Is Vista Really Evil?
I have a PC that installed XP professional around 2004. This computer has always been with me from Washington DC, BGSU, Eau Claire (WI), Minneapolis (MN) and now in Ashland (WI). Granted for almost two years it sat in the closet until I had my own office area.
I am now in the attic space I am pulling all my computers together for projects and freelance opportunities. I boot up my XP Professional with a an issue – my XP Professional is not validated and it will cost me an additional $149.00 to make it legit.
- I did purchase the XP Professional (not an OEM) from MicroCenter (Outside DC), so why am I not validated? It should have error out years ago, like 2004! I would have taken it back to the store.
- I have not used it in almost a two years, did I miss updates? If so, why should I be penalized?
- This failure to pass validation will keep me from updates. This could cause the OS to fail. Although I do have the final SP 3.
- This XP Professional used to be on my laptop which is my default computer. Now my default computer is sitting pretty with Ubuntu 9.04. No regrets a 5 year old computer kicking a**! (HP dv1000)
What really gets my kilobytes in a wad is this is a legit install! What a scam. Why do I call this a scam?
What do I get for my $149.00? Nothing. Absolutely Nothing
No support
No upgrades
No future service packs
If you pay $149.00 for the XP Professional to pass this farce of “authentication” will I get support? Microsoft has stop supporting XP machines as of April 14, 2009. I will gladly pay $149.00 for an extended warranty on XP Professional for another 5 year . . . that would be worth it.
Two question remain :
- Do I want to spend hours on hold with Microsoft validation support without a receipt, proof . . . and all I have are the CDs with software license (not OEM). Is this worth a fight?
- I am not getting an extended warranty, upgrade or support for the $149.00. So, why do it?
Decision : Nothing. I am going to back up my files on to a external HD and say goodbye to Microsoft on this machine.
Now our household is down to two Windows machines, which one is used to watch and download BBC iPlayer content.