Microsoft: Validation for Windows 7 is coming soon!

Colonel Travis said:

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.

Yes...

I've done similar work for the govt. and the "reasonable" price was my salary.

The fun part was porting to IBM, SGI, Sun, and a few others.

A piece of pie...

Sounds like your real complaint is with the price, not with the fact that your friend has to phone in for activation... Lets call a spade a spade here..

Antman said:

Chuckle. The OEM install is a spayed version.

Too True!!

Mellon Head said:

A need and a want are often the same thing. I need an OS. I want Windows. I just shelled out $170 for Vista HP x64 in February, before the tech guarantee. Oh well, boo-hoo. MS offered me a discount upgrade on Win 7 HP for half of the price of the new upgrade if I pre-order. I don't NEED Win 7 - well, not right now. I WILL need Win 7 in about 2 years, when some of the specific commercial software that I use regularly gets on the 7 bandwagon and screws me out of Vista support, like they did with 2000, and are now doing with XP. They call it "moving forward", and they're a vertical market, and they can, and do, get away with it.

I could pirate, but I choose not to. Software is drastically, even punitively overpriced, and as someone already said, this pricing method encourages the very piracy problem that companies are trying to prevent. I still believe in owning my own OS, and having it legally licensed. I am ethically obligated to by a clause in my employment contract with the firm I work for, but I don't do it for that reason. I do it to encourage the further development of future enhancements to the OS I use now. Remember, there would be no Windows 7 if nobody went out and bought XP and Vista. It wouldn't make sense for MS to continue to make improvements to a product that they continually lost money on, now would it?

If you hate the cost of software, there are many open source alternatives. Many of them are even superior to the commercial product. If you hate the cost of Windows, then use Linux, but don't complain when development on Windows slows down and stops because MS can't make any money on it anymore. Companies exist to make money, and they incur overhead and expenses to make that money. The more money they lose by piracy, the more that revenue, and profits go down. Eventually there's a break point where the demand does not make it feasible to continue new development on a product. It happens in the semiconductor industry all the time.

How many 8088 CPUs has Intel sold in the last year? Hmmm. I wonder why it's pretty much obsolete? No money = no demand = no new Windows. Think about that while you're trying to crack the activation on Win 7.

Linux does not have the same usability as Windows does. Microsoft can still make a profit and keep the costs low, no instead they must make a greedy profit and keep the costs high.

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.

pparks1 said:

For the average person, it doesn't. But it gets better and better and closer and closer all of the time. Driver and hardware support is usually the hardest part and that is so dependent upon the manufacturers the community with drivers and insight into their products. I've been very fortunate with Linux and I closely research my purchases to ensure that the products that I use are well supported by the Linux distros that I use. Companies like ATI who turned their heads for years to Linux, don't even get a chance at my business. I use Nvidia as they have been there longer and provided better support.

Guess that all depends upon how you look at it. With the exception of gaming...my Linux box can do just about anything my Windows box can do, with 1/2 the hardware, none of the cost, and can be completely modified by me or any other developer to fit my needs exactly. It's stable, it's secure and it's got tons of applications. There are zillions of distros to pick from to get some tailored right to my specific needs. There are new versions coming out all of the time. Doesn't seem so lo-fi to me :)

I love ATI, less problems compared to nVidia (in my case anyways). 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.

Gaming I care less about because any games I play are on the 360 or are browser-based (thus no need for installation).

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.

The more it is used the more companies will consider it, but until that day OS X and Windows will rule.

Why does piracy debates always turn over to linux? Opensource isn't always better and especially when its linux. :)