But before Vista will display its showiest side, known as Aero, it will run a check to make sure the software was properly purchased.“Those who are not running genuine Windows will not be able to take advantage of the Windows Aero user experience,” a Microsoft representative told CNET News.com on Wednesday.
Pssst… Microsoft. They’re pirates. Emphasis on the high seas pillaging part of it. Do you seriously think that if they’re going through the trouble to hack and crack Windows, they won’t figure out a way around this?
At first an optional program, the piracy check eventually became mandatory for many types of Windows XP downloads, but was not required to run any aspect of the operating system itself. Microsoft has identified reducing piracy as a key way for the company to grow its sales of Windows, which is already used on more than 90 percent of personal computers.
Microsoft just doesn’t get it. Piracy has been a sales driver for Windows. Let’s say you do manage to kill it completely, and people can no longer get a free copy of Windows. Do you seriously think they’re going to pay for a copy instead? Or rather, they’ll simply go for another free operating system, say Linux maybe? And once they start using linux, do you think perhaps they’ll stay with it in the long run, or switch to a $300 copy of Windows?
This is the kind of stuff that makes me think Microsoft is headed for a tumble.
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