FSX Licensing Policy Change?

[acmem 0]

I find it very interesting this news article about the change Microsoft made concerning its Windows Vista Licensing Policy. I wonder if they have already applied this to FSX, as it seems that they applied that same licensing scheme to FSX, I know and many others on this forum will be very pleased to here this changed for FSX. http://www.informationweek.com/industries/...cleID=193501465

[yellowjack 28]

Hoorah, common sense has prevailed. :)

[Guest Valkyrie321]

Interesting article. Thank you for the link. I was unaware of the original policy in the first place and had no issues with the policy in place with FSX. I rarely read those EULAs unless something specifically effects me... perhaps I should take more care into what I install on my machine regarding the legalities of it.

[acmem 0]

>I find it very interesting this news article about the change>Microsoft made concerning its Windows Vista Licensing Policy.>>>I wonder if they have already applied this to FSX, as it seems>that they applied that same licensing scheme to FSX, I know>and many others on this forum will be very pleased to here>this changed for FSX. >>http://www.informationweek.com/industries/...cleID=193501465>For clarity, I saw some major grammar mistakes in my original post that I would like correct:First paragraph should read;

[Guest Hal9000 from MSFT]

We've been looking at the licensing / activation policy all along, especially, of course, since FSX hit the shelves. What we haven't done a good job communicating, IMO, is the fact that the 2-license limit resets periodically, and, if you've "used up" your two, then run out and buy a new 8Ghz box so you can set the sliders at 75% (sorry...), you may not be able to activate online automatically, but you *will* be able to call in and answer a few questions and activate that way. Yes, a lot of our support infrastructure wasn't quite where we wanted it to be when we launched - I cringe every time I read about 110 minute hold times and customers needing activation codes being told to reboot, etc. Thankfully, these sorts of problems are dminishing dramatically, every single day. And, yes, Flight Sim users tend to upgrade their machines or build new ones a lot more frequently than, say, my word-processing web-surfing dad. Nobody on this thread is saying this, but I'm in the mood to make a dramatic pronouncement, so here you go, on general principles: WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF PUNISHING ANYONE FOR BUYING NEW HARDWAREPlease remember that. If it means that we need to make adjustments to our activation policies to accomodate our customers, we will. The good news is that any changes we might make can all be done on the back end, without the resource costs and risks associated with updating or patching the core product. I'm sure most of you would rather we focus on other issues in FSX ...Thanks -Hal

[brucewtb 249]

Yes a fascinating article - but IMHO MS had little choice as the original activation policy was only going to have the perverse effect of encouraging the use of pirated software.Bruceb

[Guest brillo]

Here's another take on today's statement from MS about the Vista Licensing Policy: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/index.php?p=166&tag=nl.e589Read the four points about practical implications of the change (mid article). Doesn't sound like MS backed off very much... Points one and three will be interesting to a lot of simmers I think. I read earlier today in another article how MS will decide when/what alterations make your system look like a "new PC". Points are assigned for each kind of change, three for this, nine for that. If you go over 25 points, VERBOTEN! No Soup For You! How could MS ever enforce that? How could MS think they could enforce that? And who gets "caught?" Not the pirates. The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, when confronted with the fact that he cheated, shrugged (of course I cheated) and matter of factly utterred the famous line, "I'm a PIRATE." And who among us doesn't have a little Captain Jack in our veins? Including MS. As anyone who reads these forums knows, FSX activation was cracked even before it was officially released. And then Major Stoneface did this... Then Jack did that... Then Major Stoneface... Then Jack... etc., etc, ad nauseum. But children find it fun to watch.A portion of the 3:30PM PST Update from The Windows Vista Team Blog is quoted as well. I received five notices about this issue between 6 am and 4 pm today, each with its own spin. This is ALL about spin. Also some of the many responses to the blog cited are... spicy. What this means, Re: the FSX licensing/activiation question, remains unclear. But MS did blink today. Briefly. And that was fun. Rob

[Barnes 192]

Hal,Thanks very much for spelling it out like this for us. Between what you have said about FSX and the announcement made regarding the licensing change for boxed versions of Vista, I am finally starting to get that warm fuzzy feeling!Now I can start thinking about upgrading my system without worry...Cheers,Dave :-wave

[Joe W 0]

Is there any word as to the fix for those of us that installed it once and for reason or another ( mine was a hardware change) can't get FSX to install?ThanksJoe Watsonhttp://home.comcast.net/~raptor67/Joe_W/Joe_sig.jpg

[Guest Ozzie]

>Here's another take on today's statement from MS about the>Vista Licensing Policy: >http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/index.php?p=166&tag=nl.e589>>Read the four points about practical implications of the>change (mid article). Doesn't sound like MS backed off very>much... Points one and three will be interesting to a lot of>simmers I think. >>I read earlier today in another article how MS will decide>when/what alterations make your system look like a "new PC". >Points are assigned for each kind of change, three for this,>nine for that. If you go over 25 points, VERBOTEN! No Soup>For You! >>How could MS ever enforce that? How could MS think they could>enforce that? >>And who gets "caught?" Not the pirates. The infamous Captain>Jack Sparrow, when confronted with the fact that he cheated,>shrugged (of course I cheated) and matter of factly utterred>the famous line, "I'm a PIRATE." And who among us doesn't have>a little Captain Jack in our veins? Including MS. >>As anyone who reads these forums knows, FSX activation was>cracked even before it was officially released. And then>Major Stoneface did this... Then Jack did that... Then Major>Stoneface... Then Jack... etc., etc, ad nauseum. But children>find it fun to watch.>>A portion of the 3:30PM PST Update from The Windows Vista Team>Blog is quoted as well. I received five notices about this>issue between 6 am and 4 pm today, each with its own spin.>This is ALL about spin. >>Also some of the many responses to the blog cited are...>spicy. >>What this means, Re: the FSX licensing/activiation question,>remains unclear. But MS did blink today. Briefly. And that>was fun. >>RobToo True - They Blinked briefly - now lets get back to the real issuesHow many people here actually buy a Retail Copy anyway - Most people call Dell or Alienware or Johnny Bloggs and ask them to "build me a Computer" - Do not these then come under the para oneIf you purchase a new computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, or if you build your own PC using an OEM version of Windows, this change doesn't affect you. Your copy is locked to that PC and cannot be transferred to another. And - does that not mean that what you get is what you are "stuck with" - even IF it has problems like a dead disk OR a blown MB OR you stupidly decide that the on-board Video is not up to the task and get a Nvidia from another supplierPlease - lets see a show of hands - JUST how many of you actually have a you beaut BOXED RETAIL VERSION OF XP????How many of you are contemplating ringing Dell to give you a "nice" machine to run FSX????How many of you have already done that and are not necessarilly all that happy????What happens NEXTI would like to know BEFORE I blow a few grand