In an unprecedented bummer (yesterday, today and tomorrow for sure) the software giant has released a statement that current users of their music and video entertainment service would have to purchase new registration keys for their downloaded music which was laden with DRM software. This same software tells de-activation servers if the computer and media that is being used is together as the download says it was or otherwise get turned-off preventing the darned stuff from playing at all. Like many users worldwide, people have a need for several copies of their video and audio where-ever they may be, Maybe due to lessons of the past when their hard drive crashed and took all of them with the disk (out the trash) or maybe because they just plain love the damned thing and want it to be available everywhere.
The Microsoft Corp has time and again gone through ups and downs and this would be hailed as one of the dumbest downer they have ever done. At first they delay the availability of XP SP3 by saying it’s still in the beta phase (though its been circulating in the P2P world as a download for quite sometime now) and that they are still monitoring for requests from their customers saying, “We are currently monitoring the need for the update from our users and as of now, we don’t see a need for it. If we do begin to see interest in the said update we will release it accordingly!” Many XP users were pissed at the thought, that the promised update for their XP’s which was promised last year took half a year for release then when the news people say it was ready they didn’t want to share it?! The update then mysteriously appears on the TechNet and other download sites for no apparent reason (Guess a good yelling for that employee or PR guy was ENOUGH REASON) maybe due top the tons of negative email they got when they said that.
Now they do it again by rewarding those who have been loyal to them by actually using the video and audio service by telling them we’re all of a suddenly puckering up our lips and saying no to multiple copies of your downloaded media and you have to pay for another activation key for all copies (they allowed the download of separate activation keys for all users who do get their songs from the site legally) costing them more money! Nice going guys, for during a time when everybody is way out on a limb with what little cash they had you’re asking for more? For me, I’ve never ever heard of the darned service, I know about Apple’s iTunes store (they’ve sold more than 4 billion tracks of music at less than a dollar)but never heard of their multimedia service. This may be nice for them so they add points to the, “Why you should hate Microsoft List”, which amounts to A LOT recently. I thought you guys had the best PR and Customer relations guys in the world money can buy? Guess brains were not part of the tons of money you pay PR people.
Tags: Bummer, Digital Music, Download service, Entertainment, Microsoft, Video
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Podcasts, Providers, Resources, Videos
Some Service Packs have been hailed as a total waste of time, as in the case of Vista SP1 which many users hailed as a partial flop due to the un-noticeable difference in the performance and security of those with them installed and those without them. So for savings in time and effort, one is advised to carefully read the upgrade/service pack descriptors so one knows what is about to be installed and if they are really needed. Some updated may have already been installed by auto update so installing the SP isn’t that essential. There are however some things that these developers do not tell you which comes in forms of very critical updates that are done non-verbosely meaning without the user’s knowledge or detailed knowledge. These may come in the form of patches that are to correct a very elementary problem that leaves a desktop or just about any system vulnerable that was unknowingly left out of the programmers and developers. The auto update feature of windows has the ability to tell you that updates are ready for your system from the Microsoft web page but clicking install and update simply updates them without giving you the details of what and which programs are to be updated. Like the Windows Genuine Advantage tool Microsoft included with patches that suddenly left users unable to connect to the Microsoft Update site itself leaving people pissed and mad about the incident. Microsoft was suppose to use the tool to search for pirated copies of it’s OS’s which would result in denial of access to resources such as the update site. These problems were corrected after a deluge of complaints; the WGA program was also suspended for sometime, but re-instated after the bugs were identified and fixed. Others looked at the tool as spyware with most not opting to install or even trying to uninstall the said tool which was automatically installed by AutoUpdate.
Be mindful of the updates that are being installed onto your computer and try to learn as much as possible about the process by going to the auto update FAQ’s so you get the stuff you need as you need them. That way, you avoid loosing precious space on your hard drives while keeping your system in tip-top shape. More info on the following posts from the IT Security Blog regarding the need for such updates and the problems that arise from them.
Tags: Apple Leopard, Linux, Microsoft, Service Packs, System Updates
Categories: Downloading Legally, Providers, Resources
All of the most commonly used Operating Systems in use require constant upgrades and patches from their developers who may have found some weaknesses and vulnerabilities as they go live online with the millions of users everyday. These patches may be allowed to do their thing automatically which means that the Operating system is configured to check for updates and patches when it detects a connection to the internet during a user-specified schedule. Some come in bundles forms such as the Vista SP1 and the previous XP SP1, SP2 and the upcoming SP3. Apple has also released a service pack for their OS X Leopard and the many open-sourced OS systems like Linux constantly have upgrades for specific modules that may need attention.
Most of these upgrades are security and privacy related which has become the number one priority with the growing number and increasing complexity of hacker attacks. Some of these updates are quite publicized but if one wishes to optimize the usage of space on their computers and they know the workarounds of their operating systems, there are quite a lot of patches and upgrades that can be quite useless therefore the user can opt not to install them. Advanced users can opt to have in Windows for example, to have the OS check for updates but let you choose which ones to install and which ones to ignore. This action is advised only for advanced users and if one does not know which system files are vital and may need updating, just leave auto-update do the whole process for you.
Tags: Apple Leopard, Linux, Microsoft, Service Packs, System Updates
Categories: Downloading Legally, Providers, Resources
In an unprecedented bummer (yesterday, today and tomorrow for sure) the software giant has released a statement that current users of their music and video entertainment service would have to purchase new registration keys for their downloaded music which was laden with DRM software. This same software tells de-activation servers if the computer and media that is being used is together as the download says it was or otherwise get turned-off preventing the darned stuff from playing at all. Like many users worldwide, people have a need for several copies of their video and audio where-ever they may be, Maybe due to lessons of the past when their hard drive crashed and took all of them with the disk (out the trash) or maybe because they just plain love the damned thing and want it to be available everywhere.
