Microsoft’s attempts at thwarting piracy through their covertly named “Windows Genuine Advantage” program “have failed”:http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/microsoft-back-to-drawing-board-on-piracy/2005/08/08/1123353252441.html?oneclick=true.
bq. But barely 24 hours after the announcement, simple code to bypass the check – a line of Javascript – was posted on the Internet. Within a week, two more methods had been posted to different sites.
Microsoft, of course, claimed that it wasn’t intended to stop piracy in the first place.
Truly, I have some respect for Microsoft. They had a *huge* monopoly on the operating system market for a while. Their customers complained, and nothing was done about it. Their customers, the *real* honest-to-goodness paying customers backed with corporate dollars started to complain even more, this time, with their expense accounts. Developers started to complain as well, with their time and energy. In the end, Microsoft listened, at least a little. Most signs point to even more improvement, interoperability, and happy customers in the future.
I’ve used Windows XP. It’s a vast improvement over any version of Windows I’ve ever used. I don’t mean in terms of stability, or usability, although those have both been improved as well. I mean in terms of openness. Part of this is due to Microsoft. A larger part is due to other people who desire the freedom to choose the software they run making more options available on the Windows platform. Either way, it makes my Windows experience much more enjoyable than ever before.
If I didn’t have to pay $230 for an operating system when there were perfectly good choices available for free, I’d probably even buy a copy. As it stands today, even if those other options weren’t as good (and in some cases, they are not), it’s worth the hassle to not have to fork over that much cash. If there weren’t any other option, I’d shell out the $230 but, you can almost buy an entire computer for that cost these days.
In fact, maybe I’m crazy but, with the state of the market as it is today, and with so much competition on the rise, Microsoft might be wise to consider offering a free version of both it’s operating system as well as it’s office suite. This version shouldn’t be crippled in some silly way (only 3 user accounts can be created, office documents can’t be longer than 50 pages, etc) though some stipulations could be placed on its use and distribution. Then, more powerful featureful versions (auto install, backup facilities, server management consoles, etc) can be made available at a cost. This way, most corporations will pay, and most distributors and OEMs will pay, but individual users in the know will have a free option available to them.
With this in place, developers will be less likely to build for alternate platforms, tools will continue to be primarily available for Windows, hardware vendors will see less of a need to support anything else, and a new group of enthusiasts will develop. This, along with the current improvement and opening of the software, could lead to fewer users of alternative systems and could mean a final end to the validity of any real Windows competition. I think that, even with a free version available, the OEM versions, corporate features, increased sales of additional software and development environments, and various other addons, Microsoft will still stand to make *more* money than they make today. But, I’m not a financial analyst, so I could be way off here.
Well, there ya go, Microsoft — a free tip from someone who can easily afford your software and yet still prefers your competitor’s products. Wanna hire me?
