Friday, September 22, 2006

All Vista Editions on a Single DVD - The Hacker's Dream

Via Engadget -

You probably remember the old hack that lets you change a couple of digits in a registry key in order to burn a disc capable of installing Windows XP Pro when all you paid for was the cheaper Home edition. Well it looks like Microsoft is once again looking to save a few bucks at the expense of minimizing piracy, as the company has reportedly confirmed to IDG News Service that every version of Vista -- from Home Basic to Ultimate -- will ship on a single DVD when the OS is finally released. Besides enabling Redmond to cut costs, there are even more self-serving interests at play in this decision: by giving consumers an easy way to upgrade, Microsoft is hoping that more people will drool over the extra features in the pricier packages and decide to throw down the cash for a new registration key. Of course the downside to this strategy is that somehow, somewhere, some clever hacker is going to figure out a way to get Ultimate onto his/her machine without the upgrade fee (after disabling WGA of course), and people the world over with less morals than ourselves or our readers will gleefully follow suit. Anyway, we could never in good conscience recommend that you partake in such illegal activities, but as per usual, you can be sure that we'll be reporting on this hack the minute it hits our tip jar.

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