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"Shelly, I don't see this thread, necessarily, as people wanting something for free and rationalizing the theft of that which they don't want to purchase."
To One and All:
The original post was inquiring as to the difficulty of installing XP on more than one PC or on a buddy's PC. This is as clear a discussion of theft and violation of the licensing agreement as I can imagine. What I don't understand is the mindset of anyone who feels any animosity towards Microsoft with regards to their licensing practices. Microsoft is not the only solution and does not in any sense control a monopoly. You are free to choose an OS that will run on your Intel chip from any vendor you choose. Why not pick one that subscribes to your individual philosophies.
I run a large number of Operating Systems (Windows 95, Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows XP Pro, Windows 2000 Pro, QNX 2, QNX 4, QNX RTP, Linux Mandrake 8.2, DOS 6.2), each being used for it's best features. I have business software that I have written as long ago as the mid 80's running on most of these systems and performing serious work and earning their keep. You can access the internet from almost any system, can enjoy multimedia, games, business software and sophisticated multi-user, multi-tasking solutions from other than Microsoft.
This constant justification for what amounts to stealing of another's "intellectual property", or feeling a need to claim rights of some sort to the same doesn't even have a solid base. I haven't even touched on the alternate choices to the one everyone loves to hate, and anyone with the interest in checking them out will soon realize that Microsoft is just another player in a large game. They control the bulk of the consumer market, but it is the same consumers that put them there. No matter what anyone will try to say to refute these facts, we all have choices. Why don't we exercise them?
Dave T.
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