A whine about MS and WGA

[MikeB]

I have no problem with MS wanting to deny services, upgrades and
whatnot to users of illegal copies of Windows. The latest "critical"
update, however is going one too far.

It ain't critical, and it confers no advantage to me to have it running
on my machine, I didn't mind to validate my copy of Windows for
downloading updates and I didn't mind to validate my copy again when I
wanted to download some MS tools/utilities.

But to have a piece of software continuously running on *my* machine
for no reason at all, just totally goes one step too far.

So there goes the usability of the "critical" updates. I'm not
downloading that and I won't be able to differentiate between a genuine
notification of a critical update and the bogus notification of the WGA
update. Makes a mockery of the Windows Critical update process. I'm
pretty sure MS couldn't point to *one* single reason that piece of
software is "critical* to me.

Just when I've started to think that perhaps the Borg isn't so bad,
they again try and assimilate my property to perform to their
requirements.

Screw you Microsoft! You've lost a good number of brownie points with
this stupid trick!

MikeB

 

[Guest]

You always have the option of installing another OS - say Linux. No one is
forcing you to use Windows.....

MD

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today MikeB commented courteously on the subject at hand

I have no problem with MS wanting to deny services,
upgrades and whatnot to users of illegal copies of Windows.
The latest "critical" update, however is going one too far.

It ain't critical, and it confers no advantage to me to
have it running on my machine, I didn't mind to validate my
copy of Windows for downloading updates and I didn't mind
to validate my copy again when I wanted to download some MS
tools/utilities.

But to have a piece of software continuously running on
*my* machine for no reason at all, just totally goes one
step too far.

Doncha know that Bill the Gates is in the spyware biz? He
wants to know what you're up to so he can "guarantee
authenticity" or whatever bullship euphemism M$ uses to
justify copy protection. This is just another example of
people voluntarily giving up their 1st, 4th, 5th, 14th, and
some other amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Of course, no one makes us dumb-asses do this, we can simply
say "no" to the rampant "do you agree to the terms of this
EULA?" question, at which time, it shuts down. And, the EULA
for every piece of software I've ever seen says you can return
the box if you don't agree. Whoopy and big F__king deal!

I wish I could believe that Linux is ready for primetime on
the desktop without my needing to play with it ...

So there goes the usability of the "critical" updates. I'm
not downloading that and I won't be able to differentiate
between a genuine notification of a critical update and the
bogus notification of the WGA update. Makes a mockery of
the Windows Critical update process. I'm pretty sure MS
couldn't point to *one* single reason that piece of
software is "critical* to me.

Just when I've started to think that perhaps the Borg isn't
so bad, they again try and assimilate my property to
perform to their requirements.

Screw you Microsoft! You've lost a good number of brownie
points with this stupid trick!

I'm sure Bill is going to lose a lot of sleep over this
threat! It isn't enough for 100,000,000 people to stop buying
Windoze, so why would M$ give a shit that any of us indolent
fools don't like their cheap stunts?

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this the War Room!" -
From the movie 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Bomb'

 

[xyz]

Mike, I am as appalled as you are. Having finally almost convinced myself to
obtain the Critical Updates post-SP-1, would you please tell me, if you
know, what is the Update Number of the offending update. I have a legal copy
of Windows and do not wish to invite the MS Police into my computer room,
which also happens to be my bedroom!
Thank you.

 

[MAP]

Mike, I am as appalled as you are. Having finally almost convinced
myself to obtain the Critical Updates post-SP-1, would you please
tell me, if you know, what is the Update Number of the offending
update. I have a legal copy of Windows and do not wish to invite the
MS Police into my computer room, which also happens to be my bedroom!
Thank you.

KB905474 Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool

This is only listed as critical if you have automatic updates turned on, if
you go to windows update manually it is listed as uptional.

I find it funny that the biggest areas for piracy are China,Russia and India
yet the new WGA download is not offered to people from those places.

 

[xyz]

I find it funny that the biggest areas for piracy are China,Russia
and India yet the new WGA download is not offered to people from
those places.

Thaks for the info, MAP.

Yes, that is funny. At the moment MS seem to be working on establishing the
concept that people in those countries you mentioned are obliged to pay MS
*anything* at all for their software. WGA will have to wait a
bit...Meanwhile, stick it to the Deep Pocket People, who mostly avoid
committing piracy in the first place.

Go figure. Maybe we're all just being too "nice" about it. If housewives and
accountants rioted in the streets over WGA, things might start to change.

 

[MikeB]

Oh really? Can I get my money back that I paid for Windows XP? Do you
think I can just stop doing the work I do on my computer and continue
to make a living? Do you think Linux have the drivers and software I
need to run my computer? I didn't agree to any of this running software
for Microsoft deal when I agreed to the EULA by breaking the seal on my
retail copy of Windows XP CDs. I'd say that I'm pretty much forced to
use Windows and that Microsoft damn well knows it and knows we'll
swallow the insult and injustice of doing what they are compelling us
to do.

