Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says

[Hairbautt]

Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says
Posted by Steven Parker at Neowin.Net on 16 November 2006 - 08:14





Microsoft said supposedly pirated copies of its new Vista computer operating system "will be of limited value" to those who use them. Microsoft responded Tuesday to reports that some Web sites have been circulating pirated copies of Vista and the Office 2007 applications suite.

The pirated Vista comes with a product key that users can enter to activate a version of the products on their computers without paying for them, according to a report on the Web site of The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald newspaper. A product key is a unique serial number tied to each package of a software product.

A second download, called an "activation crack," can then be applied that bypasses the activation process intended to guarantee that the Vista OS being downloaded is legitimate, the Herald reported. Pirated copies of Office 2007 can be downloaded just with the product key with no second activation code required. But Microsoft said in a prepared statement that those pirated copies of the OS won't work for long.

View: Full Article @ InfoWorld



Source: http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=36166

[Skiz]

One of the first comments on there was spot on. Nothing we didn't already know though...

While I support legally buying Windows, I think MS is been arrogant in thinking they have defeated the pirates (or at least set the back abit) If something can be done by a person, it can be undone by a person, don't ever underestimate the pirate community. Many of them live for the challenge and while MS's attempts to thwart them will slow them down, it will never stop them..soon as MS breaks the current method of bypassing Vista's/Office 2k7 activation, someone will be figure out how to bypass that...and so it goes on...

And what do they mean by, "not for long"?

[Virtualbody1234]

We'll see how long...

[nickw1988]

whats the difference between Vista and XP pro anyway whats beter?

[peat moss]

whats the difference between Vista and XP pro anyway whats beter?

It would depend on your system specs , there a lot of things I like about both . The extra security in Vista is a noob nightmare but when it has a few Patches out to work with third party programs it looks like I O/S I would almost pay for .

Ya right !

[GepperRankins]

whats the difference between Vista and XP pro anyway whats beter?

halo 2 and crysis are the only differences i know of

[S!X]

Well it must suck for those who have already installed it

[rokie]

The original would cost a bomb

[eCh]

The original would cost a bomb

yea, if they would start to think about the price, maybe more would buy it.
same with movies and music and all the things people d/l.

[gustafo]

The original would cost a bomb

yea, if they would start to think about the price, maybe more would buy it.
same with movies and music and all the things people d/l.

eCh, you're right, but i would also like to add this: if they would lower the prices it would probably mean less piracy, but also on the other hand, if there would be less piracy, they would lower prices... magic circle, that never ends...


and i'd also like to add this (so that it won't be off topic post): Vista protection - just a question of time when it will be "cracked"...