[vonkroll]

Well i used Mac's for such a long time at uni and for when i did graphic design,
and never had problems with mac os. But i was never a ranting fool who kept bashing pc's. Since i own 2 at the time but never a mac while at uni.

I have used "cough cough" copys of windows for years when one was a poor little student, but the last 3 pc's i have had have all had legal versions of windows. The most problems i have had witrh pc's have tended to be hardware issuses or driver related. Never much to do with the os.

But weather i will start swinging to linux or back to mac's, all really depends on what the most compatably and safe to use, for my needs.

But on the whole issue of cracking down, so many people feel that since microsoft is so big, they will not notice little old me use a nicked copy of there software. It seems to be the trend with all software/music/film nowadays. People feel they should be able to get things for nothing, nothing to do with this we are fighting the corperations crap, it's theft plan and simple. Christ i have done it and will admit to it.

[Horsepower]

oh, don't get me wrong. should people buy it? of course they should if they're gonna use it. i have absolutely no problem with paying for what i frequently use. more than once i've considered going legit. but here's my beef with paying for it: i don't feel like i should have to call MS when i want to make a hardware change. since i'm frequently in my box making changes, why should i have to tell MS about it? it's none of their business. yes i know the phone calls are "supposed" to prevent piracy, but since i would have paid for it and would be using it in a lawful manner, imo that's where my obligation to MS ends.

for me, it's an invasion of privacy issue. we all are already in a daily fight to keep people and businesses from collecting information on us. does this justify me stealing the XP OS software? probably not. but i don't give a damn about how much more money the world's wealthiest man can cram into his already overstuffed wallet. nor do i give a damn about stealing from a company that has a monoploy on the operating system market and squashes competition whenever it thinks it can get away with it(which btw keeps prices high for u and me). call me a thief or a pirate if you must. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR matey!

drop the activation calls and i'll pay for it.

[vonkroll]

call me a thief or a pirate if you must. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR matey!

ohh can i be first mate, and there is no way i am being the cabin boy

[Smurf]

Originally Posted by Horsepower

drop the activation calls and i'll pay for it.

That, yea, that's down right stupid. My friend changed some things on his computer and he had to spend 100 bucks for XP. He had XP before and then had to pay 100 dollars to get it back?

[Meltdown]

Nice thing about corporate keys, don't have to worry about activation and the upcoming security changes. Not to mention if one slips out and M$ finds out about it they are unlikely to automatically disable a key for a company that spends millions of dollars on their products every year. (BTW there are tons of sites with thousands of corporate keys on them if you know where to look)

As for *nix or Mac I would have no problem going to them if they had the products I need for my job, and had the games and support. Personally I honestly prefer *nix in a lot of cases, but it is a poor choice for a successfull corporate environment standard. (yes I know it can do everything Windoze can; however when *nix network support specialists cost nearly $80k/yr in salary alone and you can get a decent Windoze network support specialist for half that, because there are so many of them, the companies are generally going to go for the cheaper solution)

[Horsepower]

well it's here. if you have a pirated copy of XP and go to MS update site, they now install Windows Genuine Authentication. you can't dl windows updates anymore without using a legit copy or running automatic updates on your system.

[Horsepower]

i just found XP Pro for $46. is this legit?

scroll down to the OEM section. http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...asterid=477480

[Bonez]

if it isen't buy it anyway, report the seller, and make some $$ from MS as well as a Full retail copy.

and i keep a knoppix boot nearby.

[Horsepower]

Originally Posted by Bonez

if it isen't buy it anyway, report the seller, and make some $$ from MS as well as a Full retail copy.

you know Bonez, that is a brilliant idea.

[-=[TEK]=-Charlie]

well for me ive never had any problems with microsoft....untill i found porn