Headlines - Creative warn Daniel K against making Vista fully funtional with XFI etc.

[Nelly.]

Main Thread: Message to Daniel_K - Sound Blaster - Creative Labs

Links:

Creative Labs to sue a driver modder (Daniel_K) - XtremeSystems Forums

- Google News

daniel_k creative labs - Google Search

Creative driver debacle rumbles on - The INQUIRER

For all those who wondered why Creative Drivers were crippled in Vista etc.

Creative Labs, makers of sound cards that still don't work properly with Windows Vista, doesn't want fixed versions of its broken drivers on the net.

In a message to "Daniel_K," who repaired their broken software, Creative Labs' Phil O'Shaughnessy claims that by restoring functionality to Vista drivers that's offered in Windows XP versions, he is a thief:

"By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods," writes O'Shaughnessy at Creative's forums.


Granted, Daniel_K is soliciting donations. Furthermore, the gear's EULA specifies, as is usual, that you can't tamper with its software. But why would a company set out to prevent people from helping one another fix problems in hardware it's already sold them?

The answer is the sad one you've probably learned to expect: O'Shaughnessy admits that Creative Labs intentionally crippled its Vista drivers as a business strategy:

"If we choose to develop and provide host-based processing features with certain sound cards and not others, that is a business decision that only we have the right to make."

Baffling, yes, but also its prerogative. You can easily find the fixed drivers.

[SiM]

Beaten to it by Agent:
This is why I dont buy Creative
& I don't think us lowly standard users are meant to make new threads here...

[Nelly.]

Originally Posted by SiM

Beaten to it by Agent:
This is why I dont buy Creative
& I don't think us lowly standard users are meant to make new threads here...

Ahh thanks, I did do a quick scout of the forums but didnt see that.

As for this thread if its a case that non-moderators cannot make posts here then the forum priveledges should be changed otherwise I have done nothing wrong in retrospect.

[SiM]

I would have assumed the same, but after browsing 3 pages of threads I didn't see a thread made by a non-admin...

[Agent]

AFAIK, this is for HEXUS staff only
I'll get it raised to the relevant people
Even so, its the wrong forum anyway

[SiM]

Originally Posted by Agent

AFAIK, this is for HEXUS staff only
I'll get it raised to the relevant people
Even so, its the wrong forum anyway

See... Even the red/orange mods are not good enough to post here...

[jimborae]

What I don't get is why everyone is so surprised about Creative's dodgy business practices and woeful support. Does nobody remember the EEPROM bug?? Basically Creative sound cards committing suicide with certain chipsets. Creative did nothing to fix the problem and wouldn't even recognise that it was fault with their card. They deleted threads about the issue on their support forums and threatened to ban users that raised the issue. (namely me and I heard about others who received the same treatment).

So like others I no longer buy Creative products and advise others against doing so. I will use them as long as I get them for free but no Creative product is worth shelling out hard earned cash for.