Miles Beck said:
> Derek Neighbors wrote:
>
>> You do a disservice to them.  Windows XP is horrible at infringing
>> upon both user rights and privacy.  More so than any other version of
>> Windows by magnitudes.  It borders on malicious to suggest to people
>> to use Windows XP.  If you really feel they need a newer version of
>> Windows, do them a favor and tell them to use Windows 2000.
>
> Could you explain more how Windows XP infringes in the ways you stated
> above?

The two largest wasy are as follows:

1. The protection schema to prevent "pirating" severely limits your right
to fair use.  If I remember correctly (it's been a while) you can only
install XP on two machines/processors and then it refuses to install
anymore.  So if you have a motherboard or processor blow out or heavens to
betsy you upgrade.  You could find yourself on a long (and likely
expensive) phonecall trying to justify why you have to install XP for the
third time.

2. If you install install service pack 1 for XP, you agree to let
microsoft have full access to your computer remotely without notifying
you.  It even goes as far as to say they can INSTALL software or UPGRADE
software if they feel it necessary[0].  Of course, they state they would
never abuse this.  You could certainly not install sp 1, but then you are
open to about 3 or 4 of the known nasties in the wild.

There is a nice study that shows how licenses for Free Software, like the
GPL protect user rights and EULA's like XP prey upon them[1].

There you can find a very brief list of items:
    * copying was prohibited
    * could be used only on one computer with a maximum of 2 processors
    * cannot be used as a webserver or fileserver
    * required registration after 30 days
    * could stop working if hardware changes were made
    * updates could change the EULA if the company so wished
    * could be transferred to another user only once
    * the new user must agree to the licence terms (no specification how
this could be achieved)
    * imposes limitations on reverse engineering
    * gives Microsoft rights to collect information about the system and
the its use
    * gives Microsoft the right to supply this information to other
organisations
    * gives Microsoft the right to make changes to the computer without
having to ask.
    * warranty for the first 90 days
    * fixes, updates or patches carry no warranty

If you like slashdot you can get fed as well[2].  With google and a bit of
time you could probably unearth hundreds of articles.

[0] http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/3815521.htm
[1] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/24/1050777342086.html
[2]
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/04/132221&mode=thread&tid=109

-Derek