From owner-freebsd-questions Sat Jun 30 22: 2:35 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from wilma.widomaker.com (wilma.widomaker.com [204.17.220.5]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BD12437B401 for ; Sat, 30 Jun 2001 22:02:32 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from shannon@widomaker.com) Received: from [209.96.179.94] (helo=escape.shannon.net) by wilma.widomaker.com with esmtp (Exim 3.22 #2) id 15GZNO-0005bM-00 for freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG; Sun, 01 Jul 2001 01:02:31 -0400 Received: (from shannon@localhost) by escape.shannon.net (8.11.0/8.8.8) id f614ht400195 for freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG; Sun, 1 Jul 2001 00:43:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 00:43:54 -0400 From: Shannon To: Freebsd Questions Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: Office XP & Windows XP activation woes]] Message-ID: <20010701004354.B29971@widomaker.com> Mail-Followup-To: Freebsd Questions References: <001001c10073$4af20aa0$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: ; from hey9811@yahoo.com on Sat, Jun 30, 2001 at 12:44:51AM -0500 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sat, Jun 30, 2001 at 12:44:51AM -0500, Virtual Bob wrote: > newcomers will also (usually) go for Windoze. After you've flooded and has > majority of the market, you then put things like XP which needs this > "activation code" thing and begin to suck $$$ out of it. No doubt about it. They have wanted this sort of thing for a long time. I personally hate serialization in software. It can be gotten around a lot of times, and it's an annoyance for the paying customer. > I doubt Microsoft made much money on individual sales of any WInblows. I > bet virtually all profit came from OEM bundling deals with hardware > makers, with corporate America (site license) coming in distant second... True, and there is a more sinister element of XP: mandatory upgrades. This is key to converting from OEM sales to nickle-and-diming the users to compensate. From what I have read, upgrades aren't optional. Given the directions they are taking with things like restricting what files you can copy, and even what hardware you can install (has to be officially supported, etc), this is a sure-fire way to take what little choice you have away completely. The next step is to kill the concept of the PC being a general purpose computers. You not registered as a software developer? Sorry, you can't run a compiler. I would like to agree with Ted (I think he said this) that this will accelerate the drive away from Microsoft, but I think the sheep will just accept it. Corporte America is scary, the way they think, and people in general don't seem to see the traps set for them. Of course, I think Microsoft may end up failing just due to its own weight and stupidity, but then, that hasn't killed it so far. Lately the computer industry depresses me a lot. -- shannon@widomaker.com _________________________________________________ ______________________/ armchairrocketscientistgraffitiexenstentialist "And in billows of might swell the Saxons before her,-- Unite, oh unite! Or the billows burst o'er her!" -- Downfall of the Gael To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message