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Imperator Fyron said:
You have to be extremely paranoid to think that MS would stop activation of XP before the planned product life cycle is up.
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Why? It carries an obvious financial benefit for them and as Vista's DRM-heavy architecture has shown, Microsoft has relatively little concern for end-users.
Of course, you don't need to take my word for it -
Microsoft's own FAQ has the less-than-100% reassurance
"Microsoft will also support the activation of Windows XP throughout its life and will likely provide an update that turns activation off at the end of the product's lifecycle" If it was their intention to provide a cast-iron guarantee, why use such vague wording?
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parabolize said:That would only force them to either kill WPA or not use XP. It would not force anyone to use Vista.
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Knowledgeable and technical users could use hacks to disable WPA. The vast majority of computer users wouldn't fall into this category.
It certainly would be a PR-disaster for Microsoft but so, arguably, was the introduction of product activation. Given the higher prices charged for Vista and the tighter licensing, the financial benefits are greater and the limited scope for future growth (most people who would/could run Windows already doing so) means that Microsoft's future finances depend more on upgrades, voluntary or not.