Reader Comments

Well, half-measures are better than none at all. Nice to see Microsoft listening (even if it is with only one ear).

"Our customers have told us that they were disappointed with their WGA Notifications experience" Surely the only people it should be bothering are people with pirated copies of windows - who aren't proper 'Customers' anyway. And as for the silent phoning home, I don't suppose it uses any significant amount of bandwidth nor can be used to personally identify me, and therefore I'm not bothered about that either.

Hooray for Microsoft tuning down their spyware! I love that it's news for this company to stop phoning home. It is just week after week of bad news for this dying relic of the 90s. OS X has no activation, no serial number, and no spyware. You just install it. Microsoft needs to learn how to design software. Maybe Steve Jobs could stop by the Redmond campus and give a few pointers.

Bonch - pointing out that OSX has no activation is a mute point, and you know it. The number of people wanting to get their hands on a pirate copy of MacOSX is tiny. If you are a representative example of a typical MacOSX user, then I'm sure most of them are quite happy to give $129 for each minor OSX update to help Apple stay in business. Microsoft is not dying, they are market leaders in several areas - dominating far more markets than Apple, who have at times barely hung on to life over the last two decades. Need I remind you that if it wasn't for Microsoft bailing Apple out in the hard times - there would BE no Apple Computers today.

What Apple does is totally irrelevant. Apple manufactures its own hardware. Anyone can make PCs. In fact, there's a huge "gray market" in countries like China. In suchh markets, piracy is rampant. These people obviously don't get quantity discounts from Microsoft. So what do they do? They install pirated software onto the computers. Of course, this doesn't justify surreptitiously installing software that phones in to the company everyday. MS should have at least informed people about it. And anyway, why everyday? How does a key that was genuine yesterday become pirated today? Is it to prevent people from using trial versions of windows forever? Can the tool that disables WGA ensure that trial versions never expire or does WGA have nothing to do with the trial software?

"And anyway, why everyday? How does a key that was genuine yesterday become pirated today?" It's not every day, it's every boot. If it was time-based you could fool it by changing the time at bootup and then changing it after the check. If it was flagged as being done, the pirater would just "check" the done value wherever it was. The only was have it always work is to have it not be conditional.

"OS X has no activation, no serial number, and no spyware. You just install it. Microsoft needs to learn how to design software. Maybe Steve Jobs could stop by the Redmond campus and give a few pointers" indeed. who'd ever pirate such thing. in fact who'd even pay for it.

Apple is dying just as I predicted. Hang on to your iMacs because they will be worth something someday on the Antiques Roadshow. "Shares of Apple Computer fell on Wednesday to an eight-month low" http://news.com.com/New+iPods+to+arrive+late%2C+analyst+says/2100-1041_3-6089007.html?tag=nefd.top

"Shares of Apple Computer fell on Wednesday to an eight-month low" I find it funny that Bonch talks about MS's falling share prices etc. and happily ignores the fact that Apple's share prices have been falling too. So, if MS is dying because it's shares are down then so is Apple.

"It's not every day, it's every boot. If it was time-based you could fool it by changing the time at bootup and then changing it after the check. If it was flagged as being done, the pirater would just "check" the done value wherever it was." That makes sense. Unfortunately, Microsoft has to do it because piracy is rampant.

Mdsharpe, if you had been paying any attention to the feedback MS got you'd have seen that it was from people like me. All my copies of Windows are 100% legal and paid for. The same goes for my company and clients. Microsoft's piracy problems are not our problems. We paid for our software and have kept our agreements. We don't appreciate it when MS foists buggy, pre-release software on us under the guise of a security fix. We like it even less when this software calls us thieves or trashes our critical systems. Besides, none of the real pirates even bothered to complain to MS. They just downloaded the cracks.

Maybe you Windows fans can help me out, I wish to install Windows on my Intel Mac. If I install a copy to work with boot-camp and a copy to work with Parallels virtual Machine, I will only be running one copy at a time so, I shouldn't fall foul of EULA there, but what about activation as I will need to activate both copies, will I be able to do this, or will activating one copy kill the other?, and also what about WGA phoning home is this going this stop me? Any help appreciated thanks.

"If I install a copy to work with boot-camp and a copy to work with Parallels virtual Machine, I will only be running one copy at a time so, I shouldn't fall foul of EULA there, but what about activation as I will need to activate both copies, will I be able to do this, or will activating one copy kill the other?, and also what about WGA phoning home is this going this stop me?" Since WGA looks at hardware, activiting one won't harm the other. In fact it will look like the same copy to Microsoft as long as it's the same key and if it's a different key it won't matter either.

