Vista and the Death of Internet Freedom
Kevin Smith
Bill Gates' latest version of Windows is called "Vista". It is one of the most serious atrocities ever foisted upon the public in terms of its death knell for internet broadcasting.
In order for a broadcaster to broadcast live via the internet, the computer system must be able to do both "playback" and "record" at the same time. The "playback" side of the process outputs recorded files (such as bumper music, commercials, etc.) and the "record" side outputs the microphones and telephones. If you disable either side, you have killed the live broadcast. That is precisely what Vista does. I have been told by a couple of software engineers that it is designed to not be able to output "playback" and "record" simultaneously. It has been purposely crippled, they say.
It was explained to me that this crippling of the new Windows system, Vista, was not an accident. My sources say it was done on purpose in order to enforce DMR (Digital Media Rights). There is no fix for this crippling, either.
When you purchase a PC, you are now forced to buy Vista. That is what is loaded on the PCs. If you are purchasing the computer for the purpose of broadcasting, you are out of business. It can't do it. As times goes on, computers that are broadcasting now will have to be replaced. With Windows XP no longer being supported (and that is coming) Vista will be the only OS available from Microsoft. That means that online broadcasters will go out of business by attrition.
Thankfully, there is a community of people out there who have been warning of the potential downside of Microsoft software for a very long time. They are the Open Source Community and their primary operating system of choice is Linux.
As of right now, if you are planning on broadcasting via the internet, and you have just purchased the computer to do so, be advised that Bill Gates has determined you cannot. Linux is where freedom resides.
I had a copy of XP, thankfully, that I could install on my new computer. But if you do not have a copy of a previous Windows system, your only hope for being able to broadcast is to leave the control freaks at Microsoft and opt for the freedom of Linux.