Your observation is simply a smartass blow-off remark.

MikeB

 

[Jeff]

Microsoft has really gone too far, I totally agree!! In fact;even with a
valid XP copy; I still totally diagree with their underhanded methods. It is
up to me as to what programs I want to have installed and I didnt catch it
at first,because at a glance it looked alot like the Windows Genuine
Validation tool; and I figured it was just a patch. Then I come to find out
that;# 1-there is no easy uninstall in add/remove(in fact if you try;it
states that you cannot remove KB905474) and#2 (which is what truly offends
me) it reports back to MS ;everytime I connect to the internet; it's
"findings" . MS better straighten this out or Apple and open source will
have alot of new customers. I'm lucky enough to have the luxury of not
having to use windows; but I truly feel that MS is going to shoot themselves
in the foot over this. Especially when the media catches on.
Jeff

 

[Leythos]

Microsoft has really gone too far, I totally agree!! In fact;even with a
valid XP copy; I still totally diagree with their underhanded methods. It is
up to me as to what programs I want to have installed and I didnt catch it
at first,because at a glance it looked alot like the Windows Genuine
Validation tool; and I figured it was just a patch. Then I come to find out
that;# 1-there is no easy uninstall in add/remove(in fact if you try;it
states that you cannot remove KB905474) and#2 (which is what truly offends
me) it reports back to MS ;everytime I connect to the internet; it's
"findings" . MS better straighten this out or Apple and open source will
have alot of new customers. I'm lucky enough to have the luxury of not
having to use windows; but I truly feel that MS is going to shoot themselves
in the foot over this. Especially when the media catches on.

The simple fact is that you don't have to use Windows. While Linux has
some issues for interacting with Windows users, it can be done, and you
can run Office on Linux, so, unless you are doing some Microsoft
specific things, linux would work just fine in most cases.

Another simple fact, most people don't give a rats a$$ if the computer
reaches out and tells MS anything when they use it, they don't care as
long as their computer still works and does what they want it to do.

Do you really think this is the first time they've had something phone
home? Do you really think this is the only update/application that talks
to MS?

 

[Jeff]

No I don't,but this is not about me personally; However-even based on MS own
criteria for spyware as defined in their Defender website-This qualifies!!
And I do have a valid copy of Windows;and yes I do believe it will offend
many people. Not so easy of an issue as you would like to think.

 

[Jeff]

And is not such a simple fact for many people who do not have a choice to
use other operating systems

 

[Alias]

The simple fact is that you don't have to use Windows.

Um, and how does that make the WGA fiasco a good thing? How does the end
user benefit from WGA?

Alias

 

[All Things Mopar]

Today Jeff commented courteously on the subject at hand

Microsoft has really gone too far, I totally agree!! In
fact;even with a valid XP copy; I still totally diagree
with their underhanded methods. It is up to me as to what
programs I want to have installed and I didnt catch it at
first,because at a glance it looked alot like the Windows
Genuine Validation tool; and I figured it was just a patch.
Then I come to find out that;# 1-there is no easy uninstall
in add/remove(in fact if you try;it states that you cannot
remove KB905474) and#2 (which is what truly offends me) it
reports back to MS ;everytime I connect to the internet;
it's "findings" . MS better straighten this out or Apple
and open source will have alot of new customers. I'm lucky
enough to have the luxury of not having to use windows; but
I truly feel that MS is going to shoot themselves in the
foot over this. Especially when the media catches on. Jeff

While I obviously agree - in principle - I am a practical man. M
$ didn't do this on a whim. You, me, and the hundreds of
millions of people that have made him a couple hundred
/billionaire/ willingly gave him your Visa card and eagerly
snapped up each new, more invasive/instrusive "authentication"
scheme.

There really isn't a viable solution except to boycott anything
M$, which right now will be about as successful as bailing out
the Pacific Ocean. But, the Chinese say "a journey of 1000 miles
begins with a single step", and that step is to vote with your
Visa card, and /not/ whine in a M$-sponsored peer-to-peer NG.

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this the War Room!" - From
the movie 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love the Bomb'

 

[kurttrail]

I have no problem with MS wanting to deny services, upgrades and
whatnot to users of illegal copies of Windows. The latest "critical"
update, however is going one too far.

It ain't critical, and it confers no advantage to me to have it
running on my machine, I didn't mind to validate my copy of Windows
for downloading updates and I didn't mind to validate my copy again
when I wanted to download some MS tools/utilities.

But to have a piece of software continuously running on *my* machine
for no reason at all, just totally goes one step too far.

So there goes the usability of the "critical" updates. I'm not
downloading that and I won't be able to differentiate between a
genuine notification of a critical update and the bogus notification
of the WGA update. Makes a mockery of the Windows Critical update
process. I'm pretty sure MS couldn't point to *one* single reason
that piece of software is "critical* to me.

