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Microsoft May Have Mistakenly Pegged A Half-Million As Pirates | |
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| Time: 00:11 EST/05:11 GMT | News Source: CRN | Posted By: Kenneth van Surksum | ||
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Microsoft's anti-piracy tool has marked more than one in every five copies of Windows as bogus, the Redmond, Wash., developer said Tuesday, while more than half a million users may have been mistakenly pegged as pirates. As it beats the drum about the danger of pirated software, particularly Windows, prior to the release of Vista, Microsoft released some figures from its Windows Genuine Advantage program. WGA uses software downloaded to the PC to authenticate Windows XP before allowing a user to retrieve automatic security updates and other software. In the 30 months since WGA's 2005 launch, 512 million have tried to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. The "non-genuine" rate, or the fraction pegged as counterfeit, stands at 22.3%. In other words, 114 million users who ran the audit software were labeled pirates by Microsoft. | ||
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| #1 By 2459 (69.22.113.215) at 1/25/2007 8:24:36 AM |
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In other words, 114 million users who ran the audit software were labeled pirates by Microsoft.
The non-sensationalist version of this would read: "In other words, 114 million users who ran the audit software were informed that their software was not genuine by Microsoft." The software doesn't call the user a pirate. It tells them they may be a victim of piracy. |
| #2 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 1/25/2007 8:48:44 AM |
| #1, Thank you, for you objectivity, reason, and sanity - I hope it spreads. |
| #3 By 1896 (68.153.171.248) at 1/25/2007 10:36:47 AM |
| What I find unacceptable in this MS anti-piracy rampage is the fact that these "tools" keep calling home on a regular base. I install the OS, succsesfully activate it and this should be it. I do not want to be under surveillance 24 hours a day. Btw the tool is prone to fail; it reported as "not genuine" a copy of XP I received directly from MS twice in a day. Also the idea that there is no accountability for mistakes is unacceptable although nowadays this seems to be the standard everywhere and " the fish always begin to stink from the head. |
| #4 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 1/25/2007 7:02:32 PM |
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I know that MS feels that XP/Vista is their cash cow to be milked ad naseum, but I for one have a question. If one assumes that MS has correctly identified that 20+% of its users are pirating the software then is the business model a sound one?
Could it be possible that in two or three years that MS will discover, much to its chagrin, that the marketplace has passed it by? What if say a pirated skinned XP for all intents and purposes works just fine as a Vista replacement and users start demanding computers without loaded OSs for their home use. I know it sounds crazy but understand that the ubiquity of computers in daily life and the improvement in ease of usage may lead to a world that doesn't need a fancy OS. An old OS a browser, and a little knowledge will inevitably lead to and OSs care less world. A parallel example may be MP3 files. The ubiquity of pirating has lead to the collapse of the behemoth recording labels. Are there better formats that MP3? You bet ya. Does it matter? No. MS better watch its rear view mirror. The car that eventually drives it off the road may be one of its "old" discarded OSs. Google is the future. Software will eventually be free with tons and tons of effin' ads. |
| #5 By 2459 (69.22.113.215) at 1/25/2007 9:58:03 PM |
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I think MS would be happier if that 20% used Linux rather than steal their software.
There are a lot of technical reasons why a skinned XP could never be a true replacement for Vista. The only reason the pirate might be satisfied using it is because he couldn't pirate Vista, and after a few years, that pirate will want something more technologically relevant and secure. There are alternative platforms available. Rather than pirate Windows, I'm sure Linux, BSD, or Apple would welcome the even a fraction of that 20% share, and MS would much rather listen to the reasons why people are using competitors' solutions than people using MS' solutions without paying for them. |
| #6 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 1/25/2007 11:22:18 PM |
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#4 "and users start demanding computers without loaded OSs for their home use."
It might happen ... but realistically, it is cheaper in time and effort for the home user to pay 50$ extra (which they don't actually see) for Vista on a Dell thats 1/4 the price they paid for their last PC than to go through all the hassle of dealing with Linux. People come to me for advice on buying a new PC and I tell them the current price for a Dell with a 19" LCD ... and not one of them has ever said "Can I save a few bucks by buying a whitebox PC and downloading Linux". No, they laugh and they tell me what they paid for their last PC and shake their heads at how cheap PC's have become. Most people paid more for their CRT monitors than the cost of the low end Dell (which is way faster than the PC attached to that old CRT). Someone yesterday I was talking to said they are delaying their purchase to get Vista on it, rather than buy a new Dell with XP Home on it because they don't want to do the upgrade thing later even if they get a coupon. They don't want Linux. Too much of a hassle. They see no benefit. This post was edited by NotParker on Thursday, January 25, 2007 at 23:23. |
| #7 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 1/25/2007 11:31:17 PM |
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Hey Parker did ya catch this one on the Dell site......
