Woundup WinXP to include pirate music ‘terminator’

Think about it - an OS that's designed to destroy data...

By Luis Escalante, 15th February 2001

Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything

You're not going to believe this: Microsoft wants to stop music piracy by "eliminating" the file. According to the Wired News article, this feature is currently implemented in Windows Me, and will be "bundled" (shurely "integrated"? - Ed) in Windows XP. "The Secure Audio Path (SAP) adds "static" interference to media files that require video and audio cards to authenticate themselves with Windows software before they can be played. The company would be able to verify that a media player isn't playing an "unsecured" file, which according to Microsoft would eliminate much of the threat of piracy." There goes Windows XP sales. Thanks Andy Rae!

As most of you told me throughout the day yesterday, Windows XP seems to be for the "newbies" or the inexperienced computer users. Why? Because of the big icons, and bland UI,* but this is just the beginning ladies and gentlemen. I've had the chance to see a few extra screenshots, and the world hasn't seen anything yet, and if you don't like it, you can skin it! Besides that, at least some people think what's inside is important. According to a ZDNET piece it's new, it's different, and it's time for you to find out what ten things you need to know before you buy Windows XP.

There's a brief outline of what to expect in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 at WinMag.com. According to the piece, we should expect SP2 to be released really soon, along with a few additions improving DNS and UDMA services in Windows 2000 Professional. Microsoft is taking its time with this SP after releasing SP1, which broke not fixed Windows 2000.

Instead of buying out its competition, Microsoft has begun to contact Linux developers, offering job opportunities at Redmond. As I've always said, Linux users and developers are totally different from Microsoft's: "Microsoft is right that (most of) the Linux community dislikes the company. That's because Microsoft is an exact contradiction to everything the open source community stands for. The sheer contempt that so many Linux users have for Microsoft is genuinely understandable, as Microsoft is incredibly reluctant to do anything to help open source and is known for actively "attacking" it," writes Peter Revill at osOpinion.

* We at The Register suspect this is the sound of Windows geeks not quite getting as far as noting a certain Apple-ish, Aqua-ish look and feel. Over to Apple's legal department on this, and more no doubt anon - Ed

Any tips, queries? Send them to Luis at The Register. ®