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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

#51

Post by polemic »

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.

Don't get me wrong, Microsoft isn't helping themselves with this, but @melling has it on the head.

In the current climate, it's this kind of blog post that undoes a lot of the good work people are doing around protesting SOPA/PIPA. For those with a very simple view of copyright, saying you're going to 'steal Microsoft's IP' because you've been inconvenienced is just evidence that Something Must Be Done and the proposed law is a Good Thing.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#52

Post by ROFISH »

jcnnghm wrote: post #9
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.

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…

At least for Parallels, if you read the instructions, it says the first time you start up Windows Boot Camp in the VM, do not activate until it has fully installed Parallel Tools and it's drivers. Something in those drivers, which I presume is legal, prevents the infinite activation loop.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#53

Post by squidsoup »

jcnnghm wrote: post #9
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.

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).

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#54

Post by reidmain »

One of the greatest features of the Mac App Store is the ability to download the latest version of OS X Lion and then make a bootable image of it.

I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion the day it came out but then had to do a clean install a couple of months later.

Instead of using my out-of-date installer I downloaded the latest version of Lion and did a clean install. No waiting hours fro system updates because my install medium was old.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#55

Post by majorlazer »

valverde wrote: post #2

"Why do pirates have a better experience than customers?" This pretty much sums it up. I couldn't agree more.

In many cases, like downloading movies, I agree. But with Windows, I couldn't disagree more. I used to pirate every version of Windows I owned, back in the days of Windows 98 and up to Windows XP it was a breeze. Starting around Windows XP SP3, it got a bit more difficult. It was easy to pirate, but after a few weeks/months of use, you get the Genuine Advantage warning. With Windows 7, it is even worse. So I decided to purchase my first legitimate copy of Windows. I haven't looked back. It is so much easier and I don't waste my time re-cracking my Windows installation every month. It is well worth the price. Since then I have also acquired a legitimate version of Office 2010, even though I got it heavily discounted for students, back in the Windows XP days, I would have laughed at the thought of buying $100+ software.

And anytime I upgrade hardware or even want to move my install to another computer, the activation is so fast and easy. I don't see how anyone could make the claim that pirating Windows is easier than installing a legitimate copy.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#56

Post by jarrett »

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.

Certain applications that professionals need are only available on Windows. Most games are as well. Even for software with Mac/*nix versions, a person may have quite a bit of money tied up in Windows-only licenses.

I'm not commenting on whether pirating Windows is ethical. I'm just pointing out that sometimes you'll have to ditch a lot of software to ditch Windows.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#57

Post by powertower »

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #41
powertower wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your family members are destroying the OS, the best solution is to either run in a VM which is set to not persist changes (via VMWare or the free options), or to boot from a VHD file for your other members (keep a clean and activated copy that you can revert to). There are many options to solve this issue (ex: the native VHD boot, VirtualPC, HyperV). Telling Microsoft to remove activation is a knee-jerk reaction t…

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.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#58

Post by reidmain »

valverde wrote: post #2

"Why do pirates have a better experience than customers?" This pretty much sums it up. I couldn't agree more.

This is the scenario with most mediums (TV, movies, etc).

Video games and music appear to be the only ones who have solved this with solutions like Steam, Good old Games, iTunes, Amazon Music.

Netflix, and the like, are a good step forward but they still suffer from lack of content which leads people right back to pirating.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#59

Post by paulhauggis »

The problem is that it will never be enough. Even if Microsoft gave you everything to you exact specification and only charged $20/license, there would still be a group of people trying to defend piracy.

Just look at the Android/Iphone app market. 99 cent apps are still not convenient or cheap enough for many users, so they pirate it.

This is why I feel that all of these excuses are bullshit.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#60

Post by jcnnghm »

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 have Pixelmator, and I think it's a good 60% solution, but it's no Photoshop. For example, the other day I fired it up to make constrained rectangular marquee selections, and it can't do that. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I wanted to select at a specific aspect ratio because I needed an image to fit in a specific box. There are lots of little things like that. Not to mention I've been using Photoshop since the 90s, so I'm very proficient with it, it does every single thing I need, and I already paid a lot for it.

There really is not a good substitute for Quickbooks Enterprise. And I forgot Regex Buddy. I downloaded Patterns off the App Store, but it's a poor substitute. Regexes aren't pretty, but if you are hacking on something a quick regex can do a lot for a little.

EDIT: I just re-read this, and thought it sounded a little too negative toward Pixelmator. I think being a good 60% solution in relation to Photoshop is a huge accomplishment, and that Pixelmator is great software. It is absolutely worth the money. It is a very competent intermediate image editor, and would be $30 well spent for anyone. The criticism is mainly directed toward the lack of some esoteric advanced features, and my curmudgeonly desire to have it work exactly like Photoshop, since that is how I have edited images for the last dozen years.

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