[PCWorld]

Post your comments for If You Dislike Microsoft's Windows Antipiracy Checks, Look Out here

[Aaronx9]

Another reason to seriously consider Open Office.

[GraysonPeddie]

My solution: Re-install Windows Vista every 3 days. :D I know it's a pain in a a, but can help say goodbye to activation cpwe! :DFine Microsoft, I'll go ahead and break my bank. :D I love to have Windows Vista and Office 2007.

[pjotr123]

Open Office, and Ubuntu Linux for OS. Freedom!Thank God for these excellent alternatives. Why do monopolies always become so nasty? It 's almost as if they want to hasten their decay.

[bmwboy]

Seriously, with a little bit of computer skills, you should be able to bypass this with ease, remember how easily WGA was cracked?--bmwboy

[TheBigOldDog]

Microsoft is killing their own Golden Goose. When they realize it, it will be too late. Now is the perfect time to truly take on Microsoft and win across the board.

[jsauve]

Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 - OpenOffice, Evolution mail, unbelievable 3D desktop - and $59.00! What more do you want!?

[crapspotter]

I quit upgrading at 2000 PRO. With 6 (!) versions of Vista coming and the first 2 not being as good as Win98, I expect people to be really alienated (and MAD) when they find out that to have the top version (Ultimate) will cost an additional $ 295.00!!! on top of whatever upgrade price they just paid to get Vista Premium. Oh BTW, you did buy a 3 terahertz Core Duo and 6 GB of memory along with 4 Terabytes of Disk the first time you bought a Vista capable machine right? Oh, what a shame, you didn't realize the machine you bought at Christmas 2006 won't run Ultimate!!!!! Apple stock is looking better all the time and I actually prefer Linux. Even Bill Gates ditched this mess in favor of something more useful.

[TheNameless]

Just another reason why I'm sticking to *nix-based platforms. Anything else is just over-priced and not useful, in my opinion.

[tjmasters]

I hear you, already planning my escape from Mirco$oft !

[phreddred]

90% of the software I'm currently using is open source. I don;t expect it to be much of a problem switching to Linux . The best part is I get to ditch a company that has forgotten its customers

[xmsfan]

I guess it should be expected as MS primary goal has to be keeping shareholders increasingly wealthy rather than end-user wishes. But what really gets me is the huge gap between corporate group licenses and single user licenses. What sort of End-user Subsidized Business-pricing scheme is this? There has to be a message buried in there - This ain't for families. Even if I am wrong on above point, there is no way that I will hand over the management of my hardware to Microsoft and pay for their spyware to watch what add-ons and changes I make to my rigs. To me Microsoft software is no different from the electronic clamp you will get around your ankle if you are ever sentenced to a house arrest. I don't wish to have let alone pay for either. As soon as any of my family members, friends and acquintances call me to ask "What the heck is this", they will start on the path to Ubuntu and Open Office. I am happy to report that my achievements to date include 39 successful migrations and 39 very happy Ubuntu users, ranging in ages from 16 to 91 years. Out of those, 19 are actively doing what I do and growing the Ubuntu / OpenOffice community. Now, if we all did the same, we would at least feel good even if Microsoft wouldn't give a hoot about us.

[owidder]

I think MS should start a campaign about all the advantages OGA has.See my small cartoon:http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/2006/10/theogathrill.htmlBye,Oliver

[CHNG]

Recently, my wife and I switched to Linux completely. It happened by "accident". My machine has dual-boot (win2K and xandros). I am always pro-linux, but my wife is a pro-windoze. It happened that one day, when my wife placed a few-hundred megs file on to the windoz desktop, and then....boom.....my windoz 2000 crashed. When booting up, it says some system file corrupted. As I have got no time to reinstall win2K, actually, i refused to reinstall, as that will wipe out my linux, my wife has got no choice, but to use linux. after a few days of usage, she is now pretty happy with linux. she is using it to surf the web, create resume, writing report, etc using Open Office. Her friend sent her some MS ppt files, and MS word files, and she has no problem opening them using open office...So, if you r in the same situation like me, i.e your spouse refuses to switch Linux (or open source), u can try crashing your windowz on purpose (darn easy to do that !!!), and then dont bother to restall it. This will make both of you (and perhaps the children as well) to use Linux......

[jujhs]

My university has web-based enrollment which rejects non-windows OSs. Even Mac isn't corporate enough for them. Massey University in New Zealand: www.massey.ac.nzI'm waiting for the day WINE can fool it.

[terrawhistle]

The idea that something you buy still belongs to the manufacturer just flies in the face of reason. Besides, there are alternatives to the Microsoft tyranny: Apple OSX, and Linux for operating systems, OpenOffice for office software, MySQL and others for relational databases, and Firefox and Thunderbird for a browser and mail client.A benefit of Open source software is the speed of fixes and enhancements. How long does it take for MS to fix bugs and come out with a new version of Windows, etc? Compared to the speed of open source, too slow for today's computing environment.Other benefits include modular components. When you have an Operating System, you don't have to be saddled with applications unrelated to computer control. You can choose which media player, mail client, browser, or even Window management system you want.The downside of open source software is that you have to know something. Windows promotes user ignorance, just like any dictatorship.

[jhann]

We've upgraded to Macs and are using OpenOffice on the few Windows machines left. We're also using Firefox and Thunderbird on those machines. The net result? No more viruses, trojans, or worms! That's in addition to a much better user experience and a net cost reduction due to the much lower maintenance costs (not to mention the $0 price tag on OpenOffice)!