Is Microsoft about to release a Windows "kill switch"?

Is Microsoft about to release a Windows "kill switch"?

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Two weeks ago, I wrote about my serious objections to Microsoft’s latest salvo in the war against unauthorized copies of Windows. Two Windows Genuine Advantage components are being pushed onto users’ machines with insufficient notification and inadequate quality control, and the result is a big mess. (For details, see Microsoft presses the Stupid button.)

Guess what? WGA might be on the verge of getting even messier. In fact, one report claims WGA is about to become a Windows “kill switch” – and when I asked Microsoft for an on-the-record response, they refused to deny it.

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Oh Billy what have you done now.? :eek:

Thank god I am good to go. Tel you this if they f up my computer I will go bilistic on there Microass.

They wont do it, if they "kill" the average users ( who we all know doesnt update like they should) then they would be killing their biggest source of profitability which is the average home user that goes out and spends 500 bucks and a bottom line pc from Dell with XP preloaded on it which they never update thus missing the "anti-piracy message" and if they missed the message and the "kill switch" was in place it would kill their pc. It would cause a huge uproar. I dont think its gonna happen. MS has already backed off the WGA and I dont think even they would be as stupid as to make something worse like a kill switch.

Sorry Texan ... but I disagree w/ you. Steave (not Bill) will make sure that "if you pay it'll work"

I think that we (AO) should do our part an educate the rest of the public about Linux (not MAC) and you will see that eventually they will come around .

as a matter of fact i hope they'll finally do what they are thretning to do ... so all the pussies will stop copying windows and be forced to use open source ... they'll kill themselves

I thought the only thing they were killing was the ablity to get updates and that "stained" windows was a project that got 86ed.

He-heh, a kill switch in Windows? Will there be any computers left running in China if M$ pulls that trigger? I think they're just pushin' the envelope, not only coding the next generation of licensing, but also conditioning the public. Pull the switch? Not yet.

p.s. -- What a wonderful business model. Microsoft will help you remove the PILOT version of WGA you never installed (they did!) so they can install the latest version of WGA. A tip o' the hat to Steve & Bill.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=921914

p.s. -- your computer really isn't yours...

MS China is not MS America. We all love to hate Bill. But just like Metallica's guitar leaving when the band went crazy over Napster.. could Bill actually be leaving MS because of their hard-line approach? If Bill was in power, really would he be leaving? Inquiring minds want to know... call Heraldo!

Heraldo is busy drawing lines in the sand in Iraq angering the military :)

As an avid "Microsoft Watcher" I find this very interesting..................if they attempt such a stunt.............. and I believe it to be quite possible, as the lunatics seem to have been running the asylum for some months now, the anti-trust restrictions that have been kept on hold will be let loose with full force.

I would expect freezing and confiscation of assets and the arrest of Gates and Ballmer.

You see, they made the mistake of selling their stuff to the government and military........ I guess that they don't realise that a kill switch would be treason? and when you sell to the Man, it is the Man's rules that count................ not your pathetic EULA.

I am sure that their pathetic EULA will simply be made illegal in the EU and they will be fined $600 billion, rather than the $600 million like the last time.

Have a look at the oil giants in South America.............. they are running scared? Governments are more powerful than corporations, because they have the courts and the guns ;)

My stock tip? ditch Microsoft and buy Linspire :D

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My stock tip? ditch Microsoft and buy Linspire :D

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Ohh my fing god i never thought i'd see the day when i'd here you say that Johnno..

I nearly ended up with coffee everywhere..

But you are correct Bill and Ballmer will indeed find themselves knee deep in the stinky stuff if this does ever happen, and with everything else that is going on, i would not really be suprised if they did infact implement this..

kris,!

Hey kris whilst that was an attempt at humour, there is a serious side?

Linspire and the other one (Zanadu?) are already in position, but if you look at the latest SuSE and RedHat offerings you will see that it would not take that much effort to stick a dumbed down GUI in front of them?

Apple are already there, as my wife has demonstrated. She has no problems moving between Apple and Windows as a user.

That brings me to my main point. Of all the "average users" that you know, how many have any idea of how the Windows OS works as opposed to OS X, VMS, Solaris, AIX or whatever? My answer is "none", because all they see is the GUI? If that works for them, they are happy ;)

I would support that argument by asking how many office/clerical workers do you know who haven't the faintest idea how to use "keyboard shortcuts" that are much faster than trying to shove a spear up the rectum of an icon?

I think that applications are going the same way............... Although I have a number of MS Office installations, I actually use "Open Office" most of the time :)

I just wonder what direction Microsoft are taking, and if they realise how close the competition is to them. It would only take the big OEMs to ditch them and their stock would go into freefall :eek:

I don't have any intention of buying another Windows system, (except possibly for accedemic purposes, when it wouldn't be allowed near the Internet), so this wouldn't bother me too much if it did happen. But I still doubt that it would, like the Texan said, no-one updates as much as they should and I really doubt that it'd be possible to explain a Kill-Switch to a lot of users.