[MyNameIsRaGe]

I'm willing to bet, that even if you do crack your installation of XP Final, which you probably will 2 days after it's released, chances are, Microsoft is going to try to make it a pain in the *** to run a cracked install.

Windows Update, one of the better features of Windows, will probably have some part in checking up on installations.. You never know what could really be in that "Critical Update" do you?

Just as Game Developers release patches to prevent cracks and trainers, is it not unthinkable that maybe Microsoft might just be planning something similar?

After all, they may have a team, ready and will to find, and defeat all known cracks for XP. Then, quietly slipping those fixes in with updates via Windows Update.

From my point of view, it looks like a perfectly good idea, and chances are, they will do something like this. Just think, you spent hours downloading you final copy of XP off some guy via IRC.. You burn it, install it, crack it. Simple, right? You then goto Windows Update, like many people do after a format, you download that latest Critical Update, reboot, and upon re-loading Windows, your suddenly shown a screen telling you, in simple detail, that you copy of XP has been de-activated.

[MyNameIsRaGe]

Please keep in mind, I'm not against war3z (Honestly, you don't have to censor us from the horrible word, lol) , in fact, I haven't paid for an MS OS since Windows 95. I'm just stating what will probably happen, and why I'll actually buy Windows XP Professional, instead of cracking it.

[BladeRunner]

It was done with Office 2000 SP2.
Known compromised product keys were de-activated - simple solution, don't upgrade your installation.
There is no reason what so ever that the first 'Windows Update' you get from Microsoft wont contain a similar feature.
As such a system would be so small, don't be suprised if every single update had it included - including the security patches that you will want to install.

[ThC 129]

With the amount of money MS is putting into XP and Dot-Net, i don't think they will waste that much time trying to defeat cracks for XP, as of now the current cracks are very hard to do a work around since it is pretty much a patch loader that just resets the 14 day time limit. With blackcomb coming out in a year MS is pretty much putting a get it done and throw it out the door attitude with XP, much like they did with ME so I doubt they will waste the time to try and fool every crack out there. But hell it is big brother we are talking about so who knows what the thought police have thought up for us.

[MyNameIsRaGe]

Microsoft is going to wanna cover thier ***.. So to speak.. Like I said in my previous post, most game developers have small 1-2 man teams that get cracks, analyze them, and then add fixes to the latest patch that defeats them. No reason why Microsoft, one of the worlds richest companies, can't, and won't afford to do something similar.

[BladeRunner]

and if they do decide to take that route all the message forum's will be filled with 'How dare MS break my WinXP' installation!!
If MS do send out patches that stop compromised keys from working the only people hurt will be those who *****ed and those that made their key public in the first place - not a great loss, so don't be suprised if it happens.

[MyNameIsRaGe]

Yep.

It's not exactly like people who pirate XP will be able to complain either, lol

[Questionnaire]

Quote:

Microsoft is going to wanna cover thier ***.. So to speak.. Like I said in my previous post, most game developers have small 1-2 man teams that get cracks, analyze them, and then add fixes to the latest patch that defeats them.

Hhhhhmmmmm... Anyone notice that the latest patches for Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament take out the CD checks? And my only complaint about activation is "What If". What if you dont have a internet connection avail where you live? What if you're doing a clean install and your wife forgot to pay the phone bill on time as usual? hehe. What, walk down the street to seven eleven's pay phone to activate your system? LOL Pass the crack stem m8. (Far fetched situations, but still possible) Oh and dont confuse me for a person that's into the warez scene because ive been downloading the Beta's like mad. Simply put- If I have the chance to grab a sneak-peek at the new big OS before the general population, you better beleive i'm gonna jump all over it. No harm intended since ive already paid for the preview program (RC1 & 2). Other then that, I have no problem with activation since i'll be going to the local PC software store to get the final retail. (If I decide to stick with XP)

Oh and I hope swaping out a Intel mobo to try a AMD setup wont make me have to re-activate all the time. I usualy stick with a setup for a year but when I do upgrade, I try out diferent hardware configs like mad before choosing the final setup.

[MyNameIsRaGe]

Well, after a game has been out long enough, not many people are going to pirate it..

[miku]

Well,

When all is done and said about Windows XP Final.

I am sure that "To every lock there is a key..."

No matter what Microsoft do, I believe the pirates are way ahead. They will eventually crack it.


