tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217714482901352786.post5050364420797749493..comments2023-05-10T03:02:05.533-07:00Comments on Educational Ink: Eggs and BasketsMark Paytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06858175839274272285noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217714482901352786.post-76532057195284644582005-09-17T20:26:07.000-07:002005-09-17T20:26:07.000-07:00I sure do agree that there should have been a bett...I sure do agree that there should have been a better solution for you. And I'll see if I can find one or get one developed for the future. But I am not so sure that doing away with Product Activation is the only or the best solution. It's not that Microsoft doesn't trust cutomers, rather it is that there are a lot of people selling computers and software that has not been paid for to unsuspecting people. Those are the people Product Activation is out to stop.Alfred Thompsonhttp://blogs.msdn.com/alfredthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217714482901352786.post-24130519492498838852005-09-22T08:42:22.303-07:002005-09-22T08:42:22.303-07:00I've got 30 tablets to roll out and was planni...I've got 30 tablets to roll out and was planning on using Ghost for this process. I've only unpacked one of the tablets so far and I wasn't asked to activate it. The only problem that I can potentially see is that all of the tablets would have the same product key.<br><br>Do you see this being an issue with WGA? Any other problems?Chris Brandthttp://vetpda.ucdavis.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217714482901352786.post-43134453354724367482005-09-22T19:05:29.796-07:002005-09-22T19:05:29.796-07:00Alfred-First, thanks for your comments. My experie...Alfred-First, thanks for your comments. My experience with copy protection (which, ultimately, is what WPA is) has always been that legitimate users and casual bootleggers are the only ones who suffer. Everyone with a financial vested interest in bootlegging can find a way around it. I saw this all the way back to the days when Lotus 1-2-3 first tried (and later abandoned) copy protection. I don't think the savings from the casual copier justifies the cost to the legitimate user. I understand Microsoft's concern about lost revenue, but I believe MS would fare better by avoiding user alienation.<br><br>Chris-With only 30 Tablets you might be able to get by with the phone activation, or you might even be able to have your users do it. When you run sysprep prior to ghosting, you strip out the activation code so that each machine will need one entered after the image is put on. At least that was our experience. Windows accepted the product key from each machine, but WPA rejected us.<br><br>The other big problem we had was with returning students who did not bring their Office and OneNote license keys with them when they came back to school. We reimaged their machines and they couldn't use any Office App until they could get someone at home to locate their CD case and give them the number. With new installations this won't be a problem. Once again, copy protection bites the legitimate user.Mark Paytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06888307842722370274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217714482901352786.post-1230137199562336002007-04-27T07:00:23.355-07:002007-04-27T07:00:23.355-07:00At risk of opening myself to flaming from legions ...At risk of opening myself to flaming from legions of rabid fans of other OSes (which shall remain nameless), I want only to comment that recent public security problems with other systems convince me even more of our approach on this. I've been waiting for public cross-OS exploits for a while (there have been a few low profile ones, but nothing huge) and this article in eWeek Security Watch is exactly that: http://securitywatch.eweek.com/apple/quicktime_bug_affects_all_javaenabled_browsers.html<br><br>Cross browser, cross platform and thanks to code NOT written by Microsoft.Mark Paytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06858175839274272285noreply@blogger.com