Microsoft: Validation for Windows 7 is coming soon!

[pparks1]

Yes for the average user its a big mess, when they get it like Windows or OS X (easy to install things, easy to configure, easy to do pretty much anything) Then I'll consider switching.

Well, tons of things are pretty darn easy in the Linux world. Installing applications is one such area. First, right out of the box, a typical distro like Ubuntu will have zip utilities, pdf viewers, graphics apps, office apps, cd burning apps, and the like all pre-installed.

So, lets say that you are curious about installing a database. You simply open up the package manager (like Add/Remove programs), search for SQL and you find mysql. You simply check the box, and it downloads and installs from the web. Done. Pretty freaking easy. You can also do it if you are a command line guy like myself with yum install mysql-server or apt-get install mysql-server.

A lot of average users won't use Linux because it simply isn't the thing that's preinstalled on their computers when they buy them. For many users, they just use whatever their computer comes with and they get something different when they buy a new computer.

Why does piracy debates always turn over to linux?

Simple, Linux is free and doesn't need to be pirated. It's the alternative to piracy.

Opensource isn't always better and especially when its linux.

It's not always better, but it often can be. The real beauty is that you aren't stuck with how it works until a company decides to change it. You have the code and can modify it to fit your needs at will. That's a pretty powerful value add.

It's fine if you aren't a fan of Linux. I'm a firm believer that Linux isn't for everyone. However, I'm extremely thankful that I took the time to learn it and am pretty much equally as proficient in one as I am in the other. This gives me the ability to really see what else is out there and determine what really is better for my needs. Many people don't have this luxury and are stuck with what they got.

It also benefits me that I am a systems admin who does a ton of Linux for a living. You know, quite a bit of the Internet infrastructure runs on Linux (apache, tomcat, mysql, bind, sendmail, squid). We use Linux extensively at work for publishing web applications and the money saved on our licensing costs is pretty significant. And honestly, the setup of the systems at a command line is awesome for documentation and scripting installs. To me, it beats the pants of point and click and right click.

 

[Dasumianco]

This makes no sense.

1.) Piracy affects every piece of software available. Some of the cheapest crap is pirated the most.

2.) There wouldn't be a Windows 7 if it cost the consumer no more than "£30 at most" for an upgrade. It would be Ubuntu or Zeta or worse, and have fun switching your office secretary or mother-in-law or school system or any given worthless bureaucrat in any given worthless government over to that. You, the individual, do not set the price. But you, as part of the free market, do, with, of course, the assistance of Microsoft, who has to pay a lot of people to think about how you can touch a screen and move a map around without it looking like an Atari 2600. Can you - from scratch - make a box on the screen move around with your fingers? I sure can't. Besides, your "reasonable" price will not be reasonable to someone else. You're price is insane for this guy in China, who's selling 7 for $5.85.

Let's say you did sell a Windows 7 upgrade for £30 for everyone on earth using a Windows PC. As of 2008, there were about 1 billion PCs in use. Windows XP, Vista and 2000 account for roughly 89.6% of all OSes in use, so that's about 896 million PCs we need to upgrade, which would give Microsoft £26,880,000,000 ($43,709,528,100.68), which would be about $16.7 billion dollars less than the company's revenue in 2008, which means they would be screwed. Revenue does not = profit. But at least it would be Christmas every day for a long, long time for the publisher of Ubuntu For Dummies, at least until Ubuntu starts charging for its OS because the skyrocketing demand will force it to, or else it will go under and then we'll have to use crappy Zeta and the world will come to a screeching halt and then everyone will start throwing rocks and each other like it was 100,000 years ago and boy won't that be fun.

Yes, I'm exaggerating but not that much.

fair point, but can I just point out to you that XP and 2000 were never mentioned in my original post.. i was talking solely about upgrading from vista.. an operating system that is just over 2 years old (being released to retail in 2007) and despite 2 service packs is still widely regarded as inferior to the 8 year old XP.. here's what i actually said "Vista sums this up perfectly..(personally i think that any computer sold with that excuse of an OS should be upgraded for £30 at most!!)"

