Think again!!!! The new license to Windows Vista has a change that will not allow that forever.
Now, you get to reinstall one time and one time only.
With a retail version of Windows XP, there are no restrictions on the number of times you can transfer the software from one computer to another in your household or office. That's about to change for the worse in Vista, with only one lifetime transfer allowed. It makes the outrageous price difference between retail and OEM copies even more difficult to justify.
I can see why Microsoft might have wanted Linux to be bound in licensing chains such as SCOsource represented, now that we have had a chance to read the perfectly extraordinary restrictive license terms for Vista. Microsoft would likely have known back then what it was planning in the way of tightening the screws on end users in its Vista EULA [PDF], and the contrast with the freedom of Linux is stark. But if SCO could get Linux tied up in overbearing license terms, then the contrast wouldn't look so bad. Could that have been a factor? I don't know. But it occurred to me. Microsoft's backing has been alleged in Larry Goldfarb's Declaration, as well as in Michael Anderer's leaked memo, but it has yet to be proven in a court of law, and Microsoft has denied it. However, as I read the agreement, I said to myself that I could see why SCOsource might have appealed to a company about to release a product under the most stringent terms ever, terms no one would agree to if they had a viable choice, I don't think. And Linux is a viable choice.
"My question about the one-time transfer is what constitutes a machine?" asked Windows user Roger Halstead. "I have four machines and they are running legal copies of XP Pro. Those four machines are in a constant state of upgrade. I have to reactivate the OS around three or four times a year due to upgrades."
Halstead said that if he is not allowed to continually upgrade his machine without purchasing new licenses, then "Vista will not be a viable operating system for me."
...
Don Smutny, a software developer for the DST Technologies division of DST Systems in Kansas City, Mo., considers the one-license transfer a message from Microsoft that "they don’t care if you ever run Vista."
This is in CIO Magazine, not somebody's blog. The target audience for this article is right to the heart of corporate IT policy decision makers. Looks like MS will wake up or find itself rapidly losing customers.
I know that because of lobbying and stupid computer purchasing people, they've gone with Windows XP here at the base. Specially patched versions of course; some patches aren't available to the public because of how specific they are to some programs we have.
But, if MS thinks that the government will continuously buy licenses when they swap out harddisks or motherboards or RAM due to failure, then the government will probably not even consider buying Vista. I know if I was a purchasing authority for said systems I wouldn't even consider MS due to their licensing. And I know that the government has done quite a bit of work or sponsored quite a bit of work investigating more secure OSes or securing certain ones (linux).
We laugh at work sometimes at how unsecure our computers actually are. Really the only security that guarantees classified info stays where it should is physically removing those systems from other computers and onto secure networks. And with enforcing strict rules... things like physical separation from any electrical source or electronics. And with those kinds of things, I've been pretty anal about security at home. That attitude helps. A lot.
Interesting in that someone at MS is seeing something worthwhile with Linux. Though you've got to wonder if they'll use their relationship with Novell to leverage their position about linux in the coming years.
