MS insists on XP verification

[kernow]

agreed with the post above

oh..

and

http://it.slashdot.org/it/05/07/28/1655234.shtml?tid=201&tid=172&tid=218

[Corrupt Rose]

Microsoft and their crazy security issues...

[mid]

Security updates will still be provided even if you have a dodgy copy of the OS.

Thanks Marty - that's reassuring, as it's not just the people with the dodgy boxes that suffer when their zombie PC starts bombarding the net with crap.

I don't go to the Windows Update site anyway, I just let the automatic security update do its thing, and for the rest of it go to the relevant site. I've already got almighty problems with my sound drivers after WU replaced them with ancient-but-certified ones. Though my XP is legit anyway - the ?89 was worth every penny to move from bloody Millennium.

[Resonance]

I don't think it's that much of a tragedy, really. I'm happy to pay for XP and Office as I always have, especially as I'm a student and get breaks on it. It's not like any of you are locked in... there are other operating systems to jump to.

If you're reliant on pirated software, however, that's your look out, not Microsofts.

I hear this Ms varification thing has already been cracked.

If you go to www.ma3d.com and sign up you can get loads of MS software for free as long as you are a student. Some sort of student license scheme.

[randombs]

while the whole 'home users should pay less' is the reason why there's the home and pro editions of xp, what gets me is how crap home edition really is. the moment you want to do something even remotely interesting, especially network-wise, it gets in a huff. heck, even turning off autoplay on your cd drive requires god-knows what to do, whereas in pro it's a 2-second process involving gpedit.msc (which home edition doesn't even have).

there's another problem now, especially for those out there who are planning on getting an oem version of pro, in that ms won't allow activation of, say, dell-licensed xp's, instead requiring dell to activate said installs themselves BEFORE dispatching the laptop. as to what would happen were you to require the recovery cd's, maybe the activation string will be embedded in the cd (it's in a file in the windows directory that you can just copy into your new installation, although the installation must be on the same machine as the file is encrypted). just a thought, in case you're deciding to buy one off ebay or something(i was, then decided not to).

[MartyG]

Thanks Marty - that's reassuring, as it's not just the people with the dodgy boxes that suffer when their zombie PC starts bombarding the net with crap.

It's not that reasuring tbh. I've not seen the percentages from MS, but I'd guess from my experience dealing with support issues, that the percentage of home users that actually update their systems is an insignificant number.

[wod]

yep agree with that as i used to work in a pc shop and the amount of pc owners that didn't know how to update the pc or cared anyway was huge

[mid]

while the whole 'home users should pay less' is the reason why there's the home and pro editions of xp, what gets me is how crap home edition really is. the moment you want to do something even remotely interesting, especially network-wise, it gets in a huff. heck, even turning off autoplay on your cd drive requires god-knows what to do, whereas in pro it's a 2-second process involving gpedit.msc (which home edition doesn't even have).

In terms of interesting networking, that's perfectly understandable, as the usual Home user doesn't have enough PCs lying around for anything more than basic Workgroups to really be necessary. As for the turning off Autoplay, it's a few seconds work with TweakUI. Why they feel the need to make you go to the Microsoft site to get it however, I don't know. Presumably they're trying to make hide the fancy stuff that can easily make a PC appear 'broken' to a stupid person again.

[randombs]

In terms of interesting networking, that's perfectly understandable, as the usual Home user doesn't have enough PCs lying around for anything more than basic Workgroups to really be necessary. As for the turning off Autoplay, it's a few seconds work with TweakUI. Why they feel the need to make you go to the Microsoft site to get it however, I don't know. Presumably they're trying to make hide the fancy stuff that can easily make a PC appear 'broken' to a stupid person again.

yeah you're right in that sense - maybe if they had some of the pro functionality that is locked by default but users like myself could unlock it it'd be less hassle. heck, what if they introduced a modular style whereby i could, say, upgrade my licensed home edition with extra bits like pro-style networking for a few quid, say, a networking pack for ?4.99 or something. but then, i think the pro edition is more expensive -because- of all the networking functionality...

[mid]

To be honest, the networking differences are pretty much the only thing other than some GUI cuteness between the two version. If the network stuff was in Home, 90% of business would save themselves the money.

[randombs]

and there'd be no need for the pro edition