More on Windows Genuine Advantage

Well, the WGA controversy continues and is actually heating up. Microsoft is being sued by a California resident claiming that the Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool actually violates anti-spyware laws.

Additionally, I read something kind of startling today saying that some people think starting this September WGA will begin disabling computers that are not running a genuine copy of the Windows OS. A Windows "kill switch" of sorts. This is fine if it really isn't a genuine copy of Windows, but apparently there are a lot of problems where WGA is falsely deciding that a copy of the OS is not genuine. Apparently, Microsoft refuses to deny this rumor, so it may actually be true.

Also, on Tuesday Microsoft released an update to WGA that communicates less with Microsoft and updated the license agreement.

Microsoft has a right to protect its product. There are plenty of software packages that take similar actions. Security measures are always a pain in the butt and Microsoft is trying to walk the line of protecting their product and not inconveniencing their customers running legal copies of their software. I guess we will see how this works on over the next few months.

Anheuser-Busch is Patriotic

I spent the last 5 days in Orlando Florida. We went to Sea World, which is owned by the Busch Entertainment Corporation. I noticed that the Shamu show starts with a salute to all the members of the US and British Armed Services and their families and all our allies. They had all these folks stand in the audience and saluted them. I thought this was great. When I got home I did some searching and found that Anheuser-Busch has been doing this for quite some time. Most recently they started the Heroes Salute program where they are offering free single-day admission to its Sea World and Busch Gardens parks to active duty military, active reservists, U.S. Coast Guard, National Guardsmen and as many as three direct dependents." Its nice to see this American company supporting our Armed Services. Let's support Anheuser-Busch by drinking their beer.

How Bad is Malware?

Real bad! According to Microsoft's most recent report on the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), statistics show that 1 in every 311 computers are infected with malware - malicious software. "The MSRT has removed 16 million instances of malicious software from 5.7 million unique Windows computers over the past 15 months. On average, the tool removes at least one instance of malware from every 311 computers it runs on."

Some articles I've read say this is why the amount of SPAM has increased notably in the last couple months. "A rise in Trojan infections is resulting in a parallel explosion in spam spewing, Phish website hosting zombie boxes."

It is vitally important to your safety and data security, as well as other's, that you run Microsoft Windows Update on a regular basis. Setup it up so it runs automatically! Also be sure to install a good AntiVirus program (Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, etc) and possibly a good Spyware tool (WebRoot's Spy Sweeper) too. Even Microsoft's OneCare will do the job.

We all have to be vigilant on this problem and use the tools available to us. Many ISP's are offering free copies of these tools. I know MSN Premium does - comes bundled with Verizon DSL. When I setup a computer for someone I always load these tools and configure them to update themselves nightly so they're running on auto pilot. Don't leave home without it.

More on Skype

I tried Skype a little over the weekend. It works pretty well. People I called couldn't tell I was using a software based VOIP service. I ordered a SkypeIn number for the year - a cost of $38. They didn't have any numbers local to me so that wasn't too good. I may cancel the SkypeIn number since they offer a 30 day refund policy. Since SkypeIn is still in beta test mode I'm also not too sure that I want to pay to test their service.

I did some digging and it looks like all the big "messenger" services have free PC-to-PC calls. As of this moment here are the offerings from other services:

AOL - Free service for Phone-to-PC inbound calls. Totally free, including the phone number they assign to you. I don't think you can make outbound calls on the free plan though. They have an Unlimited plan where you can make and receive calls for $9.95 a month - more like a traditional VOIP service. They said they don't have any numbers in my area. They simply said sorry we can't help you. Didn't even give me a choice to select a number from another area.

MSN - They appear to offer PC-to-Phone outbound calls, but not inbound calls.

Yahoo - They offer both inbound and outbound calls. Outbound calling is 2 cents a minute in the US. An inbound number is $29.90 per year with free/unlimited inbound calls. They have a local number for me, so I may try them out.

Skype

So whats the deal with Skype? Seems like it sure has become popular very quickly. For those that may not be familiar with Skype yet, it's a voice phone service available by using software on your computer. Of course it is a form of Voice Over IP (VOIP). They're offering free calls from computer-to-computer anywhere in the world... and free calls from computer-to-landline in the USA until the end of this year. After the end of this year those landline calls will cost you around 2 cents per minute. This is called SkypeOut - meaning you can call out from your computer. Of course you can always receive calls into your computer from another computer via Skpye, but if you want to allow landline folks to call you then you'll need to buy a phone number - this is known as SkypeIn. Rates for the phone number vary by location, but it looks like a number in the USA will cost you about $38 a year. This price also includes voice mail.

Skype is an eBay company! Maybe that's what's generating all the buzz. It's also a very international company. Consider this from their about Skype webpage: "Skype is available in 27 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype, based in Luxembourg, has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers and is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY)."

I've downloaded and installed Skpye's software but have yet to do anything with it. I have a VOIP phone number through BroadVoice today, just for playing around. It has some nice features, but I like the idea of using Skype on my laptop so I think I'll check it out.

Want to read more about what people have to say about Skype? Check out the Skype Blogs.

Does this service have a market? I guess so, but who am I to make that conclusion. Personally, I have to wonder why I would want to pay 2 cents a minute to call home while on the road (using my laptop) when I can use my Verizon cell phone and do it for free (Verizon "IN" calls are 100% free).

New Microsoft Tool is Spyware?

According to this blog entry people are worried about a recent change in the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Validation tool. Apparently this tool is capturing more information than Microsoft is letting us believe. For example, its connecting to Microsoft every time you boot your computer. Apparently they're also capturing "your hard drive's serial number, the company that built your computer, what language you use, PID/SID, Bios information with an MD5 checksum, and where you are located." How much of this info do they need to know in order to determine if the Windows OS you have installed is legal?

What puzzles me is that this product is apparently still in BETA yet it shows up on Windows Update as a High Priority update that you should install.

Microsoft has been saying for a long time that they're moving in this direction - the direction of checking installations of Microsoft products to make sure they are not pirated. They've been requiring "activation" of many of their products (like Office) for the last couple years. There is a lot of pirating of Microsoft products around the world and they need to protect their products. I don't have a problem with them checking me, but I'm a little concerned about some of the things mentioned in the blog (link above) - like connecting to them every time I boot my computer!

Qwest and Microsoft Sign New Contract

Qwest already bundles MSN Premium with it's DSL service, but they have just announced that they will be including the Windows Live products in that offering too. Most notably the Windows Live OneCare. That didn't take long.

Microsoft Releases Windows Live OneCare

Windows OneCare is the latest offering in the suite of Windows Live products. I played with the beta version of this new product a little and it looks pretty nice. Like all Microsoft products (in my opinion) this is not a "do everything" product. It does a decent job but it's not really better than other tools out there, like Norton and McAfee tools. Microsoft is positioning this tool to be used by people who aren't already using one of the other tools. It's not meant for power users. For example, this would be great for the typical home user in my opinion. It provides simple virus and spy-ware protection, a system performance optimizer and a backup utility.

You can find out more about this product and the people who created it at the Windows Live OneCare Team Blog.

The cost for this new service/tool is $49.95 per year, which covers 3 computers. I think this is a fair price. Some people will complain that Microsoft should be offering free anti-virus tools for their OS. If they offered it for free they would surely be sued by Norton and McAfee (remember the war about IE being bundled with Windows?). So either way Microsoft can't win in the court of public opinion. I think the price is fair and it gives the typical home user an easy to use set of tools for protection. I know several people that can benefit from this new tool and you can be sure I'll be letting them know about it.