ASP--No More Software on Disc?

[Jenni]

My cousin is a techie for some hotshot computer firm in Atlanta, and he is telling me that Microsoft and other huge firms, Sun, IBM and the like, are never gonna make software on discs again, that within a few years we will have to download everything to use it. I said that sounds like a horrible idea and no one would agree to it. He says I will have no choice within 2 years. Any ideas? Does he know what he is talking about?

[Xayd]

I'd say doubtful.

Microsoft still holds up that banner of a "PC in every house", but do ya really think telco's across the land are gonna have everyone on DSL in two years? How else would it be feasible?

Xayd

[HAL9000]

I don't know about in 2 years, but anything is possible. Just like the new "restore" CD's that MS is starting to ship. What a PITA.

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If it ain't broke, you're not pushing hard enough!

[lynchmob]

Restore CDs? What exactly does this restore?
I could make an educated guess and say it does what the name implies, but we are talking about Microsoft.
lynch

[HAL9000]

Similar to the CD's that come with machines like HP's. If you have a problem, you throw in the CD and boot the machine. It formats the disk and returns the CD to the factory load.

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If it ain't broke, you're not pushing hard enough!

[Joe Auman]

Thats not the worst of it yet HAL. I have heard that they plan to BIOS lock the recovery disks. How? They will place a ID string in the BIOS so that when the restore disk is used, the setup utility will search for that specific ID. If it finds it, then all goes well. If not, then you won't be able to use it. Another attempt to make sure that people don't share the Window's cds.

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FATAL ERROR!!

Non-System brain or brain error!!
Replace and strike any key when ready.

[HAL9000]

Sucks don't it... Oh well...where there is a will, there is a way around it, and if I don't find a way, someone else will.

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If it ain't broke, you're not pushing hard enough!

[Joe Auman]

And people say that Microsoft doesn't have a monoply when they won't even send a Windows cd anymore becasue they fear it will be used on other computers and they won't get their precious money. Here is where I found out about this. http://www.winmag.com/columns/insider/2000/23.htm

This is great considereing I'll be getting a laptop soon.

------------------
FATAL ERROR!!

Non-System brain or brain error!!
Replace and strike any key when ready.

[Jenni]

Laptop manufacturers have been doing that for a while. I've got a Fujitsu Lifebook that I bought about 1½ ago, and it is that way. It has an Emergency Recovery CD which only gives 2 options, reinstall without reformat or reinstall with reformat. I found out the hard way that some programs that were bundled in the CD are picky, such as Microsoft Works for Win95. I ran the setup program, not changing anything, and exited. Upon exit, I got the message "setup is not complete...". When I restarted Works, it refused to find its TaskWizard files, even though they were where they had always been. So, after dealing with this and a few other bugs that weren't easily fixed, I had to reinstall, which I did without reformatting. After I did, I had to reinstall several programs (the file referred to in ALDUS.INI could not be found...) Pagemaker 5.0 being the main one, PrintMaster Gold being another. And, of course, the setup adds all the fluff back, such as Windows/Options/Cabs/Content, 3 megs of crap nobody would ever use...

[StuartW]

Leading on from all this, in an interview with Newsweek Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, hinted that Microsoft were going down the route of only renting out software in future. The argument being that you would then have the very latest, patches and all.This would dramatically increase revenue for Microsoft, and also control piracy.
This is a bad thing. If I want to play Age of the Empires, I don't want to have to download it, and pay for the time I use it.If I buy something, I expect to own it outright.

[glc]

You already don't "own" the software you buy or download - you own a revocable license to *use* it - this is what UCITA is all about.

[StuartW]

glc- I stand corrected, you are absolutely right about buying just the licence to use the software. However, having purchased this licence, under Microsoft proposals, I would have to continue paying an amount and at a frequency, determined by Microsoft.It is inevitable that the extra administrative costs would be passed on to the consumer;thus a business using an office utility software would pay a great deal more than the initial purchase price even if they had no need of regular updates.I know of several small companies happily surviving with a basic word pro pack on a 386 or 486. I suspect that Microsoft have spotted this, and the fact that they are not contributing to Microsoft profits, and have decided to try and raise revenue from this source.