Slashdot Mirror
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."
Looks like Microsoft has just discovered this PC and hardware enthusiasts group?!
this is a good thing no two ways about it. Sure, they shouldn't have limited the OS in the first place, but the fact they are so quickly changing this is a step in the right direction. Given what I have just read about the EULA, I won't be touching Vista, but for those that seriosly need their game fix and DirectX v10 is where it is at for them, at least they can buy that new 6 gajillion dollar gfx card (or 4 of them) and go nuts without worrying their Windows install is going to puke on them. I'm no MS fan and even less of a Windows fan, but when something is done right, it is best to applaude the move. So, I applaude you MS for doing the right thing, and before Vista is officially released!
First Microsoft partners with Novell to support Linux and now they are responding to a request regarding a license change in an all too human way, with normal human words and everything. It reminds me of an old Dilbert strip:
If aliens kidnap and then impersonate Steve Ballmer, is it a bad thing?
It depends on the aliens...
Actually this was the one really sore spot in the EULA. With this gone, the EULA is actually less restrictive than previous versions of Windows. Allowing Ultimate/Business to run a second copy in a VM, for instance. XP would require a second license to do that.
It is amazing how much FUD there has been about this EULA though. The (very incorrect) bit about not being able to run certain versions on virtual hardware is one that keeps coming up.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
"Our intention behind the original terms was genuinely geared toward combating piracy" /. user's sig: If it ain't pirated... define "pirated" more broadly?
So paraphrasing one
I might not understand this sophisticated masterplan, but looks to me like it could only make more running copies "pirated".
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.
Funny how every comment was almost exactly like "Thanks, thats great!" with only one guy bringing up any kind of discussion.
... actually I do most of my development nowadays in linux under the current contract ). It is a matter of preference, that's all it boils down to. When you work in a world that deals in Microsoft and become accustomed to those tools, some of them are actually damn good tools, and you can pry them from my cold, dead, fingers :P
Whats to discuss? They announced that they are changing the reinstallation restrictions.
If (hypothetically speaking) the sysadmins had been blocking slashdot at your place of work work, and then unblocked it, would you say thanks or go on a tirade of why they should have done it differently in the first place? Which is more productive?
Not trying to start a flame here, but it was strange seeing people who -like- Microsoft!
I feel more productive in Word than Open Office. I am more productive in Visual Studio than gvim/kdevelop (although I am quite capable in gvim
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
/)
I don't really get the excitement.
In the Windows XP EULA, Microsoft granted themselves permission to feel you up. In the first version of the Vista EULA, Microsoft retained the permission to feel you up, but added a clause that said they would sexually violate you at their discretion while the Bee Gees play in the background.
But it's okay now! They've turned off the Bee Gees.
OEM is, and has always been tied to the hardware you buy it with. So technicaly the license doesn't allow you to change PC. But OEM licenses are like 1/3rd the price when bought on your own, and abysmal (like, 10$ or something?) if you get it as part of something like a pre-built Dell. So if you get a 100$ OEM license when getting a new computer, then, while Vista's internal mechanism will (most likely) let you install it all over like if it was a full version (since technicaly, it is a full version), you're not following the license agreement (if said license agreement is binding or not, is NOT part of the scope of this post, so lets not go there).
This has always been that way since at least the days of Win95, and is the terms of virtual all OEM commercial closed source software licenses that bundle software with hardware. The good news (assuming you even CARE about following the license to the letter), is that usualy these licenses (when you buy the one at like 100something bucks while purchasing hardware) only tie you to one piece of hardware. So in my case, I got my OEM windows with my computer in parts, and it is tied to my motherboard. I'm not changing my board anytime soon, so I'm ok.
Now, if you buy a Dell or something, and complain about the terms of the OEM license, you're being a moron. The deal with pre-built PCs basicaly give you Windows for 10-15$, -if that-. So you'll have to pay for it 10 times before you even reach the price of a "sold separately" OEM license. If the terms are not OK, you just go and buy the full version. If thats not OK, you just install Linux. If thats not OK, just bitch at Microsoft some more, since, obviously from this article, it works.
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.
What will we celebrate next? That you can actually expect a system to be safe? That you can run and install software without being administrator? That you can create a SSL tunnel to it?
That's something I expect from my OS. Yes, I'm greedy and brazen like that to expect that.
What's next, MS threatening to take away our ability to run third party software and then suddenly "reallowing" it, and we'll celebrate them as the next messiah for it?
Folks, don't be silly here. The only reason they stepped back was that a lot of people voiced their concerns and said that they will not buy it under those conditions. They don't do us a service by allowing us to use a system we license.
We do them a service by licensing it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Man, I know! It's like there's more than one person on this site, and they have different opinions! Next thing you know, someone will have one opinion, and then later receive new information and change their opinion based on said information they didn't have when they formed their original opinion or possibly even change it based on personal growth alone! What the hell?!
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>