Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Says Free Windows 10 Upgrades For Pirates Will Be Unsupported
An anonymous reader writes with this story about some of the fine print to Microsoft's offer of Windows 10 upgrades to pirates. "When Microsoft confirmed it will offer free Windows 10 upgrades to pirates worldwide, many were shocked. VentureBeat has been trying to get more details from the company, which disclosed today that after PCs with pirated copies of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are upgraded to Windows 10, they will remain in a 'non-genuine' status and Microsoft will not support them. 'With Windows 10, although non-genuine PCs may be able to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade will not change the genuine state of the license,' a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. 'Non-genuine Windows is not published by Microsoft. It is not properly licensed or supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. If a device was considered non-genuine or mislicensed prior to the upgrade, that device will continue to be considered non-genuine or mislicensed after the upgrade. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including Non-genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud — identity theft, credit card theft, etc. — public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions.' Yet this doesn't provide enough answers. After a pirate upgrades to Windows 10 for free, does this 'non-genuine' version expire and become unusable after a certain period of time? Does no support mean no security updates for pirates?"
They have a similar policy with Home Usage Policies. It's a "Ghost" License, not really a true license with warranty rights, support, transfers etc.. You can use the product legally, but you don't own any license. don't expect to be able to transfer the policy or seek technical support.
This copy won't expire, but you can't really re-sell it, transfer it or seek any other benefits. The product will technically "work" fine and will receive updates and so on without issue. One area which isn't guaranteed is if Microsoft continue this trend of free upgrades from earlier OS, they might not permit free upgrade for this pirate/amnesty copy.
Jason.
Disallowing security updates to run on non-genuine copies of Windows is not exactly in Microsoft's best interest.
The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
Who actually calls Microsoft for support? They should scrap Retail, OEM, System builder, etc. and just have With Support $X, Without Support $Y.
"Upgrades for Pirates" is this week's winner for new favorite phrase.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
"the agent won't help them without a valid key"
Not a genuine advantage with 99% of users (pirates included) outside the US (figure pulled off my behind). When was the last time you called tech support for support and not visit some online forum or your local tech guru.
The real issue: will the software police break down your door if you get reported using a legally upgraded "pirate" version? Can you just say, but the kind folks at Redmond say I get a pass, my sins have been forgiven?
The best copy protection, in my experience, is a complex program and good customer support.
The obsessive control freaks who run major corporations will never be satisfied with this approach.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
If the computer came with a legitimate copy of Windows, the license should be stuck on the back of the box, as required by Microsoft of OEMs. You can install Windows fresh from your own disc and just re-enter the license code from that sticker. Microsoft recently started allowing ISO downloads of supported versions of Windows, so a tech should always have their own copy of Windows to use if needed.
New hardware won't generally cause problems with license activation unless you change the motherboard, and then only if you use a different motherboard than the original. At that point, MS considers it a new machine and therefore probably won't transfer the license, although you could always call MS support and make your case. Replacing a drive or any other single component should not cause issues with the license activation. If the customer doesn't have an activation code or you replace the motherboard with a new model, then yes, your customers would have to buy another license. Or switch to Linux.
It's been like this since the Windows XP days, so I think it's fair to assume that Windows 10 will work in a similar fashion, with the exceptions listed by MS. And that actually make things more lenient, not more strict.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
I have a full-XP license copied off a retail box. It's installed on one computer in the world. While that computer was dead, I tried to use it on a different computer. It came up as "not valid". an hour on the phone, and they still hadn't offered me a new key. How long must one yell at them to get a new key when they report a valid one as invalid?
Learn to love Alaska
But I will stick with Win 7 anyway.
I don't want a phone/tablet OS on my desktop
They know what they are doing - for the first time in many years. Windows devices are currently 14% of global computing devices sales. Their 1.5 billion unit installed base is already less than Android's 2 billion plus and its advantage is eroding at a billion units a year. It is incredibly fragmented, with only 15% of their own users on version 8+ able to access the latest version of their browser. They must consolidate their base if they hope to leverage it into a credible entry into the mobile space. And they are out of time. If this fails, by the time a "next version" is ready they will be in Blackberry share land because between them Android and iOS will be moving 2 billion units a year, their installed base will be greater than 4 billion, and there are only 7 billion humans - many of whom are too young, one, poor to count at all.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
You are arguing a classic "is ought" fallacy, because the code IS there somebody OUGHT to have done the audit but we have 100% undeniable proof this is bullshit...Shellshock. if the Bash shell, the oldest and therefor by that argument most looked at code on the planet can have a major exploit for THAT long? Then your entire argument just falls apart.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
The core issue with WinVista and later?
Too many SKUs (combined with cost).
Trying to keep track of what features came with WinVista X vs Y vs Z (or Win7 SKUs or Win 8.1 with five different SKUs) was very consumer-hostile. Consumers got confused and annoyed. Plus there was a huge cost difference between the top-end SKU and the home edition.
There should only have been (1) version of Windows 7 -- with all of the bells and whistles included in Enterprise/Ultimate/DaddyGates editions -- for a maximum of about $60 per copy, or $30/copy if purchased in a 5-pack.
People would then have upgraded in much larger numbers from WinXP to Win7. Instead, because Microsoft got greedy in the prices it charged for the OpSys, people started looking at alternatives.
Back in the early 2000s, a decent rig would run you $1500-$1800 and a $100 license on top of that wasn't too big of a deal. Ten years later, a decent rig is about $600, but the cost of the operating system has gone up to $150. Microsoft is asking people to pay 25% of the computer's value for the Operating System instead of under 10%.
Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?