[geeks] Opinions on the HP C3x00?

[nate at portents.com]

>> Except for lack of a BIOS, the current machines are close enough to run
>> Windows XP with a boot loader hack. Something anyone can do.
>> Windows/Vista is supposed to install out of the box, with no hack.
>
> It is?

Sort of easy:

http://wiki.onmac.net/index.php/HOWTO

> I thought MS issued a statement that they wouldn't be adding EFI
> support the 32bit version of Vista.

That's correct:

http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/E666E4A0A303D9AACA25712C008166C4

One could infer then that the soonest simple to install version of Vista
could be the 64-bit server version on the 64-bit Intel desktops Apple will
be releasing later, but then there are also very interesting projects like
BAMBIOS:

http://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/misc/legacyboot/

>> Our friends in Redmond do not exist in a vacuum, I'm sure there is a
>> DRM'ed
>> version of Windows Vista under development. Eventually there will be a
>> version of Windows so cheap that most people who would of bootleged it,
>> won't bother ($100 or less).

It exists already, it's called Windows XP Starter Edition, and if you're
an OEM in Thailand, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, India, Brazil, or
Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela)
you can buy it, and it is cheap at under $50.  Of course, you'll have to
deal with it's limitations.  It can run only 3 applications at once, is
limited to 800x600 screen resolution, no support for PC-to-PC home
networking, sharing printers across a network or multiple user logins on a
single computer.

>> The high end version of Windows (supposedly
>> targeted to gamers) will very likley be DRM'ed.

XP is effectively DRM'ed when you enter your license key and activate:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,10426,00.asp

However people get around it with MS Volume License Keys (which don't
require activation) or by running older pre-SP2 versions with pirated
keys/cracked authentication.  MS is closing the Volume License Key
loophole though by putting the media/performance/gamer features only in
the non-business consumer versions, making it possible for them to
invalidate pirated keys with their updates on a key-by-key basis for those
versions.

- Nate