smeee

What happened to the free product option?
Thank you for your interest in the feedback program. Due to overwhelming response, the supply of gifts has been exhausted so we have closed our free product offer on 12/11/2007 at 2pm Pacific Time. Thanks to everyone that participated!

trick1805

ANoel

ANoel

A lot of people defended Windows ME too...

that didn't make it good, it just meant some people defended it and had no problems with it,

gothfae

fredramsey

Thank you for your interest in the feedback program. Due to overwhelming response, the supply of gifts has been exhausted so we have closed our free product offer on 12/11/2007 at 2pm Pacific Time. Thanks to everyone that participated!
------

FYI all.

OrionTheSmiter

chadmd23

[wfp.microsoft.com]

whiskey

whiskey

Also they may be nice nad just let you do it if you say your motherboard got toasted.

jeblis

Seiven

nightmar3

So is this telling me that Microsoft "may" install something on behalf of Uncle Sam, its agencies or instrumentalities (Uncle Sam is a musician?)and use or disclosure of such will most likely happen without me knowing about it?

So what would Redmond and Uncle Sam want to install on my computer? Me Thinks that something is afoot.

OldGrim

niravabhavsar

Can I install the WFP software on more than one Windows computer?
Yes, the software can be installed on multiple computers and registered using the same e-mail you provided.

akureyri

SomeoneUKno

ripfire

mferrari

I had the same question so I did some research. It appears that Microsoft is no longer offering this promotion with survey participation. Have a look:

Current About Microsoft Windows Feedback Site:
[wfp.microsoft.com]

Google Cache of Microsoft Windows Feedback Site:
[64.233.167.104]

It appears that they have taken the list of products to choose from off the site. :( Does anyone know for sure if this is correct, that the promotion is over?

WesFromMaine

Daniel

yougottabekidding

barkus

Atlantys

fucking amen! god damn people, free software is free software, and expesive free software at that, i know its hard for alot of you to not look at CP for more then 5 minutes, but i'm sure you can just do all your illigal and discusting habbits on a secondary computer : P

djfoxx64

In a likely scenario think about it: You trust your bank with your money, but would you trust someone else with it? what if that became the situation?

Initial privacy goes a long way.

AlanIn4D

Vista is a very good OS. It's not perfect but it's very good.

BensAngel

Crackmonk

As far as OS feature set there's not a whole lot of difference between xp/vista/macos/linux.

What the PC has is an overwhelming percentage of the user base, which means, in general, more apps, new peripherals get pc drivers first, games are written for the pc first, better support from companies. Which also means it's a big target for viruses/spyware/adware. PCs also get a wider choice of hardware than macs. Mac hardware has the advantage of being able to run all three OSes.

jeblis

let me know when adobe does this for the Creative Suite though! :D

Paradise

Just for the sake of comparison: Crysis demo.
On Vista Ultimate it ran on my laptop Windowed mode, lowest resolution possible, lowest settings possible: 15 fps.

On XP: Fullscreen on wide, normal resolution, medium settings: 25fps.

Also, after I installed XP, no more freezes, no more BSODs, almost no program crashes (and the few I had the Task Manager would actually work making it easier to just close the program and restart it).

On Vista: 5 BSODs during the first week of usage, 10 to 20 program crashes which Task Manager didn't solve and I had not option but booting the machine up, lots of freezing, lots of games I couldn't play due to low fpss, and some other problems.

I could exchance my privacy to never having to use Vista again.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

leetgeek

mlmmt3

navvywavvy

jeblis

Ok, here are a few reasons (note that you can disagree if you want; it's a free world).

- Bloated; it takes up far too much resources when compared to XP, MacOSX and Linux, without having a compelling reason for people to accept this.

- Its versionning scheme is complicated. This might not apply to Ultimate, but there are far too many versions available and many of them just do too little.

- The drivers suck right now. This is likely to be eventually solved, but for a gamer this might be of concern.

- Microsoft is trying to force-feed it to its customers' unwilling throats. By making games "Vista-only" when it's been discovered by the community that they could have EASILY made to work on XP is ridiculous.

- Its compatibility with XP and previous is dubious at best. I can honestly say without exaggerating that my computer was more compatible with Windows through Wine and Cedega on Linux than with a native Vista.

- It's late to the part; MacOSX and Linux can boast having the same feature-set for a long time.

- Its obnoxious default security scheme will end up doing more harm than good. There is such a thing as too much security: the point where asking the user to confirm so many things that most will no longer even bother reading what's asked of them and click yes out of habit.

