Microsoft will release its new Vista operating system later this year or early next year. Will this new operating system be as successful as Microsoft’s other offerings?
Microsoft’s own greed could end the reign of Windows as the leading desktop operating system. To fight piracy, Microsoft first introduced Windows XP activation. Activation was supposed to ensure that a copy of XP can only be used on one PC. Hackers easily created versions of Windows that prevented activation. Then, in the fall of 2004, Microsoft introduced “Windows Genuine Advantage.” This program was created to allow Microsoft to check individual PCs to see if they are running genuine XP or a pirated version of XP. At first it was voluntary. Then last summer Microsoft made it mandatory to download any free Microsoft software. Now you even need to get XP security patches. If your PC fails the test and you have a fake installation disc that looks genuine (including the holographic emblem similar to that of real copies of Windows), Microsoft will send you a free original disc in exchange for the fake disc. Otherwise, for your Windows to be genuine, you must buy a genuine Windows XP or take advantage of any offer that Microsoft cares to offer you.
With the advent of the “Windows Genuine Advantage” campaign, Microsoft has become the epitome of a typical and greedy “Corporate Alien.” As Linux distributions get better and better, Microsoft must be careful how it treats its users. They seem to think their software is so good that people would rather pay than switch.
Microsoft licenses always stipulate that, to be legal, you must purchase a license for the Windows or DOS operating system for each PC you own. But from the early days of DOS to Windows 2000, someone would buy an operating system and pass it on to family, friends, and neighbors. So a Windows 98 Second Edition ended up on ten or more PCs.
Linux, on the other hand, allows you to legally install it on every computer you own. Therefore, installing Linux on ten or more PCs is not only legal but desirable as a form of advertising for the operating system. But Windows users have been doing the same thing all these years. They’ve been advertising Windows by flipping it around. It wasn’t legal, nor did Microsoft tolerate it, but hacking Windows was a form of advertising that actually helped promote Windows and ensure its growth. As you can see, all this rampant hacking didn’t stop Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates from becoming one of the richest men in the world.
There is another thing to consider when thinking about hacking the operating system. If you are a corporation with thousands of computers, you get special treatment on Windows licenses. If you are a large PC manufacturer like Hewlett-Packard, you get a discount on OEM versions of Windows. But if you run a small computer store and build five cloned PCs per month, you’ll have to pay the typical single-user price for genuine Windows. (For XP, that works out to about $ 100 for the Home Edition and $ 150 for the Professional Edition.) It’s hard for a small guy to get started and compete with the big guys, and hacking into the operating system can be one way to level the playing field. Such piracy can really be seen as a “discount for the working class.”
There are several Linux distributions that are as good or even better than what Microsoft offers. But people will still cling to Windows because they really don’t want to learn anything new and switching to Linux would require a little learning curve. Microsoft has likely already made deals with PC vendors to install your Vista on virtually every major PC brand in the US as soon as it’s released. In fairness to everyone, all PCs should come without an operating system. When someone orders the PC, they also request the operating system and the store installs it. Imagine if people had a choice: “Fedora Core 4 Linux: Free” or “Windows Vista Professional: $ 200.00”. I wonder if they would continue to choose Windows.
Microsoft could make Windows the operating system for the next hundred years. All they have to do is make Vista free when it goes live. Like Linux, the free version would have no support or warranty. You don’t even have to make it open source (reveal your internal code); just do it for free. They could still make money by creating a highly secure, highly modified, and fully compliant corporate version of Vista and selling it to large companies that can afford it. This is what Linux companies like Redhat and Novell do. If Vista were free, hackers would stop making money, Microsoft would save millions by eliminating the “Orwellian” trace necessary to determine whether Windows is genuine and Linux would no longer be a big threat. Unfortunately, corporate foreigners tend not to see past the dollar sign.
Microsoft is likely sticking to the “Windows Genuine Advantage” program and trying to thwart all hacking attempts. Even though hackers will be able to circumvent whatever code Microsoft comes up with, they will eventually get annoyed by playing with the giant Corporate Alien. So pirated copies of Vista will be hard to come by. This will end the advertising benefits derived from the rampant piracy that Microsoft enjoyed in previous years. Windows Vista will begin to lose market share and in 10 years a major Linux distribution will be the leading desktop operating system. If Linux succeeds, Microsoft Office will also be replaced by Open Office, and Microsoft’s dominance over PC software will eventually be broken.
If he likes Microsoft and wants to keep it in power, encourage him to give away his Vista operating system. At the very least, suggest that they remove the annoying “Genuine Windows Advantage” program.
If you want to accelerate the downfall of Microsoft. Don’t hack, hack, or buy Windows, especially its new incarnation, Vista. Learn to work with your favorite Linux distribution. You can download Linux distributions for free. Even with broadband, this can take a long time. You can buy any Linux distribution for almost the cost of making the discs at http://osdisc.com. When shopping for your next computer, make sure Genuine Linux is loaded as your operating system. The more Linux gets established, the more people will be creating bigger and better software for it. In no time, you’ll get the “Genuine Linux Advantage”.
