Microsoft Corrects: No XP SP2 for Pirated Copies

Just out of curiosity, how many pirated XP disks are in use? What is the percentage of people using pirated Windows software? I am guessing the number would be fairly small...does anyone know?

Johanna

 

To quote the tagline from an old radio show, "The Shadow knows ..."

Actually, I think it's probable that no one knows ... most folks with pirated copies aren't going to readily admit to it.

 

Surely there is an industry "guesstimate ". I've worked in Loss Prevention for years, and there is always an acceptable "shrink" level. If one percent of the millions of Windows XP users are using illegal copies, MS really doesn't have a "problem ", do they? (allowable retail shrink is usually calculated at 2% of gross sales)

Johanna

 

Beats me, as you'd know far more about the marketing aspects than I (I was in Operations, not Sales). Given what M$ charges for their products, and that the PC world is generally locked into them, I don't think they have a "problem ", no matter WHAT the "shrink" level.

 

Travel to various SE Asian countries and visit markets, stalls, bazzares and shops where software is sold from $2-10 and you'll have an Idea.

The article is not entirely true either. There is a list of known pirated keys that will be blocked, as these were/are used for the majority of the pirated copies. But some sophisticated keygen technologies mean that most who have used this software for generating new random keys will probably still be able to install SP2. Much the same as is currently the case with SP1.
This is the case as of RC1, so will probably be for the final release.

Personally I think SP2 should be allowed to install as this will help with reducing the spread of viri etc. The security issues to the wider computing world are more important than the small amount (in relation to overall sales) of lost revenue to MS.