 

[pparks1]

My wife has a laptop computer with Vista and my work laptop have Vista on it and honestly after Service Pack 1 things have been pretty decent on both machines. I have no intentions of upgrading Vista on my wife's laptop to Windows 7. The OEM copy that HP shipped with it is fine and the system restore from HP will put me right back to where it was the day I got it in the event that anything goes wrong. Since it ain't broke, I'm not going to attempt to fix it.

I'll likely upgrade my work laptop at some point...but still have a few work things which aren't working well or at all on 7 yet...so going to be a little time there to iron everything out. But again, no rush as Vista is honestly working just fine for me.

My newest home build computer is running Win7 RC1 and will be put on Win7 as soon as my legit copy comes to me.

 

[7Dreams]

My wife has a laptop computer with Vista and my work laptop have Vista on it and honestly after Service Pack 1 things have been pretty decent on both machines. I have no intentions of upgrading Vista on my wife's laptop to Windows 7. The OEM copy that HP shipped with it is fine and the system restore from HP will put me right back to where it was the day I got it in the event that anything goes wrong. Since it ain't broke, I'm not going to attempt to fix it.

I'll likely upgrade my work laptop at some point...but still have a few work things which aren't working well or at all on 7 yet...so going to be a little time there to iron everything out. But again, no rush as Vista is honestly working just fine for me.

My newest home build computer is running Win7 RC1 and will be put on Win7 as soon as my legit copy comes to me.

lol, at my house i rushed it, and put it on every comp.

 

[pcgeek]

Summary: Until Linux becomes easy to use, a lot of users will turn their heads. Thats why companies like AOL (I believe second biggest Dial-Up provider?) don't even bother with a linux program due to the lack of users that actually run it.

I agree, I have dual booted windows with linux to play around with linux before and it is kinda fun as to how customizable it is. I have installed programs through the command prompt and all of that-it is different but i tried it and can do it-but why should I have to go through all of that??? I am actually surprised to see linux being distributed on PCs when it is still in this form. It needs to have something like an exe file as windows has for convenience and not having to open a shell every time. No one else in my family would have any idea how to install anything on the pc and if they did, they would be like-what a pain just to install a simple program-Give me my windows back!


Anyway with that said, I am running legal and activated MSDN retail copy of windows 7 and am wondering if when M$ issues this update if it will still mark my PC as pirated since it was activated before October 22? Also, if I gave a copy to family with one of my keys would that be activated as well or marked as piracy since its on a PC outside my home and in another town 30 miles from me?

 

[Crypto]

Dasumianco
Guest​

n/a posts





​

How is this Possible ?

 

[Tews]

Simple ... login in as Guest... I know you dont see many posts from guests, but apparently its allowed..

 

[ten]

Yipee! I cant wait to see if I paid for my copy of Windows 7!

 

[pcgeek]

Yipee! I cant wait to see if I paid for my copy of Windows 7!

Right-enquiring Microsoft minds wanna know This should be fun-grab a beer and click WU oh but ya gotta wait-they like keeping us on the edge of our seat

 

[pparks1]

lol, at my house i rushed it, and put it on every comp.

Well, I guess I don't want to pay for that much licensing and I like to switch it up run a few different operating systems for learning experiences. If everything were the same, it'd be a bit boring.

It needs to have something like an exe file as windows has for convenience and not having to open a shell every time.

Well, distributions like RedHat have rpm files (which are installed when double clicked) and Ubuntu/Debian have deb files (which are installed when double clicked). Other distros have similar functionality. Here is a 2 minute YouTube clip showing just how easy it is to install skype on a Ubuntu box after downloading the .deb package: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxaD-aDprX0"]YouTube - Installing Software on Ubuntu 9[/ame]

And once you get used to the shell, not only is it "not bad", it becomes "preferred" for many us us. The reason that you see so many tutorials on installing software using the shell, is simply because you can cut and paste in the command and you get it right 100% of the time.

