Are you planning to upgrade to Microsoft Vista?

[cfaslave]

Another count for the non-vista folks:

Can you only change major hardware on a Vista PC once before having to appeal to M$ that your Vista License is legit?
From the article:

What has enthusiasts concerned are language changes to the retail license for Vista that restrict the number of times you may transfer Vista from one device to another. The license reads: "The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the 'licensed device.'" Putting SPP and the new license together, many have wondered if Windows Vista would permit major hardware changes such as swapping out a motherboard.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061030-8104.html

[Khris]

The way I interpreted the article is that if you're making incremental upgrades, you should be ok. It's if you all of a sudden change a number of components all at once that you could run into issues.

[dirchm0628]

Yeah because Brett has never said " holy S#@t you should see what I see, except you can't and I can only tease you about it" and then six months later I'm still wondering what the hell happened to the amazing stuff that was going to come, except the only thing we recieve is another vague post. How about no more vague posts, and only posts with substance.

[cfaslave]

Why the constant rants about Brett not saying enough or not saying what you want at the right time? Brett isn't employed by SS. If you don't want to believe him fine - but leave the bitching to yourself.

[ClamsTheCat]

Yeah lay off Brett. He teases us in the most reassuring way possible as far as I am concerned. Leave it alone already people.

[Bilar Crais]

Microsoft Relaxes Vista License Terms

http://www.betanews.com/article/Micr...rms/1162505113


"...Now, Microsoft is removing the one-computer transfer limit altogether from its retail licensing terms. The company did not specify whether OEM licenses, which come with new computers already running Windows Vista, will also be changed...."

[ak00kla]

I tried with Vista RC-2. Or should I say I wrestled and fought with Vista RC-2? I have never clicked on so many warnings and OK buttons in my life as those I had to click when configuring Vista. Vista treated me like a child, like an idiot. I had high hopes for Vista but have no plans to ever buy it. I never bought Windows 98 or Millenium. I thought Windows 2000 was passable as a real improvement over NT4 and ME. But I skipped XP and I'll be skipping Vista.

All they did is hide a bunch of menus, add colors, change the icons, and give you new ways to right-click in unfamiliar places to do old stuff. To the folks who are buying Vista, good luck. Maybe we all are so desperate for something good we want to believe anything. We want to believe Vista is secure and improved. But it is the same old crap.

Don't be fooled. Remember history. If you search Microsoft for the phrase "is the most secure" you'll find dozens and dozens of these statements:

"Windows 2000 is the most secure operating system Microsoft has ever shipped" --- Bill Gates, SafeNet 2000 Summit

"Windows XP is the most secure and dependable operating system we have ever produced" --- Jim Allchin, Windows XP SP1 RTM August 2002

"Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is the most secure and reliable Windows platform to date" --- Windows Server 2003 Product Information

"Windows Vista is the most secure and trustworthy Windows operating system yet" --- Technical White Paper, July 2006

Think it's true this time? Maybe, but I think your gonna get Vista-ed up to the elbow!

[lord_demion]

First rule of thumb when it comes to new OS releases... WAIT First rule of thumb for microsoft products... Wait some more! Currently I have not seen anything that vista promotes that is aimed at the consumers. The main items it has actually will hurt the users - piracy "protection"? What that translates is additional opertunities to examine your system (i.e. spyware), extra CPU power being wasted, and the possiblity of stopping your system even if it does not have pirated software because of bugs... (not that microsoft would ever release buggy software.) What motivation would anyone have to pay money to upgrade..? I'd rather pay money to stay on XP. It at least provided some functionality for the users. Currently it looks like vista is primarily being released just so microsoft can refill it's coffers, and so it can send out some new products designed to compete with other vendors like anti-virus protection designed to block the current giants in those fields. There is no reason to upgrade, and plenty of cause to avoid it.

[Giluxis]

I am not willing to take part in the "Microsoft Pay to Beta test" plan.

I feel that Vista is the final step on the road to fully enforced DRM and I will not pay for it.

[nanook105]

Windows vista FAQ from PC World:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2006...pcworld/128009

[fmharr]

I just moved from Win2000 Pro to WinXP pro on my server.

I think I will be staying with XP for the next few years.

Mike

[JoeDornan]

Nope. Not gonna do it.

If I switched it would be for a non-HTPC related benefit the system may offer.

My money will always go to the best DRM-free TV technology out there. For the moment, this is BTV.

If someone else does QAM really well... then...

Cheers,
-Joe

[chrismck]

I worked for Microsoft for close to 8 years and I can say one thing for sure. If microsoft can find a way for you to pay them $$$ every time you do <fill in media related activity> then *he* er I mean *they* will do it.

It's easy to lose perspective when gazing out the windows of your 66,000 square foot house. The windows* may be similar but the perspective is completely different.

I recommend sticking with XP for now. Yes, maybe we'll all get lucky the lack of revenue will force them to realize that the customers that are forced to buy from them prefer a choice.

But OEMs will be preloading anyway so MS will make thier revenue that way.

Bah! What do I know. LoL

[Mistergq]

I just purchased a new laptop and have a free upgrade to vista. I will probably order it, but I plan to stick it on the shelf. I only got 1 gig of ram because all I use the laptop for is word processor, minor spreadsheets, and web browsing. Its my understanding you really need 2 gigs of ram to take full advantage of the Vista additions. But if I have a choice, I am sticking with XP for now. Everything is working the way it is supposed to and I don't see the major advantage to upgrade.

[USArcher]

I'll upgrade to Vista Home or Ultimate in February. I'll base which version depending on Snapstream announcements. If they come out supporting Vista and integrate BeyondMedia then I'll just upgrade to Vista Home.