Microsoft is denying a recent report that suggests it deliberately included a technical loophole in Windows Vista that lets users install the OS without paying for the full priced version. In an article that appeared earlier this week in the Windows Secrets newsletter, reporter Scott Dunn noted that the Service Pack 1 version of Windows Vista gives users the option of buying the 'upgrade edition' and installing it on any PC, which enables them to avoid paying for the more expensive 'full' edition. In the U.S., the list price of the upgrade edition is more than $100 cheaper than the full edition, according to Dunn.
According to Dunn, the same option was available to users when Vista was first released, and Microsoft's failure to close this loophole in Vista SP1 suggests that the vendor "approved the back door as a way to make the price of Vista more appealing to sophisticated buyers." But a Microsoft spokesperson disputed the notion that the vendor supports users taking advantage of the technical loophole in Vista.
News Source: Information Week
According to Dunn, the same option was available to users when Vista was first released, and Microsoft's failure to close this loophole in Vista SP1 suggests that the vendor "approved the back door as a way to make the price of Vista more appealing to sophisticated buyers." But a Microsoft spokesperson disputed the notion that the vendor supports users taking advantage of the technical loophole in Vista.
News Source: Information Week
That's true, but everyone knows (at least, a lot of people) that you can use the actual Vista Upgrade DVD as one of the eligible installations to upgrade! Paul Thurrott on his WinSite showed how this could be done. Really, Microsoft did this to themselves by not allowing a Vista Upgrade DVD to be installed cleanly and activated as/is, once someone proves they had an older disc of Windows XP (like in the old days).
So, if the loophole isn't fixed with SP1, even though Microsoft knows that it exists, they must not really [i]have a problem with it.
Also there is another "loop hole" that allows you to do a clean install with an upgrade license and the 64-bit editions do a clean install regardless of your license key type (full/upgrade).
Anyway back to the topic, I don't know why people are complaining! people complain Vista costs way too much for what you get and then they find out there is a way to get it cheaper and what they do? complain! *arg!*
But by design, they've made the Vista Upgrade DVD one of the products that qualify and is eligible for the upgrade! So, to allow that, to design it that way, and then say that people who do it are breaking the EULA is kind of ridiculous. It's not like you have to hack some file or something. It's designed that way by Microsoft!
I agree there should be a major price cut.. but this will not stop pirating microsoft operating systems (better yet why would people pay for it if its on the net?), even if there was a price cut most people cant afford vista.
You're joking right? MS are one of the hugest proponents of software as a service: "Ten years out, in terms of actual hardware costs you can almost think of hardware as being free - I'm not saying it will be absolutely free - but in terms of the power of the servers, the power of the network will not be a limiting factor," - Bill Gates
Obviously they don't plan on any price cuts, and in fact will probably seek perpetual subscription fees as well as probably an initial OS cost. If they don't provide shareholders some guarantee of money coming in (plus the promise of more so that they can increase the value of their investment) then shareholders won't be interested in owning MS stock.
Yes they can they just choose not to. Apparently, Microsoft programmers don't have children to feed, they all volunteer their time.
Yes they can they just choose not to. Apparently, Microsoft programmers don't have children to feed, they all volunteer their time.
Oh realy well maybe you'd like to move to new zealand and see how much the rest of the world pays to be shafted by M$
as of today price's for windoze vista home premium $401.59nzd and ultimate $870.00nzd or if you'd like to go the server os on a workstation Server 2008 $1097.00nzd so where you get off saying people just dont want to stump up the readies for a crap O.S i dont know about you but i dont get paid nearly enough a week for me to be able to afford to upgrade to a newer os so im patiently waiting for sp3 for winxp pro
So it's been happening for quite a long time!
Huh? And why would they know of the upgrade editions?
If I visit a random online store here that offer update editions, they have the OEM editions too.
You speak of those editions like they're some sort of secret/rare product, but they actually advertise them in the open.
I'm pretty sure they say it sucks because it does suck. Suck... is a relative term... it's disappointing. It's got issues. Vista is not what Windows users were looking for. They wanted something lean, stable, secure, and fast, something significantly better than XP, OS X or Linux. Instead they got a big, fat sack of **** that has gone back to square one where XP was six years ago--bugs, lack of drivers, bloat--without adding any significant benefits. There will ofcourse be some who cannot resist buying the latest thing solely because it's "new" but those people are the minority. They're the people who ran out and bought Vista without really considering it's pros and cons, and the future.
