Had a further little email chat with Jennifer about Vista’s licensing. She pointed out this article on ZDNet, so I wanted to make sure I bring it to everyone’s attention.
It’s clear to both of us in our discussion, however… that these modifications just aren’t good enough. It doesn’t solve the “ick” factor of knowing that Microsoft is watching how you compute – every day, every night, every boot. To me, that makes it the ultimate deal killer. The general distrust is the nail in the coffin.
I don’t think anyone here would disagree when I say that in the past, Windows experience has been “bought and paid for” through some… uhm… not necessarily proper copies of Windows and Microsoft software. We all know that. Microsoft knows that. What Microsoft apparently doesn’t know is that there are large contingencies of IT workers out there that cannot afford their crack legitimately, even when they need it to learn how to do their jobs. In the small business world, you’re certainly not going to see Mr. Tightwad tossing copies of Vista at his IT workers, begging them to install it at home and learn how to use it (which… if you think that an education on ANY new Microsoft product relies on the classroom or a Boot Camp, you should be fucking shot).
If Microsoft thinks that masses of IT workers are going to be able to shell out the actual big bucks that it takes to run legitimate copies of Office 2007 and Vista at home to learn how to do their jobs… they’re sorely mistaken. Microsoft… bad call. It’ll bite you in the long run. You’ll see people diving off to Linux or Macs. Yeah, Macs are expensive… but hey, it’s all about the hardware and software engineering and how it works together for a good experience. That’s worth a little extra money to me.
Besides – by the time I build a PC that can run Vista well, I’ll have spent the same amount of money anyway – just to get Microsoft breathing down my neck to make sure I’m legit. What-tha-fark-evah. Not on my home machines, guys.