Microsoft talks up registration of Office
MICROSOFT HAS EXTENDED its Microsoft Office Genuine Advantage regime to the UK.
The benevolent programme (*cough*) will see the firm offer Office users in the UK and twelve other countries the chance to validate their copy through official sources, while also regularly asking whether that's something they would like to do, you know, just in case.
The Vole cautioned people who carelessly use its software applications without first checking to see if they are legit or not, warning that unofficial copies, though professional looking, are actually shoddy and buggier than a hedgehog's hairbrush. "Piracy is an industry-wide problem and it's certainly not a victimless crime," said Cori Hartje, senior director of Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative.
"When non-genuine software comes bundled with hardware or when it is painstakingly packaged to look like the real deal, customers become unsuspecting victims. There are many methods that can be used to defraud consumers, and as an industry leader, Microsoft is constantly engaging in cross-company efforts through programs like Office Genuine Advantage to protect our partners and customers."
The firm also warned that any problems encountered while using dodgy copies of its flagship productivity suite are the users own and nothing to do with it. Debbie Walsh, director of emerging markets and licence compliance in Microsoft's Information Worker product group, said, "When customers are misled into buying non-genuine software, they forfeit access to technical support, upgrades, user manuals and bug fixes. Even worse, they are forced to deal with incomplete software code and increase the risk of exposing their PC to debilitating viruses that could destroy data and steal personal information."
The upcoming release of Microsoft Office has additional anti-piracy measures designed to stop over-licensing, including volume activation tools for IT managers. This is pitched as better enabling firms to manage their applications software inventories, but we all know what the Vole means.
You haf bin varned. µ
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So, what happens when a 'victim' tries to register bogus software? Presumably, M$ prohibit them from using the software, give them a bunch of hassle trying to track down the supplier and then they have to go out and try to buy a legit copy of the produce once more.
Instead, they could have downloaded a free copy of OpenOffice from openoffice.org and they would know it was legit :-)
Hmmm, I think I'll do just that. Thanks for the warning, M$: I'll stay well clear :-))
Why do companies even bother spinning negative news into a positive end user experience? We know what it's really all about.
No, damn it! I'm not giving up my iPod and Google, so keep your Bing and shove your Zune! :-)
(Slow news day)
Even though I have legit versions of software, I find it so much less hassle just using a pirated version cos it works without all that WGA crap!
If I get FACT knocking on my door, I have legit licences...I'd just explain that the legit stuff is full of sh*t and I prefer to not have that infection on my PC seeing as I paid for it :)
"any problems encountered while using dodgy copies of its flagship productivity suite are the users own and nothing to do with it."
And how is this different from the response you get with real copies of their software? Having tried their "support" I find it much faster to just google the problem.
For their own and public benefit, Office users should see the Office Genuine Advantage program at http://www.openOffice.org/ before they register. The site offers not only a free update of Office, but also countless addons at no charge.
what a pair of balls ms has they have stolin code from another company and they must stop selling office with the stolin code for word ms are the tives and crooks code for word format of files
has been stolin by ms and used ms office
is built on stolin code from another company
what a pair of balls ms has they have stolin code from another company and they must stop selling office with the stolin code for word ms are the tives and crooks code for word format of files
has been stolin by ms and used ms office
is built on stolin code from another company
Open Office? Are you serious? Its not a serious alternative to MS Office except for my mum typing up her recipes.
Pirated disks may contain unfinished, broken or downright unusable softwares, and you'll have to rely to open forums to find solutions.
With genuine disks, you have pretty much the same. So we need WGA to tell them apart.
Does someone still seriously believe that pirated disks bring viruses and set our houses on fire? Common.
Yeah right. Just spent hours to make a company signature work with Outlook 2007. Needless to say it worked flawlessly with all previous versions and other mail clients. Voles, spend less for genuine sh!t and more to fix your genuine bugs!
Why do they feel the need to go to these lengths spewing their usual corporate rhetoric?
It's an MS policy and it comes with the product you buy. Reasons to try and justify your actions are usually because you've been embarrassed, charged with a crime or just generally in a bad way and needing people to feel sorry for you.
I wonder if MS is developing a conscience? Nawww .... this is MS. They must have looked at disappointing sales figures or something similar.
"Even worse, they are forced to deal with incomplete software code and increase the risk of exposing their PC to debilitating viruses that could destroy data and steal personal information."
That pretty much describes the whole "Genuine Microsoft Experience" to me.
I have used OpenOffice for the past three years on a daily basis as part of my job. The thing I like most about it is that it gets the job done without crashing, something I cannot say about Microsoft Office.
Probably because you are using OpenOffice just for plain text edit and simple spreadsheets. Come here and tell to the account department that Open Office is same thing as Microsoft Office.
Bring your life insurance with you.
OpenOffice works well on it's own.
If only they focused more on better support for Microsoft Office document formats it would be a viable alternative. They know the business industry has standardized on MS Office, so it's just fact that companies will need to send and receive outside themselves.
I tried going fully OO a while back before v3 came out. It worked well, but Word, Excel and Powerpoint doc support wasn't good enough. If they just focused a little bit more on that aspect it would be easier to transition away from MS Office.
But then Microsoft would release Office 2010 with a newer document format to mess things up.
OpenOffice baby.
M$ prices chased me away from M$ Office.