Vista limitations
The Windows Vista License contains an interesting little clause:
“…you may not
- work around any technical limitations in the software….”
What? The mind boggles at what this actually means, Microsoft’s intentions be damned; because in the end-all the only thing that matters is what the license says, and this is simply stunning. This means, for example, that if Windows will not play DVDs on your computer because of some bug related to your specific model of DVD player, you cannot patch windows to fix the bug.
This, evidently, is a way of trying to license in its restriction on HD content. Windows Vista does not play HD content correctly (and the 32-bit version doesn’t play HD at all) , it degrades the picture quality of an HD disc before it displays it. This means that if you play an HD movie on a stand-alone HD player connected to a 24″ falt panel it will look dramatically better than if you play the identical disc on the identical monitor off your Vista computer. Nice, eh?
Not only that, but Vista has to grind your machine constantly to play even the crapped-up HD, since it spends a hell of a lot of time checking that you aren’t doing something the Content-Cartel doesn’t like while watching the crapped-up HD content. All this checking takes a lot of processing time away from anything else your machine might be trying to do.
Of course, you also are prohibited from running the cheaper home version in any sort of Virtualization.
Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the “licensed device.”
and later:
4. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system.
So, if you are a Mac user who is stuck having to use Vista under Parallels, be prepared to pony up for the “Ultimate” version, as that is the only one that allows you to run under virtualization, although even then there are restrictions (this is the section of the EULA for Vista Ultimate):
6. USE WITH VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES. You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption.
Note that it’s not just about digital content and DRM, but ANY protected content or applications. Here’s another interesting tidbit of the license:
When the software checks your device for Malware, a report will be sent to Microsoft about any Malware detected or errors that occurred while the software was checking for Malware.
and:
Microsoft may use the computer information, error reports, and Malware reports to improve our software and services. We may also share it with others, such as hardware and software vendors. They may use the information to improve how their products run with Microsoft software.
Now, you need to know that “Malware” is not defined in the EULA, and so can be, quite litterally, anything Microsoft decides they don’t want installed on Vista. Now, Microsoft does provide a list of what it considers Malware, but there is nothing stopping them from adding anything they want to that list.