Just when I've started to think that perhaps the Borg isn't so bad,
they again try and assimilate my property to perform to their
requirements.

Screw you Microsoft! You've lost a good number of brownie points with
this stupid trick!

MikeB

All MS cares about is conditioning its users into doing whatever they
want them to do. And so far, the Sheeple have been following the
MicroShepard.

What most people don't realize that this so-called piracy crisis, that
has been manufactured by the corporate copyright elite, is almost as
made up as the WMDs in Iraq. Before PA, the software piracy rate was
falling every year since 1994. The piracy rate was much higher before
the PC was in everybodies home. Since the introduction of PA to the
masses by MS, the piracy rate has actually stopped its decline.

Copy-protection doesn't work, and considering all the money spent on
development and running the copy-protection infrastructure, is a losing
proposition for shareholders. Then consider all the consumer
disatisfaction this anti-consumer technology is causing, it doesn't any
business sense at all to continue use copy-protection.

When shareholders wake up and see that copy-protection is hurting them,
and they start raising havoc over it, then and only then will MS and the
rest of the corporate copyright elite listen!

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[kurttrail]

Today Jeff commented courteously on the subject at hand


While I obviously agree - in principle - I am a practical man. M
$ didn't do this on a whim. You, me, and the hundreds of
millions of people that have made him a couple hundred
/billionaire/ willingly gave him your Visa card and eagerly
snapped up each new, more invasive/instrusive "authentication"
scheme.

There really isn't a viable solution except to boycott anything
M$, which right now will be about as successful as bailing out
the Pacific Ocean. But, the Chinese say "a journey of 1000 miles
begins with a single step", and that step is to vote with your
Visa card, and /not/ whine in a M$-sponsored peer-to-peer NG.

LOL! Both are steps. Don't know which is the more productive one.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Alias]

All MS cares about is conditioning its users into doing whatever they
want them to do. And so far, the Sheeple have been following the
MicroShepard.

What most people don't realize that this so-called piracy crisis, that
has been manufactured by the corporate copyright elite, is almost as
made up as the WMDs in Iraq. Before PA, the software piracy rate was
falling every year since 1994. The piracy rate was much higher before
the PC was in everybodies home. Since the introduction of PA to the
masses by MS, the piracy rate has actually stopped its decline.

Copy-protection doesn't work, and considering all the money spent on
development and running the copy-protection infrastructure, is a losing
proposition for shareholders. Then consider all the consumer
disatisfaction this anti-consumer technology is causing, it doesn't any
business sense at all to continue use copy-protection.

When shareholders wake up and see that copy-protection is hurting them,
and they start raising havoc over it, then and only then will MS and the
rest of the corporate copyright elite listen!

Or maybe when Gates boots up and XP tells him his copy is not legit?

Alias

 

[MAP]

Or maybe when Gates boots up and XP tells him his copy is not legit?

Alias

LOFL

I can't wait!

 

[MAP]

All MS cares about is conditioning its users into doing whatever they
want them to do. And so far, the Sheeple have been following the
MicroShepard.

What most people don't realize that this so-called piracy crisis, that
has been manufactured by the corporate copyright elite, is almost as
made up as the WMDs in Iraq. Before PA, the software piracy rate was
falling every year since 1994. The piracy rate was much higher before
the PC was in everybodies home. Since the introduction of PA to the
masses by MS, the piracy rate has actually stopped its decline.

Copy-protection doesn't work, and considering all the money spent on
development and running the copy-protection infrastructure, is a
losing proposition for shareholders. Then consider all the consumer
disatisfaction this anti-consumer technology is causing, it doesn't
any business sense at all to continue use copy-protection.

When shareholders wake up and see that copy-protection is hurting
them, and they start raising havoc over it, then and only then will
MS and the rest of the corporate copyright elite listen!

People have grown unaccustomed thinking for themselves. It's easier just to
allow someone else to do it for them.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

I have no problem with MS wanting to deny services, upgrades and
whatnot to users of illegal copies of Windows. The latest "critical"
update, however is going one too far.

It ain't critical, and it confers no advantage to me to have it running
on my machine, I didn't mind to validate my copy of Windows for
downloading updates and I didn't mind to validate my copy again when I
wanted to download some MS tools/utilities.

But to have a piece of software continuously running on *my* machine
for no reason at all, just totally goes one step too far.

It doesn't run continuosly. It runs at login and promptly goes away (at least on my XP machines). And you
already stated the reason is to validate your Windows.

 

[kurttrail]

It doesn't run continuosly. It runs at login and promptly goes away
(at least on my XP machines). And you already stated the reason is to
validate your Windows.

LOL! Like your install is suddenly gonna become illegit from one login
to the next. It's amazing the crap ya'll will accept for no good reason
at all.

You indeed live up to your name!

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."