He got you to read the article at least. I am no genus but I would not worry about all this. First it is pointless to switch from XP to Vista at the present time. Maybe in a year you will need to make that move. I think by that time this problem will be solved. MSFT will go out of business on this new business model and people will use XP and not make the switch. They want to control bootleg copies and are trying to figure out away to make sure you have your copy for your computer and that nobody else can get it for free. Itâs a very hard thing to solve and they will probably fail at that venture. I have always been interested in Linux but have never used it.
The potential issues with DRM and Vista are not limited to license activation. Here is an interesting piece from The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/28/vista_drm_analysis/
Here is a (somewhat technical) summary of Linux virtualization and software products http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linuxvirt/?ca=dgr-lnxw01Virtual-Linux I have only used Vmware, and that was a few years ago so things will have moved forward by now. From the users point of view, it is very simple. Normally your Windows desktop appears in a window on your Linux box. You can switch to full screen mode if you wish. Windows 'drives' can be made available to mount as network drives on the Linux side of things, or Linux can export (via Samba) selected portions of file systems that Windows can access as network drives. Data access from either OS is therefore quite transparent. All normal networking services are available on the Windows OS. There are many other very usefull features. All in all, Vmware is exceptionally simple and easy to use.
No, i am sure microsoft remove some restriction you talking about (you can change everything except motherboard?) Anyway i cant find article i read saying this so forget it
So much misinformation in this thread http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/10/26/Microsoft_clarifies_Vista_activation_to_bit-tech/ "We previously read that Vista could prove to be a nightmare for enthusiasts who upgrade often, with only one transfer to a new machine allowed and with the license tied to a particular system configuration in a way that was far more limiting than Windows XP. A Microsoft spokesman from the Licensing Dept told bit-tech that this would not be the case. He told us that Windows Vista will not require a system re-activation unless the hard drive and one other component is changed. This means that enthusiasts will be able to swap CPUs, memory and graphics cards out without any worry about having to re-activate with MS, either on the internet or by phone. Should you change the hard drive and another piece of hardware - for example for a major upgrade such as a motherboard change that requires a re-installation - Microsoft will allow you to re-activate up to 10 times. You will not, however, be able to have more than one machine activated concurrently."
Yeah like I'm going to trust a Microsoft spokesman after I bought a OEM machine for my wife with XP home edition installed and upgraded the hard drive only to be told by the lovely Microsoft lady from customer support... "that'll be another 200 bucks thanks"
10 times???? I upgraded my video card 5 times in the last 12 months alone, hard drive twice, went from Athlon to Core 2 Duo, upgraded motherboard 3 times, X-FI soundcard and they reckon 10 times is looking after an enthusiast? any real enthusiast will be forced to have a pirated cracked version of Vista.
According to the article, its only a issue if you change two components at the same time. If you change components one at a time then you do not need to reactivate. You upgraded your video card 5 times in the last 12 months? You need to find something else to do with your spare time.
I'm exceptionally fussy, last one was actually a downgrade because of the heat the 8800GTX was putting out and it's summer here in Australia, thing was like a nuclear reactor The modern computer is the new hotrod, I love building a machine from the ground up and getting it perfect then squeezing out every last drop of performance (overclocking etc) then ensuring it runs completely silent and cool... great fun!