For example, let's say that you want to use Ubuntu to play back MP3 files and commercial DVD's. Now, I could write a guide saying, Go Here, click this, click that, choose this tab at the top, scroll down, find the box which says X, click on that, hit apply. Click on Ok 2 times. Then, right click My Computer, go to Properties, etc. Or, I could say, open a terminal and type the following 2 commands;

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

That's it, it's done. Everything is installed and movies and MP3's will playback. So, now you just store those two commands in a text file for future reference and you are set. If you ever set another box up again, or get a new box, you simply cut and paste this lines and "viola"....you are all set. SIMPLE.

No one else in my family would have any idea how to install anything on the pc and if they did, they would be like-what a pain just to install a simple program-Give me my windows back!

For this reason, there are package managers installed on RedHat/Ubuntu/Debian...where it's extremely easy to load software. It's like going to Add/Remove programs in Windows and seeing thousands of applications that you can install. You simply search for what you want (say, OpenOffice), then you click on the box and choose Install. Here is a short You Tube clip showing how absolutely simple it is to install Apache, mySQL and PHP on a Ubuntu box using the Synaptic Package Manager. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjIXZT9Hxwg"]YouTube - Install Apache 2.2, MySQL 5, PHP 5, phpMyAdmin for Linux Ubuntu 8.10[/ame]
Seriously, you don't even need to go to the web and download the files first. You just tell this tool what you want and it gets it and installs it for you...as well as all the dependencies. This really is simple stuff.

People always make Linux out to be this horrid system with cryptic and arcane command lines that require a 4 year degree in computer science to use. However, with a little bit of time, you find out that it's really not all that hard to do the majority of stuff that you would actually want to do. Sure, there is a learning curve...but there is a learning curve with everything. None of us were 100% proficient with Microsoft software when we first started using it. It took time. After having used Linux for a number of years, I actually find it just as easy to use, if not simpler to use in some areas.

Any my intended purpose is not to persuade others to come to the dark side and start using Linux, but rather to show the masses that things aren't as difficult as some people make them out to be. Like you said, you dabbled a bit and did a dual boot for awhile. Take it from somebody doing it for years and getting paid for it, sometimes it's not too hard at all.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

Well, I guess I don't want to pay for that much licensing and I like to switch it up run a few different operating systems for learning experiences. If everything were the same, it'd be a bit boring.

Well, distributions like RedHat have rpm files (which are installed when double clicked) and Ubuntu/Debian have deb files (which are installed when double clicked). Other distros have similar functionality. Here is a 2 minute YouTube clip showing just how easy it is to install skype on a Ubuntu box after downloading the .deb package: YouTube - Installing Software on Ubuntu 9

And once you get used to the shell, not only is it "not bad", it becomes "preferred" for many us us. The reason that you see so many tutorials on installing software using the shell, is simply because you can cut and paste in the command and you get it right 100% of the time.

For example, let's say that you want to use Ubuntu to play back MP3 files and commercial DVD's. Now, I could write a guide saying, Go Here, click this, click that, choose this tab at the top, scroll down, find the box which says X, click on that, hit apply. Click on Ok 2 times. Then, right click My Computer, go to Properties, etc. Or, I could say, open a terminal and type the following 2 commands;

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

That's it, it's done. Everything is installed and movies and MP3's will playback. So, now you just store those two commands in a text file for future reference and you are set. If you ever set another box up again, or get a new box, you simply cut and paste this lines and "viola"....you are all set. SIMPLE.

For this reason, there are package managers installed on RedHat/Ubuntu/Debian...where it's extremely easy to load software. It's like going to Add/Remove programs in Windows and seeing thousands of applications that you can install. You simply search for what you want (say, OpenOffice), then you click on the box and choose Install. Here is a short You Tube clip showing how absolutely simple it is to install Apache, mySQL and PHP on a Ubuntu box using the Synaptic Package Manager. YouTube - Install Apache 2.2, MySQL 5, PHP 5, phpMyAdmin for Linux Ubuntu 8.10
Seriously, you don't even need to go to the web and download the files first. You just tell this tool what you want and it gets it and installs it for you...as well as all the dependencies. This really is simple stuff.

