All Vista versions to ship on single disc

Microsoft has confirmed that all versions of Vista will be shipped on a single DVD, in a feature called Windows Anytime Upgrade.

The idea, said a company representative, is to let customers more easily and directly upgrade to a higher edition of Windows Vista from within their current edition. Vista is scheduled to reach consumers in January.

Users would be installing only the version of the operating system that they had purchased, as the product key would be version-specific. Versions range from Starter to Ultimate editions.

Asked if this system meant upgrades would be cheaper, as production and retail costs for Microsoft will be lowered, the representative declined to give pricing details.

The Microsoft representative also denied that Windows Anytime Upgrade would prove an attractive target for hackers, saying Vista was "the most secure version of Windows yet."

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[roger.d.miller]

News?

This is old news.

WOW! A single disc! Innovation at its BEST!

More Microsoft innovation and CNUT's breaking news
http://www.teckmagazine.com/content/view/631/43/
reporting!

[Vegaman_Dan]

Single Disc All Versions isn't new

Windows has been shipped this way for years now. The installation media / install files were the same for all versions. The only thing that determined which version would be installed was what CD key you used for it.

I'm not sure why this is being treated as news.

[dragonbite]

Place your bets

How long before this is cracked? I'd give it 6 months (since they say it's the most secure Windows ever)!

Gentlemen.. start your stopwatches!

That is, of course, once the OS is actually shipped!

[jones_8099]

I say its cracked in less than?

I say its cracked in less than a month after the release date. And
once it is cracked I expect major lawsuits coming from MS, that
would be the only reason to do this because its going to be cracked
no matter how secure Windows is. I would be willing to bet MS
lawyers are getting ready to file suits as we speak, that way all they
have to do is fill in the name/names of who did it.

[sanenazok]

The cracked version

Will be on sale in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh even before it's released in the US. So this will be a zero-day crack job. It's beyond me how anyone would want to run a Windows OS that is insecure because both it is cracked and because it's Windows. Zombie controllers rejoice.

Enough with the ! though.

[toosday]

Six months???

You are way too generous. I'll say it'll be hacked within two months.
Tops.

[Zymurgist]

One week.

Like previous products... I give it a week, two
at the outside.

[Gasaraki]

Agree

You put every version on one disk and people will find ways to install the ultimate version, it's a given.

[Kalama]

Day ....

One. This is going to be one heck of a challenge for those who
want to pound on M$ ...

[a473497]

It's not installation that's the issue

Installing the OS isn't the issue. Vista requires Activation to keep working, just like XP. The install code is generic. It's the online activation that's going to keep it working.
A commercial install version that doesn't require activation is all MS has to worry about getting hacked and released into the public.

[sammie52]

Vista not ready

Microsoft needs to forget about pricing and packaging. What it needs to do is fix all the problems the current beta products have. I've been testing the current release RC1 and it has a bunch of problems. There are many testers with high performance systems that can't even get RC1 to install let alone test it. I don't see how this product could be ready for release anytime soon.

[Tanjore]

Genuine windows advantage to the rescue

I am sure keys will be hacked but,
Genuine windows advantage will probably come for vista rescue.

[Amazingant]

Yea,

Like it's doing now? All it does now is make everyone hate microsoft.
Both the hacking community, and the crazy people who just really don't want to have microsoft watching them, have already found ways to get rid of the genuine advantage junk. I doubt that vista will go for long before people find a way.

[imacpwr]

"the most secure version of Windows yet." ?!?!

Took me 10 minutes to stop laughing after reading that one..!!!!
Isn't that what they've said already again and again and again
and....

[mkhalil28]

Sick of you people!

I'm so sick of you people that ball on windows security all day. If you were smart enough and did your homework you would know that windows is more secure then any other OS out there. Far more secure then definetley linux. The only reason linux is said to me more secure is because of the software loaded onto a version of it. WELL people, how about you put some good security software onto you windows machine, they cant do it for you, they'll probaly get suied by some contry for monoplizing. Also, the only reason Windows has the most exploits and virus is becasue the majority of people use them, and virus writers write for windows machines. If everyone was on a mac then that would be targetted by most virus writers. We can argue all day long about this but lets face it, if you an old man that doesnt do anything with the computer but check email, and read news, get a mac (but once it messes up there the hardest to fix). If your an advanced user or a gamer, get a Windows machine. Don't get a linux box just to act cool like your to cool for windows, nobody should really be using linux except for programmers and IT technians. It wasnt made for normal users and I dont think it ever should because once a hacker gets in your linux box, its all over from there.

