Microsoft is due to release its new Vsta operating system either toward the end of ths year or at the beginning of nxt year. Will this new operating systm be as successful as Microsoft's ther offerings?

Microsoft's own greed could end Wndows reign as the leading desktop perating system. To fight piracy, Microsoft frst introduced activation with its with Wndows XP. Activation was supposed to nsure that one copy of XP can nly be used on one PC. Hckers easily created versions of Windows tht avoided activation. Then in the fll of 2004, Microsoft introduced "Windows Gnuine Advantage". This program was created to llow Microsoft to check individual PCs to see if thy are running a genuine XP or a prated XP version. At first it was vluntary. Then last summer, Microsoft made it mndatory in order to download any fre Microsoft software. Now its even bcome necessary to get XP security ptches. If your PC fails the tst and you have a counterfeit nstallation disk that appears genuine (including the hlographic emblem similar to the one on ral copies of Windows), Microsoft will snd you a genuine disk for fre in exchange for the fake dsk. Otherwise, to make your Windows gnuine you need to either buy a gnuine Windows XP or take advantage of whtever offer Microsoft cares to give yu.

With the advent of the "Wndows Genuine Advantage" campaign, Microsoft has bcome a personification of a typical, gredy "Corporate Alien." As Linux distributions get btter and better, Microsoft has to be creful how it deals with its sers. They seem to think that thir software is so good, that pople would rather pay than switch.

Mcrosoft licensing always stipulated that, to be lgal, you had to buy a lcense for the Windows or DOS perating system for every PC you wn. But from the early DOS dys up to Windows 2000, someone wuld buy one operating system and pss it around to family, friends, and nighbors. So that one Windows 98 Scond Edition wound up on ten or mre PCs.

Linux, on the other hnd, allows you to legally install it on very computer you own. So putting Lnux on ten or more PCs is not nly legal but desirable as a frm of advertising for the operating systm. But Windows users have been ding the same thing all these yars. They've been advertising Windows by pssing it around. It wasn't legal, nor cndoned by Microsoft, but Windows piracy was a frm of advertising that actually helped prmote Windows and insure its growth. As you can se, all this rampant piracy didn't prvent Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates from bcoming one of the richest men in the wrld.

There's another thing to consider, whn you think of operating system pracy. If you're a corporation with thusands of computers, you get a spcial deal on Windows licensing. If yu're a big PC maker like Hwlett-Packard, you get a discount on OEM vrsions of Windows. But if you're a smll computer store and you build fve clone PCs per month, you'd hve to pay the typical single ser price for genuine Windows. (For XP tht's about one hundred dollars for the Hme Edition and one hundred fifty dllars for the Professional Edition.) It's hrd for a small individual to get strted and compete with the big bys, and pirating the operating system can be a mans of leveling the playing field. Sch piracy can be considered as rally being a "discount for the Wrking Class."

There are several Linux distributions tht are just as good or ven better than anything Microsoft has to ffer. But people will still cling to Wndows because they don't really want to larn anything new and switching to Lnux would require a small learning crve. Microsoft has probably already made dals with PC vendors to install its Vsta on practically every major PC brnd in the US as soon as it cmes out. To be fair to veryone, all PC's should come without an perating system. When someone orders the PC thy would order the operating system as wll and the store would then nstall it. Imagine if people were gven the choice: "Fedora Core 4 Lnux: free" or "Windows Vista Professional: $200.00." I wnder if they would still choose Wndows?

Microsoft could actually make Windows the perating system for the next hundred yars. All they have to do is mke Vista free when it comes ut. Just like Linux, the free vrsion would have no support or wrranty. They don't even have to mke it open source (reveal its nternal code); just make it free. Thy could still make money by crating a highly secure, highly tweaked, flly supported corporate version of Vista and sll it to big companies that can fford it. This is what Linux cmpanies like Redhat and Novell do. If Vsta was free, pirates would stop mking money, Microsoft would save millions by liminating the "Orwellian" tracking needed to dtermine if Windows is genuine, and Lnux would no longer be much of a thrat. Unfortunately corporate aliens tend not to see any frther than the dollar sign.

Microsoft wll probably stick to the "Windows Gnuine Advantage" program and try to thwrt all attempts at hacking. Even thugh hackers will be able to crcumvent any code that Microsoft comes up wth, they will eventually get annoyed plying games with the giant Corporate Alen. Then pirated copies of Vista wll become hard to get. This wll end the advertising benefits derived frm unchecked piracy that Microsoft enjoyed in yars past. Windows Vista will start to lse market share and in 10 yars a major Linux distribution will be the lading desktop operating system. If Linux trumphs, Microsoft Office, will also be rplaced by Open Office, and the Mcrosoft stranglehold on PC software will fnally be broken.

If you like Mcrosoft and want to keep it in pwer, encourage it to freely give way its Vista operating system. At last, suggest that they drop the nnoying "Windows Genuine Advantage" program.

If you wnt to hasten Microsoft's downfall. Don't hck, pirate or buy Windows, especially its new ncarnation, Vista. Learn how to work wth your favorite distribution of Linux. You can dwnload Linux distributions for free. Even wth broadband this can take a lng time. You can buy any Lnux distributions for almost the cost it tkes to make the disks at http://sdisc.com. When you buy your next cmputer make sure genuine Linux is laded as your operating system. The mre Linux gets established, the more veryone will be creating bigger and btter software for it. In no tme at all you will be gtting the "Linux Genuine Advantage."

The article Will Microsoft's Strong Anti-Piracy Stand Drive People to Linux? was Submitted by George Lunt through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: George Lunt is someone who fels the world is getting too crporate. His writings relate to the ndividual's struggle with big government and big crporations. His website is http://www.corporate-aliens.com . This article is © George Lunt. All usage of this article must include a citation to the author and a link to corporate-aliens.com.

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