XP Packaging

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Does anyone know how XP is going to be sold? Will it have the “Registration Wizard?” Will it be sold by subscription or by traditional lisence?

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yes on activation.

rumor is subscription only (as published in an ezine earlier this week), too soon to know for sure.

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That’s too bad. I guess I have done my last Windows upgrade.

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because of activation or subscription?

activation doesn’t bother me too much, it’s not been a problem with word. it’s more of a user issue, as in users don’t understand how it works and get upset without knowing the facts.

subscription will depend totally on cost. if i can get it for much less than the current cost and renew yearly for a small fee, it might save me money in the long run as i usually upgrade to the new OSs as they are released.

The big issue will be what happens when the OSs are retired (as win95 has been). Will the ability to renew cease? Will they allow you to continue using it with no yearly fee?

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The answer to both is yes. I particularly do not like the Registration Wizard. I remember the horrors of Copy Protected software and will never again have it on one of my computers. If Microsoft insists on going the same route that killed Lotus, then I will stand at the dock and wave a fond farewell to them. I will continue to use my current versions as long as they meet my needs, but will then find something else.

I feel similarly about subscription software. I can just see me needing to use my computer for someething urgent at just the time when the subscription runs out and hackers take Microsoft’s network down for two weeks or more. Thanks, but no thanks.

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Almost ALL of the software firms are going to a required registration. So if you are so bound NOT to register your software you will be staying where you are. These are requiring a very min of information to register. One is going to have get use to this. But MOST people do not have a problem with this unless they are NOT using the software in the proper manner.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I do register the software I own. What I do object to is being required to do so. First, I dislike being required to provide personal information before being allowed to use software I have paid for. However, if it is just requiring me to register, the is not nearly as objectionable as what MS is doing. They are implementing full scale copy protection. If the Registration Wizard decides that I have copied the software because of some change I have made to my hardware, it will stop the software from working, and I have to bow down to MS again to get reregistered, and that could get to be a major problem it their network is down because the hackers have hit again, not to mention that the normal performance on MS’s sites is a major problem even when the hackers don’t have control. Of course, it will also be a business opportunity for someone to break this protection scheme just like they always did for Lotus copy protection.

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Afaik, it’s not the software registration that’s going to be the problem with XP, but the hardware. It locks into the system you have when you install, and changing your parts means re-registering with MS, which will cost every time you do it. You will also not be allowed in any way to install it on more than one system, and it sees the slightest hardware change as a new system. If that doesn’t kill it before it gets off the ground, the usual bugs probably will.
XP is for the convenience of MS, and not for the user. Shout loudly from the rooftops: leave well alone.

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Here is Microsoft’s take on the registration issue:

Microsoft Anti-Piracy Solutions Extended to Upcoming Versions of Office, Windows and Visio Products Worldwide

Office 2000 Registration Wizard

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And I am sure that Lotus marketing came up with all the same propaganda on Copy Protection.

The bottom line is that Microsoft is going to punish those of us who are honest and buy the software we use and do absolutely nothing to stop the thieves (maybe slow them down for a day or two).

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Wow JamesB, it is truly amazing when someone is looking for an ‘unbiased’ resource (like Woody’s) they can refer to the the Microsoft Spin Machine. Not once or twice, but THREE times!

While I am a strong proponent of registering your software, there are many concerns that I have with the WinXP registration. I am constantly making changes to my hardware setup at home along with troubleshooting others PC’s and having to register this software each time I make a ‘substantial’ change is absolute garbage.

As with many other registration methods (nags), the only people that these nags hurt are honest people who respect their privacy. I personally know that there are several places on the Internet where someone could go to get a Key Generator to avoid the Microsoft Office Registration Wizard. More of these will certainly appear if Microsoft continues to annoy users.

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Randy,

I welcome your input on this thread, and I’m sure this issue will be a rather hot topic as release dates near.

I am rather dismayed however that you felt it necessary to make your point by posting a sarcastic and unwarranted attack on me.

If you reread the thread, you will see that there was some confusion as to what Microsoft was actually going to do, and how it would be implemented. The links I posted merely presented the information that MS has made available so that everyone could benefit from knowing what MS was planning.

In my rather brief post, there was no endorsement of this policy, nor condemnation, it merely presented some more facts to consider.

I will have the software soon, and then will be able to look at and test the new registration wizard features, and I’m sure I’ll post my opinions then.

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Let’s not get personal, please!
Quoting relevant links to the MS side of the story does nor demonstrate bias – objecting to that, does.

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From the FAQ page listed in another reply.

Q: How does Microsoft identify the computer

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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When you register, do they require that you gie them your name? That is personal information!

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no, the CRSs may ask but it’s only to be polite and sound frindly, not rude. (standard for any call center)

if you don’t give them your name, they will still give you the number.

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I’d suggest waiting until you see how it works. I’m on the betas in question and i’ve been testing out different scenarios. A lot of the anti-activation in the media is just hype. They haven’t fully tested it to know exactly what causes problems and what doesn’t.

I can guarentee a minor hardware change will not cause problems. A new mobo will, but that’s not minor and that’s not common place. I tested all of this extensively with Office2000 and know the tricks to avoid problems. i’m hoping these same tricks will work in the XPs too.

Main ‘trick’ is to call in the registration and write down the code the CSR gives you. Try it after a hardware change, worst that will happen is it doesn’t work and you’ll need to call back in. Chances are, it’ll work unless you got a new mobo.

