More and more recently, I’ve been wanting a new laptop for no reason other than that the novelty of this one has worn off. I’ve been researching, and it seems very few companies indeed offer laptops in UK without Windows. This is almost certainly because it would adversely affect their OEM Windows price.
Microsoft has OEMs right where it wants them, and given its monopoly, is forcing manufacturers to only sell Windows. However, after recently reading the Microsoft Windows Vista EULAs (End User License Agreements), I am even more determined to avoid shelling out for an unwanted Windows license, even if it costs me more in doing so.
Microsoft’s bullying tactics are totally unethical and it will only stop if people stand up to them. In fact, I have doubts as to whether parts of the EULA are even legally binding in UK. From the Vista EULAs:
- Only able to transfer the license to another PC once, and once only
- Running Home editions in virtual PCs is forbidden
- Microsoft has the right to deny you access to your whole system if it has any reason to believe that you’re up to no good
- Forbids publishing benchmark results except under specific circumstances
- Places the burden (and loss of income) on OEMs to refund unwanted licenses.
- Appoints Microsoft as judge and jury in EULA disputes
- Phones home to Microsoft servers
- Is full of DRM and closed source proprietry rubbish
The scariest thing of all is that you have to part with your money before you even get to see the license. And if you reject the license, you have to undergo a lot of hassle to get some sort of refund.
I disagree with this license, and the general Microsoft bullying attitude. I have no respect for a company that uses its size to stop resellers supporting its competitors, or one that has no regard for international standard (cue: IE). The only way to avoid the Microsoft tax is to buy from a small independant, although the hardware quality might also suffer as a result. (Laptops generally tend to be made by big companies)
I currently have my eye on Novatech and EfficientPC
I couldn’t resist this quote from an “Advertising Feature” in this week’s Market Rasen Mail. Sorry for the wonky scanning!
So lets see what kids can do:
- Scenic walks
- A Drive, because we all know kids can drive.
- Visit your local church
- Visit a WI produce auction
- Hang out in your local car park
- Go caravanning in your home town.
The only things of interest are not even in Market Rasen - but in Caistor or Brigg.
Kids simply cannot get bored with all this to do
The Department for Transport recently announced that the franchise for trains in Market Rasen station will be taken from Central Trains and Stagecoach Midland Rail Ltd (most likely trading as East Midlands Rail) will be serving us from 11th November.
Central Trains seem to me to be the perfect example of a company to avoid. They have no regard for punctuality and invest as little as possible in Market Rasen station. We don’t even have a clock, ticket machine, staff, electronic display or tannoy. It is perfectly normal for trains to be 25mins late or pass through the station without stopping at all.
Stagecoach have made some big promises about investment, direct services from Lincoln to London, 90% punctuality etc. The staff and trains from eastern Central Trains and Midland Mainline, both part of the National Express Group, will be transferred to Stagecoach. It is a shame to see Midland Mainline go, as their stations are really shiny with smart attentive staff. They even won Train Company of the Year. But now I learn they are actually the same company as Central Trains, I wonder how one company can perform so good in one area and bad in another.
That’s right, the exams are over. Ended at Ewert House, Summertown with Linear Algebra/Calculus.
I’m off home tomorrow to Donov, Chocolate and fixing PCs!!!!!!!
Today I read an article about problems with Hotmail’s spam filtering triggering false positives if the sending server’s reverse DNS does not match the domain part of the email (even with SPF records). So I thought I’d perform some testing myself, using smtp.ox.ac.uk to send from my maniacmartin.com address.
- GMail - arrived before I could log in to check
- Yahoo - arrived after a few minutes
- Hotmail - bounced with error
550 Requested action not taken:
mailbox unavailable
At first I thought I’d made a typo, but no I hadn’t. So I went to www.hotmail.com and tried to login. Apparently that username does not exist. Thanks for that Microsoft. Now I can’t get to my old email history, which I haven’t backed up because you don’t provide POP or IMAP access. At least I’ll never have to use hotmail again.
