Windows Vista SP1 (Service Pack 1) is being released in stages, which is good. Otherwise we would have to wait until the entire service pack is ready before receiving certain fixes.
Many IT professionals will refuse to use a new release of Windows until SP1 is available – as it’s always needed it seems.
One aspect of Vista has received perhaps more angry accusations than any other. WGA (Windows Genuine Authentication) is touted by Microsoft as being anti-piracy, but is really more of an anti-fair-use policy.
True software pirates have ways of making their pirated software work long enough to collect the money. It’s the people who own legitimate copies of Vista who are being hurt the most.
WGA in Vista as it stands can potentially “kill” or severely limit Vista if it feels you don’t have a genuine version. Usually, a waste of time call to Microsoft in India will get you going if you truly own your software. But forcing that phone call justifiably angers many honest Microsoft customers.
Customers who then look for alternatives to Windows.
Microsoft says it has done away with the “kill switch” in Vista SP1 in favor of a more friendly message telling the user how to get genuine or at least appear like it to Vista.
At the same time, they say they have plugged a couple of holes that let hackers fool Vista into thinking it doesn’t need to check.
It’s a good thing. Too bad so many honest customers have had to pay the price for Microsoft’s draconian policy.
