Dodgy Microsoft and Vista

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 14:31

I have to hand it to Microcost - they are bloody clever at manipulating the market.

Vista is not as great a success as they hoped - why? Because it is too hard to pirate for most people. Microsoft have admitted they are against piracy BUT if someone IS going to pirate something they would rather it be one of their products!!! Apparently now they are making newer versions of Vista EASIER to copy.

Very clever actually and something I have thought for years. By allowing piracy you can get someone hooked on your products and then slowly slowly squeeze them by the proverbials. Also by everyone sticking with Microsoft and being familiar with their products it means that in the workplace companies are FORCED to use Microsoft products and that's where they make their real money.

Once you have Vista installed and get used to it they will gradually start using updates etc until - eventually - you end up paying for it - very clever!!!

eupa · 20 March 2007, 14:56

Vista is not as great a success as they hoped - why? Because it is too hard to pirate for most people

Did you get problems codders?? Took me about 15 minutes

( quite frankly - its not worth it!!!)

Jonathan

Sixy_the_red · 20 March 2007, 15:14

I'm still running '98...

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by eupa

Vista is not as great a success as they hoped - why? Because it is too hard to pirate for most people

Did you get problems codders?? Took me about 15 minutes

( quite frankly - its not worth it!!!)

Jonathan

I did say "most" people.....

To be honest I haven't bothered with it. Chucked it on a mate's machine for him but just not interested.

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sixy_the_red

I'm still running '98...

Well as long as it's not ME....

eupa · 20 March 2007, 15:37

As the years pass- it seems ( to me) - that the best one I have used was pro 2000. What do you think Codders?? ( ME was definitely the worst)

Jonathan

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by eupa

As the years pass- it seems ( to me) - that the best one I have used was pro 2000. What do you think Codders?? ( ME was definitely the worst)

Jonathan

I think you are right - speaking of Microsoft of course. I also happen to love DOS.

Prob the best operating system I have ever used was on the Amiga - we actually still use them for certain specialist tasks - they do things PCs never could - our secret weapon!!!

eupa · 20 March 2007, 15:56

I also happen to love DOS.

So do I- I was surprised to see that still quite a few companies run in dos 6 for numereous accountant /stock programs.

Jonathan

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 16:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by eupa

I also happen to love DOS.

So do I- I was surprised to see that still quite a few companies run in dos 6 for numereous accountant /stock programs.

Jonathan

We still have such a package that we wrote quite some time ago - many of our customers refuse to change as they are so used to the keyboard shortcuts and never use a mouse. We have managed to get it to run perfectly on XP so it doesn't cause too many problems.

One of the most useful tools you could ever get is the old Norton ghost. I tried the newest version the other day and it is crap - designed for idiots to back up their whole computers etc - no Dos mode to allow drive mirroring etc. Had to dig out and old version - the last version was on their 2003 disk - Ghost 10 is just not the same!!!

Sixy_the_red · 20 March 2007, 16:32

DOS was great (when I could remember how to use it!)

ME?

I had a PC nicked when I was a student - I'd taken the HD out when I went away for the holidays so the rest of it was just an insurance replacement, so no real worries. It was a P3 450 with I think 128MB RAM. The insurance replaced it with a p3 1GHz with 256MB RAM, better graphics etc etc, and when I first got it it had ME installed. It lasted about a hour until I realised that all the games I wanted to run (I'd just bought the 1st Deus Ex) ran slower on the new machine than on the old one. Aweful OS!

nik · 20 March 2007, 21:01

Code:

By allowing piracy you can get someone hooked on your products and then
 slowly slowly squeeze them by the proverbials.

Exactly! I think thats how windows has got its lead position. At first microsoft were giving away limited versions, about ten floppies worth, not cheap.

BogMonster · 20 March 2007, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

I think you are right - speaking of Microsoft of course. I also happen to love DOS.

Prob the best operating system I have ever used was on the Amiga - we actually still use them for certain specialist tasks - they do things PCs never could - our secret weapon!!!

I hate DOS but loved my old Amiga - still got it and it still works, not a lot of use for anything now. Oh the days when a 52MB hard disc was more than anybody could ever think about using up

As for Vista - I would no more buy a brand new Microsoft operating system than I would buy a brand new model of a certain West Midlands built 4x4 - it takes 12 months to find out what all the problems are and then you can make an informed decision

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I hate DOS but loved my old Amiga - still got it and it still works, not a lot of use for anything now. Oh the days when a 52MB hard disc was more than anybody could ever think about using up

That's where you are wrong - we use ours quite a lot - with an accelerator and they take ide drives. They were still being used by NASA to control satellites until 2004 and they are still used for video effects etc. Babylon V - Deep Space 9 etc. Also used for geological surveys - piloting ROVs - also at many amusement parks etc to control light/sound effects.

For it's limited power it could do so much more than a PC - even now it's multi tasking leaves a PC for dead.

Amiga nearly made a comeback but someone called Bill Gates got scared - bought the company - then closed it!!!

Biggles · 20 March 2007, 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

Once you have Vista installed and get used to it they will gradually start using updates etc until - eventually - you end up paying for it - very clever!!!

This thing has been around for a good few years now. Game makers have been using updates to foil game pirates for a while now. Ever noticed how soon a 'patch' comes out for a game just after its been released. Gives the company chance to slip in another level of security and undo all the hard work done by the pirates on the initial release.

Personally I feel that if software is good and farely priced then we should have nothing to complain about. Its when its crap software I get peeved.

I have seen Vista for £50. Given that it will be the operating system of the next few years at that price its a good buy.

Aidan · 20 March 2007, 23:47

Crikey Lads, next you will be talking about the Sinclair and Apple Lisa, just how old are you all???????

I hate DOS and I am delighted that its as dead as you can get.
I suppose some boffin will reinvent it such as citrix and stuff.

I just plug it in and turn it on, if it mis-behaves, I put a screwdriver right through the centre of it and slap it with a hammer (flat edge at that),
Does it make the computer work???? of course not but I feel better...

laser · 20 March 2007, 23:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

I have seen Vista for £50. Given that it will be the operating system of the next few years at that price its a good buy.

This will probably be the Vista Basic Home version, which IMHO is useless. I will probably invest in vista in about 6 months when proces have dropped and support for programs and drivers is much more readily available, but would only go for Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, as you cant do the simpliest of things like Remote Desktop with the home versions

Will have to see how it pans out though.

Biggles · 20 March 2007, 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by laser

you cant do the simpliest of things like Remote Desktop with the home versions

Will have to see how it pans out though.

Agreed will have to wait to see how it pans out. And then prices will drop so you can get the better versions.

BTW I never used Remote desktop on XP so I don't think I'll need it on Vista. I would get the 64 bit version and get any other microsoft software that I required such as word seperately. The only bit of Vista I want in the future is DirectX10 but that won't be of any use until the end of this year.

For any one that is interested I have some Vista only software running straight out of the box on my Windows XP64 machine. Cool.

It took nearly a year for Windows 64 to get its act together so I guess Vista will be the same. For most people the purchase of Vista will be a non issue. It will come already loaded on their new machine. And for most people thats the sensible route to follow.