"If I install a copy to work with boot-camp and a copy to work with Parallels virtual Machine, I will only be running one copy at a time so, I shouldn't fall foul of EULA there, but what about activation as I will need to activate both copies, will I be able to do this, or will activating one copy kill the other?, and also what about WGA phoning home is this going this stop me?" Since WGA looks at hardware, activiting one won't harm the other. In fact it will look like the same copy to Microsoft as long as it's the same key and if it's a different key it won't matter either.

"I find it funny that Bonch talks about MS's falling share prices etc. and happily ignores the fact that Apple's share prices have been falling too. So, if MS is dying because it's shares are down then so is Apple." Apple's share prices haven't "been falling," they've been rising steadily for the past five years, and you know it. If you bought stock in Apple a couple of years ago and sold it now, you'd be a wealthy man. Stocks only temporarily dipped this week because an analyst predicted that updates to the iPods would be delayed until December, although nothing official has been announced. Microsoft's stock price has been 100% flat dead since 2000. In fact, it dropped even lower when Microsoft revealed revenues would be lower this year. See the difference? By the way, another Microsoftie left for Google today! Farewell Vic Gundotra. Microsoft really is dying. All the analysts agree. You guys are just whiny fanboys who will defend this crappy company to the end.

Oh, and people ARE clamoring to pirate OS X. They've been hacking it to run on generic PCs, because people are so desperate to escape the crumbling Windows disaster. OS X has no activation, and not even a serial number! You guys are just mad that you can't argue with that--Windows phones home to Microsoft to check up on you, requires a serial, requires online activation, etc. etc. etc. If Apple released OS X for generic PCs today, Windows market share would be dead over night. The computing world deserves a clean, modern operating system with an awesome interface.

I'm going to repost what I posted yesterday because I think it is very instructive. An interesting exchange between a co-worker and myself yesterday: Coworker: (seeing me reading MDN's website) "Do you have a Mac?" Me: "Yes" Coworker: "I was thinking about buying a Mac last year when my Dell died." Me: "Did you?" Coworker: "No. I bought another Dell, but it died after nine months. That was a few months ago." Me: "Did you buy a Mac then?" Coworker: "No. I bought another Dell." Me: (blank look on my face) "Really! If you bought a car and it died after 9 months, would you buy another car from the same company?" Coworker: (blank look on his face) "Uhhhhh.....No, I don't think so.......I should of bought a Mac." True story. The tide is turning folks!

"I find it funny that Bonch talks about MS's falling share prices etc. and happily ignores the fact that Apple's share prices have been falling too. So, if MS is dying because it's shares are down then so is Apple" Microsoft is dying for far more many reasons than its stock price.

Somehow, the topic turned from WGA to Dells vs. Macs. Who could have *possibly* switched the topic? :-) I have bought Dell computers and my experience with them has been exceptionally good. My Dell laptop had a video card issue, and Dell actually SENT A TECH OUT to my house to fix it for free. Your coworker must have not been the brightest, for Dell's minimum warranty is one year. No wonder he said he should have bought a Mac, if he was so uneducated about Dell's warranty, then he obviously was uneducated about Macs. He probably has a bunch of programs he uses all the time that are Windows only, so if he buys a Mac, he would realize that his new computer is practically useless. "Microsoft is dying for far more many reasons than its stock price." Sorry, I'm not going for that bait, except to say that statement is dead wrong.

"He probably has a bunch of programs he uses all the time that are Windows only, so if he buys a Mac, he would realize that his new computer is practically useless." Actually, PCs are practically useless. God, iMovie alone kicks the butt of anything on the Windows platform ("Windows Movie Maker," ahahahaha). Also, Macs run Windows natively in virtualization or dual-booting, so you can still run The Sims 2. The only reason people use Windows is for videogames and spreadsheets, so don't worry, you still can on a Mac. Macs are the only computers you'll ever need--the power of a clean, modern operating system that doesn't get in your and actually has a usable interface that is a joy to use if you have to stare at a computer eight hours a day. "Sorry, I'm not going for that bait, except to say that statement is dead wrong." Okay, then you tell me why Microsoft executives are fleeing the sinking ship left and right and joining Google, the stock price is flat, Windows hasn't been updated in six years, Vista keeps dropping features, employees are unhappy, analysts expect low sales for Vista, Mac sales are exploding, Bill Gates is leaving, everyone hates Ballmer, Paul Thurrott is using Macs now, etc.

OS X--the operating system with no activation spyware. Not even a serial number. You see, that's the advantage of using a computer from a manufacturer who makes both the hardware and software. Not only do they integrate seamlessly, but the company doesn't care so much what you do with the OS because they make money from the sales of their vastly superior hardware. So, can anyone tell me where the Recycle Bin and the "File Edit View Window Help" menu layout comes from in Windows?

The real problem is Microsoft's abuse of the Automatic Updates system. Pushing WGA notifications via a "high-priority update" is a breach of trust. If Microsoft was really sorry, it would push a "high-priority update" that would automatically remove the WGA notifications software.

