xboxrulz
Sep 19 2005, 08:08 PM
Well, as we all know, the Windows Genuine Advantage was launched on July 25th, 2005, but is it really to our advantage or theirs? Especially after reading this section of the article: QUOTE Mississauga, ON. - July 25, 2005 - Microsoft today announced the transition of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) pilot to a version 1.0 launch with worldwide availability. WGA is part of Microsoft's ongoing commitment to protect its customers from software counterfeiting and to help support its partners through education, engineering and enforcement of policies and laws. WGA, designed to differentiate the value of genuine Windows software from counterfeit software, enables customers to enjoy the capabilities they expect, provides them with the confidence that their software is authentic, and delivers ongoing system improvements, including approximately CAD $450 in software offerings available only to genuine users.
It sounds like it's to their advantage because they of course want customers to buy genuine software, they are the people who are raking in the money. The consumers won't care less using a counterfeit software. What are your opinions? Mine is, it's their advantage, not ours! xboxrulz
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Reaver
Sep 19 2005, 09:48 PM
Well xboxrulz i will agree that is their advantage but also say that it can become an advantage to those who spend their hard earned money to buy a product that meets the marketing standards, by that i mean it went through research and development and then consumer testing and probably back to R&D, so where do you think microsoft gets the funds to do all of this, by selling their product to people who buy it because they approve of it and it meets their needs.When the product becomes pirated the cycle begins to corrode because microsoft gets less money for their R&D and the original users are waiting for the next release for better products but this cannot be achieved. Another point is that microsoft have even given you the choice for your security as WGA is an activex control you can manage it using internet explorer and choose to run it or not. So microsoft have by no means tied you down to using that method.
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xboxrulz
Sep 19 2005, 10:00 PM
yes, but have you also notice that it also blocks out people who uses WINE which they have no part of, but it's the Windows compatibility layer, and they lock the people out just because they want to block the competition. xboxrulz
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qwijibow
Sep 20 2005, 01:11 AM
Yep... Genuine Advantage is a Genuine Pain for me, a paying customer. I got a copy of MS windows with a computer i bought, I dont use windows, but i do own a copy. now... i have a problem with WMV-9 video files, to play them i require the windows codecs, which are available in 32bit linux, but not 64bit linux, as 64bit wndows has not yet been released. So the only way for me to play WMV version 9 files, is to use windows media player though WINE (cedega). But because of this genuine advanatge nuicence, i cannot download windows media player from microsoft !!! Paid for it, but i cant use it ! Its okay to stop people from stealing software, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENCE OF PAYING CUSTOMERS.
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the empty calorie
Sep 20 2005, 02:03 AM
Whoa....so now we can't even download their stuff to use through WINE? So basically, this is Microsoft taking their nomally free products, all of a sudden calling it $450-something worth of free software, and....iirgh. This is stupid. I don't use any of their software, but for people that like to use WINE, that is absolutely ridiculous!
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qwijibow
Sep 20 2005, 04:08 AM
Yep, so for me to view WMV version 9 media files, i either have to wait for the open source guys to crack this closed format (by which time no doubt MS will be working on WMV-10) or i have to wait for win64 wmv-9 codecs to become available to the mplayer developers. or i have to waste disk space installing 32bit compatability libs for a 32bit mplayer.
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xboxrulz
Sep 20 2005, 10:28 PM
if you download win32-codecs from mplayer, it has a codec for WMV. xboxrulz
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Reaver
Sep 22 2005, 12:17 PM
@qwijibow You dont have to pay for your free microsoft products nor have microsoft tired to stop you using another medium such as wine, i think you guys have worked up into a terrible fuss over them and in this fury miss the answer completely and just go on blaming microsoft - you dont even need windows genuine advantage to get the windows media player for example, now i know especially for linux users or any other operatign system for that matter you cant keep on top of every one. So since im in the IT field i will give you an example and you can work on it in future.If i were to install 5 computers brand new and needed to also put the latest edition of windows media player on them all would i waste my bandwidth and time by going to windows update site and doing the validation - No ofcourse not, in the microsoft world they try to make life easier and its called a redistributable file which as the name states can be used over and over again and im sure other os's have this system aswel. So all you need to do it go to the microsoft site and search for the media player 9 redistrbutable file and it will give you a link to it to download the exe. This can be done for almost all windows products and i say almost because for comercial server hotfixes u will need validation for those. So before we go raining on someone elses parade maybe a bit of googling is in order or perhaps post here at astahost and we windows users would be glad to help as the linux community is glad to help converts. Good Luck Reaver
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xboxrulz
Sep 22 2005, 07:54 PM
funny, no WINE installed software can access to download IE6, WMP9 and other Windows patches without going thru WGA. iT's because Microsoft deliberately denied WINE from entering. xboxrulz
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Reaver
Sep 22 2005, 09:04 PM
So you are saying microsoft have blocked wine installed software from going to the url address of www.microsoft.com and using the search bar to type in : IE 6 redistributable, WMP.x redistributable and downloading them from the links provided and also stopping you from viewing the history of hotfixes for these products and their links....
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ruijie
Dec 1 2006, 12:18 PM
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Melanova
Dec 1 2006, 01:19 AM
QUOTE(xboxrulz @ Sep 19 2005, 12:08 PM) 
Well, as we all know, the Windows Genuine Advantage was launched on July 25th, 2005, but is it really to our advantage or theirs? Especially after reading this section of the article:
It sounds like it's to their advantage because they of course want customers to buy genuine software, they are the people who are raking in the money. The consumers won't care less using a counterfeit software.
