J
Jeff Dean
>>Actually, I think that the thieves will soon beat the [activation]
>>system (if they have not already done so). Much as gun control
>>(and other) laws are obeyed by people who are law abiding and are
>>ignored by criminals...
Why bother trying if the thieves are just going to break it anyway. I'll just leave the keys in my truck... the thieves are going to steal it anyway. And I think I'll just leave my house unlocked... The burglars are just going to break in and steal all my stuff anyway.
>>Just out of curiousity, did you ever pay the registration fee to
>>use Winzip? I did.
I purchase all the software I use or develop with/for, including WinZip, Windows, Office, and the MSDN Universal library. I have valid licenses for each computer at work and at home for all software installed on it.
If you noticed, WinZip uses a less complicated (and less secure) method of product activation. When you register with them, they give you an activation code based on your name. Most shareware that I have seen implements similar protection schemes. The difference, being they don't look at the hardware in your computer to prevent using the activation code on multiple computers.
>>I have no problem with paying for software that I want to use.
>>Free is nice, but programmers got to eat too.
If you want to send food directly maybe we can work something out but I prefer you just pay cash for stuff I write. (programmers need houses and
cars too)
>>My main gripe is what the heck do I tell people when we ship
>>something to rural China?
Microsoft has regional and, in some locations, local customer service centers to process activation requests. Telephone access numbers to these customer service centers are toll-free where available. Some countries can only be serviced with local toll numbers due to their telephony infrastructure or other issues. For very few countries, users will need to contact Microsoft by calling collect. Most customer service centers are open 24 hours per day.
>>There just is no Internet or telephone to MS tech support in
>>many cases.
Product activation is not be required for licenses acquired through Microsoft's volume licensing programs such as Open License or Select
License. I suggest you look into these programs.
( "http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/":http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/ ) A purchase for as few as 5 licenses can qualify for volume pricing through the open license program.
Jeff Dean
[email protected]
>>system (if they have not already done so). Much as gun control
>>(and other) laws are obeyed by people who are law abiding and are
>>ignored by criminals...
Why bother trying if the thieves are just going to break it anyway. I'll just leave the keys in my truck... the thieves are going to steal it anyway. And I think I'll just leave my house unlocked... The burglars are just going to break in and steal all my stuff anyway.
>>Just out of curiousity, did you ever pay the registration fee to
>>use Winzip? I did.
I purchase all the software I use or develop with/for, including WinZip, Windows, Office, and the MSDN Universal library. I have valid licenses for each computer at work and at home for all software installed on it.
If you noticed, WinZip uses a less complicated (and less secure) method of product activation. When you register with them, they give you an activation code based on your name. Most shareware that I have seen implements similar protection schemes. The difference, being they don't look at the hardware in your computer to prevent using the activation code on multiple computers.
>>I have no problem with paying for software that I want to use.
>>Free is nice, but programmers got to eat too.
If you want to send food directly maybe we can work something out but I prefer you just pay cash for stuff I write. (programmers need houses and
cars too)
>>My main gripe is what the heck do I tell people when we ship
>>something to rural China?
Microsoft has regional and, in some locations, local customer service centers to process activation requests. Telephone access numbers to these customer service centers are toll-free where available. Some countries can only be serviced with local toll numbers due to their telephony infrastructure or other issues. For very few countries, users will need to contact Microsoft by calling collect. Most customer service centers are open 24 hours per day.
>>There just is no Internet or telephone to MS tech support in
>>many cases.
Product activation is not be required for licenses acquired through Microsoft's volume licensing programs such as Open License or Select
License. I suggest you look into these programs.
( "http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/":http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/ ) A purchase for as few as 5 licenses can qualify for volume pricing through the open license program.
Jeff Dean
[email protected]