Re:

[John]

Obiwan,  I have heard both good and bad reviews. You might want to check out both www.cnet.com or www.zdnet.com Here is a review of Office XP www.cnet.com/software/0-6018642.html?tag=ld  I hope this helps.



http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John



Edited by - John on Aug 16 2001  12:31:04 AM

[obiwan]

Thanks John for the suggestion

The following is from the Langa list from this week. this is even more than the usual phone home ability of recent programs.





2) Is Microsoft XP's "Product Activation" A Privacy Risk?



Microsoft's forthcoming "XP" operating system and the Office XP

suites/apps (such as Word 2002, Excel 2002, etc) all use an anti-piracy

system called "Windows Product Activation," or WPA:



Once you've installed XP software, the WPA system keeps track of how

many times you've launched the software and/or how much time has passed.

Before the end of a Microsoft-determined amount of time or number of

launches, you must--- *must*--- register the software or it reverts to a

reduced functionality mode.



The allowed number of launches and time varies by product. For example,

after 50 launches without registration, Office XP will let you view your

documents, but not change them or create new ones. With the Windows XP

OS, you get 30 days before you must register.



OK, you might say, so what? Why not just evade the mandatory

registration by making up fake information and registering from a

throwaway email account?



You can't. Here's why:



When you register XP software, the registration process creates and

sends to Microsoft a unique 50-digit numeric fingerprint or code that is

a combination of the serial number of your copy of XP, plus additional

information about 10 major hardware elements in your system:



     1. CPU serial number

     2. CPU model number/type

     3. Amount of RAM in the system

     4. Graphics adapter hardware ID string

     5. Hard drive hardware ID string

     6. SCSI host hardware ID string (if present)

     7. IDE controller hardware ID string

     8. "MAC" address of your network adapter

     9. CD-ROM drive "hardware identification string"

    10. And whether the system is a dockable unit (e.g. a laptop) or not



But that's not all. Even when it's been fully registered, the WPA

component wakes up from time to time to verify that it's still on the

original system where it was first installed; and it "phones home" to

check with the central Microsoft database to make sure it's still indeed

a registered copy. If anything's amiss, your software reverts to reduced-

functionality mode.



So, with WPA, Microsoft is quite literally *forcing* registration:

Microsoft wants your full-fare money for the software *and* they want to

know who you are and what PC you're using--- and you better give it to

them pronto, buster, or they'll cripple your software!



There's lots more to the WPA story, and I've made this large and

important topic the focus of the current InformationWeek column, live

now at http://www.informationweek.com/851/langa.htm . (If you arrive

early, the link won't work: just try again a little later.) Or, you can

use the general "front door" to InformationWeek.Com's "Listening Post:"

http://www.informationweek.com/LP/











Edited by - obiwan on Aug 20 2001  7:15:49 PM

[Joanie]

Hi John and obiwan,



Thanks for the XP information. Guess we all need to think very hard about purchasing that program. I like to stay current but the $$ factor is too steep for me and talk about an invasion of privicy, that's too much information going to Microsoft as far as I am concerned.



Joanie



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[John]

Howdy Joanie, there are some people who think I get to paranoid about Privacy issues or of Corporate bullies. I intend to stay vigilant. Hey Obiwan wanna a buy a cheap XP cd I found laying around.......................just kidding. Not this kid. I feel like Joe Friday or the  Microsoft equilivant is about to drop by and see me. Gotta run,



http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John

[Neon]

quote:So, with WPA, Microsoft is quite literally *forcing* registration:

Microsoft wants your full-fare money for the software *and* they want to

know who you are and what PC you're using--- and you better give it to

them pronto, buster, or they'll cripple your software!

Actually, Fred is not quite correct. Product activation is separate from registration. To activate Windows XP, you enter your Product ID code at installation. You provide to MS the Product ID code and a hashed "hardware code" generated by WPA. Taking these two numbers, Microsoft will then issue you another ID, and it's this ID that will activate Windows. That's it - Windows is activated, but not registered. This means that WPA is not a ploy to gather personal information about you. Activation will not require your name, address, etc., and last I heard, registration will still be optional.



Now, I didn't really intend to defend MS, and do not blame Fred for his scepticism of MS's tactics. MS seems to be headed towards a full subscription model for all software with the passport and hailstorm stuff. The rest of Langa's article seems quite correct.



Some additional sticky points:

Can you imagine on release week #1, when everyone is trying to telephone in to the WPA call center, only to find they can't get through? There's a debacle waiting to happen.



If you make major hardware changes, and WinXP shuts down, and you have to call the WPA center to plead your case (it had better be open 24/7), how does the doofus on the phone determine that your story is legit? What exactly are the criteria to get your WinXP reactivated? Does it just come down to sounding sincere, like trying to evade a speeding ticket? Something tells me that Officer Gates is probably not so generous in the "you're a fine lad, I'll let you go with just a warning this time, now on your way" department; he's writing that $230 ticket.



What happens if this wacky product activation scheme catches on? What if you have to go through this procedure for EVERY major software app on your computer? Ugh...





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[timoch]

Quote:  "What happens if this wacky product activation scheme catches on? What if you have to go through this procedure for EVERY major software app on your computer? Ugh..."



There will sure be a lot of third world users, and school kids stuck with using older versions.



 

[scuzzy]

Neon,



I think you hit the nail on the head. I found a great article about WPA at ExtremeTech.com which explains this miserable feature in detail. If XP is on the horizon for you, this is a must-read article.



My own personal take is that the average person will not understand that this is nothing more than a product activation. They will view this as Big Brother Gates snooping inside their computers, as if he really does care how much RAM they have. Hey, don't forget that the average person believes in UFOs, alien abductions, and government conspiracies. Perception is everything.



timoch,



The thought scares me. Let's hope those bozos don't get any ideas.



http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

[pat]

What?????????

You mean there are no UFOs.

Wpa= Whata Pain in the ***



However, I do remember reading that before Office xp was released there was already blackmarket copies for sale that had a workaround for product activacation. How often do you think the average user even defrags their system?

I think as long as someone has something to gain by pirating software someone will figure out how.





 

[obiwan]

any users out there?

opinions?