I agree,
I saw this earlier in the AM and commented about how this will effect adoption of Vista. Microsoft fully expects this to be an impediment to a bigger transition from XP to Vista (they're shooting themselves in the foot). I don't see this as a barrier, rather I see it as an opportunity to enjoy Ubuntu Linux. No codes, autoupdates & no limitations. This will even make me think twice about running OS X on a PC if it comes down to a choice of what to buy/pay for. I see OS X becoming a bigger player, may even influence pricing of Windows and other MS products. Apple needs to view themselves as not only a viable competitor to Dell, HP and others for hardware, but in a real arena where the real battle line will become the OS and software applications. Before Jobs claimed his OS was superior on a closed platform (PPC), now he's going to get his chance to prove it. When the best MS has to offer in Vista is $ 399 a copy and Apple can put OS X out for $ 139 or so, this has to be advantage Apple. Linux doesn't help either MS or Apple, but at least is you have to pay for one, OS X is significantly more cost effective. If Apple makes Leopard compatible with older G4 PPC, I'll be buying it long before a Vista purchase, that's if Vista is ever bought. Maybe hardware vendors can bundle Vista with a hdd, otherwise, I could care less if I ever use it beyond the beta and RC stages.
I understand MS's need to curb piracy, this is a good approach for themselves to implement at the hdd level of each machine Vista is installed on. I've beta'ed Vista and it will expire 6/1/2007. This and anything else MS may hasten it's removal, I really don't use it all that much anyway, especially when I've decided Ubuntu Linux is my solution. Why waste time and resources learning Vista, once you've used a Windows product it's no different from release to release since Windows 98 SE. To be honest I could care less about MS at this stage of the game, this Vista product is smoke and mirrors, relying on an over abundance of resources rather than a lean and mean approach to an OS. I don't buy faster cpu's, better graphics, larger and faster storage & memory for it to be unproductively wasted on bloated eye candy. Let MS keep Vista Beta/RC1, Office 2007 Beta and IE 7 Beta. Some of the hardware that Vista supports today, those drivers will not be included with the production release. So that day they'll not only require me to upgrade software, but hardware as well. Or at least that is the thought process. I refuse to, Ubuntu Linux and it's open source applications are my choice moving forward and has been for the last 126 days. I intend for my hardware to be usable and productive for at least a few more years, not the predetermined obsolescence that MS has planned.
MS continues to cut their own throats, they hang themselves with their own rope. For those that rely on them, pooor souls, those of us that have evolved to Linux are free of & from MS.