[DecliningUSDollar]

Terminate Signal

What are the chances of M$ sending a "terminate signal" to improperly licensed OSs, and this is simply "bait"?

[simulacra70]

Terminate Signal?

Microsoft's term is a "kill bit". It's been built into every Beta and
Release Candidate OS since NT4. It's built into any client or
signed component or control that is coupled with a service.
WinXP SP2 is the first release OS "bait" as you so cleverly put it.
You can't update to SP2 or any SP2 dependant updates from MS
servers without your product key being signed or verified by the
"Genuine" architecture. They still don't cross reference the ID of
the "owner" of the issued product key with any of these updates.
If someone doesn't like the idea of being hassled for running
unlicensed or pirated software by the company who produces
and distributes its bits they should stop buying it from them.
Else start using their software by less clever but legitamete
means or start running another OS.

[cary1]

Macromedia does that

I purchased a copy of Flash 7 Professional. The disk is same for both versions, even the setup file is same. But it depends on the serial number which version will be activated. This is nothing new..

I hope Adobe doesn't file another lawsuit against Microsoft for 'copying' this concept.. ;)

[ralfthedog]

very high bit public private key encryption

They will use very high bit public private key encryption. The only way to beat this will be to remove the code inside windows that checks for the proper key. With bloatware as bad as Windows, I can see this as something of a problem.

The other thing to remember is that only properly keyed software will be able to download patches. With the number of exploits in Vista, I don't think running it unpatched will be smart.

[PyRO_sTEVO]

trusted computing? we forget??

anybody forget about paladium? now called "trusted computing" type that into google and this is first
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing
ill bet they are installing this into hardware as we speak! id be afraid of this!

[inachu]

This can be cool.

5 hard drives with each hard drive with its own different version of windows.

I'll just be interested in the one for gaming and work.

Let me guess the new vista will require yet another new version of messenger that pops up all the time when i read my hotmail. I am so sick of popups. that goes for internally from the OS and websites!!

[Macsaresafer]

Don't like popups from your OS?

http://www.apple.com/getamac

[qwerty75]

"the most secure version of Windows yet."

What a stupid statement. A vault filled with cash that is wide open and has 1 drunken security guard is more secure then any current MS OS.

This might prove to be true. But really, there could be a dozen hacks, 100 pieces of spyware floating around + 50 misc. exploits and they could still say that.

It will be an amazing achievement if the security record of Vista is 1/10 as good as OSX or Linux after a year.

[SethX]

a vault with nothing woth taking

This is the most tired and brainless attack...ALL code is vulnerable to attack. The only thing that makes all the flavors of Unix more secure is the fact that they are a smaller target. If I'm a hacker and I want to create as much mischief as possible why would I target a computer that has single digit market share? To those who think Linux, in all it's bewildering array of flavors, is without it's large portion of bugs and subsequent patches: You are living in a fantasy world.

It's amazing that given how rock solid Linux is and the fact that it can be had for no money it's still not even 1/10th as popular an OS as Windows. Oh that's right...everyone is stupid and the fanboys are on to something that the rest of us just don't get because we're not as smart as they are.

[Swagmar]

the industry

the industry yes but individual users no oh and i'm betting 3 months also

[Sumatra-Bosch]

Vista: Homeland Security Distaster

Within hours of its release, hackers will tear into Vista to find hooks for stealing home users and businesses' bank account credentials. Billions will be lost within hours. Banking and settlement systems will be shut down all over the world and central bankers will call for indictment of the company. Microsoft will call the publicity of the thefts "gross exaggerations by the company's infinite enemies in the press."

The scandals will completely devastate the release of Vista and most businesses will refuse to deploy Vista when their IT staffs tell them the new OS will only attract even more attacks than patched XP systems. MS will be reduced to issuing press releases about victorious deployments in "a bakery in Ottawa" and "a car wash in Sierra Leone" which the press will reveals were bought by MS a week before the software was installed.

Ballmer, always regarded as completely insane and emotionally unstable, will disappear without a trace. Psychics will lead police to his final resting place, his station wagon, parked behind the IGA supermarket in Spokane where police will determine he had shot himself 6 times in the face, reloaded, and shot himself another six times in the kidneys, a story that will briefly provoke skeptical reactions from the press.

[Swagmar]

paranoid

And i thought i was paranoid.