Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

[GreyGeek]

Windows Phone Locks-in MicroSD Cards
http://www.ghacks.net/2010/11/13/win...microsd-cards/

”The Windows Phone 7 operating system treats the SD card as an integrated part of the phone. This is in contrast to other devices, where you can use an SD card to increase the memory available to the device at any time or to transfer files to other devices,” the page reads.

Meantime, AT&T has warned customers via Engadget that only ”Certified for Windows Phone 7” microSD cards should be used in Microsoft’s mobile devices. The reason, according to the mobile carrier, is that the Windows Phone platform ”requires a certified high-speed microSD card for optimal performance.”

At present, no such ”certified” cards exist and no indication has been given as to when they will hit store shelves. According to Microsoft support documents, certification comes down to more than just ”a simple matter of judging its speed class.”

”Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices,” the page reads.

Apparently just competing in the marketplace isn't sufficient. They want to take prisoners and make slaves of them.

What do you bet that the excuse will be that "locking" the card to a Win7 Phone OS is Microsoft's way to insure that the consumer won't be able to transfer viral infections from their camera or printer to their Win7 Phone.

[dibl]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

One would think that anyone foolish enough to buy one of these loser phones will soon learn to hate Microsoft -- and that can't be good for customer relations or their image! :P

[Detonate]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Just to be clear, does this mean the card can only be read by a Windows Phone 7 device? If so, M$ will now make it that the card can be read also by W7 computer OS but no other OS.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Just to be clear, does this mean the card can only be read by a Windows Phone 7 device? If so, M$ will now make it that the card can be read also by W7 computer OS but no other OS.

Microsoft said that:

”The Windows Phone 7 operating system treats the SD card as an integrated part of the phone. This is in contrast to other devices, where you can use an SD card to increase the memory available to the device at any time or to transfer files to other devices,” the page reads.

I doubt that the MicroSD card would be read by the Win7 OS because despite the name they aren't the same. "Other devices" would, IMO, refer also to computers running Win7. Otherwise, Microsoft would mentioned that as a "feature".

[Detonate]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Yes, but leave it to M$ to soon make that a "feature".

[woodsmoke]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

I saw a brand spankin' new demo phone at my genulman's club and it does have a "different" way of dealing with the file stucture which could be a big selling point.

I didn't even think about the sd card, but, I'd bet dollars to donuts that this is a pre-emptive strike along the lines of the FAT file system lawsuit in Germany a few years ago that MS lost.(they tried to claim that they own FAT).

This way, if the thing does take off they will probably already have some kind of patents buried in the books someplace.

One more reason for me to keep on truckin' with my version 01 Android!

woodsmoke

[MoonRise]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Yep, M$ at it again. I agree it might have something to do with FAT. Still, all phones pretty much are the same, just OS differences so to "lock" it in either means they have a plan to trap people or their OS simply isn't that great. I take the latter for one reason. Like all M$ OSes, it requires more system resources and bulk to even work properly.

[Detonate]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Not to mention it will also be more susceptible to malware.

[zlow]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Windows Phone Locks-in MicroSD Cards
http://www.ghacks.net/2010/11/13/win...microsd-cards/

”The Windows Phone 7 operating system treats the SD card as an integrated part of the phone. This is in contrast to other devices, where you can use an SD card to increase the memory available to the device at any time or to transfer files to other devices,” the page reads.

Meantime, AT&T has warned customers via Engadget that only ”Certified for Windows Phone 7” microSD cards should be used in Microsoft’s mobile devices. The reason, according to the mobile carrier, is that the Windows Phone platform ”requires a certified high-speed microSD card for optimal performance.”

At present, no such ”certified” cards exist and no indication has been given as to when they will hit store shelves. According to Microsoft support documents, certification comes down to more than just ”a simple matter of judging its speed class.”

”Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices,” the page reads.

Apparently just competing in the marketplace isn't sufficient. They want to take prisoners and make slaves of them.

What do you bet that the excuse will be that "locking" the card to a Win7 Phone OS is Microsoft's way to insure that the consumer won't be able to transfer viral infections from their camera or printer to their Win7 Phone.

There are many Android devices that put root (/) on a MicroSD card, try removing them. The most likely scenario here is that the reporter doesn't understand the difference between MicroSD and MicroSDHC (nor do the reporters having issues). Certainly, you can expect to have compatibility and/or performance problems on any device that utilizes the speed of MicroSDHC when it is replaced with a MicroSD and vice versa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroSD

This is just another uninformed "I HATE M$" doom and gloom report about nothing.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.



So, you're saying that the Engadget report of it was an error because AT&T is mistaken, that Samsung's documenting the effect on their Focus device is an error, and folks are even misunderstanding Microsoft's WARNING that permanent changes in a MicroSD card will happen, and everyone reporting this as a fact is ignorant and part of a "I hate Microsoft" conspiracy?

That's taking Microsoft Fandom just a tad too far.

I have little doubt that AT&T, Engadget, Samsung or, for that matter Microsoft, fully understand what a MicroSD card and a MicroSDHC card are. Your own wiki reference states:

Older TransFlash cards are available in 16MB and 32MB format. microSD cards are currently available in capacities from 64 MB to 2 GB, while microSDHC cards are currently available in capacities from 4 to 64 GB. This is the largest microSD card yet, and the limit of the microSDHC technology as well. microSD cards with larger capacities will be in microSDXC format.