Why do you even defend Vista? Windows 7 beta is NEXT YEAR, Vista is dead already! If you think anything about Vista is going to change between now and then, you're very mistaken. Vista is Win ME II. It's an interim OS released because MS needed some extra $$$. MS will sell Vista now, and even force it on users through OEM preloads, and by 2010 it will replace it with Windows 7 and you will have to pay for that too.
I think the rest of us can hold out until then with XP. Vista is not worth the trouble.
I'm pretty sure they say it sucks because it does suck. Suck... is a relative term... it's disappointing. It's got issues. Vista is not what Windows users were looking for. They wanted something lean, stable, secure, and fast, something significantly better than XP, OS X or Linux. Instead they got a big, fat sack of **** that has gone back to square one where XP was six years ago--bugs, lack of drivers, bloat--without adding any significant benefits. There will ofcourse be some who cannot resist buying the latest thing solely because it's "new" but those people are the minority. They're the people who ran out and bought Vista without really considering it's pros and cons, and the future.
Why do you even defend Vista? Windows 7 beta is NEXT YEAR, Vista is dead already! If you think anything about Vista is going to change between now and then, you're very mistaken. Vista is Win ME II. It's an interim OS released because MS needed some extra $$$. MS will sell Vista now, and even force it on users through OEM preloads, and by 2010 it will replace it with Windows 7 and you will have to pay for that too.
I think the rest of us can hold out until then with XP. Vista is not worth the trouble.
u do realize that Windows 7 is pretty much gonna be Windows Vista R2, right? ;-)
It may be a full version # above vista, but it will still be Vista at its core. You think MS can manage a total Kernel rewrite in a year (which is when they say the next version of windows may be released)??? NO way... they're not going to ditch Vista, but they are going to hammer down all the rough edges that made vista so detestable to the vocal minority and made it sound like windows Me 2 to the gullible majority.
Face it man, Windows Vista is here to stay.
It doesn't suck. I run Vista and it works fine for me. Don't you know, if you flame anything from Microsoft, you're cool. That's the reason they say it sucks. Otherwise you're labeled a 'fanboy', and nobody wants that moniker.
Hmmmm. Not much of a choice you set for folks, is it?:
Either be a "poser", or be a "fanboi".
Which would YOU rather be?
In my opinion, it is better to be a "fanboi", than a "poser".
Why live for the praise of others, or for their acceptance? Are they gonna feed
you when you get hungry? Are they gonna provide a place for you to lay down your
head? Once they find someone "cooler than you", they will drop you like a hot
potato. Will they be at your bedside as you lay dying? No way...
Who do these "cool" people think they are, anyway?
Just more liars and hypocrites.
In my younger days, "cool" meant something very different than it does today.
If someone was "cool", he was trustworthy, loyal, and above all, true to himself and others.
That is why he was called "cool"; such a man was not moved by outward appearances,
but by inward principle.
He didn't follow the fashion of the moment, nor was he swept away by the crowd.
He was EVERYTHING our modern "cool kids" are not.
Donald L McDaniel
My daughter's eMachine running the Vista upgrade DOWNLOAD (legal purchase from Windows Marketplace) crashes. I replace the mobo -- so my copy of XP is no longer working on my new ASUS mobo as it's an OEM license. I install Vista using the trick because I can't install XP and upgrade again to Vista. I even had to find a way to make a boot DVD from the download because MS was too #$#@ cheap to make it a bootable ISO.
I'm tired of being screwed over by licensing and WGA crap. I won't even detail my 3 hour call to India because my son's activation apparently became "not genuine" after months of working fine.'
I want paid for my time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtSDlSVDibA
I would normally agree, but this video is Soooooo True and VERY funny
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=420
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=1909
Read his articles closely and carefully.
Then you can judge for yourselves if the "loophole" is true or not.
http://www.windowssecrets.com/2008/04/10/0...ttles-the-cages
Now it's Ed Bott's turn to defend himself and his recent opinions about the Vista upgrade trick.
http://www.windowssecrets.com/2008/04/10/0...ttles-the-cages
Now it's Ed Bott's turn to defend himself and his recent opinions about the Vista upgrade trick.
well , if i were to sound mundane, i would rephrase it : "And its continued existence in SP1 proves that the trick is perceived as a useful marketing tactic."
nothing about it being there proves wether or not its actually helping sales
Last edited by carmatic on 13 Apr 2008 - 15:43
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