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Microsoft Confirms It Won't Offer Free Windows 10 Upgrades To Pirates

Posted by Soulskill on from the on-second-thought-they-like-money dept.

An anonymous reader writes: If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. All that talk about pirates getting free Windows 10 upgrades? Not happening. For genuine users, the free upgrade to Windows 10 means receiving "ongoing Windows innovation and security updates for free, for the supported lifetime of that device." Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of operating systems, has clarified the company's plans were not changing for non-genuine users: "Microsoft and our OEM partners know that many consumers are unwitting victims of piracy, and with Windows 10, we would like all of our customers to move forward with us together. While our free offer to upgrade to Windows 10 will not apply to Non-Genuine Windows devices, and as we've always done, we will continue to offer Windows 10 to customers running devices in a Non-Genuine state."

15 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. how about the Buccaneers? by turkeydance · · Score: 3, Funny

    they need more help than a quarterback.

  2. Re:Greedy Corporation by Z00L00K · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Add to it: Who needs Windows 10? It's way too early after the release of the decently working Windows 7.

    Too frequent OS updates is just causing trouble for users.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  3. Since when rewarding pirates is "good"? by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. All that talk about pirates getting free Windows 10 upgrades? Not happening.

    Since when it is "good" to reward pirates, and to who (other than pirates!) it sounded "good"?

    --
    Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
    1. Re:Since when rewarding pirates is "good"? by David_Hart · · Score: 4, Informative

      If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. All that talk about pirates getting free Windows 10 upgrades? Not happening.

      Since when it is "good" to reward pirates, and to who (other than pirates!) it sounded "good"?

      The Security community, maybe... Not all Pirates are smart Pirates. Some end up getting scurvy (trojans, spyware, etc) as a result of their pirating ways.

    2. Re:Since when rewarding pirates is "good"? by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If you truly believe what you are preaching? Then step right up and take "The Hairyfeet Challenge", now celebrating its eighth year of watching "consumer friendly" Linux distros puke and die!

      Take ANY mainstream consumer oriented (not LTS, because even Ubuntu advises against mainstream users using LTS) from FIVE years ago, this simulates a 5 year typical lifecycle. This BTW is less than HALF a windows support cycle, so I'm cutting linux a break. Lets say you use Ubuntu, that would be Ubuntu 9.10 and can be downloaded from their archive. Install it on ANY PC, desktop or laptop (NOT VM as that isn't real hardware and comes with special drivers) that has a wireless card. Wireless is required because more and more mainstream users are ditching wires and nobody wants a laptop that doesn't have wireless, do they?

      During this phase you are the system builder so CLI (which is usually required because Linux driver support is poor) IS ALLOWED. Once its installed you are no longer the system builder but THE USER, so like a windows user you are ONLY allowed to use the GUI. You then get to "enjoy the freedom" of using nothing but the GUI (because if you can't even update the thing without CLI you're no match for windows are you) of updating to current...with ubuntu that is SEVEN RELEASES, just FYI. You will film this and post it to youtube, you only have to upload the final install process of each release and a pic of the device manager showing working hardware complete with wireless showing WPA V2 connection, but the complete video should be hosted on dropbox to prove you aren't faking it.

      BTW in case it isn't clear working hardware means WORKING HARDWARE, it does NOT mean wireless that can't use WPA, it does NOT mean a PC with no sound or VESA video, it means FULLY WORKING HARDWARE and again if you are unclear please see the highlighted areas as completing the challenge REQUIRES vids of the final install of each upgrade (last I checked that would be EIGHT for Ubuntu, and around SIX for most others, be sure to have room on your SD Card!) along with a 5 minute video of the end of each install showing that upon completion you could go to hardware manager and had 100% functional hardware with NO FUTZING. After all if you have to futz with the thing just to have functional drivers it isn't on the same level as Windows now is it? BTW the first Windows that passed the challenge was Win2K (RTM to EOL with ZERO failed drivers, 10 years of support) WinXP (14 years, ZERO fails) and both Vista and 7 can go from RTM to current with ZERO failures. So lets see them snappies, otherwise you are just throwing yet more bullshit, which if you want bullshit see "many eyes" which gave us such well vetted code the world lost billions on heartbleed and will probably lose billions more on stopping the current BASHing...what quality!

      Just FYI I've already taken the challenge with several distros that guys like you push, Ubuntu (failed in just 2), PCLOS (failed in 1!), Fedora (2) and about a dozen more and I can't wait to see you take the challenge...but you won't, even though 1.- Its free, 2.- Takes less than 3 hours, and 3.- Would show your desktop is ready for the masses....how do I know you won't? Because if you try the challenge you'll see what I've been saying for over a decade is true, that Torvalds 1970s throwback driver model (which just FYI nobody else uses, not even FOSS OSes like BSD) is a pile of shit and his "let the kernel devs handle drivers" worked just fine in 1993 when all the drivers combined could fit on a floppy but just does not scale. That is why you get such "great support" like this for webcams, why even FOSS darling Firefox disables hardware acceleration thus crippling performance, hell I could go on all day!

