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by James Robertson.
Original Post: Punishing the class
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I know what Microsoft is trying to accomplish with this policy. Their goal is to have invalid Windows users get the real thing. There's a problem though - by denying patches - including security patches - to invalid users, they are actually punishing the rest of us. How? Well, those systems that don't receive these patches will be more vulnerable to the various worms, viruses, and trojans that are out there. That means that they will be more likely to become unwitting zombies - and thus a hazard to the rest of us.
Now, you might ask why these users are unwitting - don't they know that they have an illegal copy of Windows, pretty much by definition? Maybe not - here's what Ed Foster has on that:
Part of it is the type of user the program is aimed at. According to Microsoft officials, almost one of every four Windows users in the U.S. and other developed countries is using a non-genuine version. And the majority of those don't realize it, because the counterfeit copies are often very hard to tell from the real thing. And they will be the ones who Windows Genuine Advantage tags as having ungenuine software, because those who did consciously get a cracked copy of XP probably aren't going to bother trying to validate their copies.
So we're not talking about people who were trying to rip off Microsoft. Instead, an awful lot of people who paid their money for Windows in good faith are going to discover that somebody along the line - a distributor, a reseller, an OEM -- cheated them. They are just as much victims of the counterfeiters as Microsoft. More actually, because they were in less of a position to defend themselves. Perhaps we should call them Windows' Genuinely Disadvantaged.
Take the PC I'm writing this on - I got it from corporate. I had nothing to do with installing Windows on it, and I'm taking it on faith that our IT group has a valid license. In my case, I'm pretty sure that they do, but I'm also sure that there are end users out there who receive pre-installed systems that are not legal - but were received in good faith. This change by Microsoft hurts the rest of us, because it leaves that population more open to attack
Again, I understand why Microsoft is doing this - I just think that they are letting their legal department run ahead of common sense.
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