BadVista Blog

Windows Vista Incapable

josh — 2008-03-28T05:21:35Z

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is shipping and what we know so far is that it is incapable of running on many types of machines. In fact, Microsoft is being sued for putting stickers all over machines claiming that Vista could run on them, when in fact, it cannot. We recommend correcting this problem by covering up such stickers with a "GNU/Linux Inside!" sticker—if you make a purchase at our store or become an associate member we will send you some of these stickers.

If you were able to run Vista, you would find that it takes your general-purpose computer and makes it incapable of doing a lot of things you might want to do. In particular, it does not allow you control over your multimedia; it is incapable of allowing you to access your hardware, such as certain types of video cards, without restriction; and it is incapable of allowing you to control the third-party applications, data, and other files you download onto your machine.

Service Pack 1 does not change any of these facts about Vista, and it is in fact part and parcel of the same kind of behavior from Microsoft.

If you "upgrade" from Windows Vista to SP1, many of your third-party programs will just stop working. Furthermore, the updates only come from Microsoft, who gets to decide, without defining it, what terms like "spyware" used in their licenses mean. Even if you think you may have turned auto-updating off, Microsoft has made the decision, in the past, to decide that this is still at their discretion and will perform updates and deletions without asking you. Using Vista literally means handing over the keys to your computer.

If you don't want to continue running an "unsupported" Microsoft distribution and don't want to let the SP1 Trojan Horse into your home, then consider installing gNewSense or another all free software GNU/Linux distribution. It doesn't have to be time to discard your old computer and purchase a new one with a false sticker on it. Your current machine can likely run a free software GNU/Linux distribution, and you only have to make the switch once.

If you intend to make the switch, let others know by signing our petition to support free software for a free society.

Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

mattl — 2008-02-06T16:07:26Z

Recently it emerged that Microsoft is removing the "kill switch" from Vista.

When you install Vista, Microsoft claims that you consent to being spied upon, through the "Windows Genuine Advantage" system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. This system includes a "kill switch" which allows Microsoft to remotely deactivate your copy of Vista. This deactivation, whether deliberate or by accident -- as has been the case in some 500,000 cases already according to a study last year -- locks you out of your computer, and forces you to contact Microsoft to get access to your files.

While they may have now ostensibly removed the kill switch from Vista, they have not updated the hostile license they say you must agree to in order to use Vista. Vista still restricts your freedom, because freedom at the whim of someone else is not freedom.

Vista still enforces Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) -- technologies that companies like Disney, Warner, Netflix, Universal, Apple, Sony, Amazon, Fox and Microsoft are trying to impose on us all in order to have control over how our computers are used.

The public backlash that led to the kill switch in Vista being "removed" is a sign that people want software freedom. Today, Microsoft cannot offer people what they want. Thankfully, all is not lost -- free software distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system offer that freedom today. One lesson we should all take from this is that if we speak loudly enough, and demand software freedom, it can have results. But we also shouldn't be fooled -- Microsoft has just hidden the kill switch behind its back, still claiming the authority to use it. More pressure is still needed, and the only thing that will work in the end is for Microsoft to release their software under a license that respects the freedom of computer users.

Vista SP1 Preview

josh — 2007-10-12T16:52:04Z

Word is out that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is in Beta mode. Reviewers mention that it is relatively unchanged, i.e., it is still running as a giant piece of proprietary malware, but, that it is running a little bit faster (one report takes a shot at it claiming that it is almost as fast as Windows 98). Unfortunately, Service Pack 1 still leaves Vista designed to restrict what users can do with their software.

So, my advice is: don't wait for Service Pack 1. Despite the free software worlds constant battle to acquire hardware specifications (often reverse engineering them) in order to develop free software drivers, GNU/Linux still supports far more hardware than Vista ever will. One of the reasons for this is because Vista needs certain hardware requirements to implement Digital Restrictions Management schemes and Trusted Computing schemes so that the hardware and the software can restrict how you can use your software, your data, and all of your multi-media content. I'm not sure you can run GNU/Linux on a shoebox, but you certainly don't need a top of the line machine like Vista requires. Most distributions run on anything from your old 12-pound laptop from the early 90s to the latest and greatest super-computer cluster, as well as most everything in between. When you install GNU/Linux, you decide if you want to stay on the cutting edge and be a "beta tester," or you can choose to run a heavily tested and stable version of an application. GNU/Linux is not designed to restrict the user.

In fact, free software carries freedom to the user. Microsoft claims absolute ownership over their software, but, with free software, you have all the same rights as developers do to use, to change, to share (even to sell) the software to whomever, and for whatever purpose you see fit -- and, as long as you continue to pass along those same freedoms to everyone else, it will always be free software. So, don't wait for SP1, install your favorite GNU/Linux distribution today, and be a part of a thriving and respectful community that values your freedom of choice and your freedom to do what you wish with your software, your data, and your multimedia content.

Stealth updates, deletions

josh — 2007-09-24T15:53:47Z

Microsoft's Nate Clinton has used a bogus excuse to explain why Windows Update installs stealth updates without the user's consent. He writes in the Microsoft Update Product Team Blog:

One question we have been asked is why do we update the client code for Windows Update automatically if the customer did not opt into automatically installing updates without further notice? The answer is simple: any user who chooses to use Windows Update either expected updates to be installed or to at least be notified that updates were available.

Well, if Microsoft understands that a person wants to decide to install their own updates, then they should be respectful of that user's choice and be consistent with their policy. Being consistent means that they should tell the user that an update to Windows Update is available and that if they want it to continue to work properly, that this update should be installed. Maybe the user will decide to stop using Windows Update altogether, or maybe they will install the update. Either way, it should be the user that decides, not Microsoft.

However, this should come as no surprise. There is other evidence that these types of policies apply to other pieces of Microsoft software as well, including Windows Defender. In the End-User License Agreement for Windows Vista it states that after searching your computer for software, if Defender finds any "potentially unwanted software rated 'high' or 'severe,' [it] will automatically be removed after scanning unless you change the default setting." Where "high" and "severe," are undefined terms, and where the default behavior is to delete the software (instead of just quarantining the software and asking the user if they want to delete it). It gets worse. Later on in the same section they warn you that Defender may remove or disable software that is "not potentially unwanted software." In layman's terms, "not potentially unwanted software," is also known as "your software."

At least Microsoft stays consistent with one policy: keep the user confused and unclear on all policies.

Free software for a free society

johns — 2007-09-05T21:13:35Z

Our joint statement with Friends of the Earth International, the Green Party, People and Planet and the New Internationalist calling for a free society based on free software has now been signed 600+ more times over by activists around the world.

If you haven't yet, please add your signature to the statement calling on activist groups and individuals of all stripes to reject Microsoft Windows Vista and pursue free "as in freedom" software like GNU/Linux. Help us demonstrate how much support there is for a digital world without arbitrary restrictions on the freedoms we need to be effective agents for political change.