From: "Rich Gauszka" 


http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/2888

What Microsoft did was wrong.  You can't trick your customers into
downloading software they didn't ask for and don't want.  You can't make
your customers allow you to control what happens on their networks. I ran
through all the details in my head again regarding what it would take to
switch to a linux desktop in the enterprise.  I conducted a six month test
to see if it was feasible.  I decided that while we could solve the
technical difficulties, our users would not be able to adjust, at least not
now.  But, this whole WGA spyware thing got me going in that direction
again.

..a disgrace. Anti-piracy measures (which are for the benefit of the
vendor) shouldn't be auto-installed because the users has enabled
auto-update for security reasons ... How fail-safe if WGA? The people who
are most upset, understandably, are those who have paid full whack for
their Windows installations but are still getting bugged by WGA as pirates
... As far as I can tell, Microsoft is doing a wretched job of handling
these situations. Being hostile towards your best customers is not a great
way to run a business. If these measures really are troubling the pirates,
there may be some benefit for Microsoft. But that's an open question too.


The company is destroying friendships (something you don't want to do in
the tech sector if you are already known for weak products and big delays
on new ones). There was a day when there was no competitor to Windows, but
times have changed. Not only is there competition, but folks are finding
that competition either vastly superior or vastly free, characteristics
that can seriously damage the entrenched.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5