Windows 7 upgrade not valid for Vista Ultimate users!

[RayLopez99]

This is an outrage. Anybody else see this? Like Cadillac owners
getting shafted paying for car parts that are the same parts as on a
Buick.

RL

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10277506-56.html?tag=rtcol;pop

Some Vista users say they're getting the Ultimate shaft

Microsoft promised that by purchasing the pricey Ultimate edition of
Vista users would get all kinds of extras.

However, for many, those extras turned out to be little more than a
few screensavers and a poker game, prompting some significant
grousing.

Now, that frustration has turned to anger after Microsoft offered its
pre-order program for Windows 7. Through July 11, Microsoft is
offering a steep discount for those moving to cheaper versions of
Windows 7, but nothing for those who want to stay on Ultimate. Under
the terms of Microsoft's discount pre-order program, users can buy an
upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional at roughly half the
list price, but the Ultimate version is offered at the full $219 price.

 

[John Doe]

Microsoft promised that by purchasing the pricey Ultimate
edition of Vista users would get all kinds of extras.

However, for many, those extras turned out to be little more
than a few screensavers and a poker game, prompting some
significant grousing.

Now, that frustration has turned to anger after Microsoft
offered its pre-order program for Windows 7. Through July 11,
Microsoft is offering a steep discount for those moving to
cheaper versions of Windows 7, but nothing for those who want to
stay on Ultimate.

You will miss the screensavers and a poker game?
(and/or)
You cannot do a clean install?

 

[RayLopez99]

<snip>
I missed the part where you stated why you had to upgrade to
Windows 7. You want to explain that?

s

It's a newer version, therefore better, right?

RL

 

[RayLopez99]

The difference between Win 7 Pro and Ultimate is that Ultimate
includes BitLocker and has 35 languages built in. That's why the
list price for Ultimate Upgrade is only $20 more than for the Pro
Upgrade.

Thanks for that information. I guess BitLocker is just some sort of
encryption program...let me google it...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
BitLocker_Drive_Encryption yes, I was right. I'm not sure whether
you can set BitLocker for Windows User Authentication mode, meaning
your drive is automatically encrypted once you log on. These
encryption programs tend to be suspect, or to hard to use (and you can
do the same thing using a Zipped directory, with a password), for
casual use IMO. I hope BitLocker is better, and if it is I might use
it. As for the 35 languages, I don't speak or use that many and don't
care to.

I'll wait until 2010 to upgrade to Windows Ultimate, given the steep
$220 upgrade price, and by that time it will be more stable anyway.

RL

 

[Fishface]

Thanks for that information. I guess BitLocker is just some sort of
encryption program...let me google it...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
BitLocker_Drive_Encryption yes, I was right. I'm not sure whether
you can set BitLocker for Windows User Authentication mode, meaning
your drive is automatically encrypted once you log on. These
encryption programs tend to be suspect, or to hard to use (and you can
do the same thing using a Zipped directory, with a password), for
casual use IMO. I hope BitLocker is better, and if it is I might use
it.

I found this interesting:
http://theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-do-i-miss-microsoft-bitlocker.html

Apparently, Home Premium doesn't support virtualization, which could
be a valuable security feature, since Microsoft has patched about a
trillion things in XP that can allow a remote hacker to execute arbitrary
code on your computer and there seems to be a constant supply of
new security holes...

 

[John Doe]

Apparently, Home Premium doesn't support virtualization, which
could be a valuable security feature, since Microsoft has
patched about a trillion things in XP that can allow a remote
hacker to execute arbitrary code on your computer and there
seems to be a constant supply of new security holes...

I have had some viruses while using Windows XP, but they never
caused any damage.

 

[RayLopez99]

I found this interesting:http://theinvisiblethings.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-do-i-miss-microsof...

Apparently, Home Premium doesn't support virtualization, which could
be a valuable security feature, since Microsoft has patched about a
trillion things in XP that can allow a remote hacker to execute arbitrary
code on your computer and there seems to be a constant supply of
new security holes...

Thanks for that blog on Bitlocker encryption, but it seems using such
encryption you risk having your HDs crash, no? If everything is
encrypted. And it looks almost similar to a BIOS password, which I
never use since I don't trust it, in the sense something could go
wrong and you'd have to power down/drain your BIOS and reset it.

RL

from the blog...

Some people might argue that using a BIOS password would be just as
good as using trusted boot. After all, if we disable booting from
alternate media in BIOS (e.g. from USB sticks) and lock down the BIOS
using a password (i.e. using the Power-On password, not just the BIOS
supervisor password), then the above two-stage attacks should not be
feasible. Those people might argue, that even if the Evil Maid had
cleared the CMOS memory (by removing the CMOS battery from the
motherboard), still they would be able to notice that something is
wrong — the BIOS would not longer be asking for the password, or the
password would be different from what they used before.

That is a valid point, but relaying on the BIOS password to provide
security for all your data might not be such a good idea. First
problem is that all the BIOSes have had a long history of various
default or "maintenance" passwords (I actually do not know how the
situation looks today with those default passwords). Another problem
is that the attacker might first clear the CMOS memory, and then
modify her Evil MBR program to also display a fake BIOS password
prompt, that would accept anything the user enters. This way the user
will not be alerted that something is wrong and will be willing to
provide the real password for drive decryption when prompted later by
the actual drive encryption software.