Undesirable

That sounds like one of the excuses Microsoft would use to distract us away from the true motive of taking Autopatcher down - the money. There has been no malicious code in Autopatcher in the past, and there's no more reason to incorporate malicious code than any other legitimate Windows tweaking utility.

If Microsoft can get just 1% additional sales on top of current Vista sales solely due to piracy protection schemes such as Genuine Advantage, then that could mean millions or even billions of dollars in the long run. Sites like Autopatcher render Genuine Advantage completely useless, so that's why it got shut down, unfortunately. We all know it, so there's no use in deluding yourself otherwise. Autopatcher may have made certain people's Windows experience easier, but they are in the minority (and would have already purchased Vista, if they were going to do so). I don't like it any more than you do, but Microsoft are just protecting their products - products the company has invested a lot of money in. Think you know better? Try programming a next-generation OS within your lifetime and continually maintaining it without expecting any reward. Or just run Linux.

Oops, I meant bump maps. I got confused because Thief 3 doesn't run on GeforceMX cards.

No, but they don't offer options to disable pixel shaders, do they? So my point still stands.

Amazon.co.uk says it'll be released on November 1st (2004, hopefully). Makes you wonder why Valve have pre-released it to Steam. Are they trying to get it leaked so they can set the release date back again?

I enjoyed playing Doom 1 and 2 MUCH more than Doom 3. Oh, and if you think Doom 3 is anything more than just point and shoot, then you're sorely mistaken. I used to think Doom 3 had a chance against Half-Life 2, but it now looks as though it's gonna have its arse whipped tenfold. My vote for the scariest game ever goes to System Shock 2, or Thief 3 in the haunted orphanage.

The difference is that Doom 3 had enough development time to be able to offer players the option to disable pixel shaders (even though the gameplay itself is utterly dire, IMO). The GeforceMX range as a whole is crap, and should be steered well clear of.