Blackmoor Vituperative

If your copy of Vista does not pass Microsoft’s anti-piracy sniff test, you won’t be able to use the Aero user interface, Windows Defender anti-spyware and ReadyBoost memory-expanding technologies that will be built into the premium versions of Vista. (Will other Vista elements, like Vista Ultimate Extras, get the WGA lock-down? The Softies had no comment when I asked.)

[...]

There are also some WGA and Volume Activation 2.0 myths that Microsoft is out to debunk, officials said. If a Vista machine doesn’t pass WGA or Volume Activation 2.0 muster, Microsoft cannot and will not “shut it off,” officials said. (If you fail to activate Vista in 30 days, however, it sounds like your Internet access is shut down after an hour. Sure sounds like a “kill” switch by any other name.)

(from ZDNet, What Microsoft still isn’t saying about WGA and Volume Activation 2.0

Remember: at least 20% at least 42% of the 60 million people hassled by WGA (aka Windows Genuine Aggravation) are licensed users who have obtained the software legitimately.

Just say “no thanks” to Vista.

The Zotob attacks could have been prevented by proper Windows patching, or they could have easily been prevented for less by using Linux in the first place.

(from eWeek, Zotob Madness and the Real Cost of Windows vs. Linux)

I don’t run Windows on any server, and haven’t for several years (nor has any competent system administrator, in my opinion). In fact, there’s only one reason I even use Windows on the desktop, anymore: Adobe Photoshop. But with Adobe’s pernicious “treat your customers like criminals” features in recent versions of Photoshop, that may not continue much longer.

By all accounts, Half-Life 2 is a good game. Unfortunately, you can’t play it until you “activate” it over the Internet, using the publisher’s “Steam” server. “Steam” is why I will not buy this game, even though the first Half-Life is one of my all-time favorite computer games. I will not support companies that treat their customers like criminals. Just say no to “product activation”.

Besides, game companies go out of business all the time. What if “Steam” isn’t available a year from now? The game would be unplayable. I will not buy a game that is held hostage to a server that may not even be there a year from now. Whoever thought that was a good idea is a paper-pushing idiot.

Norton SystemWorks 2005 is free after rebate at Outpost.com. Don’t buy it: it has “product activation”, one of the “treat your customers like criminals” techniques that threaten to become more common. Symantec has joined the ilk of Microsoft, RIAA, MPAA, and the rest of the robber barons, and the only way they will ever stop is if we make them hurt where they hurt most: the bottom line.

So don’t buy SystemWorks, even though it’s free. Spurn Symantec until they wake up and stop treating their customers so disrespectfully. Buy SystemSuite 5 from V-Com instead. V-Com doesn’t treat you like a criminal. Besides which, SystemSuite 5 has a better antivirus utility, better registry tools, a better user interface, and it’s less of a resource hog.

SystemSuite 5: it’s the right thing to do.