MicroSoft News Snippets

[GhostShip]

There seems to be a few MicroSoft informational items of late so its perhaps a good time to read through some of them.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202300967&subSection=News

In yet another sign that Microsoft(MSFT) isn't planning a retirement party for its Windows XP operating system any time soon, the company has released a new service pack for the Windows Vista predecessor.
Windows XP SP3, build 3205, has been released to beta testers and contains more than one thousand patches and hot fixes, according to bloggers at Neosmart.net. The build is available to beta testers for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 and has been published in English, German and Japanese language editions.

The enhancements include a simplified activation system, a network access protection module that borrows from technology used in Windows Vista, and improved support for cryptographic algorithms. 

Last week, Microsoft introduced a new licensing program designed to let users of fake or pirated copies of the business version of Windows XP upgrade to fully licensed copies. Under the plan, called "Get Genuine Windows Agreement," software resellers can offer to their business customers a volume licensing contract that will allow them to replace fake or "mislicensed" copies of Windows XP Professional with legitimate versions.

And on another note this small but interesting snippet was also in the news

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202300058&subSection=News

Microsoft(MSFT) has released an updated version of Internet Explorer 7 that dispenses with a cumbersome security feature designed to ensure users are running the Web browser atop legitimate copies of the Windows operating system.
Flaws in Windows Genuine Advantage have reportedly resulted in millions of Windows users erroneously being reported to Microsoft as software pirates.

Its interesting to see how MicroSoft are at last using their noddles and trying the softly softly approach to bring unlicensed users back into the fold, many users have been driven away by DRM imposed bugs to operating Linux flavours, something that once mastered is likely to leave them in a far superior position as regards how they use their computers in the future, there is of course no problem with stealth updates either.   

[White Stripes]

XP SP3? guess they learned their lesson...

now as far as that 'get genuine windows' thing goes @ $300 a pop (retail) they can keep it... i like my linux... but at least they 'fixed' the various WGA bugs... (time will tell)

[bughunter]

quote..............

In yet another sign that Microsoft(MSFT) isn't planning a retirement party for its Windows XP operating system any time soon, the company has released a new service pack for the Windows Vista predecessor.

the reason for this as appeared on a bbc programmed called click is that according to sources within microsoft the uptake of vista at both the retail and business level has been absymal, with sales falling well behind projected sales volumn.........

this has forced a rething on microsofts part about retireing windows xp and as we have seen forced them to issue a sp3 for the xp operateing system,while microsoft research new ways to increase sales of vista.........

all this tells me is that consumers aint as thick as micrsoft thought,,......and a absolutely piece of shit operating system is still a piece of shit regardless of the shinny wrapper you attempt to hide it in...........ive said this more then once on this forum that vista is the new windows ME..............just crap end of story.................

ill lay a wager that in the next 18 months or so vista will be revamped in a bid to make it less resource hungry and improvements will be made to its over all performance coupled with a massive price reduction in a bid to get existing users to upgrade, as we have seen with there softning of there anti piracy microsoft are feeling the pinch as many users switch to various linux flavours, and as many will testify once you have used linux you wont go back to windows.................

[Cobra]

SP3's "fixes" will probably be all of the [sarcasm] WONDERFUL [/sarcam] features that we don't want that hog Vista and don't haunt XP. In other words, people aren't buying Vista, and therefore do not have all of the security "fixes" and special "features" that hog memory, call into them and the RIAA everything you have downloaded, disables software at random, and so on, so they have to come up with another solution.

If people will not buy a computer with wonderful, new, and shiny features containing these hidden exploits, the next best thing is to release them as a critical update on the website for the current version that people are keeping.

[tig]

Their has been a unoffical service pack 3 out for awhile... well about 12months so they have finally decided to release it... LOL


And well for vista how many services packs are we going to see? LOL

[Cobra]

None.  "It's perfect the way it is."

[tig]

Hi Cobra

Are you sure about that....LOL

[Cobra]

LOL I was being sarcastic, quoting what a M$ rep might say.

[]-[êll.Ôñ.ËÀR'][']-[.]

Even they cant b/s their customers into believing that surely