So far the ones complaining the most are ones who don’t understand or follow the EULA. One machine, one copy (save for office, desktop/laptop allowed, based on book rule). This is what MS is trying to enforce and from the looks of it, it’s going to work.

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I’m afraid I will never know how “well” it works as I will never again allow copy protected software on one of my PCs, and I will never buy software on subscription.

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Personally, I like the standard ‘fake personal information.’ Hi, My name is James Greggor, or Jim Reese, or Kevin McLintok. Not that i’m big on Aliases, but I TOTALLY DO NOT BELIEVE IN MARKETING. Microsoft Made $300+ when I bought the product, what gives them the right to Sell my information for added $$? Or any company for that matter. I feel that there should be laws against this type of information gathering, it makes the masses unwilling targets for junkmail, whether they’re “free Product information” or not… nothing beneficial has ever come to me in the mail as a result of registering my purchases.. call me a hermit or a recluse, but I think it’s Wrong. that’s my .

Drk.

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Actually, I don’t really object to registering the products I buy or to providing information like my name and adderss when I do if the company tells me that they are not going to sell that information. I do in fact register most of the products I buy and provide all of that information.

I do object to being REQUIRED to provide that information before I can use a product that I have paid for. I also object to having a product stop working because I have made some change in my configuration (which I do very frequently). I also object to not beign able to reinstall the product on a different machine in an emergency situation and use it without asking permission from the vendor, using a network that has very poor response time and is subject to frequent hacking.

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Remember that you paid to USE the software, you do NOT own it. The fine print of most of the agreements that you agree to when install the software includes the act of registering the product.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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That is exactly the point!!! I paid to use the software and I am not able to use it. It sounds like Microsoft is selling a defective product. I believe that a consumer won a law suit against the former Ashton Tate on exactly that point with their copy protection. Does MS need yet more suits?

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activation is not registration.

you don’t need to register, only activate.. activation requires a code and the country only, nothing more.

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And what wizard do you use to get the code?

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the activation wizard.

if you choose phone option, it presents a long code (50 characters or so) you give hte CSR and they give you one back. save the code in a safe place and try it after reformatting or hardware changes. only major changes should cause problems and require another call, but always try the code before calling.

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I’ve just had a look at the XP thread.
I also worry about Microsoft’s systems let alone hackers. My first MSDN subscription took almost 5 months before I received anything. The second took 3 weeks. My last one they lost totally, despite me being able to log onto the MSDN site and see it’s progress (or lack of it).

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I had similar experiences with all of the three MSDN subscriptions I ordered while I lived in Switzerland. I do not want to have to depend on their copy protection working properly when I need to get into a document created in Office.

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Thanks for the info. At least Microsoft don’t do it deliberately to me. Either Swiss residents or residents of Earth are treated equally badly, (fairness in business practice?).

ps. Switzerland is a nice country to live in. Hope you enjoyed your time here.

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2/3 of the users i support are not knowledgable enough to use linux. there are still too many issues with it and hardware and with it’s lack of ease of use for it to be a viable alternative for a lot of people.

once it’s as easy to setup and use as windows and has as many quality programs to replace windows apps (and the different versions shake out to just one), then yes, it will be an alternative for businesses to use instead of windows. once businesses move to it, then consumers will in greater numbers. until then, it’s not a viable replacement for winodws for the majority of computer users.

of course, once it’s the domniate OS, you’ll hear all the same complaints about it that you do about windows and Gates.

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With the current direction MS is taking back into copy protection, that day may not be too far off.

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While I believe firmly that it is in EVERYONE’s best interest to seek to understand as much as possible, (and do personally, regularly,) I feel that learning linux at this time would be a pracice in futility until it, as an operating system covers the following points, (already made here):

More Applications
Of those, more compatibility with ‘main stream formats’
More Powerful Applications. that’s to say, until it can blow the pants off of anything out there, i’m not interested.
I’m not touching it until the Linux masses get together and decide on one universal format. (they lack that now.)
Does it have potential to take over? but they’re going to have to play it smart. There are serious contenders out there. Microsoft systems, (can we really call them PC’s anymore?) are by far the most dominate out there. Followed by MAC, then it’s a toss between all the others out there, Unix, Linux, etc..etc..etc… Atari FAILED in the major markets because they didn’t market it. They had the perfect GUI, chip based, much like MaC now. It doesn’t matter what ANYONE says. Even windows 2k is DOS based. they are still using a command line interface to interperet windows. In a perfect situation, Microsoft would produce it’s own machines, with Windows being a hard-chipped OS, and make them CHEAP. I gaurantee that would outperform ANYTHING on the market today, and wouldn’t require as much system-brawn to do it.. (Proc, memory, hdspace, etc.) It would keep them ahead of the game.. Are you listening Bill?

Sorry for the rant, but that’s where i’m at!

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it doesn’t “call back”. you only need to active it once.

the only need for the timed demo hack is if you have no intention of buying it or honoring the license. Personally, if that’s the case, don’t bother even trying it.. then the rest of the legitimate users can’t blame you for causing MS not to trust them.

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Most all beta and DEMO versions have “version on desktop” or some other nag. This is what you get using DEMOware. I have seen the BETA versions of Windows XP but I did NOT know that they have produced any DEMO’s of it as of yet. If you don’t mind, where did you get your Demo copy?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Bah, Humbug.

They shaft you for the product, then they shaft you for the support. It’s a sad way to operate Mr. Bill.

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