You Can't Coach That

Hey Microsoft - Get Stuffed!

Ah, that feels better. I can sense the fear coming from Microsoft HQ now.

I’m in the final stages of planning for my move to the Mac. The finance minister has given her blessing. All that remains is to find a gullible bank manager.

I have been reading about the latest version of parallels, which will be on my list of software to acquire, and learned about a piece of pure genius from Bill’s Boffins. It seems that the EULA for Windows Vista  does not allow for the Home Basic or Home Premium versions to be run under virtualization. For the provilege of using "the best version of Windows ever" I would have to buy one of the more expensive versions.

I don’t actually intend purchasing any version of Vista at the moment. I own several copies of XP Pro and this will be just fine for running the occasional Windows application. I just believe there would be a restriction like this. Some time down the track I may in fact want to install Vista. I can envisage members of my family running Vista Home and needing support. I will find it difficult to give support without having my own copy installed. Apparantly when that time comes I will have to pay the extra money for a business focused edition.

According to iTWire, the reason for the restriction is security based. To quote from iTWire:

Microsoft’s original justification for the restriction is security. It’s not that Vista Home is inherently less secure than the other versions, just that the company feels that those who opt for Home aren’t sophisticated enough to manage security in a virtualised environment.

Two things come to mind - 1. don’t insult me! 2. I thought Vista was the most secure operating system known to man.

"You can’t coach that" 

Well Coach, I will have to admit that I have less crap on Vista than I did with XP.  My scans usually only have one cookie, so for that I am grateful.  I do agree that we home users are smart enough to know how to keep our systems secure.  Hello.  Vista is getting better and better for me, but there is a bit of a learning curve.  I cuss at Mircrosoft often though!  So, congratulations on convincing the finance minister that you need a new computer. Have a great weekend.

Oh how condescending of the mighty Microsoft.

Ah me, looks like I’ll be just hanging onto my old XP PRO for awhile yet. Going to Vista means buying a new machine altogether. My current rig is excellent and power-a-plenty for XP but I want dual core and 2 gigs for Vista and it better be Vista SP1 before I’d even look at it. And going to a MAC? Even with Parallels, it would have to really work well and be able to run the programs and peripherals that I need without much hassle for me to justify the switch. Always wanted to though. I’ve told MS to go stuff it quite a few times myself and I’m an old(er) beta tester which is probably why I said it so much.

Hope you keep posting on your experience with your new MAC and using Parallels.