Hmmm... As I see it, until these little efforts by Micro$coff to extort additional revenue from consumers are made loudly public, and consumers are educated in mass of viable alternatives, Micro$coff will continue to get away with their licensing and billing practices. From a pure economic perspective there is nothing particularly unfair about a consumer "agreeing" to the onerous terms of the Vista licensing twist. But it sure does not sound like the "one time machine transfer" license limitation is pointed out clearly to the consumer. This is the first I heard of it.
In my warped way of viewing our world the consumer is getting a less valuable benefit than bargained for as he/she (me included) is not clearly made aware of the limitation of the Vista license. Thus, it is less than fair, and is a greedy move by M$ that ought to be decried. This is a company that has moved from overtly doing things in a self-serving manner to a more aggressive position of doing sneaky things that are even more self-serving through weasel-wording and fine print in their EULAs. I guess if M$ can't earn and win the market, and their revenues, by providing excellent value they need to resort to trapping and locking in the consumers they can "persuade" (trick) into their OS platforms (nearly everyone buying a new PC still, but with a small sliver of movement toward alternative solutions). I see an interesting similarity between this little Vi$ta cash dig, and the new (& improved) 2003 Server Terminal Service that can be enabled quite nicely as with previous Server OS platforms from M$. But after 180 days an additional TS CAL license must be purchased for each connected TS session to allow it to continue to work. When I had turned on TS for a client's 2003 Server OS I saw nothing disclosed about that little time bomb at the time of it being enabled, nor did I see anything on the license agreement that made that additional fee clear. I think I happened to spot it in an article - and I recall the surprise of some of our own FoxHeads when I brought this forth several months ago in this forum. This is what I refer to as, "Oh, by the way...", extortion pricing. And the TS CAL, "Oh, by the way...", gouge is precisely what pushed me into the World Of Linux for a File Server platform wherever possible. The newly exposed Vista license gouge is what will push me even deeper into Ubuntu Desktop for folks that do not absolutely have to use Windows. Outside of the machines I have flipped to Linux at my place (mostly Servers), so far I have flipped 4 PCs for friends and friends of family in the past 2 weeks. If I am going to be guilted and goaded into helping folks out because I am a nice guy, well, I am also going to do my good deeds under my own terms and conditions. Move to Linux or go somewhere else. If you do not like Linux I will restore the image of your Windows OS, then go somewhere else (and do not call me back again for any more free help). Far better to burn off under 30 minutes for an Ubuntu install and minimal configuration changes with no worries re: later (re)infections, than waste a far greater amount of time on an OS that is all but inviting problems with threat intrusions (and more "favor time" burned off in the future). I have drawn my line in the sand, the Cycle Of Insanity is now broken. So far I am 4 for 4 with the recipients of their PCs being returned with Linux being totally satisfied (one is a Dual boot Ubuntu Linux/XP Media machine, boots to Linux by default, and they LOVE Linux). Oh, add the iMac I recommended as a relacement for an infected Dell PC (the Dell is one of the 4 running Linux now). And let's not forget the iMac my wife purchased with her EOY bonus, and the 2 Macs her parents purchased this past December. I smell a revolution afoot. Okay, off the soap box for now. I am a changed person since having fallen in the Linux/Mac camp. And better for it. Gil > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Man-wai Chang > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 12:45 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [fw] New Vi$ta licensing terms > > > > http://www.maximumpc.com/article/Microsoft-s-Licensing-Madness > > -- > @~@ http://changmw.homeip.net > / v \ May the Force and Farce be with you! Linux 2.6.24.2 > /( _ )\ (Xubuntu 7.04) 13:43:01 up 10 days 3:43 > ^ ^ 0 users load average: 0.00 0.00 0.00 > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
