Bonum Certa Men Certa

Vista 7: Disablement as a Business Model

“[Vista DRM] seems a bit like breaking the legs of Olympic athletes and then rating them based on how fast they can hobble on crutches.“

--Peter Gutmann



Old man with hat



Summary: Microsoft makes money from artificial limitations embedded in its software

"WHAT's the difference between a full install CD and an upgrade," asks a reader regarding Vista 7. The answer he believes to be true is that "Microsoft changes a number in an INF file."



"I don't buy Windows," he added. "All these different versions are, take a base system, disable some core functionality and then rename it and charge people more money. The price difference for Microsoft is about one penny. This is just another example of Ballmer's obsession with productization. Remember 'snapins'. That is where you get a GUI that does nothing and then pay more for the actual functions." Here is an example of "snap":

Many corporations implement business applications like Microsoft Dynamics to automate their business processes. However, usually only about 15% of information workers are licensed to use these systems and only a fraction of those actually do.


Our reader interprets it as: "we've disabled your software, pay us more money and we'll re-enable it."

"This kind of thing would be trivial to implement on a real system, it a simple scripting problem," he adds. Here is another example:

The following MMC snap-ins are available by default in the Business Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Ultimate Edition of this version of Windows...

[...]

The specific additional MMC snap-ins that are available as part of Windows Features may vary depending on the edition of this version of Windows that you are using.


"It's a perversion of the technology," remarks our reader. "Produce mindless MSCP 'professionals', that can't script and are reduced to clicking on 'snapins'. There are people out there who actually think 'snapins' is computer technology. Reminds me of that story 'the little black bag' about a doctor's toolkit from the future that could diagnose patents using colour-coded chips. The doctor was reduced to selecting from colored vials."

Here's some pricing information for Vista 7:

Windows 7 Home Premium $199, Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade $119, Windows 7 Professional $299, Windows 7 Professional upgrades $199, Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade $219, Windows 7 Ultimate $319


Even Microsoft's friends at NPD suddenly claim that it is far too expensive.

A RETAIL ANALYST with NPD Group, Stephen Baker, has said that Microsoft's pricing for Windows 7 is "way too much for the software."


Anything less than "Ultimate" is simply crippled by design, so the entry-level prices are intended to deceive. GNU/Linux has no such restrictions. Vista 7 is yet another good reason to abandon Windows for modern operating systems.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linus Torvalds Cannot Easily 'Offend' Companies Anymore, But Weeks Ago He Explained Why (Linux Support and Hardware Documentation Has Significantly Improved)
new clip
Links 08/12/2023: Tidal and Simplilearn Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 07, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, December 07, 2023
[Video] The Media Facilitates Microsoft's Abuse, Bribes, and Growing Threats to National Security
The failure of the media to properly and independently explain what's happening will continue to doom the media
[Video] The Next Ten Years of Techrights in a World With Changing Threats and Technological Landscapes (or Trends That Are Buzzwords/Cargo Cults)
The video of today talks about the site's (and capsule's plan) for the future
Wikipedia is Vandalism, Brought to You by Microsoft and Bill Gates
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Lennart Poettering and Fellow Microsofters Turn GNU/Linux Into Windows, Expect Poor Reliability With systemd-bsod
turning Linux into Microsoft Windows
The Effort to Silence (Squash) GNU/Linux Advocates and Press Coverage
If nobody even mentions it anymore, does it still exist?
Links 07/12/2023: Climate Events Occupied by Their Enemy, Workers Going on Strike
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 06, 2023
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 06, 2023
A Googlebombing Campaign Targeting "Gemini" Takes on E-mail, Too
Google can do Googlebombing too (the term is even named after it)
[Video] Microsoft Without a So-called 'Common Carrier' (Windows Monoculture)
Windows Has Fallen
[Video] To Combat Efforts to Cancel or Kill the Career (and Reputation) of the People Who Made GNU/Linux We Must Rally the Community
nobody speaks better for projects and for licences than their own founders
Rumour: Major Finance Layoffs at Microsoft Next Week
If the rumour is true, we'll be hearing barely anything from the mainstream media next week
Links 07/12/2023: More EPO Patents Squashed, More Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine "Glitches" Found
Links for the day
Still Not 'Canceled'
Ted Ts'o, Jan Kara, Linus Torvalds last month
Google is Googlebombing the Term "Gemini"
Could Google not pick a name that's already "taken"?
Links 06/12/2023: Bitcoin Rebound, China Downgraded by American Firm, Yahoo! Layoffs Again
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Shooting the Messenger Using Bribes and Secrecy Bonds
We seem to live in a world where accountability for the rich and well-connected barely exists anymore
The Myth of an Aging (or Dying) GNU/Linux Leadership
Self-fulfilling prophecies as a tactic?
Links 06/12/2023: Many More December Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 05, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 05, 2023
PipeWire 1.0: Linux audio comes of age
Once upon a time, serious audio users like musicians and audio engineers had real trouble with Linux
This is How 'Linux' Foundation Presents Linux to the World
Right now it even picks Windows over Linux in some cases