__/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Tuesday 26 December 2006 15:00 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> Vista piracy remains a cat-and-mouse game...
>> Crack Available for Vista Validation Update
>>
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Crack-Available-for-the-Vista-Validation-Update-42565.shtml
>
> I have two concerns here.
>
> The first is that I feel it's a bit inappropriate for Linux Advocacy to
> be promoting methods to pirate Vista. If someone wants to discuss how
> easy it is to steal Vista, they should probably post in
> comp.os.windows.advocacy. It looks too much like cola is promoting
> piracy.
Your observation is a very fair one. In previous occasions when I highlighted
such holes (Vista validation, WGA, etc.) I bothered to add (usually by
appendage) the context which I believe is key here.
While Microsoft does want security (backdoors for authorities apart) it does
not seem to invest much effort in preventing privacy. Microsoft used privacy
to spread its shackles all over town and it is fully aware that any backlash
(false positive) or locking out of determined pirates (often those who
simply cannot afford a licence) will be a boost the other platform. Society
will then break out the chicken and egg trap. There's a vague point of
balance here between an iron fist (revenue) and popularity (or
locking/chokehold on the market).
> The second concern is around Vista security. If Microsoft can't even
> protect it's own crown jewel from hackers, how can I possibly trust
> them to protect my financial records, passwords, access codes, and
> other personal and company confidential information?
This brings my mind back to Mark Kent's rant about Dabs.com and their Windows
servers which process credit card details. Their IT manager came here to
defend their choice, mainly arguing that no sensitive information is stored
under Windows (speaking of Linux advocacy!). Also, glance back at all those
University whose Windows servers exposed personal details of nearly a
million people. And these are only the Universities who (1) know about it
and (2) speak about it. In two cases that I know of, the server were
compromised for a long, long time (even a year). This gives the cracker
plenty of time to negotiate with data thieves and plan some joyous malice.
> The big promise of Vista was that they were going to fix security.
> Looks like their big "fix" was merely to disable installation of
> competitor software, while letting the malware in through the ever
> popular back doors (ActiveX, embedded Com and Com+ objects, and
> macroviruses).
Sadly for them, they disabled some of their own software too. Of course,
these will be on top of the priority list in bug-fixing. Legacy software,
however, means forced upgrades$$$. Then you have implementation and
prebundling of other people's ideas...
Firefox is still incompatible with Vista (two major bugs). How many people
will you see locked to IE7 before this is fixes? Browsers hold information,
have plugins that are often irreplaceable, etc. This buys Microsoft times
and gives them a monopoly on Vista, even if that monopoly is temporary and
it yield decreased momentum for rivals.
> Is it really worth another round of layoffs or cost reductions to
> upgrade to Vista, which provides no true productivity gains, and
> gobbles up memory and CPU cycles merely to give me a "cute" 3D
> interface?
After seeing Bryl/Compix/XGL/AIGLX and Looking GLass, Aero Glass is just
decent or below. The former do not require 2-4GB of RAM... more like 128MB
would do.
> If I want a "cute 3D interface" there are lots of cheaper options, such
> as XGL, Looking Glass, and even a Mac Mini.
>
> Seems like those who already have Windows XP have a better option than
> Vista. At least with XP you don't have to pay $$$ to use it as a VM
> client for Xen, VMWare, or Bochs.
Don't forget that buyers will most likely have Basic or Home. This does not
include Aero. It's deficient and incomplete by design. Must upgrade after
purchase. Acer has complained that people will have no media, remote control
nor eye candy. Yet, they'll have to sell a limb for strong hardware. Less
money for the OEM (tight margins), no production costs for Microsoft. OEM's
and customers lose and guess who wins...? It's not just content providers
that laugh all the way to the bank when they see DRM everywhere...
> If you want a new computer, it makes more sense to get an AMD-64 and/or
> dual-core Intel 64 chip and install Linux and either Crossover or
> Win4Lin. Microsoft still gets their pound of flesh, but at least they
> only get one, and not four pounds.
>
> I'm not nieve enough to believe that the entire industry is fully ready
> for a "Linux-only" solution, but it's getting more and more obvious
> that Linux needs to move to the front, and Windows needs to be
> relegated to a secondary role as a VM client.
>
> Vista is NOT providing the security, stability, immunity to viruses,
> and hacker resistance that was promised, and the licenses are so much
> more restrictive and require the end user to accept so much more
> liability that it seems like a downgrade. Keep in mind that Microsoft
> could deactivate those "cracked" copies of XP even if they were
> legitimate OEM licenses with legitimate keys. Remember, once you
> violate even ONE term of the EULA, Microsoft has every right to revoke
> your entire license, they can then charge you whatever you are willing
> to pay - possibly even full retail price, for a new license with which
> you can use your machine.
>
> This may sound like extortion, but because you agree to these terms
> when you press "I Accept" and accept the terms of the Vista EULA, you
> agree that Microsoft has your full permission to engage in such
> measures. Therefore, it's not extortion, it's simply fulfilling the
> terms of a legally binding contract.
>
> Microsoft has managed to slash their own throats. It may even turn out
> that Vista will do more harm than good to the OEMs. The only good
> thing is that it kept people from buying computers (because they wanted
> to wait for Vista) and now they will either buy a Linux PC or they will
> just keep on using what they already have.
>
> At the momemt, Vista seems like more trouble than it is worth. I doubt
> I will want anything to do with Vista under the current terms. I'll
> probably be putting Linux on the next machine. Maybe I can get a
> machine with XP before the OEMs start force-feeding Vista.
Jo Foley said the other day that XP options will remain. No wonder though.
Bad EULA. No backward compatibility, cost... never mind security...
In any event, you will always be misinformed people who know nothing about
any of the above (the marketing onslaught won't help either). To them, the
punishment/shock will come after cashwas spent and the data got locked in
(no rollbacks).
Expect a lot of typos. It's one of those messages that I write while eating.
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
Roy S. Schestowitz, Ph.D. Candidate (Medical Biophysics)
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT GNU/Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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