Microsoft to lock pirates out of Vista PCs

Read more here.


Regards,
Vincent

Xaero_Vincent wrote:



USA Today wrote: Windows Vista will have new anti-piracy technology that locks people out their PCs if the operating system isn't activated within 30 days after installation. If Vista is not activated with a legitimate product registration key in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode" until it is activated, said Thomas Lindeman, a senior product manager at Microsoft. In this mode, people will be able to use a Web browser for up to an hour, after which time the system will log them out, he said.

Read more here.


Regards,
Vincent

I understand why, but do they have the right to do that? Seems a little over the top.

Hopefully they fixed the bug from the early builds where you could crash Internet Explorer and then get the standard shell to load...

Hmmmm... it sounds  like I may need to hold off from testing Vista.  My cousin will likely be quite pleased with this.

If they ensure WGA works correctly and doesn't get false positives then I don't see why they can't do this, as far as I'm concerned- if you pirate an OS you don't deserve anything at all- so getting a crippled version of the OS is a bonus.

Xaero_Vincent wrote:



USA Today wrote: Windows Vista will have new anti-piracy technology that locks people out their PCs if the operating system isn't activated within 30 days after installation. If Vista is not activated with a legitimate product registration key in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode" until it is activated, said Thomas Lindeman, a senior product manager at Microsoft. In this mode, people will be able to use a Web browser for up to an hour, after which time the system will log them out, he said.

Read more here.


Regards,
Vincent

...doesn't Windows XP do this already though?

MrTorvalds wrote:

Hmmmm... it sounds  like I may need to hold off from testing Vista.  My cousin will likely be quite pleased with this.

Wait...Mr. Torvalds, which desktop do you prefer? KDE or Gnome?

Or is it better not to pick sides on this subject...

P.S. Have you seen anything from the Plasma team yet? Has anybody?

W3bbo wrote:



Xaero_Vincent wrote: USA Today wrote: in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode"

...doesn't Windows XP do this already though?

Yes but it isn't intentional

Rossj wrote:



W3bbo wrote: Xaero_Vincent wrote: USA Today wrote: in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode" ...doesn't Windows XP do this already though?

Yes but it isn't intentional

No seriously, you've got that 30-day grace period before you're locked out of your computer without activating it. How is this any different?

jsrfc58 wrote:

Wait...Mr. Torvalds, which desktop do you prefer? KDE or Gnome?

Or is it better not to pick sides on this subject...

My cousin obviously prefers KDE as his irritation with the Gnome project has been quite vocalized.  I myself tend to flip flop between the two though I generally like Gnome better.  Just don't tell him I said that.

jsrfc58 wrote:

P.S. Have you seen anything from the Plasma team yet? Has anybody?

My name doesn't mean that much, you know.

W3bbo wrote:



Rossj wrote: W3bbo wrote: Xaero_Vincent wrote: USA Today wrote: in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode" ...doesn't Windows XP do this already though? Yes but it isn't intentional

No seriously, you've got that 30-day grace period before you're locked out of your computer without activating it. How is this any different?

You can activate VLKs still but it knows your not legit- what you don't get is anything that required a WGA certification, and your computer gets plastered with notices informing you that your copy isn't legit and needs to be purchased.

Not myself personally- hell I went and bought XP on the first day it released.

stevo_ wrote:

You can activate VLKs still but it knows your not legit- what you don't get is anything that required a WGA certification, and your computer gets plastered with notices informing you that your copy isn't legit and needs to be purchased.

Actually, you can't activate leaked VLKs. There's more to activation than a simple hash check, it checks the key with Microsoft's servers directly, hence the "Via telephone" or "Via the Internet" options.

I give it 15 minutes if not less that someone out there figures out how to bypass it.

Well, lets just say I'm not pulling this outta my (I need to watch my language)- but I do own a legit version of XP for each computer I own.

W3bbo wrote:

No seriously, you've got that 30-day grace period before you're locked out of your computer without activating it. How is this any different?

With XP you would only get a notice from genuine advantage that your copy wasn't legal, in Vista you locked out.
All the stupid people telling us "Microsoft could have done that a long time ago so why would they do it now?" Well, there you have it: Microsoft does lockout users.

ZippyV wrote:



W3bbo wrote:No seriously, you've got that 30-day grace period before you're locked out of your computer without activating it. How is this any different?

With XP you would only get a notice from genuine advantage that your copy wasn't legal, in Vista you locked out.
All the stupid people telling us "Microsoft could have done that a long time ago so why would they do it now?" Well, there you have it: Microsoft does lockout users.

Oh right, I was talking about activation, whereas this article talks about general use.

...can't firewalls just block the "periodic checks"?

...and isn't the Enterprise Edition of Windows Vista immune from this anyway?

W3bbo wrote:


...and isn't the Enterprise Edition of Windows Vista immune from this anyway?

No, because it isn't going to use VLKs....