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I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

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Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#121

Post by theBobMcCormick »

powertower wrote: post #57
theBobMcCormick wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like an heck of a lot of extra work just to deal with Microsoft's anti-piracy activation system. IMHO, your "answer" just reinforces the original author's point. Why should legitimate paying customers have to deal with all of these workaround and annoyances? Why should legitimate customers have to endure being treated like potential criminals? Especially when these activation systems aren't stopping the p…

He's not dealing with Microsoft's anti-piracy activation system as much as he's dealing with issues about family members. And your point about MS not knowing what it's doing... If the activation system was useless, and had no effect on revenue, it would be gone the next day. I've been a legitimate customer since Windows 3.1, and I've only had to activate by phone 1 time. It was painless.

Having to re-install the OS because of virus issues, etc. is NOT usual and shouldn't be punished by forcing the user to go through some stupid activation system.

Having to re-activate because of hardware upgrades (new motherboard, etc) is also not unusual. Again, I don't see why a PAYING customer should be be punished by forcing the user to go through some stupid activation system, when pirates don't have to deal with the activation system.

Just because the activation system hasn't negatively affected you doesn't mean it hasn't negatively affected many, many paying customers. Why should I get treated like shit for being a paying customer, when I could get a better user experience by pirating Windows?

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#122

Post by Karunamon »

huggyface wrote: post #61
waffle_ss wrote: post #34

Seems like a pirated .iso would be a great place to deliver malicious code to Ring 0, hiding itself from the kernel and becoming essentially impossible to detect from the infected OS itself. I'm sure botnet creators are already well aware of this.

This is what I marvel at when I read such (poorly justified) piracy screeds. Are people insane? I might not have ultimate faith in Microsoft, but comparatively I have zero faith (and a lot of suspicion) of what are essentially bands of thieves among piracy groups. I engaged in casual piracy when I was a teen out of necessity, though I never felt the need to invent justifications. In my adult life, though...pirating e…

I've got a lot more faith in a torrent uploaded by a person with lots of other torrents (who has no motive but reputation and altruism), with lots of seeders than I do in a corporation who has a clear and present motive to make me miserable.

And somehow, I've never been infected by this. It's my conclusion that, much like the *AA groups nonsense comparisons of piracy to theft, the security threats are overstated by companies in an attempt to scare people straight.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#123

Post by hrktb »

trotsky wrote: post #74

Windows activation is shockingly easy. Enter your key and when you go online it verifies it. If you're not connected to the internet make a 5 minute phone call. If you don't want to do that, no problem - there is no need to activate for up to 180 days. Really don't want to activate? No problem - it'll just turn your screen black and announce it's unlicensed software. It seems the author's only significant complaint i…

No it is not, at least not for every version. I didn't have to use windows for a very long time, and about a month ago I installed a windows XP SP3 in a virtual machine. The grace period ended a few days ago:

  - the automatic activation failed
  - my product key is said to have been pirated
  - the phone support for registration is now fully automated, and just rejects my phone activation.
  - the machine won't load whole subsystems of windows until is activated (you can monkey your way around from the IE instance you can launch from the activation dialog, but your system is not fully functionnal)
  - I am searching for how to get a human to deal with the situation
I might be failing somewhere and this situation is all due to my lack of experience, but I am with a CD of windows in one hand and a hosed install on the other, and nowhere to go from there. This is just one of the worse software experience I ever have in a few years.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#124

Post by kmm »

melling wrote: post #23

If you don't like their product or policies, don't use it. If you use it then you should pay for it. Use Linux, a BSD Unix, or a Mac. People who pirate Microsoft products don't really hurt Microsoft, they hurt the rest of the competition.

I don't agree. This is only a possibility for some people. I gave up on Windows about five years ago and have been a happy Linux user since. I don't have any pirated software at all on my system.

But most people aren't ready or capable of learning a whole new operating system they have to install and manage themselves (unless Linux comes preinstalled on the computer). And most importantly, almost everyone uses certain software for which there is no equivalent on other OSes.

Now consider a certain user who is completely fed up with the way Microsoft has been (mis)treating their paying customers and doesn't want to support this behaviour with his money anymore. If you're not opposed to piracy "on principle", which is fine but ends all discussion before it can even start, then pirating Windows seems like a possible (yet illegal) solution.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#125

Post by nextparadigms »

Too wrote: post #96

This is why i will always save a copy of my windows xp enterprise edition cd. It's xp, which is still decent enough, and it doesn't require any activation, as opposed to the home/pro-editions. In case apocalypse happens (ehum, my ISP goes down for 24h) i know i can still get a computer up and running without problem if i have to.

Is that legal? One of the reasons MPAA/RIAA are pissing everyone off and have lost all credibility is that they have helped write and pass many copyright related laws that make even the most natural things to do illegal. They are so out of touch with reality.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#126

Post by darshan »

melling wrote: post #23

If you don't like their product or policies, don't use it. If you use it then you should pay for it. Use Linux, a BSD Unix, or a Mac. People who pirate Microsoft products don't really hurt Microsoft, they hurt the rest of the competition.

If you don't like their product or policies, don't use it. If you use it then you should pay for it.

This strikes me as a valid ethical position, though I happen to think things are more complicated than that.

People who pirate Microsoft products don't really hurt Microsoft, they hurt the rest of the competition.

This, on the other hand, doesn't make sense. You seem to be assuming that the invariant is that the user will not be paying Microsoft. And that might be true for you. If you're not going to be sending any money to MS no matter what, then yes, using MS products helps them somewhat.

For the author of the article, however, the invariant is that he will be using MS products. Since he's going to be using their products in any case, when he is fed up with their policies and decides to pirate instead of purchase until they get fixed, of course this hurts them.

If you want to argue that nothing is invariant, and that the best way to hurt MS is to both stop purchasing and stop using, well, of course that's true, but it's not relevant. What the author is talking about is simply stopping paying for something until it gets fixed; whether he still uses it or not is of very minor importance to MS next to whether or not he pays for it. His goal isn't to destroy MS or make them irrelevant; on the contrary, he just wants a better customer experience.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#127

Post by driverdan »

joebadmo wrote: post #4

While I'm entirely sympathetic to the author's DRM plight, buying the software and getting the pirate's cleaner experience are not mutually exclusive. If you want the best experience and a clean conscience (I'm assuming here you think piracy is wrong, since you've bought so many other copies of MS software), buy the software, then install a pirated a copy. I usually do this with new PCs that have Windows pre-installe…

This is exactly what I do and advocate.

I own an XP Pro license and bought the upgrade edition of 7 Ultimate. Reformatting would require installing XP, upgrading to the latest service pack, then "upgrading" to 7. Giant PITA.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#128

Post by Raticide »

squidsoup wrote: post #53
jcnnghm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OS X is actually my primary operating system. There is some software I still need Windows for though, like Photoshop and Quickbooks Enterprise. I guess I could upgrade that software, but I am not paying thousands for new features I won't use. I had to reactivate because Bootcamp is a pain in the ass, so I removed the partition, installed VirtualBox, and installed on that. It activated fine, and has deactivated itself…

In an effort to expedite your transition away from Windows entirely, may I suggest Pixelmator ( http://www.pixelmator.com/ ) as a Photoshop alternative? It is a pleasure to use and has all of the core features of PS (compositing layers, tools etc).

I love Pixelmator but I can't find any way to do nearest-neighbour resizing. Which I figured was the simplest thing to implement. Even MS Paint can do that.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#129

Post by Karunamon »

ryandvm wrote: post #50
noss wrote: post #8

I understand the resentment, but the right course of action must surely be to not upgrade. Instead go with an alternative, such as Mac OS or Linux.

Agreed. You can't just say, "your product is too *, I'm stealing it." Well, I guess you can, but you're stretching your ethical credibility.

Unless he took a physical copy off of a shelf somewhere, he didn't steal anything. Pirated, ripped, copied, used without paying for, there are about 20 possible verbs to describe the act of using software without purchasing a license.

Stealing is not one of them.

I know I'm beating this horse fairly hard, but it's something that people need to be aware of.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#130

Post by MatthewB »

Karunamon wrote: post #117
MatthewB wrote: post #71

These are great points and a good portion of piraters do so for these exact reasons. There are always going to be people who steal content/apps instead of paying for them but I am sure more than a few people pirate purely because it is a better user experience than what is currently offered. TV shows are a great example. I cut my cable about a year ago and haven't looked back since. I refuse to pay a premium for chan…

Minor niggle, but please stop misusing "steal". We need to get that meme killed.

What do you call it?
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