I’m very sure that at least 30% of Vista users have cracked versions on their computers. After all, it took a while after release for companies to begin shipping Vista with new computers.

That sounds rather high. I would say that 5% is pirated, but even that sounds pretty high.

Well, if you install SP1 and have cracked Vista using a method they recognize then it will deactivate your system. The things is that they don’t check for every method that currently exists.

I wish they offered significant discounts for home users, and I don’t completely understand why they don’t. After all, Microsoft should want people at home to be familiar with the latest version of Windows so that they want to use it at work.

I’ll say it again, if you have people that like Vista enough to pirate it, this means that they like it just enough to use it, but not enough to pay for it.

To turn profit would be to offer discounts on licenses (Microsoft did not have to print disc, shipping and all for those pirated copies).

It’s not about this being good for Linux or Mac. What this does mean is that Microsoft is not doing a thorough job. That just makes it harder for me to believe that Vista IS really as secure as Microsoft wants us to believe. Which means that I’ll be installing the same security applications that I have on XP … and take the same measures. If I’m doing all those things anyway, why upgrade? [downloadsquad.com] is it?

Nosh wrote:

This can only be good for Linux!

If people want to use Windows illegally they’ll always find a way though. I think a lot of piraters probably see it as a challenge to keep up with Microsoft’s shenanigans.

I agree. Microsoft has had very little luck locking out hacker in the past.

This can only be good for Linux!

If people want to use Windows illegally they’ll always find a way though. I think a lot of piraters probably see it as a challenge to keep up with Microsoft’s shenanigans.