT&ROFLMAO
One can but hope. Slashdot tends to shake your faith a little.
Shh... Slashdot users aren't meant to understand irony.
"cd ripper/converter/tagger ($79), and alarm software ($20)"
What color is the sky on your world? Every user needs Photoshop? Well, I say every user needs a copy of AutoCAD, which starts at, what? $3000? See, I can make up numbers too!
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
The only thing more pathetic than a PC user is a PC user trying to be a Mac user. We have a name for you: switcheur.
Remember that the Mac was designed by artists, for artists. You don't speak its language. A shiny new Mac can introduce your apartment to a modicum of good taste, but it won't make you experimental, or adventurous, or avant-garde if you weren't that sort of person to begin with. That's why its interface will always mystify squares and dweebs like you.
Don't force what doesn't come naturally. You'll be much happier to stay with an OS that matches your personality. You'll be doing the rest of us a favor, too; just leave Macs to Mac users and we'll leave beige to you.
Morpheus: WGA is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your Window's licence or when you turn on your HTPC. You can feel it when you log onto the work LAN... when you go to church websites... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. ...
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison of upgrade cycles.
Morpheus: What is WGA? Control. Windows Genuine Advantage is a corporate-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this.
[holds up a photo of a bank ATM]
Neo: No, I don't believe it. It's not possible.
Morpheus: I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.