      So p

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  4. And now for a real question by phayes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What is "the supported lifetime of that device" supposed to mean, in particular as regards to VMs? Being forced to buy a new windows version very two-three years?

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    1. Re:And now for a real question by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That was a phrase that also stood out to me. Why does Microsoft get to determine the lifetime of *MY* hardware? Don't they realize that I can increase the useful lifetime of my PC by upgrading the CPU? (in some cases)

  5. Too bad by Guy+From+V · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pirates are just going to have to suck it up and totally go without Windows 10 now no matter how badly they want it.

  6. Re:Greedy Corporation by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 3, Informative

    um....it's been 6 years since windows 7 was released.

  7. Re:Greedy Corporation by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Microsoft is a greedy corporation and nobody should use their software, IMHO.

    Then you should welcome this policy. Microsoft long had a policy of tolerating illegal copying, especially in the third world, since that helped them become the defacto standard, at expense of truly free software. Now that they are cracking down, it will push people to better alternatives. Greed is good, at least in this case.

  8. Re:Greedy Corporation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    um....it's been 6 years since windows 7 was released.

    You are part of the problem. You don't care about stability, you just want new, new, new.

  9. Plans *are* changing by fortfive · · Score: 4, Informative

    if this article is to be believed.

    Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Windows chief: “We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10. . .anywhere in the world. . .

    but now

    Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of operating systems, has clarified the company's plans were not changing for non-genuine users . . .[but despite the earlier statement] our free offer to upgrade to Windows 10 will not apply to Non-Genuine Windows. . .

    A little smelly. And just when I thought MS was working it's way back to cool.

  10. Re:Greedy Corporation by jarfil · · Score: 3, Informative

    XP is crap. Its driver model and security model are a total joke. Any program can bring the whole system down, and you will not even know which one it was.
    I can't believe people can defend XP, call it "stable" and whatnot. I would rather have a Vista with all its beta-ish stuff than touch XP with a ten foot pole.

  11. Re:Greedy Corporation by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agreed and you can bet your behind that many of the small shops like mine will avoid it for the first year because of the major PITA from false positives. Certain OEMs (cough "Lenovo" cough) seem to just be hated by MSFT and are a big enough hassle to get past WGA with their own damned Windows 7 key, to have to jump through the WGA hoops AGAIN just to upgrade the thing? Fuck off MSFT, Win 7 gets patches until 2020 maybe by then you'll get your head out of your ass.

    What is fricking sad is for the first year of the Win 7 release they were killing piracy dead, with $50 for Home and $100 for a triple pack the amount of pirate systems in my area was dropping like a stone and as I said then if they would have offered Win 7 Starter for $25 for older systems? They would have wiped it out. Now it looks like they aren't even offering the cheap upgrades for the first year...anybody wanna bet my local Craigslist is gonna be filled with whatever the top Win 10 SKU is because they got a pre hacked off of TPB?

    Dear MSFT....the pirates already have Windows 7...you know as well as I do that you CANNOT BLOCK IT because they are using the OEM SKUs which means you'd wipe out tens of thousands of OEM Windows 7 installs and the false positives would be a bad publicity nightmare,mmmkay? Your goal should be to MAKE THE PIRATES RUN LEGIT because your numbers for Windows 8/8.1? Suck monkey nuts, you cannot afford another fail, right? As Gabe Newell said "piracy is a service problem" and with Windows 7 firmly in their hands you have NO stick to swing at them, ALL you have is the carrot...WTF are ya doing man? You should be offering $25 copies of Win 10 Home and $50 triple packs to bring them into the fold! You're shooting yourself in the face all over again, just like when you refused to listen to us beta testers that pointed out Windows 8/8.1 (which is also in the hands of the pirates, they just don't like it as much as Win 7) was like running Windows 2.0 redesigned by hipsters, are ya TRYING to reach a trifecta of fail?

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  12. Re: Greedy Corporation by sexconker · · Score: 4, Informative

    At this moment of time I am replacing a motherboard. Will Windows 7 even boot off it? NO!

    Bullshit.

    No efi support or I should say limited and no I do not even mean secure boot.

    Bullshit.

    I am talking usb 3 which Windows 7 doesn't support.

    Bullshit.

    USB 2 in efi? No support or very limited. Sata in uefi mode? Nope. Exotic. Need 3rd party driver.

    Bullshit that doesn't even make sense. What does Windows 7 have to do with it? Talk to your mobo and peripheral manufacturers.

    Windows 7 will boot if you turn on csm aka compatibility support module which trashes your boot time.

    No tablet support.

    Also bullshit.