[Flipside]

Ok, 1 good reason not to....
About £89 Good reasons to do so....

Gee... let me think....

[Scuddie]

Well, when you can get a $4000 package for $250 legitimately, then why the hell not?

[MatthewPapa]

Originally posted by pyro-manic
Heh. When they start making decent software, I'll start paying for it...

EXACTLY, YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH

[Scuddie]

With exception to their econo-line products (XP home, Works, FrontPage Express, etc), what current software would be considered indecent?

Oh BTW matt, your caps key is on.

[karajorma]

Like we don't already have enough Zombied computers. No doubt security patches will also be included in this?

[redmenace]

Probably, security patches will be included. As for me, I see the risk being to great to bother stealing it. It all comes down to risk are you willing to take on.

[Grey Wolf]

I'm seriously contemplating getting a nice legitimate OEM copy of 2k for my next computer, as apparently the college I'm going to refuses to offer any tech support at all if you can't prove you own the software (read: CD key).

Also, according to The Inquirer, they're allowing you to download security fixes, but nothing else. Which leads to the obvious question: What else is there, other than service packs?

[Clave]

The decision not to use Windows is a sane decision.

[redmenace]

Not saying that is not a good decision. But inorder to use most modern games and some software, you have to be running Windows.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Unknown Target
My copy's legit, and I'm still running it right from the box. I don't trust M$ updates and the stuff that's in them, so I just firewall my comp and stay away from the bad web sites  as much as I can

Mmh, well my PC came with XP installed and patched, there's even a folder where all the patches are copied. Haven't tried to uninstal anything, as far as I know, it might be better or worse w/o, I have no idea what all those patches do, so...

[Nuke]

i have a legit copy of xp pro (that i paid for), however because i already activated it on another computer it is totally useless unless i use the activation hack. so instead i use a copy of windows 2000 that i made (thanks to clonecd) from a msdn disk (wich had pro, server, and advanced server on it), ya know one of those enterprise edititions for network wide installs. the way i see it i paid them and they screwed me out of my cash, therefore i will never buy a microsoft product again

as for the new strategy i think its fair.  it however wont work, my philosophy is to use as little of windows as possible. seeing as hackers will target primarily microsoft products. set up a firewall and block any traffic to as many microsoft programs as possible. this is my security fix. use firefox instead of ie, winamp5 instead of wmp, and trillian instead of messanger. theres a free and often superior alternative to everything microsoft offers.

[Scuddie]

Clave:  The decision to use windows is also a sane decision.

Nuke:  Did you even try to activate the XP pro install on the new machine before you decided it wont work?  I can almost guarantee that you'd have no problem doing it.  It is only in certain circumstances where a re-activation would not work.  i.e. If you attempt to activate the serial a certain number of times in one year (Six, I believe).  And if it fails, a message screen should appear where it tells you to call MS and sort it out.  They would certainly not be stupid enough to only allow a serial on only one hardware configuration ever.  To do so would be suicide, and they know it.

Also, there are tradeoffs as to when you use alternate means of applications.  Firefox is safer, but it is also inefficient, and it isnt built into the OS.  WMP is pure garbage, so I have to give that one to you.  But you failed in choosing WinAMP.  Use VLC Media Player, instead (if you have enough power to run it, that is).  MSN Messenger service sucks.  Use aim, or preferably, teamspeak .

[Flipside]

Thing is, Microsoft will simply find that their servers go dead, as people either decide not to upgrade, or are too nervous about giving their details to Microsoft to click yes to transmitting info about their computer every single time they want to update. It'll probably increase problems for everyone to be honest.

That said, what'll really cripple pirate OS system is if this includes DirectX

[Thorn]

If you can afford a $2000 computer, why the hell can't you spend another $150? I don't give a flying **** about games or other software, but the OS is just as important as the video card.

[Grey Wolf]

I think it's a six month period between easy, automated activations (if it's less than six months between installs, you have to deal with MS tech support). However, that's annoying, hence my decision to use MS products with 2000 or less after their name from now on. And instead of WMP, I still recommend the iTunes/Media Player Classic combo....

[WMCoolmon]

To lure users into the initiative, the company will offer free downloads of Photo Story 3, Winter Fun Pack 2004 and rebates for MSN Games, Windows SharePoint, List Builder and Outlook Live...

...all of which will themselves be cracked and pirated within a week of being released.

[Nuke]

winamp has a better media library imho. trillian is good if you want to be on all messanger services without having to run multiple im apps. im just guessing ith the xp install, its an oem version and i heard of people not being able to reactivate oem versions. my comp needs a fresh os install but im too lasy to do one. when i finly git totally pissed at the state of windows i think il try to reactivate.

[Thorn]

I have an OEM copy of XP Pro. The only time they wouldn't be able to activate it is if they had to reinstall only a short time after they last activated it (I'm not sure how long before it gets reset). When that happens, all they have to do is call up MS and *****. I've activated it many times.

[pyro-manic]

Originally posted by Scuddie
With exception to their econo-line products (XP home, Works, FrontPage Express, etc), what current software would be considered indecent?

Oh BTW matt, your caps key is on.

Um, practically everything they've done. There's still code in XP from 15 years ago, for crying out loud. They don't even know what half of it does! When they stop making horrible, inefficient bloatware, I'll be willing to shell out for it.

Also, I'm not happy with the whole activation and spyware thing they've got going on. Why the hell should they be allowed to know what I do with my computer?

[redmenace]

Simply, it is thier operating system and their intellectual property.