AutoPatcher no longer allowed

By Steven P.
in Site Announcements

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code65536

Posted
Posted

If Microsoft was really concerned about WGA, they could easily do what they did with IE7, WMP11, and Windows Defender: require WGA for the install. As someone else has already said, WGA is primarily an educational thing to inform normal users that they may have been sold a fake copy of XP (which isn't so common in the West, but is the norm in places like China; incidentally, WGA was first rolled out in places like that). My point is, having those updates do not really hamper the function and mission of WGA, and this is one case where I do believe the official line.

What is at stake, however, is support. I'd imagine that Microsoft would want greater control over their patches. They often re-issue patches, recall patches, or change the WU metadata to control and change whether a certain patch should go to a certain computer depending on that system's patch state and configuration. These are all controls that they lose with AP. And the fact of the matter is, in the Windows world, if something goes awry, Microsoft gets the blame, regardless of whether or not it was even their fault, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if they are wary of things like AP.

All that having been said, I think it's best to recall the saying, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." In this case, the stupidity isn't Microsoft's "decision", but rather the process by which a massive non-monolithic company like Microsoft comes to such a "decision." As already noted elsewhere, the complaint did not come directly from Microsoft, but rather from a third-party copyright infringement watchdog (the exact same company that also issues similar takedown notices on behalf of Apple Computer, movie studios, etc.; on that note, if you ever watch how Apple handles similar issues, you'll realize that Microsoft's legal department is downright saintly when compared to Apple's legal department). Microsoft has outsourced this task of Internet watchdog to this third-party company and has authorized it to take action on behalf of Microsoft and in Microsoft's name. What we don't know is what actually goes on between then. Did Microsoft direct them to go after AP? Or did this third-party, with their blank check, just decide one day that AP was not kosher? The point of outsourcing such activity is to relieve Microsoft of the burden of finding and investigating every case, so it is doubtful that there is that much communication between them, as that would defeat the purpose of the outsourcing (and if there were lots of communication and coordination, it's unknown how much of that communication is with the decision-making brass at Microsoft or with various Microsoft underlings). Even within Microsoft proper, there are often cases of very poor communication (the latest incident with the WGA server failure also involved Microsoft Support erroneously telling everyone that it won't be fixed until Tuesday, which has now resulted in questions from the WGA team about why the heck Support said that, apparently without the WGA team's stamp of approval). Just as parts of our own government more often than not do things that are not representative of the will of the country (or of the will of other parts of the government) (how many Democrats groan when they hear foreigners construe Bush's words as the officially sanctioned position of everyone in the US?), any big company would have similar synchronization and coordination issues. And much more so if outsourcing.

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway, my personal guess on the true cause of the issue, in order of likelihood, is:

Most likely: third-party company got overzealous and screwed up

Possibly: Microsoft is concerned about control over support issues

Unlikely: WGA/piracy concerns

We'll find out for sure when Microsoft responds...

Neowinian

M3gaM4n

Posted
Posted

this is why you don't base your servers in the us/eu cause big companies can bully you around

f^ck you microsoft, your greedy stupid ###### who can't get your heads out of your ass

auto patcher is a fine tool and wga is a piece of sh^t that only hassles legit users of your soft

i think mabey we should contact leo laporte mabey he can rally support

http://twit.tv

Neowinian

earthsound

Posted
Posted

There is no need for anger, petitions, boycotts, etc.

Antonis mentions:

# Antonis Kaladis Says:

August 30th, 2007 at 10:12 am

You can email me at nw_raptor#gmail_com (replace _ with . and # with @).

An update for all of you:

We have already come up with a set of changes/features in order to continue the project without redistributing Microsoft?s patches. We are still waiting however from an in-depth reply from Microsoft. In any case, we will be implementing these changes as soon as possible.

---

Perhaps the original post in this thread should be updated to reflect this information?

Neowinian

leland

Posted
Posted

This just sucks. I have to support a small network of about 35 computers and Autopatcher saved me countless hours. There is nothing worse than trying to get updates through Microsoft's site. It just takes way too long. Oh well, maybe it will give us incentive to move on to Linux that much sooner. As if Vista was not enough of a reason. Microsoft must really not care about the customer to do something like this.

Thanks to the Autopatcher team for all your hard work. Even if you can't include Microsoft updates I would still appreciate a package off all the extra's you include with Autopatcher, especially the tweaks as they make XP that much easier to make usable with minimal effort.

Leland

:D

Veteran

-Hiroshi-

Posted
Posted

Damn Micro$oft... Although the picket was quite pointless and laughable.. :/ High probability that no one knew what Auto-Patcher was, plus the UK office?... Oh..kay... Now if you really want to make an impression, picket infront of the Redmond office.

Grand Master

+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted
Damn Micro$oft... Although the picket was quite pointless and laughable.. :/ High probability that no one knew what Auto-Patcher was, plus the UK office?... Oh..kay... Now if you really want to make an impression, picket infront of the Redmond office.

well I'm sorry I live in Reading and not Redmond

Anyways, the idea was that it would be a laugh

Grand Master

soldier1st

Posted
Posted

ap saved me too many times,damn u ms for taking something good away from us,you dont own us but it sure as hell feels like it,this will force alot of consider linux or something else,ms servers suck as they get bogged down and during that time your vulnerable to viruses and exploits.

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