Pirated Windows Warning Message

Good find. You can also just applythe patches yourself if you know which one to download. The problem is at some point MS could just fix it so that the patches will turn you in to MS or try to connect to verify something...better for people to just start getting aquainted with Linux/BSD. No "embarassment" there ever because everyone knows it can't be pirated if its free.

 

I hate Windows XP. Therefore, I have to use Windows 2003 because 2000 crashes on some applications I need for work. Not because Windows 2000 is bad, but because programmers that designed the applications didn't care about 2000, they just place a sticker on the box "Designed for Windows XP"

I have a monthly salary of ~ 400 dollars, from which about 200 dollars is the rent, about 50 dollars water, gas, electricity and so on, about 100 dollars food which leaves me with less than 50 dollars to spare, monthly.

Windows XP license is 145 dollars, Windows Server 2003 Standard is 722 dollars.

Do the math and think how much would I have to put aside to buy a piece of paper ?

In US and other countries, you can actually buy a license for Windows from university, at a reduced price. There's no such thing in my country, though you can register yourself for some lame MCSE certifications and you can borrow any CD/DVD from school, *including* special Windows XP cd's with educational license or MSDN (for which a subscription is about 1200 dollars here)

So, the problem is not that I don't want to be legal.

1. I don't have the salary to afford it.
2. The price for a license in my country is very disproportionated compared to other countries. I mean, I make 400$ a month and license costs 150$ and in US I would make 400$ in less than a week and a license would cost the same price or even less.
3. The price (again) is too high for my country. With about 220$, I can actually build from new parts a decent computer.
4. The most important thing, I am not motivated enough to buy one. Offer discounts, offer special prices for students (in my country) and maybe other things.

I would buy a Windows 2003 license at the first salary, if it would cost less than 150$. But not Windows XP. It simply sucks. With all the patches and bugs, MS should pay users for every critical patch issued. It's not worth more than 50$. I would rather buy MS Visual Basic for 99$, which would allow me to outsource my work on Rent A Coder (not that I don't do it anyway, but legally) or even sell commercial programs.



If I wouldn't be able to use 2003 anymore, I would probably switch back to Windows 2000 which in my oppinion is better than XP. BUT, I can no longer buy a license for this OS. Or I would switch to FreeBSD.

Later Edit: I have also thought about buying a license with a computer part, from another country, to get it cheaper. In my country, if BSA comes and checks from licenses (fortunately, they only go to companies), they consider license is valid only if bought from my country. So, no luck there.

 

My philosophy on the subject is if you can afford it, buying it is obviously the best path to take but if you can’t then bittorrent it. Also, who would want to pirate windows when there are very easy to setup Linux distros surfacing and that are getting very user-friendly? My FC5 box, with KDE visually looks better then my XP system. Gnome is starting to look better as well.

My notebook, like many others, has a partition that is used for reinstalling version of xp if I decide to do a fresh install. Now if my hard drive crashes am I going to be forced to buy another copy of xp (or vista if it ever comes out) because it never came with a cd version of the OS. Am I going to be buying another version of windows? No.

 

How does MS know who is using a pirated version?

 

this is why windows sucks and linux rules

 

I think my old computer is using an illegal (if a burnt cd which i borrowed the real copy off a friend) of windows 98... lol, i dont think i to worry about 98 My XP came with this computer.

 

Well they can just check the serial number if you're online, or if anyone is connected to windows updates -- bam!

 

I may never see the "Warning Message", ever!

Windows machines on my network are not permited to connect to the internet,

Only Linux, BSD, or Mac's are are allowed

 

The update checks that and then gives you the fun message if it decides your version is possibly pirated.

 

I have a licensed Win XP Pro which is the OEM version.
All other software/tools that I got are either linux-based or free.

Apache, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Mozilla FireFox, Mozilla Thunderbird and so many more.

The only problem till now was Visual Studio which is now solved as the 2005 Express Editions are totally free. And the VC++ 2003 has a free edition too.

MS SQL Server 2005 Express and Oracle 10g Express and Enterprise are also free - atleast for development use.

CodeWarrior for Symbian OS isnt free but Nokia released a free version called Carbide which is equally good it seems.

I guess the designers and animators need to spend much more as Adobe etc are yet to release some free version.

 

That is why everybody should use Linux!

LOL!!

 

I've used FC2 and RH EL 4.0. I still think Linux as a desktop has a long way to go to reach Windows GUI standard. I agree that Linux as a server totally ROCKS ! But for a PC I still would prefer Windows OS and use linux-based stuff on Windows.

Last time I used OpenOffice 1.x on FC2, it took a whole 5 mins to load !

 

Sorry to hear that. That is why monopoly is so bad ..... MS is squising the whole world. You are right, poor or rich they want the max the rich can pay and require the same burden to be carried by the poor. And they have very good excuse to justify the roberry.
st12

 

The Licensed Software Price
WinXP Pro $200
MS Office Pro $200
Macromedia Studio $400
Photoshop $600
Antivirus & Firewall $50
Misc $100

They're cost you over $1000 on licensed software

I must be rich to buy them

 

Surely if they know you've pirated it they can just disable it? Or take you to court, whats a message going to do to make you stop? I get a little "buy me buy me" message from WinRAR every time I load it up but I still haven't bought it.

I bought my computer thinking it had a proper version of windows on it. To be honest I'm not sure if it does. Its got a little authentic sticker on the back but I can't download updates because I have an "invalid windows serial", surely if they know (I don't to be honest, I'm not sure if it means there is no key installed, if it is incorrect or if it is copied) its illegal, they can just disable me? Trick me into downloading an update and bye bye windows.

 

The problem is that Windows isn't very good at telling when you have an illegal version. See this Windows Genuine Advantage troubleshooting report for an example. Lots of people with legit versions couldn't do any Windows updates because they kept failing Microsoft's pirated version check. Going to the same check at a different URL fixed it. I wouldn't trust them to be doing anything more extreme with such a flaky check, like disabling the OS altogether.

 

I doubt they'll ever do something drastic like disable the OS because the hackers would just find a way around it. All that would do is piss off the law-abiding customers who didn't realize they were running a pirated version.

To me, it's kind of similar to the gun control laws here in the U.S. The only people affected are the ones who are already obeying the law. Criminals are always going to work outside the system, no matter what that system is.

As much as I hate them, I have to give M$ some credit here. Lots of people are going to buy licenses after seeing that warning, many of whom probably would never have even known they were running an illegal version.

 

microsoft doesnt force anyone to buy their products.

 

I must say the message bothers me a bit when i boot up the system. And lack of updates and some microsoft programs i can't download makes me wanting to buy Windows Vista. Dont think it is worth it to still buy windows XP, since in a few months i'll upgrade again...

 

Well, I guess i was a bit late to add poll to this thread!
But still, just to sum up various reviews from all our dp members, i addded this poll. Let's see what u think about it!