"This article is an overview that discusses the differences and similarities between Windows XP Starter Edition and Windows XP Home Edition. These differences are discussed for entertainment, networking and sharing, printers, system requirements, languages, and security and safety features. This article is part of a series written to provide support to independent software vendors interested in designing programs for Windows Starter."
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Member since:2005-07-08
twenex: I for one hope Microsoft take their anti-piracy measures to the Max!
Me too. Preventing people's computers from working correctly is supposedly what Microsoft is best at, but they don't seem to be living up to their reputation. If people actually had to pay for Windows, it wouldn't be so damn ubiquitous.
I've investigated how to bypass WGA on XP (out of curiosity, as my two copies are legit) and most of the cracks I found would still not let you download updates
Also great. If people don't upgrade to "more secure" Vista because they don't want to pay, and if people can't get updates for their cracked installs, they will remain incredibly vulnerable to malware.
Things really do have to get worse before they get better. I was hoping that Microsoft's disastrous Vista development cycle would result in a horrifically bad OS, but they churned out something marginally decent instead. Microsoft clearly must continue to release crappy software with frustrating limitations, and they must be more blatant about not caring about their paying customers. Come on guys, quit the gentle prodding, put on the brass knuckles, and give us everything you've got!
First step: get rid of volume licensing for OEMs. Everybody wants the awesome Windows Vista experience, and making it easy for OEMs to provide it is obviously making it harder to keep Vista from working on just anyone's computer. Let OEMs give their customers blank computers and a $20 mail-in rebate coupon for Vista (Ultimate only). Everybody wants Vista, so even if you don't put it on everyone's computer by default, people will still buy it.
When WGA Notifications indicates that someone in the U.S. isn't entitled to the Genuine Advantage (probably because they weren't told how awesome this Advantage is), they are obviously breaking the DMCA. Issue a summons and encourage them to settle for $3,000 within two weeks in order to prevent a lawsuit. It's your responsibility to your customers to make sure they receive their Advantage and that they do so in the most Genuine way.
Finally, it's a proven fact that Microsoft knows best how their customers should be using their Vista computers. People don't exercise proper judgment when using their PCs. They even install software and click on links that Microsoft's top executives have never even heard of!! Stop the madness, and just tell your customers that there's thousands of applications and millions of links that work with Vista, so many that there's no reason to want anything else. If they insist, just trigger a hard reboot and a mandatory file system check. That'll teach them.
Nothing will change until the sh*t hits the fan. No ridiculously limited and patronizing Windows version for developing nations is going to be enough for the feces to make it all the way to wherever they put the fan (if anyone can even find it). We just need to wait for Microsoft to realize once again that being an enormous proprietary software monopolist is boring unless you really piss your customers off... and do so in a remarkably Genuine manner.
Member since:2006-01-02
I'm having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out what you're saying here. Are you saying that you want Microsoft to suck so that alternatives can have a chance or are you saying that Microsoft isn't interesting enough because it doesn't fit the archetype of the evil monopolistic corporation to the Tee?
~Confused~
Member since:
2005-11-13
. Only legitimate, paying customers are inconvenienced by WGA's draconian tactics or ensnared in WGA's false "positives". Since security in only an illusion, hackers will always find a way to circumvent such measure and enjoy the choicest software free of charge.
To be honest, the way I got the crack was to PM a friend of mine who I knew had a hacked copy of XP. If I would've had to scour the bowels of underground to find it myself, I probably wouldn't have bothered.
I wouldn't go that far. When Jane Average, who has an XP CD and gives it to her brother Joe to install on his computer tries to load the OS and it barks at him, Joe's probably not going to know enough to go hunting for an XP crack for WGA that actually works.
I've investigated how to bypass WGA on XP (out of curiosity, as my two copies are legit) and most of the cracks I found would still not let you download updates .. they only disabled the notifications in the system tray. I had to try several before I found one that cracked it completely, and I'm told that using such cracks is like a cat and mouse game, sort of like hacking the firmware on a Sony PSP.
Point being, though it wouldn't do much to stop people with real technical skills who wanted to pirate a copy, I don't think the average person is gonna be able to bypass it, unless they know somebody with said technical skills
As for XP Starter, I remember reading an article where it said how many copies they had sold, and though I can't remember the exact number, it was quite a lot. God only knows why, but apparently some people find value in it. I just don't see how you can sell copies in 3rd world country where you can get a full-blown Windows CD for $2 from some crook on the street corner.
Edited 2007-03-09 01:30