29 Reasons to Not Get Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista hits (assaults) consumers on 30 January 2007. Starting with New Years Day that gives you twenty nine days to think about the big mistake you're about to make.

Every day of January 2007 until Microsoft Windows Vista is released you can read yet another good reason why it's not a good idea to get it.

7 January 2007 Reason #7: Product Activation.

He's bought his way to a virtual knighthood in London, a doctors hat in Stockholm, and the cover of Time. But he's still the same old snot he's always been, born with a diamond studded platinum spoon stuck in at least one orifice.

He's the same person who reputedly stole $40,000 in CPU time from the Harvard computer centre and then turned around and accused his fellow hobbyists of stealing their software.

He's the same person who with less than $500 corporate revenues could drive around Albuquerque in a Porsche his rich daddy bought him - breaking the law along the way.

And he doesn't care how much pain he inflicts on you, his honest and devoted customer, if he can stay one instance of theft of his precious products.

Microsoft Product Activation has proven to be a nuisance and a menace to all legitimate Windows users. It's supposed to uniquely identify the machine Windows is running on, but think of what's involved.

Half of the processing power used is to construct a super secret key for your computer and your computer alone. That information is then 'phoned home' so Microsoft can locate both your Windows licence and your computer.

Which of course means you're connecting to Big Brother's server army all the time, just to get the go-ahead to keep using the product you already paid for.

Microsoft Product Activation doesn't work well, but Bill Gates doesn't care. This Ebenezer Scrooge of IT puts the Charles Dickens counterpart to shame.

Journalists have told scary tales of cruising along at 30,000 feet when suddenly a glitch reared its head in Bill Gates' Brave New World scheme and their computers went dead.

For there is no way Microsoft or anyone else can uniquely identify your computer. What they're scraping at instead is a summation of your CPU power, your peripherals, installed memory, and so forth.

But that's not unique - you may want to upgrade a component in your computer at any time. When you do, Windows will stop working. And you might have to place an expensive trunk call to Redmond to literally beg Bill Gates to turn your computer back on.

Think about that for a second: you were worried about trojans and viruses in your computer? Then what's this? Bill Gates is literally running your computer - and your life - by remote control. He holds the power of life and death over your computer.

He flicks a switch and your computer lives another day. He flicks it again and your computer is no more.

Do you want this kind of intrusion in your life?