XP Activation Info

[Bursar]

Right, I received the following email from our Select software supplier this morning and posted it over at NTCompatible, but I guess not all you guys read that. Anyway, here it is...

"Product Activation potentially affects you with the arrival of the Select CD shipment that was due for issue on 17th April 2001. Initially, the only products affected are Office XP and Visio 2002. In due course, however, more products will be subject to Product Activation including Windows XP and Project. Historically product keys were included on Select CD cases but that will cease to be the case where Product Activation is in effect.

To install a product that is subject to Product Activation, a Select customer will need to acquire a Product Activation Key. Currently these keys are being provided by our local Microsoft Activation Centre. The Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The European centre number is: XXXX

Select customers will need to quote their enrolment number in order to obtain the appropriate key for a product. Upon calling, the Customer will also be asked which products they are installing and the quantities. This information is requested only for guideline purposes. Once you have this key it may be used for installations. Different products have different keys.

Customers signing a new enrolment will be notified of their Product Activation Keys with their acceptance letter too.

You must remember that the Volume Licence Product Key is assigned specifically to your organisation. You should only distribute it to employees or third parties authorised to install and distribute licences pursuant to the terms of your Select Agreement.

Different procedures apply to Product Activation for non-Select customers.

Keys will be available via an online system in due course.

Customers with multiple enrolments are requested to obtain Product Activation keys for each enrolment."

So there we have it. Select customers will be required to get activation keys, but one key per product per organisation is all you need. So it shouldn't be too much of a headache after all.

[[GDI]Raptor]

I use:
Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage
It is a Corporate Preview, and it had to be activated from the web!

I dont like this!!!!!!!!

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- [GDI]Raptor

[Technoid]

If MS releases such licences the probably makes damn shure that the company in question keeps those from spreading.

[Paulr]

The last I heard on 'un-keyed' versions of XP was that they were only going to be given to large corporations and on trust.
Just to add another rumour - as if there aren't enough already.
All un-keyed versions of XP would be traceable.
Don't ask me how, maybe they are expecting to master so few like that, that it would be possible.
Before a corporation was sent an un-keyed copy of XP they would have to sign a document, basically saying that company was responsable for that un-keyed copy of XP.
If a pirate copy of XP is found on the net, MS could tell exactly which company it was sold to and take whatever actions they felt necessary.
As I said, just another rumour I'd heard, but it actually sounds a lot more viable than the usual 'Wahhhh, why should I have to contact MS when I replace my mousemat - stamp, stamp'

As to the usual poster in these kind of threads.
MS are not going to miss you when you pop along to LINUX.
LINUX has such a low percentage of total workstation installs compared to Windows they really aren't that bothered.
And don't forget - half the fun is actually compiling your OS before you install it, it is - honestly.

[Gurm]

Of course, what they AREN'T saying in these press releases is that the "unkeyed" versions are likely just using master keys that work around activation.

For example, if I choose to not use my own key for Office XP, there are a couple floating around the internet which will allow me to install it and never register... but if I use my own, I have to call in.

I have chosen to use the master key, since I change my hardware too often for MS's liking.

There _will_ be master keys, people. And WPA-less versions. No matter what any idiot training wonk says.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[DosFreak]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">As to the usual poster in these kind of threads.
MS are not going to miss you when you pop along to LINUX.
LINUX has such a low percentage of total workstation installs compared to Windows they really aren't that bothered.
And don't forget - half the fun is actually compiling your OS before you install it, it is - honestly.</font>

Conserding SNES has just been converted to Linux and Linux is gaining ALOT of popularity alone with being the dual-boot of ALOT of machines...Don't underestimate Linux. It just might pass you by.

*I'm NOT saying that Linux is anywhere near Microsoft levels of deployment/popularity. What I AM saying is that in 5-10yrs it WILL be on the majority of all enthusiasts machines. I forsee see the majority of net usage/desktop work being done in Linux and gaming being done in Microsoft os's...and in 5-10yrs emulation software will be so dang good you really won't need to boot into a Microsoft OS anyway.