"Dell Offering Systems With No OS Dell is now offering complete line of systems that ship without an OS installed. Good news for all you alternative OS folks out there, you can finally can get a Dell system without having to pay for an OS you aren’t going to use. Dell's new open-source n Series desktop solution provides customers with a DimensionTM E520, E521 or C521 desktop without an installed or included Microsoft® operating system. With the n Series desktop, customers have the flexibility to install an alternative operating system (such as a version of Linux® ), and help reduce the price of this system." Get used to it the computer and all included software WILL become a commodity with vendors vying to break the $250 barrier soup to nuts. |
| #8 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 1/26/2007 6:36:39 AM |
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#4, Interesting points - but what you suggest scares me - to death.
The MP3 example is a relevant one - where "ok sound" is good enough. Gone, seems to be, the audiophile in us - missing are any aspirations to have and play only the best, because "okay" is good enough - oh, and it's free, because it was stolen, but not really stolen, because it shouldn't cost anything... Ok..., or okay... so let's say we apply the same thinking to operating systems, productivity software, accounting software, ERP software, buildings, planes, streets, clothes, consumer electronics and food... where "okay" is good enough. The whole problem with that is that man was meant to aspire - to greatness, to reach the moon, to go to mars, to build the longest bridge, or the tallest building. When every incentive to do our best is removed from us, we tend to build things that look painfully like the old east-bloc, where rations of salted, putrid meat make up the winter ration and come in what look like old paint cans [literally - I remember when the Soviets buried the Polish ration for an entire winter as a punishment]. When we set the bar not just low, but below our aspirations we may as well cut our own throats [yes, even literally as we have done from time to time as a species]. What you suggest Microsoft should watch out for in their rearview mirror isn't anything they need worry about - because in a world where "ok enough" is good enough, it'd be a busted down Zil sporting flat gray paint and be made of pressed cardboard. The east-bloc that brought the world that mess of a car didn't change because of western policies, tanks, missiles, or any American President... it changed because of VCR's, hot cars, and disco techs that the people of the east aspired to visit, drive and play. China isn't growing like mad because it's people have to get up and go to work to do a mediocre job - it is growing because their government took its foot off their throats and the people are aspiring to do and be more than they were yesterday. So long as Microsoft truly believes that our potential is their passion and they build products that allow us to do more tomorrow than we will do today, there is no way in H. E. Double Hockey Sticks that any operating system will overtake Windows. It is in our nature to aspire and "ok enough" is never good enough - and that is what it is to be human - we accept nothing - we go to other planets and the moon... just to take some pictures and none of us much likes "good enough for government work" thinking. It isn't - nothing is and every time in our history that we have pursued complacency rather than excellence as our goal, we have failed and set ourselves back - sometimes a thousand years at a time. I want no part of that or any world that would force it upon me - the very reason we have a second amendment. |
| #9 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 1/26/2007 8:17:09 AM |
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#6: "People come to me for advice on buying a new PC and I tell them the current price for a Dell with a 19" LCD ... and not one of them has ever said "Can I save a few bucks by buying a whitebox PC and downloading Linux"."
People who are savvy enough to run Linux are smart enough to not come to you for computer advice. |
| #10 By 32132 (64.180.219.241) at 1/26/2007 9:32:27 AM |
| #9 I find that people willing to take on the hassle of Linux are few and far between which is why the Linux installed base seems to hover around .36% in weblogs. |
| #11 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 1/26/2007 12:09:14 PM |
| #10: Better than the hassle of Vista. No drivers, nothing runs, inconsistent UI, so many "high-impact" problems that MS is talking about the service pack before Vista even ships to customers. Then there's this week's zero-day Word flaw (they just keep on coming, don't they?). |
| #12 By 20505 (64.60.114.101) at 1/26/2007 12:17:35 PM |
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#8
Not to worry the future is not for those who produce but for those who design, service, maintain and integrate. (ask IBM). There is a reason that the US will continue to loose manufacturing jobs. There's no money in it. When you can buy Gap jeans at $15 bucks a pop, no one is making any money. The same will be true of all consumer goods except for the "enthusiast" market. This always becomes a boutique marketplace. MS actually is not so stupid BTW not to know this. Their mad dash for diversification into all manners of non OS/Office related businesses is evidence of same. |
| #13 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 1/26/2007 12:26:57 PM |
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#12, We can hope - It just feels strangely like the day before the Goth's showed up, all eager to join this Roman Empire thing... and found out that no one gave a flip any longer - mediocrity does that to a people.
Gawd... I just read posts #10 and 11 and had a, "please make it stop" moment as I imagined Latch and NotParker in a Celebrity Death Match episode... - time for some fresh air... both have good points, and I bet they'd be friends if they met in person... they sure go on like an old married couple... |
| #14 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 1/26/2007 1:38:10 PM |
| #13: You love it. |
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