The Vista licence

I’m guessing that most people reading this blog will have heard about Microsoft’s forthcoming new operating system, to replace WindowsXP – Windows Vista. So, before you go spending good money on this “upgrade”, make sure you research carefully what you’re getting. Start with the fact that there are now five (count them!) separate versions of the OS available (not just the two XP provided – Home and Premium). The lowest and cheapest of these, Vista Home Basic, doesn’t provide any of the advantages of the new Vista user interface or the media support. Basically, it’s a waste of money. The more expensive versions provide a varied assortment of different features, and a varied assortment of legal limitations.

The Windows End-User Licence Agreement (EULA) has always been a nasty piece of work but the new ones goes much further. For example, you are now limited to moving the OS to one new machine, ever. And with the new registration feature (unless you register the software within 30 days, it stops working properly) Microsoft can enforce this. What this means is this: you buy Vista, install it on your existing PC. A year or so later, you upgrade your PC and reinstall Vista. And that’s it – if you upgrade again, you’ll have to shell out a few hundred pounds for a new copy of Vista! Of course, there are plenty of other new limitations in the EULA, too (Microsoft now forbid performance benchmarks to be created and published unless they like the results, and professionals aren’t allowed to use the cheaper versions for testing – they have to shell out for the most expensive versions, instead).

As The Register say:

The draconian limitations I’ve discussed could only be enacted by a monopoly unafraid of alienating its users, as it feels they have no other alternative. Microsoft may yet learn, however, that there are limits to what its users will bear.

pax et bonum

Article posted at 10:11am on 30 October 2006
Category: Computers, Struggling, General