Seriously, after all these years I still hate Windows activation.
I have the Windows 7 RC build installed on my MacBook Pro’s Boot Camp partition with a legitimate key. VMware Fusion allows me to access that partition without rebooting. I do this occasionally. Each time I need to either reactivate or I have a Microsoft Public Service announcement about Genuine Windows Validation pop up.
This reminds me of similar experiences with various gaming rigs I used to own. I would frequently try out new parts – even motherboards. Why? Because I wanted to. That’s part of the fun of PCs, being able to hot rod them. Why put a custom exhaust manifold on your Chevelle?
Ever more heavy-handed, the current scheme turns off features if it thinks you are using a pirated copy. So now I am using a crippled version of something MS gave me for free in order to try out their OS. That is quite a sales pitch.
To MS: You know, maybe if you did not price your OS so ridiculously high you would not see so many people stealing it. And perhaps without the draconian anti-piracy, people would not devote efforts to developing cracks.
Hopefully I can get this sorted out as I am still fence sitting regarding Windows 7. IMO the best version of Windows is the cheapest one you can get. I’d use Windows 2000 if it support the latest DirectX.
