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"Language packs and Bitlocker prep are kind of silly extras for the home user."

I don't know about Bitlocker. But extra language packs are certainly not useless even for home users if those language packs happened to cover your mother tongue, or even an important second, third and/or fourth language. There are hundreds of living and widely used but still not too well computer/Windows-supported languages in the world, you know.

"

No, Windows Ultimate Extras are not the only difference in features between Ultimate and the others, but it is the strongest draw to justify the extreme price difference. I'm not really interested in paying a premium to get things like Windows Fax and Scan, when third party applications (possibly OS/freeware) will give me all the same functionality.

Ultimate includes both the tablet software and the media center sofware, as well as is able to connect to domains, etc...
Basically Home Prem. + Business Prem.

That is the draw to Ultimate. Wether or not it draws you is neither here nor there, but it is the main draw.

Listen, WyldStylist,
no matter how bad Microsoft operating systems are nor how much you hate Redmond software giant OSnews ( nor any other) WEB site is not the place for propagating illegal downloads and software piratism.
I personally don't like Microsoft and its marketing.business practice but I'd never ever reach for illegal torrent files with Microsoft code.And it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm Linux user and Linux fan nor because it is illegal.
My take is if you think you can still find good use
for Microsoft products you have to pay for it. Period.
As you can see from previous posts there are people who bought their copies of Vista Ultimate and who are kind of dissapointed with Extras offering but that doesn't mean they're gonna badmouth Microsoft or advice their friends to look for terrent copies of Vista Ultimate. The best they can do would be to give friendly recommendations to avoid Vista in any variant
legal or illegal!

"I dont get why buying original would be better (unless you are a microsoft collector)"

Maybe not everyone is comfortable with breaking copyright law?
How about this; I go to were ever you work and help myself to some of your products. It's ok because I dont feel like paying and I don't really like your stuff all that much. Well, at least not enough to pay for it.

How could people that are serious about technology be so ignorant?
Yes but you are only permitted to copy them the originals stay with me.
Howabout this? i take photos of your car and you tell me then that i stole it because i took pictures of it.
Copying is copying and stealing is criminal activity . Cooperations enforce insane laws giving them benefits to spit out bad products today and noone listens to the customer(i know cause i voted for pirate-party of sweden).
And the USA attempt of trying to criminalize filesharing that already's big is a waste of time and tax payers money when police would rather catch the murderers,rapists etc(the real criminals).
See Hans Reiser for example , i bet he is framed and at least 1 big company name is included (off the record)
so that Microsoft can spread its word throughout linux community and earn more money by slowly trying to kill off the opensource movement.

"i take photos of your car and you tell me then that i stole it because i took pictures of it. "

Nice try but confusing the issue with a totally irrelevant example won't work. A picture != a copy.

"Cooperations enforce insane laws giving them benefits to spit out bad products today and noone listens to the customer(i know cause i voted for pirate-party of sweden)."

Oh, you mean those insane copyright laws that has been around for ages? You know, the ones that says you cant make copies of other peoples work and redistribute it without permission.
Pirate-Party, eh? Things have surely gone downhill in old Svedala. Good thing I left.

"See Hans Reiser for example..."

Stop embarrassing your fellow Swedes.

If i were a Cooperation-supporter i would emberrase myself, we live in a new age of sharing .
Your wonderful DRM model isnt working people choose superior mp3 or ogg .
How do you feel that big deal of the money you pay for a movieticket goes to MPAA's own bought little police department suing a 12 year old parrent or even people without internet connections.
Ofcause you could buy drm-damaged media and by doing that not only get bad quality but support Riia's little "cleaning up on piracy act"
When there are superior technologies which give you what you need for free no need to support companies in which the customer is treated like criminal.
Besides when i wanna have fun i support the music bands directly by watching em on a rock festival i dont think they give a damn about that i dont buy but download their records considering how their record labels steal from em.
Look at patent N#1 its the US railroad after that patents have been around and stopping technology from evolving .
We drive still mechanical non electronic cars lots of energy that burns to waste .

So Soulbender: even if i copied your flashy new car in a workshop (with lots of work) it wouldnt be yours and you would have no right to demand it destroyed naturally but the laws would support you .

Look at the pirate bay events .
The Puppet-state of Sweden state did get away with stealing servers not inflicted with the pirate bay just because they were at same isp they were around 200 companies some political servers among others .
The small companies had to suffer because of the big ones influention on the Corrupted state what did they do?
they whined and took legal measure by asking the servers back and what did that fat fukk Rosewall do?
He said: We did nothing wrong , closing the companies and ruining them is not our department we accept americanization and their ideals only but you are small-ones we dont help you .
Of cause he said that in a softer way but thats it.
When foreign private intrests whine they open their wallets at once but when their own peoples small companies(not afflicated with the pirate bay) suffer they just let them suffer.
Isnt that enough for embarrasement ?

Edited 2007-07-05 00:15

"I dont get why buying original would be better (unless you are a microsoft collector)"

Ethics. Something that many business people as well as a great deal of the general public seem to have missed learning.

(I run OSX on my laptop and Linux on my desktop so no MS fanboy here.)

Hmm you need ss2 enabled laptop to run OSX.
Too bad nobody from apple reverse engeneered directx to run on OSX since its nowdays intel stuff.

I agree to a point (I have home premium), but Shadow Copy sure looks nice. Linux has nothing like it, and Apples Time Machine will require a second harddrive.