People always make Linux out to be this horrid system with cryptic and arcane command lines that require a 4 year degree in computer science to use. However, with a little bit of time, you find out that it's really not all that hard to do the majority of stuff that you would actually want to do. Sure, there is a learning curve...but there is a learning curve with everything. None of us were 100% proficient with Microsoft software when we first started using it. It took time. After having used Linux for a number of years, I actually find it just as easy to use, if not simpler to use in some areas.

Any my intended purpose is not to persuade others to come to the dark side and start using Linux, but rather to show the masses that things aren't as difficult as some people make them out to be. Like you said, you dabbled a bit and did a dual boot for awhile. Take it from somebody doing it for years and getting paid for it, sometimes it's not too hard at all.

Maybe I just like clicking more then typing. I tried that whole.. terminal thing. Half of the time the guides were not updated with the distro's so it didn't work right and the rest of the time it just wouldn't work! (even with sudo).

 

[pparks1]

Maybe I just like clicking more then typing. I tried that whole.. terminal thing. Half of the time the guides were not updated with the distro's so it didn't work right and the rest of the time it just wouldn't work! (even with sudo).

You can still click. You can use your mouse to cut, copy and paste into the terminal window. And if you that, you won't mangle the command and you get it right 100% of the time

Sorry to hear about having bad experiences. It's hard to fault Linux if the person didn't put the guide together correctly, or you were using the wrong guide for the version of the OS that you were running.

I have a comprehensive setup guide for Ubuntu 9.04 which i can guarantee will work perfectly if you follow it top to bottom and of course run on Ubuntu 9.04.

 

[wwoods]

To whom ever said its not a need/want stuff. Until you live my life don't assume what is a need or want. I have one job skill and that is computers, I get by with tech support with local families or college students and they run windows 7 so if I want to support these people I NEED windows 7.

As for giving up stuff I need is what I need, new pants shirts stuff like that not food or shelter and I would never take away from my wife, she got what she needed I went without so I could get a computer able to use the programs I use for working some of which cost 600 or more, I am a network+ Security+ and Certified Forensic Computer examiner (CFCE) all of which set me back thousands just to prove I could do the work before I saw any money come back to me. I have been on both sides of this debate, I used my certs to help stop people from doing what i do now.

I believe some time in the future, hopefully soon this problem/debate with become a mute point as open source and just a better overall "system" will eliminate the need to steel that our own society drives with all the excess we think we need. Take any product that is stolen regularly that there is more product then demand, which makes little sense they don't lower the price or give it away since sitting on a shelf or where ever isn't making any money anyway.

A man down the street went to jail for 2 months for steeling a hammer and other hand tools so he could get a job in construction after losing his job. Now the stores have more then enough tools they could have helped him out so he could make an honest living. would you help pay for his tools so he could work? my tools are windows and this laptop, I found the money for the hardware and running 7 which will expire in 29 days are you going to help me pay for it so I can work legit? (I don't think anyone will) will I pirate 7? well if I can earn the extra money to pay yes I will, do I think I can earn it before I run out of time, not sure I want to pad MS profit margines to be honest but then again I settle for the free copy of 7 home premium whatever from my new laptop which had vista on it and should fall under the upgrade thing.

I am the one who said want is not need, and yes, I probably would have boiught the hammer for him so he coould work, and interesting challenge you pose to me. Would I help you buy windows7 so you could work.

Well, 1st of all it wont be out in 29 days, so you will need to re-arm your copy, but I wioll make you a deal. YOU get rid of ALL your pirated software, and I will cover your cost of Windows7 Ultimate. and have it shipped to you, I will pre-purchase it from amazon.com, BUT you must get rid of all your pirated software.

Now, there is no way I can honestly verify you have done this, so I will take your word. Now...challenge back at you.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

You can still click. You can use your mouse to cut, copy and paste into the terminal window. And if you that, you won't mangle the command and you get it right 100% of the time

Sorry to hear about having bad experiences. It's hard to fault Linux if the person didn't put the guide together correctly, or you were using the wrong guide for the version of the OS that you were running.