[Gurm]

In 5-10 years Linux will be where all UNIX-based OS'es end up. In the circular file.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Paulr]

"Don't underestimate Linux. It just might pass you by"

I don't know if you can remember, back to 1995.
Redmond had just seen the release of Windows 95 hit the shelves.
We had massive releases, stores all over the world were running demo's of the most important OS to leave Redmond since the original Windows etc.

The LINUX users, as usual, we slating and complaining about all of the Win95 features.
Rather than telling us all how good their OS was, they decided the best way was to 'slag-off' the opposition.
The trade magazines loved it, interviews with top LINUX people were printed everywhere.
The general talk from the LINUX community was:
10% market penetration into home workstations within 2 years, this growing to 25% within 4-5 years.
So, 10% be 1997, 25% by 2000.
They were well off - I'd be suprised if they have hit their 10% yet.
Already we have decent in the LINUX ranks.
Some 'versions' of LINUX are not compatible with libraries from others.
Some companies are using proprietry libraries and file formats not available to other flavours.
We are already in the situation where many IT Professionals will not role out LINUX to workstations because they don't know which version/make or revision to use.
Do they role out Januray 10th's build, or January 15th's?
Do they risk rolling out a new kernel build only to find it has problems.

You can praise LINUX all day, the fact of the matter is if you want to talk to the rest of the world you wont rely on it as your only OS.

Software emulation, oh I love this.
'Look at me, I run LINUX & VM-Ware, and look, Windows 98 within LINUX'
Great, nice one!!
But if you're so anti-Microsoft, why exactly are you doing that?

'Ah, but LINUX never crashes, Windows alwas crashes - it's more stable'
Oh what rubbish you talk.
I have Win2k servers with 5-6 months of continuous uptime.
I have Win2k workstations with months of uptime - the LINUX community are too busy deciding what part of the MS OS they are going to 'slag-off' this time, rather then actually going out and seeing for themselves what Win2k can do.

You want me to take LINUX seriously, as even a threat to the way I run a MS network now?
Then LINUX distributors/developers, tell me what your OS can do for me, the features it has and how easy getting all of that to work will be rather than telling me 'MS users are stupid' or 'MS OS's always crash'.

[Technoid]

How did this topic transform to a "Bash Linux" rant?

[Kaj]

Beats me...

I really don't know what I'm going to do if WinXP makes it to the stores in time.
Actually, I do know that I'm not buying it right away; never did that with a single OS, except on DOS 6.
At this moment, I don't need a new OS; 98SE and 2Kpro are running just fine. I'm playing a bit with SuSE7 and BeOS on a spare computer, just to see what my options are if I have to switch OS, because I want to run something that the OSes I'm currently running can't handle. But we'll cross that bridge when and if we get there.

When I need activation, and the procedure goes as described above (simple and clean, without giving half my private life to them); I don't mind, but if they want to play FBI on me, they can shove it up their @$$.

[DosFreak]

Darnit, In the latest Technet Plus package I received there was a little note that said OEM & Volume distributions would not have Activation.

If I can find it. I'll scan it.

[Gurm]

If you want to disagree with activation on principle, that's fine. However, in practice MS learns nothing at all about your machine (only a hash is transferred to them) and if you buy Windows it really isn't a problem.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Kaj]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Gurm:
*snip*
..and if you buy Windows it really isn't a problem.</font>

Right on that one... But am I the only one who thinks that spending $300+ on an OS that needs servicepacks to run properly and without mayor securityholes (NT4 did, 2K does, and I'm sure XP is going to be no exception to this trend) is a bit looney?
My jaw hit the ground when I heard that SP1 for 2K was out before the OS itself shipped.

Ofcourse; an OS like Linux isn't bugfree either, but a securityhole is closed before you know it, and (except for that one RedHat-worm) I don't need a virusscanner/firewall or something to protect my Linux-computer. Maybe in the future I do, but for now I don't.

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[Paulr]

$300!!!
Me thinks I'll stick to the £85 upgrade version.

[Liquid Snake]

Linux is a decent OS. The only problem I see with it is the fact that it's so disorganized, as Paulr demonstrated. I've been using FreeBSD on my old box (formerly had RH Linux 7.0). It's more organized than Linux, since it is controlled by one group. But I don't think any OS is going to replace MS's OSes anytime soon.