Yahoo News is reporting that Microsoft will get even more aggressive in their efforts to curtail piracy with Vista. As if product activation and the WGA program weren't bad enough, MS now plans to restrict access to a system if the company "believes" it's running a pirated version of Vista...
"The world's largest software maker said Wednesday that people running a version of Windows Vista that it believes is pirated will initially be denied access to some of the most anticipated Vista features. That includes Windows Aero, an improved graphics technology. If a legitimate copy is not bought within 30 days, the system will curtail functionality much further by restricting users to just the Web browser for an hour at a time, said Thomas Lindeman, Microsoft senior product manager."
I'm all for protecting IP, but all of these measures end up hurting legit users as well. There are reports that upwards of 40% of the support inquiries for the current WGA program are from legit users, and a couple of us here on HH have even had to contend with activation issues when using legitimate product keys. Heck, maybe the DiceMan is right?
And a week after Vista is officially released, we'll be reporting that all of MS' anti-piracy measures have been cracked by 12 year old with a TRS-80 anyway.
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
