Slashdot Mirror
Windows 7 RCs Shut Down To Force Updates
nk497 writes "The release candidate for Microsoft Windows 7 will expire June 2010, and the software giant will let users know they need to pay to upgrade by shutting down the system every two hours for three months. According to Microsoft: "The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use.""
It's not shutting down to force updates, it's shutting down when the trial period expires.
This is well known, was discussed here several times and is clearly mentioned on the Microsoft download page.
To be honest it seems like slashdot has more stories about Microsoft than about Free software.
Agreed. If it was part of the EULA (there's that dreaded acronym again), then the users have no reason to complain about it. Though if nothing else, Microsoft might want to consider giving people who download and use this beta a discount on their "official release" copy.
OCO is Loco
Say, oh, 15 million people install RC (I did.)
Come June, you want to start getting paid (you're M$), you have two options...
1. Release an 'upgrade to paid version' where you charge people FULL PRICE for the equivilent of whatever they're running. (I'm using ultimate)
2. Force people to pay for the version they choose AND reinstall everything.
Now, to get the most money out of me, and I'd bet most everbody, they should do #1. A year from now, I'm going to have installed a lot of stuff, done a LOT of customizing and unless it's just time to rebuild, I'm REALLY not going to want to reinstall. I would be HAPPY to pay for Ultimate at that point. The alternative is go back to Vista which I've already paid for or reboot every 2 hours. Neither are good for me, so I'll start looking for a crack. Time is money, and I'd spend way more money rebuilding to get off the RC than I'd spend paying for an ultimate license.
But, I'd bet Microsoft is going #2. No betting actually, that's the plan. So they're going to have a bunch of people who are just going to deal with reboots. Then there will be a bunch of people who are going to go the cracking route. Then there's the people who are going to pay, but will downgrade because they don't use all that ultimate crap anyway. And what's left, are the people who fall in line and do what M$ wants them too. But think of all the money they could have gotten from the others, had they only offered an upgrade path...
And it's not like it's a complicated upgrade, just replace the part of the system that makes this an RC build! That's got to be easier than a service pack!
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
The normal course of action for a time limited demo would be to simply stop functioning when your time expires. That is what I expect from such things and how most of them work.
However, what happens if you didn't get all your data off and so on? Well, this offers you a way to be able to operate the system, just with restrictions. It is a nicer way of handling things.
I think it's a silly restriction for game demos if you can't save. It's reasonable that you can't load (after all, it's a demo), but is there any reason why you shouldn't be allowed to continue a game on the full version after you started it on the demo version?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.