Is Microsoft going to lose lots of money?

I think that now that Microsoft puts more protection on their operating systems, i.e. Windows activations, people turn away from it. Microsoft has always allowed people to install previous OSes to be install on 1,00,000,000 systems with the same serial and disk if you wanted to. There was no way to stop it. However, this lead to MS taking over the computing world and making windows based OSes the most popular in the world. Now that it is harder to pirate, though not even close to impossible, so you think it will lead to their down fall? Now that people have to bypass activation in order to pirate software and such, I think more and more people are going to turn away from Windows based OSes. Do you?

I think they won't even see it as a speed bump. Cracking windows activation and allowing you to use it fully takes less time and effort than getting any flavor of linux/bsd installed and working to the ease of use and speed of that pirated windows.

People, like always, will flock to what is easier to use. And they should.

The rest of us who don't mind spending extra time on hardware configurations will, as always, still enjoy Linux/BSD.

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I think that now that Microsoft puts more protection on their operating systems, i.e. Windows activations, people turn away from it. Microsoft has always allowed people to install previous OSes to be install on 1,00,000,000 systems with the same serial and disk if you wanted to.

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Some do find the product activation a pain in the ass, but MS had to find a way to protect thier work. If you have more than one machine, then it is designed to not to install on that machine until you purchase another license. On the other hand, if you are a corporate user and have to install it over a network, you can buy one serial that covers the number of licenses you purchased, then install it. Pirates used the "Devil's Own" corporate serial number for a long while along with several others. MS has since blacklisted those numbers on a service pack.

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However, this lead to MS taking over the computing world and making windows based OSes the most popular in the world.

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I have to disagree and laugh a little as well. Yes, piracy is a big problem, but if that was the reason for MS's popularity, then MS would be no more.

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Now that it is harder to pirate, though not even close to impossible, so you think it will lead to their down fall? Now that people have to bypass activation in order to pirate software and such, I think more and more people are going to turn away from Windows based OSes. Do you?

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Nope. The whole idea.....

pirating is bad, mmmmmmmmkkkay?

How many pirated versions of 95-2k do you think there are? Id say millions. I know microsoft could have made tougher anti-piracy measures easily, in my opion they let all those people steal their os in oder to get people to use it. Then slowly close in and make it harder and harder after EVERYONe has it.

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I think more and more people are going to turn away from Windows based OSes. Do you?

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I prefer S2 (SuSE & Slack), however I utilize Windows (XP & 98) just as often. I can't and don't have a desire to turn away. I get the best of both worlds this way.

Although there are a multitude of contributing factors to Windows’ popularity, just ask yourself, which OS did our teens learn first, which OS are our younger children learning right now, and which OS are most employees already trained to use? I believe Mr. Gates has it pretty well locked up for awhile anyway. I would venture to say that the majority folks just aren’t going to switch until we have a full voice interactive computer (windows based or another OS).

cheers