Introducing the microSDHC is merely a smoke & mirrors device for argument sake.

I have NO trouble moving a mciroSD card from one device to another, or from one computer to another, regardless of what OS it is running. This is because, as you well know, they are usually formatted with FAT32 which is easily read and written by all OSs available today. It's when one particular manufacture extends the standard on a card that the card become incompatible with other OSs the question must arise as to why they are doing that. But, you are well aware that Microsoft is NOTORIOUS for breaking standards to achieve consumer lock-in.

[zlow]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

I can tell you didn't read the whole article, you did not comprehend my comment, nor did you consult google.

Source Article: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/12/a...osd-cards-yet/

Note: Once removed, this microSD card is not readable or writable on other devices such as computers, cameras, printers, and so on.

Refers to the filesystem, not the hardware. You can reformat it at will in another device to make it readable and writeable.

When the operating system integrates the SD card with your phone:
- It reformats the SD card.
- It creates a single file system that spans the internal storage and the SD card.
- It locks the card to the phone with an automatically generated key.

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2450831

That's taking Microsoft Fandom just a tad too far.

Of course, I must be a Microsoft fan. I said something you don't like, I must be paid to say it!

I have NO trouble moving a mciroSD card from one device to another, or from one computer to another, regardless of what OS it is running.

Please re-read my comment, and try really really hard to comprehend it this time.

Don't put too much stock into hardware vendors making statements like this. They do it to reduce the cost of support, and 9 times out of 10 they are full of crap as is part of the arstechnica article.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Please re-read my comment, and try really really hard to comprehend it this time.

Ditto.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

I dunno, but reading the above two things come to mind.

a) I can take an Android card, and it is just a little dinky MicroSD thingy, for folks who are not into this "stuff" and I can put it in an adapter and it can be read by any of maybe...6 'nuxs and by Hasta la Vista.

b) but the thing that I take from the original information from MS is that they are going to "lock" the "card" into a MS system that is kind of....."tethered" NO THAT IS NOT CORRECT...it is an analogy.... but it is kind of "tethered" to ONLY a MS system, particularly the particular iteration of MS on both the phone and the computer.

The two ...............might...........I do not know.........and MS has not said........... the two "might" be at some time in the future "synced" with MS Genuine Advantage Update.

I have to deal with that piece of drek in two ways...

a) I have a full bore, fully paid, completely compliant Hasta la Vista BUSINESS....system on a Vaio Laptop. After more than two years of owning the machine and doing every update religiously, I found a need to install FrontPage 2000. A purchased copy, for which I have the activation code in the original crystal cd.

And....Hasta La Vista SHUT DOWN... it said that I was trying to install NON genuine advantage software and it took me well into ten hours on the net to get my system working again....

Why? I have no clue.

But the paranoid me says that they wanted me to purchase MS Expression, which I did a year later because of work requirements.

So..... we have prima facia evidence that MS will do whatever is necessary to try to force people to use not "just" MS products but the latest and most expensive products, even though the older products work just fine.

b) the LUDICROUS conflicting problems in SP, VISTA and Win7 are most brilliantly illustrated at the college whereat I teach.

I can take a cd into the college and put it in a computer's tray and play the cd. However, if i try to copy a track from the cd onto the machine, Win/whatever won't let me do it.

However, if I RIP the cd and put the tracks en toto on a USB drive and take it to the college and:

a) try to play the music from the pen drive...hey...it plays fine....
b) copy a track from the pen drive to the hard drive of the machine.....??

And, it copies and I can play it!

Now...........just how ludicrous is that?

I can't copy from a cd but I can from a pen drive and all in the name of Digital Rights Management.

This is the problem that MS has....

It has systemic problems that go back through years of hardware and patches here and patches there, here a patch there a patch..

here a lawsuit, there a lawsuit....everywhere a lawsuit....

all to try to keep the control of everything possible....

rather like Uriah Heep... to their collective chests...

So... to sum this all up...........I think we have no idea just "what" it is that MS will do to....

be predatory.....

in doing whatever they can to control whatever they can ....

and if they offend a few hundred thousand Linux, or Mac, users.......what the heck.....collateral damage...

They have those MILLIONS of people who have no clue to give them ten cents on every download for text messaging every day, or hour or minute...

Just my humble, like Uriah Heep....huuuummmble opinion! lol

woodsmoke

[MoonRise]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Good opinion in my view. Just heard this morning that in N.C. M$ is funding classes to "educate" on computer use. Guess what? That will lock those user is M$ only and they'll have no real clue as to how to use their system other than how M$ prescribes. WOW, talk about expensive!

[Detonate]

Re: Win7 establishes a LOCK-IN with SD cards.

Yes, I really believe M$ will put out a patch to W7 that will allow it to read these cards, thereby forcing anyone who has the phone to upgrade to W7 on their computer if they wish to read the cards. I long for they day when Linux will no longer be considered an alternative operating system, but will be the mainstream OS, and Windows will be considered the alternative operating system. Probably won't happen n my lifetime. Of course for those of us on this forum that day is already here. And yes, for the flamers out there, I do hate M$. The only good thing I have to say about M$ is that it makes me a few dollars every month fixing computers. Ninety percent of my little computer repair business is removing malware and tuning up Windows for better performance and repairing various Windows problems. The other ten percent is hardware related.