I don't know who said each of these things, but I'll go ahead and
comment on them.
Exactly! No benefit to me. Just another anti-consumer technology
that's come down the line (with more to come in Vista). In fact, I
looked at the Vista spec sheet and the "new features" in Vista *do not
benefit the customer AT ALL*! Most of what is new in Vista is there
for the record companies, movie companies, and Microsoft itself (DRM
and TPM anyone? Secured computing?), save a few bits of eye candy.
Exactly again! As far as I'm concerned as a end-user, I paid a
legitimate vendor a license fee for Windows XP. As far as I'm
concerned, that's the end of it, it takes me completely out of the
loop. As far as consideration of the agreement goes, anything that
violates that ability to me to use the software unimpeded for what I
use the system for (word-processing, games, etc, like everybody else),
is a PROBLEM I lay the blame of at Microsoft's feet.
Somehow I wait for the other shoe to drop on that one (assuming I can
keep WGA off my computer the next time I reload it). My computer
false-positived WPA, I have no doubt the day will come it will
false-positive WGA.
And cumbersome too. My XP license is in a DMZ situation, and I have
to go to the trouble to connect it to the Internet to validate it. And
no telling what the computer has been opened to in doing that. Another
"harm" from earlier I forgot to mention.
Not uncommon to a monopoly. One that doesn't listen to its customers
because it knows it doesn't have to and can do whatever it pleases.
With each incarnation of MS anti-consumer technologies, they become more
and more burdensome.
Exactly. And it's a burden that I notice many are starting to be
unwilling to bear. In every post I see (now dozens upon dozens),
here's the two situations now that are resulting from the
anti-consumer technologies:
1) People are immediately switching to Linux, Mac, etc. Forget any
trouble or problem that may cause, they just want *away* from
Microsoft, period.
2) People are sticking to XP, fastiduously trying to keep WGA off
their systems, and refusing to upgrade to Vista. If any issue of
forced obsolescence comes (and it will), then they state they will
move to Linux, Mac, etc.
In fact, this is really the only place I've found where there are
people that are genuinely accepting and happy with the WGA trojan.
That should tell the reader something.