What are your opinions? Mine is, it's their advantage, not ours!
xboxrulz
its deffinatly their advantage. People dont care as long as it works. If anyone cared enough wether or not their OS was legal, they would just use something other than windows. Right now WGA is a pain. You have to keep downloading, redownloading, and checking stuff. if it was streamline and out of the way, people would hardly notice.
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xboxrulz
Nov 26 2006, 06:16 PM
yes and the thing is that people have already cracked the WGA algorithm, so really, the system fails to work. xboxrulz
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elmo121
Nov 25 2006, 11:29 PM
QUOTE
But when they say this, it sounds like Microsoft is just trying to protect their Windows product from counterfeit software. This of course will benefit Microsoft and Bill Gates because it means that more people will now be more aware of what couterfeit software is and will thus, more people will buy Windows products instead of the couterfeit ones. This means that Microsoft will earn more money if more people are buying there products.
is essentially how WGA works, however, in all honesty, all it does is adds an extra step to downloads, as the majority of people that know where to get the counterfit copies of XP also know where to get the softwares needed to get past the checks, and microsoft are playing cat and mouse, and playing catch up.
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torres1287
Oct 24 2006, 11:08 PM
I agree with most of everything that has been said here about the whole Windows Genuine Advantage thing. This is just Microsoft making sure that all the money in the world goes into their pocket. My roommate had computer problems about a year after she bought it. She took it to someone who was a "certified" Windows person whoever. This person wiped her laptop and put a new Windows on it. Her laptop was fine until she brought it to college with her. Our university requires you to download a program called Cisco Clean Access. Here's what they say about themselves (Cisco Network Admission Control): QUOTE Virus and worm invasions continue to disrupt business, causing downtime and continual patching. NAC helps organizations reduce this risk by preventing vulnerable hosts from obtaining and retaining normal network access. NAC helps ensure that all hosts comply with the latest corporate antivirus, security software, and operating system patch policies prior to obtaining normal network access. Vulnerable and noncompliant hosts may be isolated and given reduced network access until they are patched and secured, thus preventing them from being the targets of-or the sources for-worm and virus infections.
NAC is useful to any organization focused on limiting damage from emerging security threats, such as viruses, worms, and spyware. It is beneficial to organizations that are intent upon restricting access to their environments only to approved and compliant assets, or with requirements to audit and monitor all endpoint access within the networked environment. NAC is beneficial to all enterprise organizations, especially those having difficulty managing desktop and server compliance, including contractor and business partner systems. For the same reasons, NAC is also beneficial to smaller organizations. Virtually all industry segments-including financial, healthcare, government, and manufacturing-can benefit from NAC. To achieve comprehensive network coverage, NAC spans across all of the access methods that hosts use to connect to the network-including wireless LANs. Here's a link if you want to know more: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/hmpgs/index.html">Cisco Network Home Page</a> Sorry about the huge quote, just thought you would better understand what I am talking about.  Anyways, she downloads the updated version of Cisco Clean Access. She runs the program, updates her antivirus software, clicks the "update Windows" button, her browser window pops up, and Windows tells her that her version is not genuine. She freaks out. She asks me what to do. I look on the bottom of her computer, write down the Windows product key, type it in on the Windows site, and it says that it is an invalid key. I told her that if the key on the underside of her laptop did not work, that she was screwed over. The person did not give her the copy of Windows they installed on her computer or anything. I feel kind of sorry for her, but not really because she should have taken it to the store she bought it from. She learned that lesson the hard way. In summary, Windows Genuine Advantage is just Microsoft whining because they are not smart enough to protect their operating systems from being hacked. :-) Have a great day everyone! QUOTE(torres1287 @ Oct 24 2006, 07:07 PM) I agree with most of everything that has been said here about the whole Windows Genuine Advantage thing. This is just Microsoft making sure that all the money in the world goes into their pocket. My roommate had computer problems about a year after she bought it. She took it to someone who was a "certified" Windows person whoever. This person wiped her laptop and put a new Windows on it. Her laptop was fine until she brought it to college with her. Our university requires you to download a program called Cisco Clean Access. Here's what they say about themselves (Cisco Network Admission Control): Here's a link if you want to know more: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/hmpgs/index.html">Cisco Network Home Page</a> Sorry about the huge quote, just thought you would better understand what I am talking about. Anyways, she downloads the updated version of Cisco Clean Access. She runs the program, updates her antivirus software, clicks the "update Windows" button, her browser window pops up, and Windows tells her that her version is not genuine. She freaks out. She asks me what to do. I look on the bottom of her computer, write down the Windows product key, type it in on the Windows site, and it says that it is an invalid key. I told her that if the key on the underside of her laptop did not work, that she was screwed over. The person did not give her the copy of Windows they installed on her computer or anything. I feel kind of sorry for her, but not really because she should have taken it to the store she bought it from. She learned that lesson the hard way. In summary, Windows Genuine Advantage is just Microsoft whining because they are not smart enough to protect their operating systems from being hacked. :-) Have a great day everyone! Sorry about the link not working! I guess you can just copy/paste it! :-) Have a great day everyone!
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