'Kill switch' dropped from Vista

[JODO 2]

'Kill switch' dropped from Vista

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called "kill switch" is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

Microsoft says its efforts have seen a drop in piracy of its software.

In a statement released by the company, Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Sievert, said: "Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies."

'Take action'

"They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action."

Microsoft has described the new approach as a "change of tactics". It said efforts to tackle piracy had seen numbers of fake copies of Vista at half the level of XP, the previous Windows operating system.

The change will take effect with the release of Service Pack 1, a major update to Windows Vista.

Customers who buy a copy of Windows Vista or have the operating system (OS) installed when they buy a new PC are required to validate the OS with Microsoft.

An online tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, checks the authenticity of the OS to determine if it was legally acquired.

The tool can "lock" Vista from further use if it believes it is an unauthorised copy. But many users have complained that the system is not working because legally bought copies result in error messages.

It was introduced in 2006 as voluntary option, but became mandatory with the release of Vista, and had problems from the day it was introduced. Mr Sievert added: "It's worth re-emphasising that our fundamental strategy has not changed.

"All copies of Windows Vista still require activation and the system will continue to validate from time to time to verify that systems are activated properly." Microsoft said it had pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 "illegal and improper" online software auctions.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7126902.stm

Published: 2007/12/04 13:17:57 GMT

I wonder if that's the product key code that keeps popping up on my screen when I want to print?? and I hateeeee ONE NOTE!!

Edited December 4, 2007 by JODO

[GaryC 7]

Microsoft has described the new approach as a "change of tactics". It said efforts to tackle piracy had seen numbers of fake copies of Vista at half the level of XP, the previous Windows operating system.

More likely it's because Vista is ####### and the pirates know it. It isn't worth stealing. I have a free copy of Vista that was given to me and I am sticking with XP.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

XP is remarkably stable, IMO.

[JODO 2]

Microsoft has described the new approach as a "change of tactics". It said efforts to tackle piracy had seen numbers of fake copies of Vista at half the level of XP, the previous Windows operating system.

More likely it's because Vista is ####### and the pirates know it. It isn't worth stealing. I have a free copy of Vista that was given to me and I am sticking with XP.

XP is on our desktop and Vista is on my laptop, and XP is so much better.

[mawilson 2,133]

XP is remarkably stable, IMO.

Yes, though it does have some resource leaks. Run it for a couple of months without

rebooting and you'll see a gradual decrease in performance.

[pedroh 21]

who the hell wants vista anyway? only n00bs

[mawilson 2,133]

who the hell wants vista anyway? only n00bs

Who the hell wants to reinstall the OS when you buy a new computer?

Unless of course you want to install Solaris or Linux, I'd stick with the pre-installed OS.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

We bought a new PC in October and have been running Vista with no problems. Even the program crashes (so far related to games that I've been running) are few look nice, and the system always shuts down without hanging.

I have to say, against my better judgement that I actually quite like it - compared to the experience I had with my old XP laptop (the motherboard burned out on me).

[Marc and Olga 0]

I have a copy of vista coming to me next year but with all the horror stories I am hearing about it....I will probably stay with my copy of XP

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

XP is remarkably stable, IMO.

Yes, though it does have some resource leaks. Run it for a couple of months without

rebooting and you'll see a gradual decrease in performance.

Memory leaks are a fact of life. Why do you think so many commercial sites are routinely bounced on daily/weekly schedules? They happen, they're difficult to resolve, so we live with them.

[Dan J 277]

There are some nice things about vista. The look and feel is better than the default XP theme in my opinion. But its a quite a bit of a performance hog and occasionally some software and devices does not play nice. I'm waiting to see what SP1 brings before I consider upgrading to it on my main desktop.

[Marilyn. 340]

who the hell wants vista anyway? only n00bs

Who the hell wants to reinstall the OS when you buy a new computer?

Unless of course you want to install Solaris or Linux, I'd stick with the pre-installed OS.

my new computer came with Windows Vista...

I remember when I first started using XP when my brother decided to put it on my computer... I hated it at first and I wanted my Windows 95 back.... but then I got used to it...

the windows vista isn't too bad and I really haven't had any problems with it...

[mawilson 2,133]

Memory leaks are a fact of life. Why do you think so many commercial sites are routinely bounced on daily/weekly schedules? They happen, they're difficult to resolve, so we live with them.

Not in operating systems they're not. In fact, with the tools available today (e.g. Purify),

there's absolutely no excuse for memory leaks even in user-mode applications.

[rebeccajo 14]

I have found Vista to be really stable, but I have one issue with it - at least on my machine.

I keep getting a 'display driver recovery' message about once a day after the monitor goes to the black screen of death and then the OS recovers.

So I dunno if that is Vista or if I have a hardware conflict.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Memory leaks are a fact of life. Why do you think so many commercial sites are routinely bounced on daily/weekly schedules? They happen, they're difficult to resolve, so we live with them.

Not in operating systems they're not. In fact, with the tools available today (e.g. Purify),

there's absolutely no excuse for memory leaks even in user-mode applications.

Rational Purify? Maybe I should have you go talk to my developers, they assure us that despite corporate having paid for the product, they can't help but continue to churn out new apps with memory leaks.