Is Microsoft Vista a Wolf in Sheeps Clothing?

[Guest Accent]

Here is a long, somewhat technical critique of Windows Vista that is well worth reading.http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.htmlHere are some of the topics covered:Disabling of FunctionalityIndirect Disabling of FunctionalityDecreased Playback QualityElimination of Open-source Hardware SupportElimination of Unified DriversDenial-of-Service via Driver/Device RevocationDecreased System ReliabilityIncreased Hardware CostsIncreased Cost due to Requirement to License Unnecessary Third-party IPUnnecessary CPU Resource ConsumptionUnnecessary Device Resource ConsumptionThere is little or no added functionality that is of value, and the much-vaunted security upgrades have little or no benefit to the user, either.Rather, the main thrust of M$ Vista is to protect the media companies, at whatever cost to the user, and according to the above article, that cost is very considerable, not only financially, but also in invasion of privacy and reliability.

[Guest Accent]

For the learned among us.

[Guest Ozzie]

Do tellIt's a bit like asking a Fox (Fox Media - maybe) to guard the chickens inside the yardPersonally I find the prospect of "trusting" an organisation that has been convicted of all sorts of things to do with monopolies and anti-competative behavior in an aweful lot of legal jurisdictions somewhat hard to get my mind aroundBUT - They may have changedHeck - there goes a complete squadren of flying PIGS with STRAIGHT TAILS

[Cruachan 705]

If all this is indeed true, then it is truly shocking although, it does have to be said, not altogether surprising as we have been seeing many of these developments creeping into all our lives for some time now.Our Brave New World is looking decidedly more and more unpleasant with each day that passes.I know it doesn't help me much in the longer term since the cloak of subservience will, in the end, envelope me, along with everyone else on the planet. However, these revelations only serve to vindicate my decision to defer the 'upgrade' to Vista for a year or two, or at least until Microsoft pull the plug on XP.I can only hope that all those Developers out there will continue to support XP alongside Vista until the dust settles and a semblance of sanity and reason is restored to the computing world. Doubtless Vista will be successful, but I suspect that route will prove to be the rockiest yet for the company. Mike

[Mace 1,896]

Even if Microsoft has only the best intentions behind DRM and other things, it is still not a good trend, and not the way the wind should be blowing.I have always felt that Microsoft had a peculiar view of what rights a user had with software. (Licensing, Activation, etc...) And now, this view has become pervasive all around the IT community, to the community's overall detriment.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

[Guest Eek]

>Doubtless Vista will be successful, but I suspect that route>will prove to be the rockiest yet for the company. Vista will be successful, only because it will be pre-installed on every new PC. The average buyer of a new PC isn't going to format the HD to install XP. The computer is no different than the automobile. Almost everyone has one, but only a few actually knows what makes them tick. I liken it to the addition of polllution control devices. At first there was grumbling and a few people went to the trouble of removing them, but rather quickly, that became impractical. Eventually, everyone accepted them, or they drive something so old, it doesn't have seatbelts or air conditioning.Unfortunately, Vista will be no different. And I will be driving seatbeltless on XP until the freakin' wheels fall off.~EwingKATLMSI K8N Neo2 PlatinumAMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0 GHz2GB Corsair PC-3200 512x4 Dual Channel CL2.5 DDR DIMM eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3Sound Blaster Audigy LSOCZ Powerstream 420WWinXPPro (SP1)

[Guest Ozzie]

>>Doubtless Vista will be successful, but I suspect that>route>>will prove to be the rockiest yet for the company. >>Vista will be successful, only because it will be>pre-installed on every new PC. The average buyer of a new PC>isn't going to format the HD to install XP. >>The computer is no different than the automobile. Almost>everyone has one, but only a few actually knows what makes>them tick. I liken it to the addition of polllution control>devices. At first there was grumbling and a few people went to>the trouble of removing them, but rather quickly, that became>impractical. Eventually, everyone accepted them, or they drive>something so old, it doesn't have seatbelts or air>conditioning.>>Unfortunately, Vista will be no different. And I will be>driving seatbeltless on XP until the freakin' wheels fall>off.>>~EwingUnfortunately for the Giant - in my country at least there is already a "Precedent" set through the Court Sustem that allows any consumer to be able to buy a Computer WITHOUT an OS, so that said consumer has a RIGHT of choice as to which OS they wish to useIt is surely only a matter of time before this Principle is tested yet again by one of the Consumer Advocate GroupsIt sure as Golly Gee Whizz got Balmer in a twist spouting his usual Piracy Claims

[MarkW 1,490]

This is quite an alarming article. Time will tell what the true impact will be. Here is my question. Let's say you have spent $4000 on a computer that can play Blue Ray disks and you go out and legitimately buy a new Blue Ray title that will not play on Vista. Can you not also just load Linux on the same computer and play the disk this way. It is an expensive option but perhaps one that is viable given the alternatives. Let's face it in 3 years most of us will be using Vista as we upgrade.Mark.

[Murmur 3,941]

>Here is my question. Let's say you have>spent $4000 on a computer that can play Blue Ray disks and you>go out and legitimately buy a new Blue Ray title that will not>play on Vista. Can you not also just load Linux on the same>computer and play the disk this way.You can. And in some countries it is technically illegal to do that.It's so absurd it is almost funny.Marco

[MarkW 1,490]

Thanks Marco !

[C-JEAN 1]

Hi, frustrated Vistanians ! B-)Mark wrote . . .> and legitimately buy a new Blue Ray title that will>not play on Vista. Can you not also just load Linux. . .> . . .It is an expensive option. . . Hmmmmm. . . I would not say that a $20.cc Mandrake Linux,including 4 CD-ROMs of stuff, is expensive. . .B-) I do most of my browsing under Linux, knowingit is MUCH safer than Win$loz. One day, in an IRC session, a friend tested both, and:1=Under Win$loz, ZoneAlarm, HE was controling my mouse ! ! { and that was from Belgium to Canada. }2= Under LINUX, PORTSENTRY he has NEVER been able to get in my system ! ! I have seen NT, and IT HAS the same file attributesas Linux, that are: RWX RWX RWX. I did not see Vista, but I would not be surprised that it is a poor imitation of Linux ! ;-)Blue skies.

[MarkW 1,490]

C-JEAN,Thanks for your reply. You are right that is not expensive. I wrote my comments without really knowing the cost...I was thinking Vista type numbers and that it costs $100 - $200.Mark.