On Thu, Jul 05, 2001 at 07:51:34PM -0400, Frank Roberts - SOTL wrote:
> For all you Microsoft fans
>
> So far the Wall Street has devoted considerable space in 3 issues this week
> to the Microsoft case.
> The essence being:
> 1. MS is not out of the woods. If fact they sank deeper into the swamp with
> this court ruling. (Monday)
> 2. Kodak is pissed and may began the next court action over their cameras.
> (Tuesday)
> 3. MS has a new software policy on upgrades. You buy the upgrade then you
> must go on line to MS to register at which point MS records all the
> information on your HD that pertains to the setup and equipment. If you
> change set up or equipment you must report to MS Central Licensing for
> certification. If you do not report in as scheduled by MS your computer stops
> working until you do report in. Only one up grade per computer ant the
> normal full retail price for each upgrade. (Thursday)
>
Umm, I believe some of this is exaggerated. Microsoft will allow minor
changes to your hardware without forcing the issue, at least so far.
Major changes will require a call to Microsoft, and convincing them
that you're not installing on a different machine. Actually, this is
mostly pertaining to reinstalls. Yes, the OS will not work without a
registration code from Microsoft, based on another code generated by
the software residing on your machine. Upgrades are damn near full
price anyway, at this point. I'm guessing at some point that upgrades
will be handled on the basis of your computer asking, "A new version is
out, do you want it?", and you clicking a button. Your credit card will
be billed. In the end, I think Microsoft would prefer that you _rent_
the OS, in which case, upgrades are automatic and "free".
Yep, it's gonna get ugly for Microsoft. The only thing in their favor
is that XP is apparently built on the W2K engine, and so may be more
stable = fewer reinstalls.
Paul
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Fri Aug 01 2014 - 15:41:17 EDT