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Blog: Software "Darkness Descends" on Windows Vista Pirates
Chris Peredun - September 12, 2007 8:31 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 42 comment(s) - last by mars777.. on Sep 16 at 10:49 PM
Pirated copies of Vista to enter "Reduced Functionality" mode this week

While Microsoft has been the butt of many a joke regarding the infamous Blue Screen of Death, the activation of new anti-piracy features in the Windows Vista operating system may not be as funny to end users who experience it.

Computerworld obtained a copy of an email sent by a supposed Microsoft representative to Vista distributors and the original author didn't pull any punches in describing the effects of the new "Reduced Functionality Mode" on pirated copies of Vista:

"... Anyone who has a pirated copy of Vista will experience:
A black screen after one hour of browsing
No start menu or task bar
No desktop"

In addition, certain aspects of performance and appearance in Vista would be disabled, including the Aero user interface, ReadyBoost, Windows Defender and non-critical updates.

According to Michael Calore of Wired, Microsoft confirms that the email was a hoax and was in no way endorsed by the company. "The reporter received inaccurate information," said a Microsoft representative. As it stands, there are no changes to Microsoft existing Reduced Functionality Mode.

Although this means that no new measures have been implemented to deter pirates, no tears will be shed for pirates knowingly using illegal copies. Users who purchased Vista through a shady OEM may be less than pleased to see their computer use reduced to one hour at a time and users who purchased a legitimate copy may also encounter this problem if Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage servers suffer a failure as they did at the end of last August.

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Impressive, most impressive
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/12/2007 1:37:28 PM , Rating: 3
Vista is the first OS I purchased since Win 95. (Microsoft also hooked me up with a few free copies of Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 Professional) I have been completely satisfied with my purchase, in fact I broke down and dropped the full $400 on a Retail copy of Vista Ultimate on release day. I figure I will use the OS for 3 years maybe 4 (Basically until the next version of Windows rolls out). That comes to a rough cost of 36 cents per day for 3 years, or an even lower 27 cents per day for 4 years. It seems easy to justify the cost of even $400 when you look at it that way. Smart shoppers will roll an OEM copy of Ultimate or Home Premium.

Ultimate OEM (3 years) = $200 or 18 cents per day.
Home Premium OEM (3 years) $112 or 10 cents per day.




RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Spuke on 9/12/2007 1:41:45 PM , Rating: 2
I can get Vista Ultimate through work for $260. I just may do it but after the first service pack comes out.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Dracip on 9/12/2007 1:49:46 PM , Rating: 1
I bought a new laptop with vista on it.

After three days I brought it back and got one of the last with xp.

Now I can work again without frustration.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 3:39:24 PM , Rating: 2
What were the specific problems you were having with Vista?


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Shawn on 9/12/2007 5:37:07 PM , Rating: 2
Incompetence.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 7:44:25 PM , Rating: 2
LOL, probably true.

I think a lot of the people who make vague claims of problems with Vista are just Microsoft haters trying to get in a cheap shot. Any time you ask them to describe the specific problem they are having, all of a sudden they don't respond. Probably the people writing these comments have never run Vista once, ever.

Just for the record, I'm not saying that Vista is perfect. It's an upgrade of XP, that's all. It's not revolutionary, it's not going to set the world on fire - but it's not crap either as these naysayers say.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Canizorro on 9/12/2007 8:46:19 PM , Rating: 2
I see you commenting a lot on microsoft questions so thought maybe you could answer this one. In Vista, the media player has stopped playing dvd's due to a DRM error it gives. I've updated my video driver (ati 850x), updated the firmware on my dvd drive (plextor px-716a), yes the dvd's are legal, and tried different codecs, and it was working before with the same dvd's. Still no go. I also tried restoring the system to the furtherest point back I could go. I am using VLC player to play my dvd's but would like media player to do what it's suppose to. Any ideas besides reinstalling the OS, which is the suggestion I get from the majority of the forums I have asked?


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By xphile on 9/12/2007 10:15:31 PM , Rating: 2
Install Media Player Classic - I prefer it by far to VLC and it supports every format known to man and is based on the old MS media player before they went absolutely stupid on making it as impossible to use simply as they could. I use it for everything - all my dvds, and all media files too.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 10:57:46 PM , Rating: 2
What's the error message you're getting?

I also wonder why you had to install different codecs. I've been able to play DVDs with Windows Media Player in Vista without having to load anything.

