Vista Cost too high?

[Death Engineer]

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1727245&from=rss

This is a very interesting article about how Vista's built in Premium Content Protection software will cost all of us in the long run.

[Nitro]

Windows Vista is one piece of software I will not ever have on my machine. I hope the Microshaft monopoly will declare bankruptcy in the next 2 years. If you value freedom, dump these software nazis.

[Death Engineer]

Come on Nitro. Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel. I mean, put some backbone into your posts or something... ;) I wish I wouldn't ever have to touch this OS with a 10 foot pole, but I'm sure with my work, I won't have a choice.

Customers of Dell and other major PC manufacturers will be shipping Vista early '07 and companies like ours will have to jump to support it or risk losing customers (or at least losing face with them anyways).

[Nitro]

I ordered my new PC without an OS so I can install any Linux distro of my choice for absolutely free...and without all the viruses, instability, and spy stuff Microsh!t has in their software.

Viva La Linux!

[OUTLAWS Tip]

I'll probably get it when I build my new system next year. I don't download music and hardly have any on my pc anyway. I buy all my software so I don't care if they are checking.

My XP pro system runs great and I love IE7. I don't have spyware or a virus problem either. Anything I click on works and I don't have to figure out how to make it work.

My system is about 5 years old but runs great. Figure next year I will finally break down and build a new kick ass system. Vista will be on it and I'll actually buy a couple games next year, if they come out with any that don't suck. With the track record of games coming out in the last couple of years that is not a given though.
:P

[Sirc]

Hey Tip, I'd wait until at least the first service pack comes out for Vista before buying it. Unless you enjoy being an alpha-tester for Microsoft. Seriously.

[OUTLAWS Tip]

I won't be rushing in. I'll be starting my saving for pc fund the beginning of January. It'll take me several months to scrape up enough cash to build my new pc. I'm looking at March/April anyhow.
:(

[NastyDawg]

Hey Tip, I'd wait until at least the first service pack comes out for Vista before buying it. Unless you enjoy being an alpha-tester for Microsoft. Seriously.

I agree with that Sirc, I don't want to come close to it for at least 10 months or more.

[Caged Anger]

as odd as it might have once seemed, i think the days when home system upgrades are mandatory are past. Even for businesses, many still don't even use XP. I think so long as one has a high end rig and XP, I don't see why one would have to upgrade for at least another 1-2 yrs. Sure, the direct x thing will be a bummer, but I"m sure some hacker will think like nitro and find a way to hack it so it works :)

Power to the basement hackers!

[ME BIGGD01]

Guys, lets be honest here. Although I find WIndows XP Pro to be very good and suitable for my needs, Vista is going to be the next step from here. I do not like all the privacy rights being thrown out the door but ine should not just look at this OS as if it's something new. Every piece of hardware and software violates this these days. All I say about that is F'em!!! Honestly I hardly use and real info on any os in my house. No matter what if someone needs to trace you they can and will. We live in a different world and people just need to stand up and pay attention to the EULA's. Regardless this is not the only software that violates your rights.

As far as Microsoft goes, they really are not a bad company compared to any other company. They do what's right for them and why not, that's the way you stay alive in todays society. I hate them but understand that they are what keeps the industry moving. I support Microsoft because in the long run they do a pretty good job considering they are as large as they are. I find claims of linux being better or the mac being better to be all BS. It's complete bias toward the bigger company that already runs 90% or more of the worlds computers. Nobody does it so to clam any company with a 5-10% market is better if silly. Thats like saying the safest car in the worls is the least drivin car in the world.

Price of Vista does seem a bit steep. That does not bother me though. I hate all the different versions of all of this stuff which will just make things confusing. IT takes a lot of time and research to buy anything today and usually people don't do that due to laziness. Let's be realistic though because if the OS which runs just about everythinng you run on your system is only 200-300 bucks, This seems reasonable compared to say and EA game or any game for that matter that cost 60 bucks. I mean wouldn't that mean that application is a ripp off? Besides, considering how easy and cheap it is to buy a system with the os on it, don't that seem pretty reasonable.

