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| Maybe Microsoft should "keep it real" and sell windows at a price that would not need to be pirated.. |
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| There is a difference between getting a free copy and someone profiting from selling copies which people think are real. |
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| Q: What price would you set an application like windows at? In order for it to be priced "fairly"?
Q: Would you have one price for home users and one for business (with no change in the spec of the program). Or even free for home users?
Q: With the cost of brand new pcs as low as £200-£300 from the likes of Dell(all of which have a legit copy of windows installed) do people think there still such a big demand for a pirated copy of windows? |
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| As a small business owner producing computers to order for the retail and SME market I use MS OEM software and have stayed legit because it would cost me my livelihood if I was caught doing what 90% of my competition does i.e. they preload unlicensed copies of Operating Systems and Application Packages. As a result I loose hundreds of thousands of pounds in sales to the "Cowboys" because I can not compete on price. What Microsoft is doing is trying to level the playing field for all of us who provide legitimate high quality systems. I may not agree with their pricing structure but I can not disagree with what they are doing to the pirates. That said if microsoft dropped their prices to a more realistic level the margin for the pirate would drop to a level that did not justify the risk/reward ratio. |
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| Microsoft is no longer allowing Windows to be given on CD when you buy a new computer. Now they partition part of the hard drive as a backup and you HAVE to get all the crap that is installed with it (like internet connect programs and games). I doubt that Windows Vista (the new windows not yet released) will be rarely found on CD anywhere. |
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| The last comment is completely untrue. I work for a Microsoft partner so we get advanced warning of any changes to licensing and distribution. The method of partitioning the hard drive mentioned above is simply for quick recovery, it does NOT replace the disk, infact it's the complete opposite, even with this method suppliers MUST still provide the original disk to prove it is genuine and prevent it being re-used, so there will be plenty of Windows Vista disks around. |
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| I don't know what country you're in but in Australia they are now selling computers with partioned hard drives and do NOT give you the genuine windows CD. Even if you ask for it or ring up microsoft they will not send you one. Maybe they haven't started this practice where you live. |
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