Without knowing anything specific, my generic advice would be to call Microsoft tech support, if Vista/WMP aren't playing DVDs properly.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/13/2007 7:26:57 AM , Rating: 2
Canizorro can you post a screenshot of the error your getting in media player regarding your DVD? This has nothing to do with your device drivers or firmware it has everything to do with the player and/or the os not decoding properly. Need a screenshot of the error so I can dig around.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By codeThug on 9/12/2007 11:34:04 PM , Rating: 2
I've thrown code on Microsoft since windows 3.1, along with unix boxes galore, not to mention VMS. Personally, I don't give a shit as long as the OS is stable, or I can do things to make it stable EASILY.

I too bought a new Acer laptop with Vista installed on it. After days of trying to get the network from constantly going off line and simple programs to run, waiting for the damn thing to boot, or apps to load, I gave up and went back to XP. The laptop runs much much faster on the 2gig of ram with XP, the network stays up, and my software works.

Problem solved, and I am missing out on nothing... Not even on DX10 as most game developers have tweaked their engines to look just as good on DX9.

Why do you always default to angry Microsoft bashers whenever somebody posts something negative about Vista. No, I'm not talking about trolling or flaming, just an honest OPINION. I had too many problems with it, and at this point in my life I have little patients for premature, overpriced, unneeded OS releases from Microsoft. I don't give a crap if it was Microsoft's problem, Acer's problem, sun spots, or subspace interference. I went out and bought a version of XP and wiped Vista.

If and when the thing becomes, and here's the important part Tom, so pay attention, OVERWHELMINGLY STABLE, and the price comes down, and I feel like spending the extra to double my memory to 4gig, will I take another look at it.

Sorry, I forgot to write down the error codes for you.

exit(-1)


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/13/2007 7:20:49 AM , Rating: 1
I have no issues with any of the above on my Vista Ultimate 32-bit laptop. I'm going to take a guess and just say you were doing something that either...

A) You didn't know what you were doing.
B) You didnt bother to check to see if the same methods work in Vista.
C) Your shit only works in XP when you hack the hell out of it and its no wonder it doesnt work in Vista without similiar hacking.
D) You still haven't posted technical details regarding any of your problems with "network and software".


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Polynikes on 9/15/2007 3:15:45 PM , Rating: 2
I tried the Vista RCs and thought it was bloated crap that ran like crap. I guess means I'm really a Mac guy in disguise, huh?


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By mars777 on 9/16/2007 10:49:19 PM , Rating: 2
Inability to run MICROSOFT Visual Studio.
Slower OS, with slower gaming.
No EAX.
No support for SLI!
Wireless card randomly hanging (native driver).
Slow without the memory caching, 20% of cached memory not freed when activated.

I have dual boot to Ubuntu to showcase desktop eyecandy. I just need an OS that can be fast and handle games.

These are my two cents.
They were enough to go back to XP.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Oregonian2 on 9/12/2007 1:49:59 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Smart shoppers will roll an OEM copy of Ultimate or Home Premium.


IMO Smart shoppers will buy a copy of XP while they still can. I know of a couple friends who bought new machines with Vista and took them back to the store to be XP'd after giving up on Vista. Vista isn't finished yet (compatibility things are promised but not delivered yet). Maybe after SP1 or SP2 it'll get usable.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 3:36:00 PM , Rating: 2
In my experience, people who are having compatibility problems with apps in Vista simply haven't figured out how to use the app compatibility settings in Vista. By those I mean the run in XP compatibility mode setting, and more importantly, run as administrator. I've yet to see these settings fail.

I've got at least 60 older apps I run here on Vista, and they all run just fine. I also have a bunch of games that the kids run - many of which are designed for Windows 95! - that I can run under Vista. These are nasty old programs written in the days when VGA resolution was king - still no problems in Vista.

In short, I think your analysis of Vista is exaggerated, and I think some people are just resistant to change. There is no area where XP is superior to Vista, period.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By Lightning III on 9/12/2007 4:22:00 PM , Rating: 4
xp is still superior to vista in gaming and the lack of DRM bloatware

maybe next year or how about gaming with vista 64 on any nvidia hardware


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 4:45:28 PM , Rating: 2
The gaming reviews I saw showed XP and Vista basically the same - some games slightly faster in XP and some slightly faster in Vista, but neither really outperforming the other. Are you reading otherwise?

DRM bloatware? What do you mean specifically? You mean after you download and install iTunes? Kidding. Please tell me specifically what you mean - I'm not aware of any extra DRM in Vista.


RE: Impressive, most impressive
By sxr7171 on 9/13/2007 11:24:24 AM , Rating: 4
How about this DRM Bloatware: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_c...

Nobody talks about it anymore. What about that stupid network behavior that was uncovered a while ago where it would throttle data transfers over the playback of a fricking MP3? What process is so important during the playback of an MP3 is so important that processor cycles must be reserved for it at the cost of network transfers?