Final argument...
I find it unfair to bash a single company for doing what every other company is doing. The majority of you will one day be running a Vista OS in the next year. Things are being written for it specific and will take advantage of what the OS has to offer. If you reallly are not interested in that that's fine but do not consider the product to be garbage because you feel it does not suit your needs. I see many things changing and we are one step from subscription OS's in the future. When that comes We will have no privacy which really should be the main argument to all of these products being released today. If they could put advertisemnts on your foreheads they would.

Vista will be a good OS IMO and hopefully software companies are able to push and build products to take advantage of all of this new stuff. Vista will take a bit of time to get use to but it will be in everyones machine within 2 years.

[ME BIGGD01]

as odd as it might have once seemed, i think the days when home system upgrades are mandatory are past. Even for businesses, many still don't even use XP. I think so long as one has a high end rig and XP, I don't see why one would have to upgrade for at least another 1-2 yrs. Sure, the direct x thing will be a bummer, but I"m sure some hacker will think like nitro and find a way to hack it so it works :)

Power to the basement hackers!

Hackers deserve to be hacked. These kinds of people do nothing usefull but to cause harm to others for no reason. Being that I am in the industry, these people hurt the industry. To me I could care less what people do for apps but the OS is the soul of your computer.

[Nitro]

Hackers deserve to be hacked. These kinds of people do nothing usefull but to cause harm to others for no reason. Being that I am in the industry, these people hurt the industry. To me I could care less what people do for apps but the OS is the soul of your computer.

I just installed Ubuntu (one of the most popular linux distros) and I couldn't be more happier. You have no idea how good it feels to not be in Microsoft land anymore. It's pure ecstasy. :)

[Nitro]

The U.S. agency best known for eavesdropping on telephone calls had a hand in the development of Microsoft's Vista operating system, Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.

The National Security Agency (NSA) stepped in to help Microsoft Corp. develop a configuration of its next-generation operating system that would meet U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requirements, said NSA Spokesman Ken White.

This is not the first time the secretive agency has been brought in to consult private industry on operating system security, White said, but it is the first time the NSA has worked with a vendor prior to the release of an operating system.

By getting involved early in the process, the NSA helped Microsoft ensure that it was delivering a product that was both secure and compatible with existing government software, he said.

"This allows us to ensure that the off-the-shelf security configuration that the DOD customer receives is at a level that meets our standards," White said. "It just makes a lot more sense to be involved up-front, than it does to have the tail wag the dog."

The NSA's involvement in Vista was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.

The NSA has provided guidance on how best to secure Microsoft's Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems in the past. The agency is also credited with reviewing the Vista Security Guide published on Microsoft's Web site.

Microsoft declined to allow its executives to be interviewed for this story. But in a statement the company said that it asked a number of entities and government agencies to review Vista, including the NSA, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Still, the NSA's involvement in Vista raises red flags for some. "There could be some good reason for concern," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). "Some bells are going to go off when the government's spy agency is working with the private sector's top developer of operating systems."

Part of this concern may stem from the NSA's reported historical interest in gaining "back-door" access to encrypted data produced by products from U.S. computer companies like Microsoft.

In 1999, U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said that "high level deal-making on access to encrypted data had taken place between the NSA and IBM [Corp.] and Microsoft," according to EPIC's Web site.

With Vista expected to eventually power the majority of the world's personal computers, it would be tempting for the government agency to push for a way to gain access to data on these systems, privacy advocates say.

The NSA provided guidance on Vista's security configuration, but it did not open any back doors to Windows, White said. "This is not the development of code here. This is the assisting in the development of a security configuration," he said.

While the NSA is best known for its surveillance activities, the work with Microsoft is being done in accordance with the NSA's second mandate: to protect the nation's information system, White said. "This is the other half of the NSA mission that you never hear much about," he said. "All you ever hear about is foreign signal intelligence. The other half is information assurance."

http://www.computerpartner.nl/article.php?news=int&id=4589

[EXEcution]

Note to self: Don't look at TOO MUCH pron on a Vista system otherwise the NSA might get suspicious.