Microsoft doesn't want you to pirate their software, but if you must choose
between illegally installing Windows or a competitor's operating system,
Microsoft would prefer that you choose them. While the company obviously won't
endorse the illegal use of software, it does believe that piracy can result in
profit.
At the Morgan Stanley Technology conference last week in San Francisco,
Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes commented on the benefits of software
counterfeiting. "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us
rather than somebody else," he said. "We understand that in the long
run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our
products. What you hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the
software."
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