So, can anyone tell me where the Recycle Bin and the "File Edit View Window Help" menu layout comes from in Windows? So can anyone tell me where Apple ripped of the GUI, Mouse and iPod Menu System from. Shut up Troll

Bonch - You'll be happy to hear that I've recently switched 2 more people over from Dells. They had been life-long PC users and both are now proud owners of Macs. You should have seen the look on their faces when I showed them how Spring-Loaded folders work. When I installed Quicksilver and showed that to them, they fell in love. When I told them that installing a program is as simple as dragging the icon to the Applications folder and deleting is as simple as dragging it back out again, they nearly sent Steve their first born sons. That brings my total up to 10 people switched, directly because I got involved and showed them OS X. Out of these 10, probably 5 will get excited enough to switch other people. You're right; slowly but surely, it's happening. Momentum is building.

"So, can anyone tell me where the Recycle Bin and the "File Edit View Window Help" menu layout comes from in Windows?" * Sticky menus. Originally, if you clicked on a Mac menu, it appeared and then disappeared as soon as you released the mouse button. Microsoft had a better idea -- you can release the mouse button without the menu disappearing. From MacOS 8 forwards, Apple changed their menu behavior to match MS Windoze. * Apples TextEdit program in MacOS X produces files in RTF format, a format developed by Microsoft. * In MacOS X, next to the time there is a little sound icon, same as Windoze. * The way that you sort columns in a file list has changed to the Windoze way -- instead of the ascending/descending triangle being in the right-top corner like MacOS 9, now in MacOS X it is actually on the column itself, like Windoze. * Apple copied the idea of showing a little arrow on aliases/shortcuts. * And the idea of arrow cursors with an extra symbol added, such as arrow and a plus sign (copy). * A major idea that Apple borrowed from Microsoft is Context Menus. * In MacOS X, when you move the mouse over the close box in the window titlebar, it shows an "X" for the close box, a dash for minimize, and a plus for maximize, just like MS Windoze. * And then there is the Dock in MacOS X. It's a suspiciously similar idea to the Start/Task Bar in Windoze -- the things you have open listed horizontally on a bar across the bottom of the screen. * MacOS X also has the "Computer" icon, like the "My Computer" in Windoze. * MacOS X is shifting towards using file name extensions ("myfile.doc") instead of Mac type/creator codes. * For a long time, MS Windows could update your clock for Daylight Savings Time automatically, whereas Mac users had to do it manually. Apple eventually realized that automatic updating was a good idea, and copied the idea. * There's more - but I ran out of space on this sites comment box :p

"Oh, and people ARE clamoring to pirate OS X. They've been hacking it to run on generic PCs, because people are so desperate to escape the crumbling Windows disaster" LOL - funniest comment so far. You seriously believe that everyone using a Windows PC is actually just miserable with Windows and can't stand it. So I guess the reason that they've not swtiched to OSX long ago is .. what? Because they haven't met you yet? That's hilarious!

"You'll be happy to hear that I've recently switched 2 more people over from Dells." Windows fans will be happy to hear that I am switching people from Macs to PCs. You should see how excited they are by all the things they can do with Windows! Recently, one person specifically bought a PC laptop ($700) (He has been a faithful Mac user as long as I can remember). He even bought a PC wireless router ($40) because his $100 Airport Express refused to work with his laptop's wireless card. Did you know that it is impossible (at least in my experience) to log on to Apple's Airport Express settings using an IP address? You have to go through their buggy, bloated utility to access the Airport Express settings. (On a mac, the utility works great) He is now excited because I installed Office 2007 beta 2 on it, and he absolutely loves the new interface. He was concerned about updating spyware/antivirus/firewall programs, so I installed Windows OneCare. I also installed IE7 on it, so he does not have to worry about the horried IE6 (Plus, the layout was more familiar to him). I have also successfully convinced numerous people not to buy Macs, including members of my own family. My worst nightmare is that people who switch to macs will become 'bonches.' That fuels my increasing desire to switch the few people I know still on macs to PCs. Every one counts!

"horried" Typo - I meant horrid

Nate: In the future, you should tell your friend that to use a PC with an Airport Express you have to change the Airport Express password to Hexidecimal format. You see, Apple thought it would be a great idea if the password for your wireless network could include ANY letters and numbers . You know, so my password could be: "Something_not_obtuse_and_hard_to_remember123" if I wanted. Unfortunately, Windows requires you to use hexidecimal format. This is why Windows machines don't normally work on Airport Express networks. If you want to fix the problem, make sure the password on the Airport Express is 128 bit Hexidecimal text, or whatever you have your PC set to use. Also, if your friend felt "unfamiliar" in Safari... I'm glad he's not a Mac user any longer. Honestly, what kind of moron can only use IE? That's like saying your friend is only comfortable using Microsoft Mice. Honestly, it's an address bar, some back/forward buttons and "stop." These are the people who we don't want on Macs. They are the ones that will log in as Root one day and delete a file called "OS X Kernel" and then whine when OS X no longer works. They'll complain "I thought it was uncrashable!" and yadda yadda yadda. I say, Good Riddance. One less headache at the Genius bar.

