Windows Vista restrictions 'unprecedented'
- January 30, 2007 12:57 PM |
- By Saleem Khan
by Saleem Khan, CBC News Online
The big day has finally arrived and the consumer versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista are available to everyone, much to the joy of personal computer makers who had seen sales slumping.
Most people will end up adopting Vista when they buy a new computer [Windows Media streaming video runs 2:32 minutes] according to most industry experts, observers and Microsoft itself — but that may not be a good thing.
The operating system's legal terms of use represent "an unprecedented loss of consumer control over their own personal computers," according to University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist.
Citing ample discussion on the internet — along the lines of writings by technology journalist Ed Foster, lawyer Wendy Seltzer and most notably University of Auckland computer science professor Peter Gutmann's paper, A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection — Geist spells out what he sees as legal restrictions that would turn Vista users into surrender monkeys with the click of the "I Accept" button on the End User Licence Agreement (EULA).
Much of Vista's objectionable capabilities appear to have been included at the direct request of industry lobbyists like the Motion Picture Association of America or the Recording Industry Association of America and appear to be linked to copyright issues, according to the allegations. Among the complaints: Vista can delete software without specific user permission or knowledge, video quality is degraded even for high-definition content, and Vista's security checks that occur dozens of times a second are a key culprit in the operating system's hefty hardware requirements.
The U.S. digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation has a guide to EULAs that's worth reading for anyone who uses any software, not just Vista users.
As Geist notes:
When Microsoft introduced Windows 95 more than a decade ago, it adopted the Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" as its theme song. As millions of consumers contemplate the company's latest upgrade, the legal and technological restrictions may leave them singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
Post your comments below or share Your View on Vista.
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- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
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Comments (5)
As I mentioned to Prof. Geist at his own weblog: Not interested in doing that kind of business with any company. Microsoft's cost themselves more than one sale for the foreseeable future by doing this: mine.
This has been coming for a long time. M$ had left themselves with woefully lacking security measures of all kinds for so long and as such making their users so vulnerable, there should be no surprise that they've gone overboard given their corporate culture.
And besides who cares, there's Leopard (that can run Windows but only if you really need it to) and pretty useable Linux out there.
This is the reason why this may pose the long-awaited downfall of microsoft, or at the very least windows. In fact, Peter Gutmann has aptly labelled Microsoft's “Output Content Protection and Windows Vista” "the longest suicide note in history", in his paper, "A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection".
The strange thing is that platform openness and free software development were the reasons why Microsoft Windows had succeeded in the first place back in their first (and one might argue, only!) major competition between their Windows 3.x and IBM's OS/2. Since then, years of a market monopoly have allowed Microsoft not to care anymore, as the vast majority of its users are content with what they have, as long as it works. In fact, most people don't even know what an operating system is because of this. I'm sure many will be glad windows Vista was released simply because it looks prettier -- and it does too. I can give them credit there.
This is about to change, though. With Microsoft's latest step backward, and with Apple and Linux gaining ground, users will soon appreciate the need for a better operating system, and be prepared to make a choice again. I, for one, am glad of this. I hope "Vista" (shudder) is the last cheezy, meaningless name for a new version of Windows I'll ever have to hear about. This time, however, I won't be putting up with it.
PS: I wrote this article on a computer running Linux.
I must say Vista is the most annoying operating system making you regret every second you spend on your pc . The saying applies well to vista " Looks can be deceiving " Although vista might have great looks , i can assure you buying vista is a regret , Not only do you lose control over your pc , you also lose patience and work time .
I have been using Vista, on a personal computer, for a few months now. So far, I have no quarrel with the new system, it seems to work fine and I havent noticed any lack of freedom on my end.
I dont know why everyone is up in arms on this one. I recommend Vista over XP to anyone who uses a personal computer for moderate use, games / web surfing and music/video downloads.