I have a comprehensive setup guide for Ubuntu 9.04 which i can guarantee will work perfectly if you follow it top to bottom and of course run on Ubuntu 9.04.

My best experience with a linux distro was with Linux Mint. I liked it but couldn't get KDE to work well so I gave up for a while, plan to reinstall it eventually (maybe after I get this bloody flash to work).

In all honesty I wanted to try OpenSolaris but I couldn't find my wifi drivers for it (Broadcom 43##) and let alone install them. I cannot connect to a wired network so that was out of the option.

I wanted to make linux look more mac-ish (but prettier.. because linux itself looks bland compared to Windows or OS X).

I am the one who said want is not need, and yes, I probably would have boiught the hammer for him so he coould work, and interesting challenge you pose to me. Would I help you buy windows7 so you could work.

Well, 1st of all it wont be out in 29 days, so you will need to re-arm your copy, but I wioll make you a deal. YOU get rid of ALL your pirated software, and I will cover your cost of Windows7 Ultimate. and have it shipped to you, I will pre-purchase it from amazon.com, BUT you must get rid of all your pirated software.

Now, there is no way I can honestly verify you have done this, so I will take your word. Now...challenge back at you.

Theres also no way to tell if you are being truthful on that offer or not.

Though that is a tempting offer, can I get in on it?

 

[chuckr]

Though that is a tempting offer, can I get in on it?

He might want to know how much pirated s/w you have, prior to approval...

 

[darkassain]

He might want to know how much pirated s/w you have, prior to approval...

well he is running a hackintosh....


of course just joking and i mean no offense to you DNG as i have ran a ideneb build also on my laptop (although the BCM 4322 support killed it for me, well that got fixed, but other things killed it for me [apart from my processor not being supported and running at full speed all time cooking my case..])...

now would using expired beta software count?..

 

[chuckr]

now would using expired beta software count?..

I would guess:

Only if it were pirated, with no expiration date, after installation...
Maybe a torrent DL.... ?

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

He might want to know how much pirated s/w you have, prior to approval...

Well does music count? I do not really pirate much.. unless downloading a ISO of Vista counts, because I have a Vista Product Key.. and XP (also grabbed a copy of that). The discs were scratched up so it was either call MS for replacements (Did you know they offer that service?) or just burn my own. XD

I admit no further piracy then that, as that would be publicly admitting to doing illegal activities.

well he is running a hackintosh....


of course just joking and i mean no offense to you DNG as i have ran a ideneb build also on my laptop (although the BCM 4322 support killed it for me, well that got fixed, but other things killed it for me [apart from my processor not being supported and running at full speed all time cooking my case..])...

now would using expired beta software count?..

Only thing that I still have problems with is my Intel GMA 4500MHD, other then that I never kernel panic'd. My intel GMA 4500MHD was stuck at 1024x768.. but theres almost a working kext for it.

I would guess:

Only if it were pirated, with no expiration date, after installation...
Maybe a torrent DL.... ?

Lol I'm sure 3/4 of the active SF users were pirating every new build prior to RTM.



EDIT: I admit to one thing, I did torrent Office 2010 Tech Preview because I was never accepted to test it. :|

 

[chuckr]

Lol I'm sure 3/4 of the active SF users were pirating every new build prior to RTM.

That's not pirating, that's downloading the latest "leak", an acceptable practice AFAIK... (I'm new here)
MS needs some real testers. Where else but the 'experts' ?

If you include RTM, then its probably more like 76%...

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

That's not pirating, that's downloading the latest "leak", an acceptable practice AFAIK... (I'm new here)
MS needs some real testers. Where else but the 'experts' ?

If you include RTM, then its probably more like 76%...

77%

I agree they need more testers, they should keep things OPEN for testing, I mean yes limit it at some point but don't make it like 3,000 people here, 200 there, etc. :|