There are more, but these are the main gripes about Vista.

Guizzy

chinesedentist

Sure, MS aren't in bed with suing music sharers, but what's to say anything you consider fair-use isn't going to be frowned upon by the bots watching your activity?

Or a harmless search for a project on religious extremism doesn't suddenly flag you as a person of interest.

I think theres been too many cases of the many powers that be over-reacting to individuals' accessing information that falls across sensitive issues to make me flippant about anyone looking at my information-consumption. Just not a good idea.

jbang

ripfire

jeblis

A free printer
2 free dlink routers
a free hard drive

If you've already bought vista you may be eligible, other versions of vista offer less items.

You'll need to cough up the $170-180 for windows vista ultimate And you'll have to front the money for the bonus items and submit rebates.

[promotions.newegg.com]
[www.localpcbuilder.com] (microsoft's site)

You don't need to buy this from newegg, but you do have to buy each item from the manufacturers (dlink, maxtor, epson).

jeblis

jmurph05

chinesedentist

On second thought my secondary is likely to get hosed with my constant tinkering, so why bother.

I came close to doing it though.

strider_mt2k

Protocol X

ShockTerminal

jmurph05

I took the survey, downloaded the program, and it's probably sending microsoft what I'm typing right now, lol.

Zipway

Tylas

schrosa

jmurph05

yeah, I did that, too, but only because it wouldn't send me the confirmation email the first time...

Zipway

jmurph05

Gujustud

Zipway

Too bad its setup to pay AFTER all the work is done, it makes it hard for people whom most of us know that want free software....because they have no software, if you know what i mean.

rainfever

proxops-pete

jmurph05

jsmjr816

Also, I agree with JEFFJ-NJ. People only care about you as a statistic.

GBirdii

@bdkennedy1: I've been wondering about this for quite some time. Why, precisely, does Vista suck? I mean, my friend has used Vista for a few months now, and, short of WoW crashing every once in a while, he's had no trouble. I figure, "Hey, free Vista? HELL YEAH!"

Also, from the FAQ:

"We do not intentionally collect sensitive information, such as the passwords on the user accounts, the contents of any of your personal files, the name or HTTP address of any of the websites you mark as Favorites, or what websites you visit."

Vekter

DustyButt

They'll be able to track how much I listen to Slacker web radio in my down time.

strider_mt2k

KronikFpLiOnYkD

TheTick

jeffj-nj

Hyruu

crash

To thank you for your participation in this program, select a Microsoft product from the list.

Note that you will receive your product only after we have confirmed that you have:

* Entered a valid e-mail and shipping address.
* Fully completed the survey.
* Downloaded and installed the software on Windows Vista or Windows XP.
* Used our software for at least 3 months on a Windows Vista or Windows XP computer that is periodically connected to the internet.

We will verify that you've used the Windows Feedback Program software for three months, and then we'll send your gift to you. If we detect that your computer does not send data, we will notify you.

greenkabbage

Zipway

davidm

ripfire

"Microsoft may also terminate or suspend your participation in the WFP and Program Services for inactivity, which is defined as those instances when the WFP Software installed on your computer fails to send information back to Microsoft."

So basically, you have to use it... you can't just let it sit. Also; I can't find where it says "You can stop after X days," but it also says

"Your participation is entirely voluntary, so you may withdraw from the program at any time, with no consequence."

Zipway

This could be a good deal for us Mac users who only play games through Boot Camp!

iamcrazyed

Harlan

bdkennedy1

Seriously people, why do you care so much about "Papa Gates knowing how often you check out your ex-girlfriend on facebook"? He doesn't know you. He doesn't know her. You're just another nameless, faceless statistic. I can't believe how many people think that those with access to our privacy give a rat's ass about our lives. Get off your self-important high horse and realize that no one cares about you, personally, as an individual. You don't have feelings, you don't have hopes, and you sure as hell don't have dreams. At best, you have statisically relevant habits, and even then, the term "you" still just means your zip code or age group.

No. One. Cares. About. You.

Learn it. Live it. Get free software. Where's the catch?

jeffj-nj

drive90

Any details on the time frame for participation?

DustyButt

markgm

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge

sumocat

arras

Y2KGTP

But, no matter what your OS, you only get _one_ product, so it's not as good as the Giz made it sound.

notfred

EMoShunz

Kaiser-Machead on the Edge

jrronimo

Xavoc

Munch the BanNail