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kc0arf 68 Posting Virtuoso

Microsoft's new Digital Locker system allows users of Windows computers to download computer software from a variety of vendors. A number of software vendors already provide this functionality -- Microsoft's system brings those vendors under "one roof", manages the financial transactions, and then stores the license information for later use if your installation croaks.

Using the familiar shopping-card functionality, users can browse the software listings, and pick out what software they would like to download, and then purchase the items. Once the finances are arranged, a separate program called the Digital Locker Assistant will manage the downloads, and allow you to burn the images to CD / DVD media for offline storage.

I like this idea, and can see it being useful for the consumer market -- the Corporate people with their bulk licensing agreements at discount will probably not use this system much, but for the consumer market, I can see great value in this functionality.

I have made online purchases in the past from Adobe and Macromedia for my Macintosh, and found that I like the idea of getting the software when I need it without having to go and get it at some store somewhere. I can start the download, walk away, install, and backup all while doing other things. But I do have to keep a separate database for my serial numbers, and do keep them printed out and in a file cabinet for easy retrieval.

In order to use the Windows Digital Locker, you will need a Passport account, and you will need a credit card to work with. I am not sure if the site requires IE as a browser, and I did not see anything on the FAQ or directions about working with other online financial packages such as PayPal.

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As observed, the Digital Locker concept was aimed at making paid Windows software easier to find and re-download when needed. For context: Microsoft previewed the service in late 2005 as part of the Windows Marketplace initiative announced at PDC that year. (heise.de)

Useful implementation details that aren’t in the original post: the initial Digital Locker rollout relied on third‑party delivery partners (for example Digital River and eSellerate) and used a small client tool — the Digital Locker Assistant — to manage large downloads and make CD/DVD backups. That Assistant later became the user-visible way to fetch purchases from Marketplace on Windows Vista. (crn.com)

Practical, long‑term advice for anyone using (or researching) the old Digital Locker now: don’t treat any single online store as your sole archive. Keep a local copy of installers, record license keys in a secure password manager and also keep an offline print or encrypted backup, and test an actual restore from those media. Windows Vista’s Assistant stored downloaded files under the user Documents folder by default, so verify where your files land and copy them to a separate archive. Also be aware the Marketplace/Digital Locker rollout was limited in scope and vendor participation at first. (blogs.windows.com)

If a download stalls or an Assistant run fails, try re‑launching the Assistant (it was optional for purchases) or re‑requesting the download from Marketplace; keep a local copy before you upgrade or retire a machine. For archival purposes, verify each vendor’s activation/DRM and refund policy before relying on a cloud locker as your only recovery path. (arstechnica.com)

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