I’ve got a confession to make I’m one of the computer users on Microsoft’s hit list. I’m hanging on to Windows 2000. Microsoft has been running has been ads on television and in print still promoting Windows XP despite the fact that it will be replaced by Windows Vista in early 2007. When promoting a new upcoming release of Windows Microsoft promises the most revolutionary change to desktop computing since Windows 95. When Windows Vista is released at the start of 2007 Millions of people will be running out and buying it but I will not.
I skipped Windows XP because I am really bugged by product activation. While Microsoft has the right to do what they need to prevent people from stealing it’s products, but I have the right to not want to turn over certain information about my computer to Microsoft. Car buyers are under no obligation to tell the auto makers about the automobiles that they are buying and aftermarket upgrades they install. With more and more anti-piracy measures built into Windows it seems like the less and less that Microsoft trusts the people buying their products.
With previous releases of Windows Microsoft has packed more and more features then the preceding version but was the number of features in the operating system have increased, so too has the price. A copy of Windows 95 could be bought for about eighty dollars when it was released. Currently I have seen Windows XP Professional selling for over four hundred dollars. If Windows Vista costs more than Windows XP, which it probably will, that will be a paying a lot of money to get a lot of features that I’d never use.
One of things that is certain when it comes to the Windows operating system is that every new release will require more processing power than previous versions. I don’t feel like sinking yet more money into more RAM, a new video card and faster CPU. My computer should not become a money pit just because Microsoft releases a new product.
Microsoft is promising to put digital rights management (DRM) embedded into Windows Vista, this takes control of data away from a PC owner and can give it away to any third party. DRM technology can be used as an essential security tool for protecting sensitive data for corporations or government departments. If sensitive documents are leaked out of company or government because of a security breached they can’t be opened. DRM however is probably will be used by the entertainment industry to restrict how people use digital media. If I record my TV shows on my desktop PC, and then copy it to my laptop so I can watch at a more convenient time and place I should be able to without Microsoft or anybody else trying to dictate to me that I can’t do with my computers what I want.
My computers do a good job doing to the tasks that I do, I have absolutely no need or desire to spend yet more money on a new version of Windows just because Microsoft releases it. If I feel this way then other people feel the same way and maybe selling Windows Vista will be an uphill battle for Microsoft.