I meant that IE 7 was closer to the Safari interface than IE 6. He *only* used Safari on his mac. He would fill "unfamiliar" with IE 6 (plus it is bloated, buggy and insecure) That's great that Apple lets people use numbers/letters in their ID key. Microsoft lets you do that too - with their WPA2 setting. In fact, Microsoft has a Wireless Network Setup utility that creates a 63 character WPA password (or you can create one) and copies it on to a flash drive in such a way that when it is inserted in other Windows computers, Autoplay kicks in and asks the users if they want to be added to the network. It then adds a wireless network with the correct settings. Apple should adopt something similar. Also, why can't Apple let their Airport Express be accessable over a network via IP address? I do not want to install/learn another bloated Apple tool (on Windows) just to change some simple settings.

I should also say that the person was *not* a dumb computer user; he is quite intelligent (that's why he bought a Windows PC :-). He needed to run some programs on Windows, and this laptop was a good deal (I personally do not like his choice of laptop - it is a cheap Gateway; the worst part about IMO is that it is *incredibly* difficult to disconnect the computer from the power cord.) I find it irritating that you and other posters imply that Mac users are geniuses and Windows users are not. At least one person in the comment section (bonch) uses Macs (duh!) and has some mental issues. Any OS's goal should be to make the OS bulletproof; while not perfect, MS solution is great: when a user deletes a system file, if he is successful, the file will "magically" appear back in its place 5 seconds later. Windows prevents users from deleting essential files.

Nate: Now this will be fun. You send me your laptop and I'll do exactly what you just said: go delete a system file. Maybe a DLL somewhere. And, if you're so proud of Windows being "bulletproof" you should have no qualms about it. The file will magically reappear right!? Just like viruses!!! Hooraaaaayyy! (CoolWebSearch anyone? No? No takers? You don't like it when viruses automatically put their files back? Awww, Nate, it seems your "feature" is rather annoying.) In return, I'll send you my PowerBook. You find a way to make OS X stop working. Hint: You won't be able to delete any system files - I have a 40 character password for my Root account. You'll need to invest in a large sledgehammer or possibly a blowtorch. Sure, you could make photoshop or other programs stop working (and I suppose I could delete solataire off your machine) but OS X will always be there. Without installing any hacks or damaging hardware or resorting to viruses, I am confident of two things: 1) I could bring your Windows machine to its knees in 1 minute or less. (Regedit, anyone?) 2) You could not make OS X stop booting. Bet you a new laptop buddy. ;) Advice: Don't take my bait. You simply won't be able to access the files you need to modify to kill OS X without my Root account password. (I'll let you log in to my usual account with no problem and you let me log in to Windows under your usual account too.) Oh, wait, that's right... I don't need a password to delete critical things off your machine. It's kind of like taking candy from a baby. *snicker* Bulletproof my A S S *snicker*

This is getting hilarious. You forgot to ask what version of Windows I am running on my laptop. I can send you my Vista build 5464 laptop, but I guarantee that you will not be able to "bring it to its knees". I can let you log on as a standard user. You will soon find it *impossible* to crash Vista so it will no longer boot. Let's count the ways: 1. Running Regedit? Oops! Requires a password. 2. Running MSconfig? Oops! requires a password! 3. Looking at "Device Manager"? Oops! requires a password! 4.Deleting system files? Oops! Requires a password. 5. Accessing any other users' files? Oops! Requires a password. 6. Terminating a process using Task Manager (except for non-critical processes)? Oops! Requires a password. There are *plenty* more, but those are the ones off the top of my head. My advice: Don't even try! My point about the feature in XP was that XP prevents users from deleting system files. I said nothing about spyware/virues being able to get around XP's protection rules, or being able to crash XP (Note "Not perfect" in my sentence). I'll bet you 2 $3,000 laptops - wait, make that 5 laptops - if you can crash Vista in one minute. (I'll even set my admin password to 40 chars., like yours)I would like to see you try! It would be funny! If you fail, you only would have to buy me one. :-) Maybe we can switch laptops, and when neither you nor I am successful, we can declare a draw :-)

I should note that I only possess one laptop, and it is running Vista (I have XP MCE 2005 installed on a second partition for application compatibility purposes). My desktop is running Vista only. BTW, if you *insist* on crashing XP and not Vista, then I will have to "withdraw." I agree that XP is not secure. I would never have guessed that an article on WGA would turn into crashing rival OS's! Talk about off-topic! (I am blaming myself as well as you :)