I have no problem with WGA. At the same time, I have a big problem with the idiocy of the method which they use during a pre-install; if I do a sysprepped factory pre-install, I should be able to do windows update without activating. I don't want to activate windows before I reseal it to give it to the customer.. what garbage is that?
Microsoft's WGA is (generally) a good thing. But if they want to work, then they need to provide to MAPS and Partners full resource CDs of updates which do not require Windows update monthly.. Yes, I'm aware I can manually download and create chain installs, blah blah blah. But how many small shops just set aside a machine to do windows update after a pre-install or a repair install. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ben Ruset Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 9:09 AM To: The Hardware List Subject: Re: [H] Microsoft's "Genuine Advantage" Cracked Already Christopher Fisk wrote: > Normally this wouldn't be an issue for the kid, he would just ride his > bicycle, except that all the kids friends ever wanted to do was play > ball. They were afraid of the bicycle. You _have_ to be kidding me. WGA takes less than 10 seconds to do. After that, you don't have to do anything or think about it. Nobody except people who love to hate MS or wear tinfoil hats is "afraid of the bicycle" as you put it. > Also, your insinuation that Thane supports the piracy of any products in > his business is appalling. If Thane is on tight margins for updates and First off, I NEVER insinuated that. I like Thane and respect him, and respect the fact that he is an OEM trying to survive in a highly competitive world. I used to work at a whitebox OEM, so I know the deal. > spyware removal, etc, then adding a part where He has to be there for > interaction during an update is eating into his profit. This update STOP THE PRESSES!!! Less than 1 minute of his time is spent in activating WGA. Add an extra $1 ($10 CDN, heh) to the price of the system to cover the effort it takes to do the extra mouse click. If things are that hard up that you're micromanaging your system builds down to the second, then there's something vastly wrong with the way you're doing business. > doesn't stop the pirates, but it does cause annoyance to the legitimate > users. It fails the sanity test. People who are using pirated Windows are *not* legitimate users. Considering that MS is offering a nice discount on a genuine XP licence for those who willfully pirated XP, and a free licence for those users who were duped into buying a hot copy of XP from a black market retailer, I'd day that it's a pretty generous (and sane) deal.