ARC

[EddiE314]

i agree with most of you guys in saying that anything can be cracked, there's always a loophole, of course, when XP SP1 is released, i won't be upgrading. If this whole MS activation thing gets too far outta hand, i'm going back to NT4 or 2000, its not worth all of the trouble to crack, reinstall, crack, reinstall every other day because everytime you change hardware or apply service packs and/or hotfixes it (in a sense) breaks Windows. All of this is Bullsh1t, what stinks even more is MS's plan to release an OS every fu*kin' year just to get more $$$, i have paid for countless MS products, not this time Mr. Gates, i'm stealing from YOU b1tch!!!! Wanna know why? Check your bank account(s), thats why. When i gotta pay $1.79+ USD for a gallon of gasoline and $300 USD for an OS just so i can fu*kin play Quake, the money in my pocket dries up pretty quick. Between the two "butt-f*ck" kings....Mr. Gates and Mr. Bush, i dunno who's worse. I also smoke Marijuana. Thank you for robbing me blind.

-EddiE314

[MyNameIsRaGe]

$1.79? Lucky ba5tard.. Around here, it's around $2.50..

[BladeRunner]

Well Eddie314, it's nice to see that communism still has it's supporters.

[Questionnaire]

Quote:

Check your bank account(s), thats why. When i gotta pay

Quote:

Check your bank account(s), thats why. When i gotta pay $1.79+ USD for a gallon of gasoline and $300 USD for an OS just so i can fu*kin play Quake, the money in my pocket dries up pretty quick. Between the two "butt-f*ck" kings....Mr. Gates and Mr. Bush, i dunno who's worse.

.79+ USD for a gallon of gasoline and 0 USD for an OS just so i can fu*kin play Quake, the money in my pocket dries up pretty quick. Between the two "butt-f*ck" kings....Mr. Gates and Mr. Bush, i dunno who's worse.

I know exactly how you feel. Also, is it just me or didnt it seem like we where all riding high with Clinton in office?

[EddiE314]

not communism, reality.

[Brian Frank]

I personally think the XP activation probably looked good on paper, but not when it gets applied. No way I'll buy a copy of XP for each of my PC's either. At least I'm not being bullied into upgrading like a lot of companies are who haven't gone to the latest and greatest OS.
If everything works fine for a company, there is absolutely no reason they should be forced to upgrade if they don't need to. MS should not be forcing companies to upgrade, and because they are, its certainly an indication that something is seriously wrong here. I for one will probably not go to XP, because I don't like where they've moved things, they dumped NetBUEI--which I use to make it extra hard for hackers in addition to a firewall and a gateway with a hardware firewall, the promised speed increase in boot time hasn't been all that impressive, I don't like Media Player 7 or 8--takes up too much space, the whole activation crap, the category views, the continued support for personalized menus, autoplay, that stupid XP assistant, it's harder to do things in general. Im sure for the first time user, the eye candy is great, but IMO, the eye candy is all there is. It's a modified version of Win2k with a few bells and whistles. Oh,yeah, I still have no way to opt out of Movie Maker, another MS "innovation" I hate.
I know a lot of you like XP, but I really don't like it at all.
Who really cares if the OS looks nice if its a pain to use. I don't like going through even more hoops to get something working.

[Bursar]

Would you care to explain how companies are "being bullied into upgrading"?

If they are running 9x/NT/2K, they can continue to do so. In mny cases companies are running their chosen operating systems because all the software they use works on it. Upgrading to a new OS may well break some mission critical software, so they'll stick with what they've got.

It won't be possible to buy any more licenses for the 'old' operating systems, but if they are buying a new PC as a replacement, they can move the OS to the new machine if the old one is being junked.

If they are buying new machines for new staff or to run as new servers, then maybe they should plan ahead a bit and buy a few extra licenses now whilst they still can. I know this isn't an overally practical way of doing things, but it is possible.

Companies have always had to endure situations like this, be it with computer hardware and software or more 'mundane' items which are replaced with upgraded models.

I think the real issue here is that the consumer is no longer going to be able to buy (or otherwise acquire) a copy of MS software and install it onto several machines. Or give it to their friends. Or install it for their mum who doesn't really know what she's doing.

If you don't like it, then don't buy it. You have the right to use whichever OS you prefer, if you prefer Win2k, that's fine. If not, buy a Mac, get Linux, get BeOS, get whatever you like, as long as it's a legally licensed bit of software, it doesn't matter.

[Brian Frank]

Well, I went back over what I read, and the upgrading seems to apply more to OFFICE XP, than WinXP. My bad there. It pretty much seems that MS is strongly persuading companies to upgrade to a new program by basically telling them they have to buy before October 25,2001, or else we'll really jack up the price. To me that does kinda seem to be a little pushy. I probably won't go to another OS for a while, because Win2k rocks for me. XP just really didn't have anything convincing enough to justify that much money. After a while, I'll probably get one of the Linux distros with the 2.4 kernel and play around with that, just to see how much better it's gotten.

[Son_Gohan]

[miku]

One thing I heard was that:

Windows XP Corporate Professional Edition will not come with Product Activation...

Any thoughs on this?