Microsoft Backs Down from Evil EULA

Good news regarding Windows Vista (hey, it's about time). Caving in to pressure from an increasingly pessimistic user base, the company is backing off of its onerous licensing terms, which originally allowed you to install your OS a total of two times. In other words, you could install it on one PC, later uninstall it and reinstall on a second, and that would be it. Microsoft would no longer allow further installations under any circumstance.

The new rules are more in line with XP and let you install your OS on as many different PCs as you'd like, provided it's installed on only one at a time. Of course, though you can theoretically do this with XP, that doesn't mean Microsoft makes it easy. Users installing XP for a third time, no matter if the prior software was uninstalled or not, typically find themselves having to call Microsoft during installation to explain that they aren't software pirates. The new rule says simply, "You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices."

For a little more reason for the original change and the change back, check out this post on Microsoft's Vista blog.

In completely unrelated news, photos of the Vista packaging were released earlier this week. Maybe that rounded corner is another reason you're paying so much. Click the link for a look or, you know, look a few inches above this line of text for a peek.