http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/02/02/11/020211opfoster.xml

At issue is a changed slipped into the XP End User License Agreement (EULA):

You can be forgiven if you feel like you have better things to do with your life than reading and rereading all [of the EULA's] mind-numbing legal gobbledygook. Fortunately, one Microsoft customer did review the PUR document recently and noticed a change.

In the section on Windows XP Professional, he found the "Internet-Based Services Components" paragraph that said in part, "You acknowledge and agree that Microsoft may automatically check the version of the Product and/or its components that you are utilizing and may provide upgrades or fixes to the Product that will be automatically downloaded to your Workstation Computer."

The reader was stunned. "By changing that term in the PUR, Microsoft has found a creative way to obtain authorization from users to access their workstations at will," he said. "How many customers are going to review this PDF file and realize they've given Microsoft this right? And all the risk for the security and privacy violations due to this are neatly put on the customer's shoulders, not Microsoft's ..."

-- Stephen (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 10, 2002

Answers

Another blown tag, but this time, I closed the bold print before I was done quoting. Let me requote this key point:

You acknowledge and agree that Microsoft may automatically check the version of the Product and/or its components that you are utilizing and may provide upgrades or fixes to the Product that will be automatically downloaded to your Workstation Computer.

Read the article, including Microsoft's defense (that you can still disable this). Don't know about you, but Stephen doesn't sign an agreement that says he MUST wear suspenders just because the guy holding the paper in my face says, "aw, we don't enforce that part."

And if you do, you're crazy.

I tell you what ... I am more glad each day that I've switched to Linux.

-- Stephen (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 10, 2002.

Grab yer darts! It's time for target practice!!!

-- Stephen (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 10, 2002.

Macs Rule.

-- (what@i.think), February 12, 2002.

Yes Stephen, follow the path to the light, Linux is great but if you want the same stability without all the work the Mac is calling you.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), February 12, 2002.

Cap'n,

Did you get one of the new ones yet?

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 12, 2002.

Stephen,

No, not yet. But it is definetly on the horizon, mayhaps by Sept. I'm starting to tinker with virtual reality modeling and 360° VR movies, so it's probably justifiable ; ), really. I think Z has one and we haven't heard from him in awhile so I'd say he's havin' a friggin' large time with his.

I do look forward to sinking my teeth into OS X, even looked into some of the "scheme" emulators because of the look and feel of it. I tell ya, if it runs any better than 9.2 I'll be amazed.

Oh BTW, it does have a UNIX backbone, to quote the Apple site:

"The power of UNIX and the elegant simplicity of Macintosh Work and play with the most advanced operating system on the planet. Under that engaging, user-friendly interface is a rock-solid, industrial strength operating system based on battle-tested technologies that do the heavy lifting on the Internet."

Maybe Z'll chime in and give us his update.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), February 13, 2002.