Microsoft's "Scarlet Letter"

[Judge]

Here it comes. Just discovered that Microsoft in their infinite and grossly proprietary wisdom is going to watermark anyone's PC that is circumventing their Windows 11 hardware requirements with a message stating as such that remains on their desktop permanently.

Of course the really amusing part is that it also appears that third-parties out there have allegedly already discovered how to erase it permanently.

However I suspect this involves more than the intent of a mere "scarlet letter". That Microsoft will inevitably create something more sinister to simply halt any computer not up to snuff with their original hardware requirements (CPU generation and TPM hardware). Especially given how easily third-party developers are prepared to circumvent it all. Ironic that a watermark may be intended as "handwriting on the wall". Or as in this case, one's Windows 11 desktop.

Either way it all serves to further validate the very concept of open-source operating systems.

Microsoft is testing a Windows 11 desktop watermark for unsupported hardware

How To Remove Activate Windows 11 Watermark Permanently

 

[Callistemon]

I need an "outraged" emoji for your post so here is one. MS is constantly refining ways of being evil.



Good that there's pushback and thanks for posting links to that effect.

 

[Judge]

While I believe private enterprise has a right to maintain intellectual property rights, I also feel they must be balanced against the greed of their own board of directors and shareholders. Especially in precarious economic times where a great many consumers may be unable to afford an entirely new personal computer. Resulting in potentially an unprecedented number of users who retain Windows 10 right up to October of 2025 when OS support officially runs out.

If anything under the circumstances I still hold out a little bit of hope that Microsoft will give up these unnecessary and greedy hardware requirements. After all, it's not like having Trusted Platform Module hardware and software is going to magically deliver comprehensive security of their OS from the efforts of hackers. By all means, release your new OS, but not with a gun to the heads of so many users.

For real security, Microsoft is going to have to revamp the entire OS from top to bottom. Not merely make a few aesthetic changes on a desktop just to satisfy shareholders for more lucrative quarterly profits.

In the meantime I can at will, simply switch my Solid State Drive from Windows to Linux in about ten seconds, and then reboot into a less elegant, but far more secure operating system if need be. Without any thought to replacing my entire computer. At a time where even contemplating building a new computer is a nightmare between dodging scalpers over inflated video card costs and supply-chain issues of various computer components. And did I mention a pandemic and possibility of war? Give us a break, Microsoft.

 

[Nervous Rex]

While I believe private enterprise has a right to maintain intellectual property rights, I also feel they must be balanced against the greed of their own board of directors and shareholders. Especially in precarious economic times where a great many consumers may be unable to afford an entirely new personal computer. Resulting in potentially an unprecedented number of users who retain Windows 10 right up to October of 2025 when OS support officially runs out.

Exactly. Microsoft may have the legal right to do such things, but that doesn't mean it's in their best interests. Microsoft currently has a stranglehold on business computing - everyone uses it, but only because everyone else uses it. But the more tightly they squeeze on that stranglehold, the more people will look for other alternatives. When that reaches a critical mass, Microsoft will start losing market share and won't be able to respond or adapt in time.

It's very similar to how IBM tried to dictate everything about the PC. Instead of being the industry leader, they were left behind and forgotten.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I need an "outraged" emoji for your post so here is one. MS is constantly refining ways of being evil.

Google: Don't be evil.
Microsoft: That leaves more evil for us!

 

[oregano]

Microsoft is going to go too far, and enough people will discover and use Linux and then recommend it to their friends that M$ will start to lose market share big time, and be unable to stop the bleeding. There are so many used laptops and desktops out there that can run Linux just fine that M$ trying to force people to buy whole brand new home offices every couple years, especially with the costs and lack of hardware, will simply put hardware builders, mainly Dell and HP in the USA, in an impossible position-M$ will destroy them if they try to sell Linux boxes, but nobody will be buying Windows boxes because nobody wants a distant corporation micromanaging how they use their machines.

 

[Callistemon]

...and don't get me started on the environmental impact of all this e-waste and unnecessary consumption...and what it does to people's budgets, that they could be spending on more useful things...like good food, and products without inbuilt obsolescence...

 

[Judge]

...and don't get me started on the environmental impact of all this e-waste and unnecessary consumption...and what it does to people's budgets, that they could be spending on more useful things...like good food, and products without inbuilt obsolescence...

"Logan's Run" may be just around the proverbial corner. Where society itself has a limited shelf life- by design.

But we get to be renewed! "Judge 2.0".

Sometimes I'm glad I will be exiting this dystopian future we're all living in the near future. At least my generation can look back and recall a time when products were truly made to last.

 

[Judge]

Looks like Microsoft has stepped up their game in discouraging anyone from hacking Windows 11 to be loaded on most any PC. Seems one of the YouTubers who has been imparting such presentations had one of them removed recently.

I guess Vito Corleone and Luca Brasi made YouTube an offer they couldn't refuse. Yeah, I think it's a slam dunk that MS will go well beyond this or a lame watermark to shut down anyone working around Windows 11 to get it to work on older computer systems.

Let's see if many other such presentations will be removed, or whether this one guy is simply being singled out for "special treatment". Or maybe they just don't like beards...or ZZ Top. Go figure.

Intel will be introducing the lowest tier of their new "Arc" video cards in just a matter of days. Hope they are up to snuff and perhaps even more noteworthy, offering their source code for proper drivers to Linux distros as have Radeon. Leaving Nvidia as the "odd man out" as they continue to refuse releasing code to Linux distros to optimize the performance of their own video cards.

 

[Magna]

Sometimes I'm glad I will be exiting this dystopian future we're all living in the near future. At least my generation can look back and recall a time when products were truly made to last.

"The near future"? We're there already. Just believe everything the Ministry of Truth tells us and everything will be ok. Remember, lies are truth, hate is love and war is peace...