Vista Adoption in Enterprises Less than 10%
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 2nd Feb 2009 21:23 UTC
Windows Windows Vista has never exactly been a favourite subject among company IT people. Migrating from Windows XP to Windows Vista isn't exactly a worry-free process, and machines that run Windows XP comfortably may have trouble powering Windows vista. As such, adoption of Vista has been slow. Two years after Vista's release, the OS is still struggling in the enterprise sector, according to a Forrester report.
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RE[5]: Hmm
by Brendan on Tue 3rd Feb 2009 12:49 UTC in reply to "RE[4]: Hmm"
Brendan
Member since:
2005-11-16

Hi,

"If your hardware or software doesn't support DRM, or if you don't pay for DRM content, then you can't play the DRM content.


True enough as far as it goes ... but as I said that is only a way oversimplified part of the story.

The observation that you miss is this ... every piece of equipment out there can play content that has no DRM. That is a massive market.

Only Vista machines can play content that has Vista DRM applied. That is as yet a comparatively tiny market.

As long as Vista remains poorly adopted, a content provider would be insane to offer his content only in the form which has Vista DRM applied. He can sell that only to people who are running Vista. That cuts out the vast majority of the potential market.

Right now, it is far better for a content provider to offer non-DRM content to the wider market, even in the face of piracy, rather than offer it to the very restricted market comprising only people who want to play content only on their Vista machine and nowhere else.

Hence, avoiding Vista helps to keep the Vista-DRM-enabled-equipment target audience small and unattractive to content providers, and hence impedes the onset of universal DRM. "

Um, what? If you create the content, then you can encode it with as many different types of DRM you like, and even licence different versions of it at different prices (including licencing a more expensive version without DRM, if you like). Getting rid of "Vista-DRM" just creates an opening for some other DRM. Getting rid of Microsoft entirely just creates an opening for "Linux-DRM" (note: this *already* exists) or "Apple-DRM" or "Adobe-DRM" or some other form of DRM.

"DRM has nothing to do with "non-DRM" media, and if you've got a pirated copy of anything that works without DRM then DRM won't do anything.


Debatable. Very debatable. Using Vista, try to rip a track from a CD you have legally purchased to .mp3 (without any DRM) and send it to your friend who does not run Vista (say runs a Mac or Linux box). See if you can do it so that your friend can hear the result. "

I don't have Vista installed (and wouldn't condone asking someone to create illegal copies of legally purchased CDs either, even if it is just to find out what the problem is and if the problem has anything to do with DRM or not).

"If you switch to an OS that doesn't support DRM, then the only difference it makes is that you won't be able to play DRM content that you've paid for.


... and you will not expand the set of machines that are Vista-DRM-capable, and hence help to keep the market for Vista-DRM-content unattractively small. "

Why do you care if other people have the freedom to choose "Vista-DRM" if they want to?

Oh - and just so you know; you'll have to throw your VHS tape player away because I decided you don't deserve to be able to hire a movie the old fashioned way.

Brendan, if you are going to fling accusations of "FUD" at others, make absolutely sure you have told the whole story yourself ... because otherwise you are very likely to get "MS apologist and lapdog" accusations thrown right back at you.


I understood that before I posted.

In general, what annoys me about "anti-DRM advocates" (DRM detractors?) is when they start telling others not to use Vista because the DRM will make their tinfoil hat go rusty, and that the aliens will be able to read their thoughts because of this (and other irrational paranoia). Of course I'm not suggesting anyone here has said anything irrational (misinformed perhaps, but not irrational) - I'm just explaining why "anti-DRM advocates" annoy me.

-Brendan

Reply Parent Score: 2