Ahem, not everyone. Both Revtim & I suggested otherwise and how to resolve the problem.
Jim
I’m one of those people. I have a real version of Windows, but have to endure the bullcrap at startup, and periodic pop-up bubbles prompting me to “get genuine.”
Fuck this shit. I am switching to Linux.
I’ve had a genuine off-the-shelf copy of Office refuse to activate, claiming it had already been installed on another computer. I uninstalled and put on a cracked version, which felt like a morally-vindicated action, even if it’s going to screw things up in the future regarding updates (but it’s my parents and I’m desperate for them to buy a new computer anyway 
)
I bloody well wish I could switch to Linux. I hate many things about Windows, but the alternative is buying a new printer, forgoing one piece of software I cannot do without (and which doesn’t currently work properly under Wine), losing my synchronised contacts & calendar on my phone, and so on. I’ve tried switching several times, but end up rebooting into Windows for one reason or another.
My boyfriend is a recent Linux convert, so he has been trying to convince me to start using it… and in the end it was M$'s asshattery that convinced me!
The Genune Advantage bollocks is pushing me closer than ever before. But, as I say, there’s unfortunately software I’m stuck using in Windows (unless I buy a Mac), plus the hardware issues. (Respect to Ubuntu for being the first Linux distro where my USB ADSL model wasn’t a problem, even though it still took manual configuration.)
If 20% of MS findings pirated software is false positives, then what are the other 80%?
/me represents the Mac users giggling at WGA. 
Apologies if I’m wrong, but hasn’t rjung been pitted before about “woo-hoo, Macs are great (forget about the fact that they cost a fortune)” posts before?
Well, we are in the pit, if he cannot promote his overpriced but very stable platform here, where can he?
Jim
This shit was the reason I even went to the trouble of getting my Macintosh this week.
I had a perfectly legit copy of Windows 2000 pro. The Web site, for some reason, wouldn’t let me download anything because I had 2000 pro, which is my favorite of the Windows series because it actually can go a day without crashing. I upgraded to XP, a completely legit copy of that as well, and suddenly I couldn’t download anything, and they were telling me I was the victim of piracy (Hell no I wasn’t, I bought it directly from Microsoft!).
So I just cut out the middleman crap and bought a Mac. I definitely do not regret it.
I love how they never come out and accuse you of being a pirate though. I never pirated anything of Microsofts, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have other illegal software from other companies - they totally could have accused me of that.
It’s all gone now, though. My Mac actually deserves real software. That piece of shit PC wasn’t worth it.
~Tasha
No need to get into a Mac/PC war, but (a) last time I looked, Mac Minis don’t come with a keyboard, let alone a dual-monitor setup, and (b) I’m in the UK, therefore pay the extortionate markup chosen by the company in question 
Then there’s the guy who brought his computer to me after installing WGA and rebooting only to find that now all his system will do is throw a stop error before Windows even fully loads. Poor guy couldn’t boot to Windows at all. What’d he do immediately before the problem started? Well, he was using automatic updates…
Another major problem with WGA is that it says you may have been the victim of software piracy and then gives you the opportunity to shell out another what, 100$, 200$ for a new license key. How nice of them to give the victim of their craptastic WGA the chance to put more money into Microsoft.
It’s also fucking with volume license machines where I work, and with the MSDNAA copies that we currently pay Microsoft to have the ability to distribute to our IT majors. They should change the name to Windows Genuinely Fucks Up Your PC.
I freakin’ did that. I did it and then cancelled the update for the good stuff (some security fix) because I had to turn the comp off for some odd reason, then when I started the update again I trusted the damn thing to only get the one I told it to. What a concept!
I do: Everyone who dislikes Microsoft is Bad and Wrong and, quite frankly, Un-American. And a member of the Communist Party.
If I knew I had to shoehorn every single thing I dislike about MS into a Pit thread–as opposed to the one thing that popped up and inconvenienced me most recently, having finally learned to live with the other issues–or not say anything at all, I would’ve picked the latter. I’m a patient man, but only out so far.
MS. After I fired up Internet Explorer (which is cruel and unusual punishment in and of itself), installed an ActiveX control, sacrificed a virgin hen and did a chicken dance around the fire, MS’s website told me that no, my copy of Windows was genuine after all. And that Big Bill is watching me.
When did that dude grow a moustache?
No kidding. I did for a long time, but had to come back. Sigh.
You could double-boot, though.
Tried that, but there’s too many things I need in Windows, and end up rebooting far too often to be worth the hassle.
Things like this make me glad I have auto-updates turned off for the moment. Now I’m just hoping that when I go back to school they won’t make me update to use their network.
I wanted the Windows Media 11 beta and I had to be certified to get it.
So my XP boxes are all up to date and include the WGA update.
It was not so bad, only 1 out of 4 of my XP computers had a hiccup.
Jim
Have you looked into VMware or Virtual PC?
[QUOTE=tashabot]
they were telling me I was the victim of piracy (Hell no I wasn’t, I bought it directly from Microsoft!)./QUOTE]
uhh… yes you were, where do you think microsoft STOLE the idea of the GUI from?
microsoft; corporate piracy in action…
or to paraphrase the Hitchhiker’s Guide…
Encyclopedia Galactica Entry #4242…
Microsoft; A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes…