As Windows Vista begins rolling out to business customers, the Free Software Foundation has launched a website devoted to taking Microsoft’s latest operating system down a peg.The “Bad Vista” site promises to expose the ways Vista imposes more controls on users via antipiracy measures, content copy protection and other new technologies—aspects that have already raised concerns in the industry.“Whilst Microsoft embarks upon its largest-ever product launch, its marketing dollars will be spent in an effort to fool the media and user community about the goals of Vista,” said FSF Executive Director Peter Brown on the site. “We aim to demonstrate that technologists can be social activists, because we know the harm that Vista will cause.”FSF program administrator John Sullivan called Vista “an upsell masquerading as an upgrade,” because of the degree to which users lose control of their computer. “Windows is already proprietary and very restrictive, and well worth rejecting. But the new ‘features’ in Vista are a Trojan horse to smuggle in even more restrictions,” he said on the site. “We’ll be focusing attention on detailing how they work, how to resist them, and why people should care.”As if to reinforce the FSF’s message, Microsoft has revealed that one of Vista’s new features is an “enhanced reduced-functionality mode”—an upgrade to Windows XP’s “reduced functionality” feature, which is designed to force users to verify their installed OS with Microsoft. The FSF said it plans to focus on Vista’s hard-wired security measures and content copy-protection features, among other areas.At the same time it will encourage users to try open-source alternatives such as gNewSense, the FSF said. The FSF is an advocacy organization created to promote open-source licenses such as the GNU General Public License and the software development activities associated with them, particularly Linux.The group argues that proprietary software, by its nature, infringes on a user’s right to freely control his computer and what runs on it.-Matthew Broersma, Techworld.com (London)Related Link: Microsoft Windows Vista: The OS Has LandedCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content BrandPost Are tech layoffs inevitable, or can your company avoid them? Despite tech industry layoffs, one ITSM company remains committed to growth and expansion of internal teams. The company’s successful endeavor is largely credited to one difference between TOPdesk and other tech organizations. By TOPdesk Mar 30, 2023 6 mins IT Leadership Analysis CIOs must evolve to stave off existential threat to their role With LOB leaders learning tech faster than CIOs gain business-savvy, IT leaders must strengthen advisory skills, build relationships, and embrace strategic transformation before losing out to business counterparts. By Yashvendra Singh Mar 30, 2023 10 mins Roles Opinion 5 ways AI will transform CRM Recent announcements by Microsoft and Salesforce on how they’re ramping up integration of AI tools into their software offerings mark the start of a revolution in the CRM marketplace. By Martin De Saulles Mar 30, 2023 4 mins Channel Sales CRM Systems Artificial Intelligence Interview From CIO to CX SVP, Cisco’s Jacqueline Guichelaar takes a road less travelled By David Binning Mar 29, 2023 7 mins Careers IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe