   Suspicious MS kindness
  Microsoft are as kind as to let people download a free 360-day trial pre-release of WinXP for AMD64. Now, is there a reason why they need to know my exact location and phone number just to let me download it (even called "billing information")? There''s no chance in hell I''m filling out that form...   [My Image Gallery (WIP)][Greatest Tetris clone evar!][Return your stolen MP3s] 
Here''s the clickyIt seems like they just didn''t make a very smart webpage.  The billing information is there in case you are getting the cd, which means you have to pay for shipping.  Other than that, I''m sure they want your address so they can send you tons of fun junk snail mail.  I don''t see anything dangerous about this.  They''re not asking for a credit card number or checking account. ;  The joys of being an MSDN member.  Granted, they already have this stuff from me, but for business purposes.I''d honestly suggest, that if you need to pick up a copy of office, visual studio, and an operating system, just buy a years subscription of MSDN.  It''s cheaper, and you get access to much, much more. ;quote:Original post by Nytegard  The joys of being an MSDN member.  Granted, they already have this stuff from me, but for business purposes.I''d honestly suggest, that if you need to pick up a copy of office, visual studio, and an operating system, just buy a years subscription of MSDN.  It''s cheaper, and you get access to much, much more.   Does your license to use the software obtained through MSDN last longer than your MSDN subscription? Seems that MS would only give you permission to use such software as long as you stay subscribed, in which case you are obtaining the software legally but using it illegally after that year is up. ;quote:Original post by Extrarius  quote:Original post by Nytegard   The joys of being an MSDN member.  Granted, they already have this stuff from me, but for business purposes.I''d honestly suggest, that if you need to pick up a copy of office, visual studio, and an operating system, just buy a years subscription of MSDN.  It''s cheaper, and you get access to much, much more.   Does your license to use the software obtained through MSDN last longer than your MSDN subscription? Seems that MS would only give you permission to use such software as long as you stay subscribed, in which case you are obtaining the software legally but using it illegally after that year is up.   No, your MSDN subscription gives you user licenses to all the programs available for download through your subscription.  When your subscription is up, you lose the ability to download new updates, and you don''t get any more program dvd''s in the mail.I currently have Visual Studio.Net, Source Safe, Project 2003, Visio, and a few others that I got with my subscription.  There are around 20 - 30 that you get with it. ;  MSDN subscription sounds pretty nice, too bad it''s probably too expensive for me... Anyway, I think I''ll risk giving them the info they want - I''m really curious about 64-bit WinXP.   [My Image Gallery (WIP)][Greatest Tetris clone evar!][Return your stolen MP3s] ;  Yeah it''s pretty pricey.  I think it was around $1500 a person for the year.  But I got it through work so it was free for me Yikes  Looks like it''s over 2K for a first time subscriber. ;  If you download, it doesn''t ask for anything but your email address and first/last name...   ------------------------------------------------------------TimothyBarnes.net loves you | Sign it or sign with Hitler ;quote:Original post by Zul  No, your MSDN subscription gives you user licenses to all the programs available for download through your subscription.  When your subscription is up, you lose the ability to download new updates, and you don''t get any more program dvd''s in the mail.Just to confirm this, I have the following text from MSFT''s FAQ on MSDN subscriptions:quote:When a subscription expires, do the licenses terminate or are they still valid?  MSDN Subscriptions have a perpetual license, so subscribers can still use the products received with their MSDN Subscription after their subscription has expired.Now you know. (and because i said that...)And knowing is half the battle! Christopher S. ''coldacid'' Charabaruk <chrisc*meldstar!com> [journal]Meldstar Entertainment - Creation, cubed."Every time I think I''ve heard it all from SCO, they come up with a new howler." Steven Vaughan-Nichols, eWeek ;quote:Original post by coldacid   quote:MSDN Subscriptions have a perpetual license, so subscribers can still use the products received with their MSDN Subscription after their subscription has expired.Now you know. (and because i said that...)And knowing is half the battle! GI JOE!!Thanks for confirming that coldacid, I couldn't find the documentation for it.  And that's really sweet, since I still have all the stuff (even the stuff I never installed) on the dvds microsoft sent me.  Woohoo![botched quote tags]   [edited by - Zul on February 5, 2004 5:18:26 PM]