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Microsoft Will Allow Vista Reinstalls
Claus Valca writes "I just spotted over on the Windows Vista Team Blog the news that the Windows Vista retail licensing terms are being revised. Looks like PC home-brew system builders have been let back into the Vista party!" From the article: "Our intention behind the original terms was genuinely geared toward combating piracy; however, it's become clear to us that those original terms were perceived as adversely affecting an important group of customers: PC and hardware enthusiasts. You who comprise the enthusiast market are vital to us for several reasons, not least of all because of the support you've provided us throughout the development of Windows Vista. We respect the time and expense you go to in customizing, building and rebuilding your hardware and we heard you that the previous terms were seen as an impediment to that — it's for that reason we've made this change."
I think Microsoft woke up to the fact that "PC and hardware enthusiasts" provide billions of dollars worth of free technical support to friends (read: anybody who finds out that you're good with computers). This is something we'd be markedly less willing to do if we didn't use Windows ourselves.
except the game box, that runs 98se (with tweaks for large amounts of RAM of course).
You're kidding, right? Support for Windows 98 in almost anything is already pretty much dead and Vista's release will probably mark it's death. DirectX 10 will only run on Vista. Almost all new hardware comes with no (or crappy) Windows 98 support. Unless you're playing games like Oregon Trail and Starcraft, Windows 98 is *not* a gaming platform.
Don't see me complaining about WGA
WGA problems are overstated. I've never had any problems, and I don't know anyone personally who has (except those who got their product keys from what we might call "alternative sources". I won't say they don't exist, but for 99.99% of legitimate users it's likely not a problem.
or stupid, graphics heavy UIs
I love the dualism on Slashdot. First it's, "Windows is finally getting a fancy UI like OSX and Linux! Geez, took the copycats long enough!" The next day the same people crow, "Stupid XP and Vista GUI uses too many resources! I'm sticking with NT 4!"
I suppose if you have a Pentium II then XP's GUI might be considered "heavy", but in any case, you can turn it off.
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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In many cases, the actual amount of time required looks like this:
Time to rebuild from scratch is less than 4 hours.
Time to discover root cause is greater than 4 hours.
Each method has it's good points, each it's bad. When it was just me, and I had hours to devote to discovery, that's the root that I chose. Now, with my son, girlfriend, house repairs, etc., it just doesn't make sense to invest that much time in discovery. Besides, it's not like my Win gaming computer is an HA server.
Why don't you repeat "M$" in your message a few more times to show everyone how 1337 you really are.
If I wasn't a gamer, I'd be running Linux everywhere, that's for sure. It does everything but the game. Sure the UI isn't as slick feeling, it looks okay, though. Integration isn't very tight, but the functionality is there. A few driver problems but I would probably do the work and overcome them.
/. are kind of happy that MS is doing it to Symantec's AV section.
I'd say there's a choice, but the best choice is often Windows anyway.
Having said that, Microsoft have never tried to pull the kind of crap Sony did with that rootkit. WGA is less intrusive than outright backdooring and spying on your userbase. And Sony's official line on that right up until they got their arses kicked was "Users don't know what a rootkit is, so why should they care?"
Microsoft has never done anything that evil or stupid. Worst thing MS ever did in my opinion was knifing Netscape. But companies do that kind of thing all the time anyway. From what I can tell, half the people on
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.