Submission + - Microsft Vista will cripple PCs
downundarob writes: From a story at el reg (home of BOFH) comes this article:
If you read just one thing over the holiday break, make sure it's Peter Gutmann's cost analysis of Windows Vista, here. It's an eye opening 20 minutes. Gutmann describes in great detail the various measures Microsoft has taken to lock down Windows on behalf of Hollywood. This isn't a comprehensive look at all of Vista's DRM — Gutmann barely touches on Microsoft's new activation framework; (this is beyond the scope of his enquiry.) In order to playback HD-DVD and BluRay content, Microsoft agreed to degrade video and audio functionality in Windows. Gutmann points out that when "premium" content is being played, component video — YPbPr — and S/PDIF interfaces are disabled. Third party hardware that fails to obey these orders may have it's "certified" status revoked by Microsoft — leaving the user with minimal (eg VGA) functionality. With the introduction of tilt bits, all of the designed-in resilience is gone. Every little (normally unnoticeable) glitch is suddenly surfaced because it could be a sign of a hack attack. The effect that this will have on system reliability should require no further explanation. In short, the Vista specifications explicitly cripple the PC.
If you read just one thing over the holiday break, make sure it's Peter Gutmann's cost analysis of Windows Vista, here. It's an eye opening 20 minutes. Gutmann describes in great detail the various measures Microsoft has taken to lock down Windows on behalf of Hollywood. This isn't a comprehensive look at all of Vista's DRM — Gutmann barely touches on Microsoft's new activation framework; (this is beyond the scope of his enquiry.) In order to playback HD-DVD and BluRay content, Microsoft agreed to degrade video and audio functionality in Windows. Gutmann points out that when "premium" content is being played, component video — YPbPr — and S/PDIF interfaces are disabled. Third party hardware that fails to obey these orders may have it's "certified" status revoked by Microsoft — leaving the user with minimal (eg VGA) functionality. With the introduction of tilt bits, all of the designed-in resilience is gone. Every little (normally unnoticeable) glitch is suddenly surfaced because it could be a sign of a hack attack. The effect that this will have on system reliability should require no further explanation. In short, the Vista specifications explicitly cripple the PC.
