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MS makes Vista available to download legally
Author: Wil HarrisPublished: 19th January 2007
Windows Vista will be available on the Windows Marketplace - will authorisation techniques put a stop to piracy?
Previous versions of Windows have only been sold on physical media, with the thought being that digital distribution makes things easier to copy.
Digital distribution of Windows marks a change in strategy and attitude in Microsoft, when it comes to piracy. Digital distribution is a recognition that physical media, no matter what the copy protection, is not hard to copy, and so the answer to piracy does not lie in making things harder to copy - it lies, as MS has proved with Windows Genuine Advantage, in making copied software useless unless authorised.
It's also an indication of Microsoft's direction when it comes to digital distribution - we've already seen Xbox 360 starting to move content acquisition online, and this is an indication that Windows is going the same way.
MS clearly has confidence in its ability to prevent pirated copies of Windows from being authorised for use, especially given the lack of 'FCKGW' business keys this time around.
This is especially true, given that all versions of Vista come on the one DVD. Whether you buy Home Basic or Ultimate, you'll get the same disc - the only difference is the activation key which brings online your desired version. Clearly, Microserfs are supremely sure that its latest authorisation technology will keep users honest. Given what we've seen of hacking Vista so far, they could well be right - keeping Vista hacked is possibly more hassle than its worth.
Microsoft also announced its plan for family licenses for the operating system. If you buy Ultimate, with its extravagant price tag, you can get two licenses for Home Premium for a mere $50 each, meaning you can legally upgrade your parents' computer, rather than leaving them in an XP-laden lurch.
Will you upgrade to Vista? Have you had much joy in hacking it? Let us know your thoughts over in the forums.
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Comments (21)
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EDIT: They've been doing this for years via services like MSDN(AA)
Not installing right now though, I still have a number of apps internally that do not run 100% correctly just yet.
i will get vista as soon as i update my pc and need it.
<rant off>
Back on topic though: it being available to download is a very good thing :) Should have done the same with XP really.
a cinema ticket costs 4 quid, yet people pirate movies more than anything else
even if it was cheaper, people would still try and get it for free!
Wouldn't mind living near your cinema. A ticket used to cost 4 quid, now it costs £6 or more. And they leave the lights on. And people talk on mobile phones and make noise more than ever. And all the extras that make the cinema enjoyable have quadrupled in prices in the last few years.
The cinema has been ruined by price gouging and pandering to people who ruin experiences for others.
Yes, there will always be people for whom free is better at any cost. But for the majority of people, if the price is right and the convenience is there(which it can be much more so with a legal product) then they'll take the product. This is why allofmp3 is so succesfull. It costs money, so why would people use it over P2P networks? Simple, it's convenient and reliable and the price is right.
If MS can make things convenient, reliable(and problem free i might add) and get the price right, they'll do well. As it is, they'll do none of the above and still do well, but probably not quite as well.
Sam
At my local cinema, it's £7 PER PERSON, thats £14 for the Missus & I, to see a film ONCE, without being able to stop / pause / rewind / look for goofs.
I'm sorry, but I'd rather save my £14 for the DVD, or, because I want to see it now, I'll download it.
Back on Track, if Vista was <£100, I might consider buying it, IF I could use it on all my PCs. However, whilst it's reduced to one PC only, I'll stick with what I have.
As for downloading the software, welcome MS to the next century. Valve/Steam have been doing this for a while, as have others.
As Doug says they have been doing this for developers long before the Game boys got in on the act
now if there was just a way to get vista ultimate for free
I at the moment am using a cheap and cheerful XP HOME with service pack 2 included (cost me about £58), that is what operating systems should cost.
The idea for the cheaper extra lisences is an excelent idea and will help quite a bit in my case.