....Does anyone hate....

[Libby]

Does anyone else hate this BS activation Microsoft puts you through just to use windows, or is it just me?

[Valkysas]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

huh?

[RPGD]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

When you install XP for the first time, you have to go through that reg procedure.

[AbstractOrigin]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

Calling in to get activation codes? Yeah, it does suck a bit.

[Libby]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

huh?

Sorry, I should clarify. I just had to spend half an hour trying to activate my Windows XP Pro (Wee, that I got for FREE from school) because their stupid systems wouldn't recognize the damn Serial Number I got FROM THE WEBSITE THAT GAVE ME THE XP. It just bothers me, then the guy on the other line could barely understand me and just went through verbatium over and over again. *sighs* I hate Microsoft sometimes.

[Valkysas]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

oh, that. yeah, it sucks. I can understand why they do it though.

[JLaCroix]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

Believe it or not, this was one of the bigger reasons I decided not to use Windows anymore for my main computing. When I didn't have internet or phone, I had to walk to a payphone to exchange codes with Microsoft's Tech Support, after convincing them that I wasn't a pirate. (I do own a legal copy, which was the one in question).

Not only that, but I constantly change tons of parts and even motherboards sometimes, and ran out of activations. The way I see it I should be able to tweak my own PC as I see fit.

At that point I seriously had my liking of Windows XP questioned, and months later I switched to Linux, because there really isn't anything Windows can do that Linux can't. In fact, with all the years Microsoft waited to release their new OS, Linux is ahead of them and can do more, and it even runs 2.5 times faster than Windows XP on my machine.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big supporter of intellectual property and the right for a software maker to protect those rights, however I feel making consumers go through all those loops to use a product is defined as "horrible customer service".

It just really got on my nerves that I have to practically beg for my right to use Windows on my computer from Microsoft. I shouldn't have to do that, I did buy it legally after all. Microsoft could've thought up something better than providing bad customer service, but then again, whatever they come up with will be hacked, it's inevitable.

[Sampson]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

But it works both ways.

I've never personally done it, but I have watched people call MS to get legit codes for their pirated coppies.

I switched to Linux, because there really isn't anything Windows can do that Linux can't.

Besides all the applications?

[jvrlopez]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

Does anyone else hate this BS activation Microsoft puts you through just to use windows, or is it just me?

Its done to keep things like your credit card number and pornography private.

[Libby]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

Its done to keep things like your credit card number and pornography private.

Porn?! What porn?! (*aside* Quick! Hide the tapes!)

[Magus]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

TAPES PSHAW PORN IS ON BLU-RAY NOW

[Libby]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

TAPES PSHAW PORN IS ON BLU-RAY NOW

Umn.....



What's Blu-Ray?

[Magus]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

[thetruecoolness]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

Of course another alternative is just to stick with Windows 2000, which is still supported, and runs on the same kernel as XP. You just won't be able to use Microsofts file sharing with an XP system, cause that would have made sense for that to be backwards compatible, but somehow it's not even though they are built on the same core. So yeah just stick with 2000 Pro, and mod your system all you like without worrying about activation. Of course modding wouldn't be a problem if Windows didn't need to check the BIOS for some reason, making you need to reinstall if you change motherboards.

As a side note I think all of this copy protection software is not as useful as they think and can actually hurt thier business, at least the more intrusive ones (like Sony's one that disabled your CD/DVD Burner http://news.com.com/Sony+CD+protecti...3-5926657.html). Most of it just prevents users who would like to make ligit backup copies, unable to, while all the people who want to copy it, ie hackers, have already found a way to do so and sent it to all their non hacker friends. So effectively they only make their real customers mad, and still get their things stolen. I understand the concern and think something should be in place, but I would rather have it not inhibit the functioning of my computer, or make it unneccesarily difficult to make backup copies, since things do get lost/stolen, and wear out, and normally run faster when run from hard disc instead of optical (for games which require the CD anyway). Of course I also think all PC games should have some kind of multiplayer spawn like Starcraft did, so if you own multiple PCs you only need to buy one game to play with your friends on a LAN, but I doubt that will ever become widespread.
Just my take on copy protection. And I do own all of my games and OS legally (I also get MS stuff for free through my school).

And Blu-Ray is a new Optical disc technology which will become affordable soon (it's already out but still pretty expensive right now). The discs will hold around 25GB of data on a single layer. The PS3 will be using this for it's games. And of course there will be a rival format, cause what good is a new optical generation without at least 2 different formats to totally confuse everyone (*cough*DVD+-), HD-DVD, backed by none other than Microsoft though it was developed by Toshiba. The HD-DVD will have less capacity. And it is called blu ray cause it uses a (wait for it...) blue laser to read the disc (isn't Sony witty), which is more precise than a red one since it has a shorter wavelength.
More info is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

[Rodak]

Re: ....Does anyone hate....

I miss DOS.