So how do we prevent this bleak vision for the future? How can we ensure that the consumer alone owns their property and how they use it is not dictated by some power-mongering software company and the shadowy puppet-master entertainment conglomerates pulling the strings of an army of lobbyists? The answer is very simple: DON'T BUY VISTA!!!
When you buy your next computer, request Windows XP instead of Vista as the OS. When Windows Update starts pestering you to "upgrade", or when the computer manufacturer asks you if you want to take your free upgrade, decline! You don't need Vista for anything. If you have all the updates for XP (such as Service Pack 2 and IE7), you have Internet Connection Firewall turned on, you have anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed, Vista will not provide any more security than what you already have.
Better yet, when you buy your next computer, ask them if they can install Linux on it for you. Explain that you don't like Microsoft taking away your rights to use your own system and that you'd rather have an operating system that does what you want, instead of forcing you to do what it's creators want.
If you think Linux is too much for you to handle, at least buy a Mac. Apple's music DRM might be bad, but at least they haven't (yet) announced plans for a whole-sale take-over of your machine ala Vista. If you think switching to a Mac from Windows will be difficult, you need to realize that Microsoft very explicitly tried to make Vista look and feel like Apple's OS X. If you "upgrade" to Vista you're going to have to get used to an OS X-like way of doing things, so you might as well use the authentic original, rather than Microsoft's kludgey copy. Speaking of copying, I thought Microsoft's DRM was supposed to prevent ripping-off the results of someone else's labor, so why did Microsoft try so hard to copy Apple? I guess flaming hypocrisy is nothing new for the Evil Empire in Redmond.
Now I know what you're thinking, Mr. and Mrs. Consumer: You're thinking "gee, that's really bad, someone should stop it, but this computer comes with Vista pre-installed and changing that seems like a hassle. I'm sure someone smarter than I will stop Microsoft's dastardly plan without my help." That's what you're thinking, and it's wrong. The US government already tried, and apparently failed miserably to stop Microsoft from exerting monopoly powers on the industry. The EU has also recently made a show of standing in Microsoft's way, only to step aside in the end. If the most powerful governments in the world can't stop Microsoft, who do you think will?
Only a popular revolt against their utter disdain for consumer's wishes can bring a change of direction to their actions. You see, if you spend a few extra seconds on the phone to say "I'd like XP instead of Vista", or you make that extra mouse-click on the website to change the OS selection from Vista to XP, or you surf to Apple instead of Dell you're sending a signal to Microsoft in a way they can understand: Money.
If enough single consumers out there refuse to have Vista rammed down their throats, Microsoft will have spent the better part of a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars producing a failure. Do you think they're going to try the same tactics again? No way. If the entertainment industry sees the grandest DRM plan ever implode onto itself and burn-out, when it was backed by the most powerful force in the computer industry, it will be forced to try a different strategy--maybe even one that doesn't trample all over consumer rights.
Was the Berlin Wall torn down by the actions of a powerful government, or by the brute force of an army? No, it was torn down by tens of thousands of people who could no longer tolerate living in tyranny and decided to take a stand. Am I saying that stopping Vista is important as tearing down The 'Wall? Maybe not, but the fundamental issue is the same: Personal Freedom. If we don't find anything valuable enough to fight for, than pretty soon we won't have anything of value.
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