A step in the right direction for MS?

[Zyth]

According to WinBeta.org, Microsoft is going to allow users with a pirated version of Windows XP to download and install SP2. Now I'm against pirated copies on the whole (and do see why people do it with the prices so high) but it is a good thing that Microsoft has in this instance moved away from being the money grabbing fiends that they often appear as.

Unless theres a hidden agenda here that I'm not seeing...

[Vinoli]

By the fact that it can be installed by pirate copies, I take it that you won't have to insert you registration code in order to activate the install.

Apart from the piracy side, this could just be a move to allow corporate user who don't have a reg key to hand to do a live update off of the Windows Update site.

This could of course be away of trying to judge how many pirated copies there actually are on the market. All they would have to do is clock the number of downloads, and measure that against there total number of copies sold.

As you said Zyth, Microsoft probably do have some hidden agenda, as they would not make this move without a reason for it, expecially since they've always included safeguards against it in previous versions. It may be worth noting that with Office 2003, you are no longer required to insert you reg code for the Office patches, where you previosly had to before installation completed.

[Nazon]

The way I see it, it costs Microsoft both money and good will when their flagship operating system is found vunerable to worms and vira. So yes, if you assume that money is the driveforce behind their actions it can be a good business to offer SP2 for everybody.

Pretty much for the same reason there is guide on Microsoft's homepage where they explain how people with pirate license can bypass Service Pack 1 copy protection.

While still on the subject, I stumbled across this earlier

[Aristotle]

Don't be fooled by this. They did not do this for the horseshit altruistic reasons they claim.

They did this for two reasons:

1) When a virus comes out and the news reports that 10,000,000 windows machines got wtfpwned by it, they don't differentiate between machines with pirated copies or copies running the latest updates. It makes Microsoft look increasingly incompetent the more often Windows gets crushed by a virus and helps competing operating systems like Mac OSX and Linux.

2) One of the more common uses of a virus or a crack is to own a windows box to use later in a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service Attack). When a web site gets brought down by a DDOS from 500,000 windows machines, they don't care what % of those were pirate copies. They just care that their web site is down. When hackers take down a big site, and the news reports that the types of machines taken over and used by the hackers were Windows boxes, once again MSFT is the one to blame. This makes people obviously and understandably FURIOUS at Microsoft since it is their crappy, unsecure operating system that makes it possible.

[Pyrosama]

from that link:"We haven't explicitly done anything to SP2 to exclude it from pirated copies," said Microsoft group product manager Barry Goffe. The United States-based executive was interviewed via telephone.

Kind of makes me wonder if they did anything implicitly to SP2 to include special handling of pirated copies?

I've read some license agreements that indicate that the software you purchase can be rendered unuseable by applying certain fixes should certain conditions exist that would indicate that the product is not being used legally. Not to say that this is the same thing, but I can't see someone with a pirated copy caring much about security patches to take the risk by downloading the patch. They'd be better off just purchasing a legit copy than risk spending thousands in fines and/or mysteriously having their systems crash and losing all their stuff.

Is there a way to tell if a system is running a pirated copy of their Operating System?

[Nazon]

Originally posted by BetaNews
Contrary to the remarks it made to the ComputerTimes, Microsoft now claims that it will not permit users who have obtained Windows XP illegally to upgrade to its latest service release. Instead, the software giant will continue to enforce compliance with its licensing.

Baaad Microsoft! No good PR!

[Zyth]

So I read. They clarified their stance by saying that it will check the product ID and validate it based on that now.

Bad choice in my opinion as what Ari posted is certainly correct.

[Aristotle]

I am glad they did the stupid thing.

We use legit copies so we'll be able to get the updated version, so it doesn't hurt us personally at all.

It just hurts them in the long run and will makes them look even more incompetent every time a new virus attack or DDOS happens.

Anything that hurts Windows helps competition and that helps the rest of us.