Today, I ran into a clearly explained set of reasons why I don’t, and probably never will, use Vista as my operating system. For the same reasons that people can still use Windows 98SE, Windows XP will be available for usage by many for a very long time.

Anyway, in words better chosen than I could do (because I usually get too enraged when I try) here are those reasons from another - I quote rather than use a link because many would not take the time to follow the link, and because I can zero in on what is most important.

So…

The software available from JSWare is generally supported on all versions of Windows, from Windows 95 to Windows XP. With Windows Vista things are changing.

 

Vista access restriction problems:

   To use Windows Vista you need to be aware of the extreme access restrictions. By default on Vista, you are assumed to be a corporate employee who has no right to access the files on your PC outside of the “Documents” folder. If you try to access files, Vista will block you. If you try to access the Windows Registry Vista will block you. Worse, Vista will not inform you that your access is blocked. It will pretend that it is not blocking you. In effect, Vista restricts you to a sort of child’s playpen and only lets you play with copies of the files that you want to access. That situation can result in a great deal of confusion and will result in problems with software. For example, some WEB-ED Editor settings changes may not take. You may be unable to find saved files. You may be able to open a file but be unable to save changes to that file. Etc. In order to use JSWare software without problems you will need to “give yourself permission” to fully access your PC, by disabling “User Account Control” (UAC - the “playpen”), running as “Administrator” (without restricted permission), and giving yourself full access to the program folder, as well as any other folders that you may want to open files from or save them to.

   In the case of JSWare free software and components, no Vista support is offered and no Vista support is planned. In fact, much of the JSWare freeware has been specifically designed not to run on Windows Vista at all, in order to avoid unnecessary confusion for people using Windows Vista, and also to avoid unnecessary support queries at JSWare.

   Read on if you would like a more thorough explanation of JSWare support for Windows Vista and why it is changing.

The Windows Operating System - Platform vs Service
The role of an operating system:

   The basic function of an operating system - such as Windows, Linux, or MacOS - is to provide an interface between a computer and its software. The computer provides raw computational functionality. The operating system interfaces between that functionality and the software, allowing useful software to make the computer itself useful. In programming terms, Windows has traditionally been referred to as a platform because of its role as a hardware interface. Windows is the platform that supports software.

Changes in the marketplace:

   Over the past decade, most of the software commonly used on PCs has matured, as have operating systems. Products like Windows, office suites, browsers, email, graphic studios, etc. have not changed radically since the mid-90s. At one time software companies made large profits by periodically releasing new versions of their software with new functions. But for several years now, most people have not needed much in the way of new functions.

   In the face of reduced software sales, a popular idea now current among software companies is “software as a service”, also known as “SaaS”. The strategy behind SaaS is to sell software usage rather than software programs. In other words, “service” software is rented, leased, or charged for on a per-use basis, so that software companies do not have to depend on future sales of new product. (Note that SaaS is not an idea for improving software. It is an idea for improving profits.)

   Imagine if the auto makers, faced with plummeting sales, decided to stop selling cars and open taxi businesses. And imagine further that one auto maker, with over 90% of the market - and monopoly control - decided to also stop the sale of replacement parts so that their customers would be virtually forced to switch over to the new taxi service. Obviously that would not be a good scenario for most car owners. But that is essentially what Microsoft is doing with their “software as a service” strategy. And Windows Vista is a big step in that direction - a step away from the the idea of Windows as a platform.
   Actually, Microsoft is now talking about “software and service”. In other words, they hope to charge you for Windows and charge you for using software on Windows.

   For a thought-provoking description of just how much Microsoft has already changed the definition of their software, see John Dvorak’s story about the day that Microsoft’s Vista spyware system malfunctioned, causing thousands of computers to be disabled while their owners were accused of software theft.

 

A warning about Windows Vista:
   If you do not own a full version CD for an earlier version of Windows then you may be forced to either use Vista or leave Windows behind altogether the next time that you buy a PC. At JSWare we consider Windows Vista to be bloated, overpriced, restrictive, DRM-infested spyware. We do not recommend using Windows Vista. We do not consider it a worthy product. And we do not intend to support Windows Vista per se, or to write software for it.

Bloated and overpriced: If you look at the newspaper flyers for national, US electronics stores, you’ll see that the base price for a cheap PC has gone from a bit over $300 to somewhere in the range of $600-$700. It will cost you about an extra $300 to buy the hardware necessary to support Vista’s frivolous, and entirely superfluous, 3-D techno-kitsch.

Restrictions and spyware: To get a sense of just how much Windows is changing, and how little of that change is likely to be of benefit to Microsoft’s customers, you might find it interesting to read the Windows Vista license (EULA).

   Among the ominous details you will find in the Vista license are the following:

• Even a full version CD of Vista is licensed only for use on one PC. If you need to upgrade hardware, or want to install on a different PC instead, you will have to get permission by applying for a new Product Activation. (sections 1b, 2a) Even that option is restricted in some upgrade scenarios. (section 15b)

• According to Microsoft, it is “illegal” for two people to use a PC running Vista at the same time! (section 2b)

• Windows Vista will periodically contact Microsoft and send information about your Windows installation. You have no choice in this matter. If, during one of these clandestine communications, there is any problem confirming that your copy of Windows is not stolen, your PC will be crippled to the point of being virtually unusable until such time as you prove to Microsoft that you paid for their software.(section 5a-c) (See link above to the John Dvorak article.)

