Microsoft doesn't tend to play such hardball with individuals unless they
are pretty sure that there is a lot of pirating of software going on. They
tend to go after the corporations and offices where users bring software
from home or where offices pirate software. Many offices, thusly have
strict guidelines in place as to what can and cannot be installed. This
didn't use to be the case years ago.
Even microsoft, though, is lenient about allowing a person to install xp on
their machine multiple times if you explain that your machine crashed.
When I was testing the early versions of window-eyes that worked under xp,
I was crashing routinely every 3-4 days. I never had any problem with
microsoft when I called to get another key so I could activate my windows xp.
I think that microsoft is less of a monster than people like to make out as
far as the private sector is concerned. They are just folks like us.
At 8/8/2005, you wrote:
It is really quite simple. Microsoft plays hardball and doesn't care
about the ramifications. I guess the only way that Humanware could have
gotten around the problem was to have everyone send their units in for the
upgrade and hear people complain about the loss of their units for a long
time. As I said, Microsoft plays hardball and expects all players to obey
certain rules.
I'm certainly happy that the mpower transplant is going to be handled
differently.At 07:36 AM 8/8/2005, you wrote:
Is that anything like just following orders? It certainly didn't answer
any of my questions. What is Microsoft having you do that is creating
this difficulty of your sending a tiny piece of paper to your blind
customers which they need to stick on the back of their units? And what
kind of license is this? As I read the instructions for licensing, there
is the license for the pre-installed software which this must not be
because then it would be up to you folks to paste the sticker on the unit
when you do the installing. Then there is the license for packaged
software purchased separately in which case there is also a certificate
of authenticity (about 5 by 7 inch paper) on which the little label is
affixed. This makes it hard to lose. Now clearly you're not doing either
of these things. But whatever licensing system you're involved in with
Microsoft it is creating difficulties for your customers that you folks
seem to want to turn into the sale of another operating system ra!
ther than
help solve for your valued customers. How come? Are we talking about a $3
license fee for WINDOWS CE? if this is the case, and Humanware isn't
keeping track of the license connected with the serial number of the
unit, seems kind of small to not just eat the $3 for PR that has been
lost in this issue already. Perhaps this isn't software that qualifies
for the $3 license. For PR I'd still try to work it out to just replace
the license code to the customer rather than threatening with action by
microsoft and other qualified third party investigators auditing licenses
etc. etc.. Why would Microsoft even question the source of software on a
system that only works with the software from you folks. Clearly it came
from you folks. And they do have a process for the seller to replace
license stickers at no charge to the customer in some situations. I find
it difficult to believe they wouldn't make this one of them. Microsoft
isn't the Gestapo. They're just folks.
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