RE: [Off Topic] Windows Genuine Advantage

["Marc" marc@xxxxxxxx]

Good points raised Phil.

I work for a company that develops, sells and supports an MIS system for
Printing companies.

Because our customer base is so small (700-800 companies world-wide), we
have to charge 15% per annum support fee. This is on top of the purchase
price that can range from $5000 for a very base system with 2 users thru to
$500,000+ for enterprise installations.

Yes, I agree with the general feeling amongst this distribution group
regarding Micro$oft and BBBG, but at the end of the day, they do produce
SOME fine software, operating systems (DOS 3.3 and 5.0 come to mind) and
applications (Access 2.0).

Micro$oft is a massive organisation and I think because of that it is easy
to point the finger at them (just like McDonalds, Nike, Wal-Mart...) Sure
they have made mistakes - costly for some people / organisations, but apart
from the basic "Hello World" batch files, there is no bug free software. And
a lot of software companies have produced horrendous apps.

If using Micro$oft operating systems/apps goes against the grain for some
people, there are alternatives available.



Marc

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xywrite@xxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-xywrite@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Phil White
Sent: Friday, 11 August 2006 12:55 p.m.
To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Off Topic] Windows Genuine Advantage
Importance: High

Please understand that Microsoft is really no more crass or greedy than any
of its competitors; it has to make money to stay in business. (It is not the
Federal government.)

Windows free software updates are a genuine bargain. It is a "perk" you get
by buying the major product from the major company in a very competitive
market.

The cost of the software maintenance provided to Windows users is defrayed
by spreading the expense across the many millions of copies they have sold
(and continue to sell.) It is an excellent example of the "economy of
scale." -- If Microsoft were a smaller company with a smaller pool of users,
the cost of maintaining a package with the complexity of Windows could never
be done for free; they would have to charge for it.

Recently, I purchased Windows Live OneCare for about $32.00 from my local
Sam's Club. The license provides anti-virus, anti-spyware, auto-update,
backup and online interactive tech support for three computers for a year.

This is a fairly new product and it still has its rough edges, but IMO,
there is nothing else which provides such seamless support. I expect that it
will become even better in the future.

Not everyone is a computer wiz; and not everyone wants to be one. (Just ask
my wife.) This package provides a good level of support for a platform which
must continually to evolve to keep current. The OneCare concept is a very
logical solution. This IS a Genuine Advantage. I strongly recommend it as a
"buy."

		Phil White
		pdwhite@xxxxxxxx


Philip D. White,
Senior Information Architect
University of Houston, CASA Testing Center

Phone: (713) 743-4135
Fax: (713) 743-8630
Email: pdwhite@xxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xywrite@xxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-xywrite@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael Norman
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 1:31
To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
Subject: [Off Topic] Windows Genuine Advantage

There's been a flood or WEB articles on MS' Windows Genuine Advantage
(XP) patches. Frankly, I can't decide whether to throw in the towel,
download these corporate efforts to, MS says, combat piracy, or to
look on them as spyware or worse and get updates from a third-party
enterprise program such as NetChk Protect (free for a year). I
certainly don't want to create a contretemps here, waste bandwidth
and clutter mailboxes and would be fine with pulling this post, but
I'm curious whether others are simply ignoring the issue, downloading
the two WGA components (required if you want to use WinAutoUpdates)
and just keeping to their work. Thanks for your thoughts.

Michael Norman