• Under default settings, Windows may remove installed software at Microsoft’s discretion, without asking you. (section 6)

• Under default settings, Windows Update will make changes to the operating system, without asking you. (section 7a)

• Windows Media Player, a spyware product, cannot be removed from Windows Vista under normal conditions. In addition to DRM functions, WMP will also make contact with Microsoft for the purposes of finding commercial music sellers for you to buy from, and to download and install newer versions of itself. You have no choice in this matter if you use WMP. (section 7a)

• “You may not work around any technical limitations in the software”. (section 8) In other words, Windows is now a service and you may only use it as Microsoft wants you to use it.

   Note that under US copyright law you have a right to use purchased material as you see fit and you have a right to make copies for your own use. If you buy a book or a music CD, for example, you can legally do anything with those except distribute copies to other people. It is perfectly legal to use your old Windows operating system on your new PC, and to copy it to your notebook PC, under fair-use laws. But Microsoft has made that virtually impossible through their Product Activation scheme. And now they claim that you do not even have a right to use the product as you see fit.

   In addition to the unusual rules set forth in the Vista license, Vista also institutes extensive security changes that may interfere with software running properly and will likely result in a constant barrage of frivolous security warnings.

   It is due mainly to the quasi-legal restrictions and the spyware functionality that we recommend against using Windows Vista. It is due mainly to the new compatibility problems that most JSWare software is not supported on Windows Vista. The compatibility issues in Windows Vista involve both hardware and software problems. But the biggest problem is restriction of user rights. The average person using Vista under default settings will be disallowed from accessing most of the files on their computer! It is difficult for most software to run properly under those conditions.

   In fact, even if you turn off all user restrictions on Windows Vista, you will still be blocked from the system folder. In other words, with Windows Vista you are not allowed to alter any files that are part of the actual operating system. On the face of it that may seem reasonable to many people. After all, most people do not want to rebuild their computer operating system. But this restriction means that you bought a product and are blocked from using that product as you see fit. While you may not want to alter or replace operating system files, you might want to install software that does so. Or you might want your tech. support person to be able to do so. With Windows Vista you are blocked. You have no more control over the actual operating system than you do over your cable TV box.

   It’s an ironic situation, in a way: For years, conspiracy theorists have speculated over whether Microsoft might have installed a secret “back door” into Windows. Were they spying on customers? Were they giving access to governments? Now Microsoft has installed an enormous locked front door, and you don’t get a key. Not only can Microsoft access your computer remotely. They can control and access parts of your system that you can’t. Yet few people are complaining.

 

Windows XP and Vista: A Product That Lies by Design
   As is outlined in the sections above, Microsoft is gradually trying to switch from selling software to selling services. Unfortunately, Microsoft is also trying to force their software customers to become their service customers. This started with Windows XP: The Windows XP system is designed to lie to you in order to control your actions. Even if you run Window XP “as administrator”, with full rights, Windows will still hide Registry keys; it will still pretend to let you delete files even though you will be blocked from doing so; it will go through the motions of removing force-installed software like Windows Media Player, but the software is not actually removed.

   In Windows Vista the situation gets worse. You will be blocked from accessing most of your own computer by default and Vista will pummel you with nag messages if you attempt to “give yourself permission” to control your own PC. In many cases downloading files or running software may simply not work: No explanation… no options… no messages… nothing.

   These security measures are not really aimed at protecting you from bad software or online attacks. If that were the case, Windows XP and Vista would naturally provide clear explanations and clear option settings, so that you could use security options as desired. But in most cases, Windows XP and Vista do not even tell you that you are being restricted. And in many cases where settings can be adjusted, those settings are “secret” - unpublished and only known to a few.

   The changes in XP and Vista are actually aimed at protecting your PC from you, rather than vice versa. Microsoft is attempting to gradually herd their customers toward acceptance of a services device, through restrictions and endless nag messages. The idea is that eventually you will use Windows mainly for things that pay Microsoft: Movie and music rentals, software rentals, etc.

   If you think the explanations here are far-fetched, or that they consitute “Microsoft bashing”, you might consider reading some of the articles linked below. Also, consider the fact that Microsoft announced, in May, 2007, the purchase of AQuantive for $6 billion. AQuantive is an online advertising company. It includes “AvenueA”, an ad-hosting operation similar to Doubleclick. So the world’s biggest software company, the company that provides over 90 percent of PC operating systems worldwide, is moving into the advertising business. Oddly, the mass media reporters and columnists generally do not seem to find that fact alarming. Then again, the mass media receives a great deal of advertising money from Microsoft. At the very least there is a notable conflict of interest here, in that Microsoft, the company with monopoly control over the computing medium itself, is now moving to control, and profit from, the content of that medium.

 

JSWare support for Windows Vista

   In brief, our view is that Windows Vista is an unsuitable and unusable product for its purpose. Rather than wasting everyone’s time with support requests that can’t be helped, we decided that it makes more sense to simply block Vista support altogether. With most of the free JSWare programs and components, if you try to use them on Vista you will see a message saying that Windows Vista is not supported and the software will then either stop responding or will close itself.

A bit long, perhaps, but said clearly and without the anger I would tend to inject.

What do you think of the author’s line of reasoning?

Tags: jssoft, microsoft vista, reasoned doubt, support