Microsoft Vista is not an option

I HAVE REALISED that I can not move to Vista, ever, Microsoft is forcing me to Linux.

As a disclaimer, I will say that none of my desktops run Linux now. I am a marginally disgruntled Windows user that could become quite gruntled if Microsoft backed off on its stupidities. Since it appears to be going the opposite way in moving from XP to Vista, I am not going to hold my breath. I have one copy of Vista Beta 2 and one of RC2, and no way to legally get a legit copy for another month.

When I get back from CES, the first thing I am going to do is sleep, shortly followed by catching up on my life, then dumping Windows from my main work machines, but not by choice. Vista can not work for me. Why? The licensing and the activation/DRM infection.

Microsoft has now decided that it won't gain anymore market share, so the only way to make more money is tp squeeze more out of each customer. You can do that in two ways, by raises prices and reducing piracy. It did raise the price a lot on Vista, and it is trying to squeeze out piracy, but legitimate users like me are the ones who suffer.

Vista forces you to re-activate, or so I am told, if you look at it in the right way. Microsoft, in possibly the most shortsighted move in the company's history, decided to lock Vista down to the first PC it is installed to and not allow you to move it legally. If you call it up, whine and lie, you can socially engineeer a few reactivations, but technically this is a licence violation. I won't do that.

So, when I change the mobo on my box, or an unspecified other bit of hardware or three, Microsoft decides that my box is a new computer and my $399 copy of Vista is a doorstop - I must spend another $399 to continue working. Bill Gates does need the money, he gives away a lot of it on trips to cities thinking of moving to Linux.

For me, hardly a week goes by when I do not change the mobo on my machine, I keep getting new ones in the mail. Hard drives get swapped in and out, and video cards change on an almost daily basis. CPUs change slightly less often. If a week goes by when by Microsoft's standards I do not get a 'new' computer, it generally is a sign that I have not been home for a week.

So the problem is that if I buy a copy of Vista, it would have a lifespan of a week. 399/7 = 57, or $57 a day to use Vista. The world going crazy is a debatable thing, but Microsoft sure has. Let's just say I can not afford to pay that, I barely make that much after taxes, so spending 75% plus of my income to keep a single box running Vista is not a plausible option. Then there are the other machines I need to use to do my job. There are seven in front of me right now, all with legitimate XP licences. Vista will work for none of them. Ubuntu, Redhat, Mandriva and Xandros will, while Novell is not an option any more because of patent stupidities.

Are there any other options than to use Vista? Sure, the main one is "Piracy, the better choice(TM)", but as I said earlier, I won't do that. Linux is easier and just as functional for me.

What about an MSDN subscription, because that is good for 10 activations? Setting aside the fact that I don't have $2,500 to spare, that would keep my main box going for about three months, or $10,000 a year, actually much better than the almost $21,000 it would cost for using Vista normally. On top of that, I will have 40 or so seats of the other software Microsft makes.

The real problem is that Using the MSDN copy on my main work PC, not a development box, is a violation of the EULA, or it was the last time I read it. Microsoft is really trying to turn me into a pirate, but I won't play that game.

How about press freebies? Well, here is my list of official Microsoft contacts:
Begin list

End list

If you look at my list of Volish gifts, you will see a backpack sitting in the corner from the one Microsoft event I attended in the summer of 05.

What it all comes down to is Microsoft is turning the screw on me too hard. I can't legitimately use its software without becoming a criminal or spending tens of thousands of dollars. If it gives me a truckload of free copies, I will still be spending the majority of my time on the phone with people in Bangalore typing in licence keys to stay legal.

It simply is not worth it anymore, I can't use Vista. Believe it or not, I was pretty neutral on XP, it did what I needed and usually worked in a mostly acceptable fashion. It has been mostly secure because I was not abjectly stupid. I had no reason to switch, but Microsoft has given me the choice of becoming a criminal or going to Linux. In a few weeks, I don't plan on looking back. µ