Everything, Everything

I haven't logged in recently, but according to an article on The Register today it seems that Microsoft have changed the number of product keys you can get through TechNet in an attempt to battle piracy. I must admit that I was surprised by how many keys I could use when I first got my subscription a few years ago, as the subscription is per person and I don't typically havethat many machines/applications that I need to activate at the same time (half the time I build a virtual machine and delete it before it even starts to nag about activation). I'd prefer to have more keys (and a second home, a smaller and faster car like a BMW Z4, all my favourite TV shows and movies on BluRay... you get the picture), but I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it.

Then I read the comments and was surprised to see so many people complaining. Many of them seem to be talking about ditching TechNet (without explaining how they'll evaluate software in the future). Some are probably abusing the license agreement (anyone that talks about moving to Linux because of this decision is quite possibly using it for personal use rather than evaluation purposes). TechNet is essentially for evaluation use only. MSDN is essentially for testing purposes only. If you want to use it for personal use then buy your own full copy (OEM or retail, I don't mind). Or f**k off to Linux and shut the f**k up.

PS I don't mind Linux; but I prefer Windows.