Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your free

[brian j]

Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.

Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.

* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files


http://badvista.fsf.org/what-s-wrong-with-microsoft-windows-vista

I know this is old news... But all the same, it's quite frightening.
Bj :shock:

[smoker]

seems it is being labelled the 'windows me ll':-)

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=378

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/windows_me_ii.html

personally, i will stick with linux:-)

[brian j]

Linux, ie Ubuntu is like a breath of fresh air for me:D

[hellmet]

+1 . I feel like I'm in a valley.. watching nature, with a huge waterfall beside me, and ... ok. I stop here. :D . Ubuntu, is freedom.

[nonewmsgs]

thank god for windows vista. i decided that i would try linux again because of it and there i discovered ubuntu and am infinitely happier than i ever was with windows. my brother witnessed the conversion of all my computers except one with linux and also does not care for the direction microsoft is going and is going to switch over this summer. also i have seen a fair amount of beginners saying that they switched because of it.

the posts i kept seeing as responses for vista
just try linux
yeah right. thats way too hard for me
have you heard of ubuntu

saw that same basic thing a few times and found myself googling it.

[Sslaxx]

I have 0 interest in buying Vista. If I have to use it as part of work... then OK, albeit reluctantly. But I'm not interested in making my machine anything other than the Ubuntu box it is.

[RedDwarf]

They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
Sorry?
They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
"They" being music records and so, no Microsoft. If you don't buy DRM media content then there will be zero restrictions.
They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
False.
They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files
What are the talking about???


Vista has *support* for DRM media. If you don't want to use that support don't use it. Where is the problem?

[brian j]

DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.

* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files

DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.

Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.
Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.

Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.

http://badvista.fsf.org/what-s-wrong-with-microsoft-windows-vista


Read the Link....

[RedDwarf]

Read the Link....
What is said in this link was false the first time, and continues being false now.

The only link that they give to prove their point is http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_windows.html , but Bruce Schneier only talks about media content, he doesn't says anything about what programs you can use.
At the end there is just an article that explains the situation ( http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html) and an answer from Microsoft ( http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/20/windows-vista-content-protection-twenty-questions-and-answers.aspx ). And still, they only talk about HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and other media content.

With Vista:
- You can use whatever program you want.
- You aren't forced to upgrade a single program.
- There are no restrictions in the access to a single programs.
- There are no restrictions of which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment if you don't use DRMed media content.

[Adamant1988]

badvista is a horrible site to go to for any kind of real information. You think Microsoft is bad for spewing FUD? sites like badvista show Microsoft that it could probably learn a thing or two about FUD from the free-software community.

[karellen]

DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.

* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files

DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.

Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.
Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.

Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.

http://badvista.fsf.org/what-s-wrong-with-microsoft-windows-vista


Read the Link....

that link is rubbish. and your arguments too. vista is a poor designed os, but it's a long way from that to what you are saying.
and why it should be open-sourced? I fail to see the point...

[brian j]

Another interesting article (Video)....;)
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=6727614593446600279&q=trusted+computing

These changes won’t enhance user security unfortunately as they were designed to protect only “premium content”. Medical data, credit card numbers, and other private things that do deserve this level of protection are completly ignored. Untrusting of any environmental changes the system will shut down or degrade performance in response to a perceived attack.
http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/analysis-of-microsofts-suicide-note-part-1

[ffi]

Microsoft forces you nothing, you are free to use MS Vista, with it' s restrictions, or not use it. Your argument is about as valid as saying linux restricts you from playing playstation games.

[RedDwarf]

These changes won’t enhance user security unfortunately as they were designed to protect only “premium content”. Medical data, credit card numbers, and other private things that do deserve this level of protection are completly ignored.
Exactly, there is a difference only with “premium content”. So, don't buy “premium content”... nobody that has problems with DRM should buy DRMed content.
And what kind of protection the author expects for credit card numbers? Disable the audio output will not help to protect them. They are completly different problems. You encrypt a credit card number and... that's all, what can make the OS to improve the protection?

Untrusting of any environmental changes the system will shut down or degrade performance in response to a perceived attack.
http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/analysis-of-microsofts-suicide-note-part-1
This link references http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
And someway a
With the introduction of tilt bits, all of this designed-in resilience is gone. Every little (normally unnoticeable) glitch is suddenly surfaced because it could be a sign of a hack attack, with the required reaction being that (from the spec) “Windows Vista will initiate a full reset of the graphics subsystem, so everything will restart”. According to Microsoft this will only take a few seconds and will only affect the graphics subsystem (so it's not a complete restart of Vista), but the true impact of this mechanism remains to be seen.
is transformed in "the system will shut down or degrade performance".

Since "tilt bits" are set by drivers and isn't clear exactly what situations will set them it's a little early to start expecting Vista boxes shutting down constantly.

[Pipboy2000k]

The only problem ive encountered in Vista (being a primary vista user) is that annoying as hell UAC control

it prevents certain things like with winrar extracting

microsoft does disgust me quite a bit

but "it just works" with everything that i have, and compatibility and ease of use it important to me.

if there was some sort of "it just works" distribution of linux out there then yeah, id switch fully to linux