Sorry to sound sarcastic but i've just put a nail in this coffin
I went to the PowerISO site the other day and downloaded their software, it was a trial version & i choose to use the unregistered version of it. Technically i've just comitted piracy as i'm using software for free
Plus, i have no intention of paying for it. When it runs out, it runs out.
There are always going to be people who support both sides of the coin here - on the one hand, there are those who just use the official 7000 build and don't even try the others and on the other there are those who like to try every release that they can get hold of. I don't particularly feel that I fall into either category as the only versions of W7 that I have used are 7000 and 7068, the next one for me will be the RC through the official channels. Of course, as has been mentioned in this thread by me and others (and elsewhere), if MS didn't want people to use the other builds then they wouldn't have allowed them to be leaked (somewhere along the line, someone from MS must have leaked the original copies of all the leaked builds available). If they condoned this, action would have been taken and the beta product keys for the 7000 build certainly wouldn't have worked with the other builds.
Last edited by Dwarf; 22 Apr 2009 at 16:29.
If I can add a point of order to this discussion, the original post quoted a post from the official MS forum that dealt with a specific point.
The post was about the ability to bug report on the leaked build.
The answer from MS was as this build was unsupported they could not accept bug reports for it. This is understandable, as they are unofficial leaked builds.
This is often the case with unsupported software if you use it you're on your own. It happens all the time with things like x86 and x64 support or operating systems
Software may work on a particular setup but if not supported the software developer will not discuss it
Nowhere in the post is the issue of, or Microsoft's, attitude to, the legality of the leaked builds arise.
Microsoft could if they wish make things a lot more difficult for users of these leaked builds, but the choose not to.
As for the Idea that anyone using a build other than 7000, either on these forums, or generally, is a "pirate" makes the assumption that none of these people are running officially received and sanctioned copies.
The membership here on the forums is very varied and who is to say that a number are not TAP gold partners, ISV's or the like
Make that quote to Bill Gates and his legal team that "didn't" win in their Anti-Trust case.....or in the EU.......
Microsoft knew all along that there were going to be leaks of the "Engineering builds", they also knew that as long as the product wasn't going to be a lame duck it would keep the hype going.
Notice as well that as soon as the Chinese / Russian / English 7106 build hit the torrents that Microsoft came out with a statement about not downloading builds from Torrents! Until then they had not said a thing.
Coincidence???? You decide.
For all intents and purposes the builds we are using are for testing / evaluation purposes....says so on Desktop.....and we are Testing and Evaluating.....with an expiry date.
Call yourself a Pirate if you wish.....I do not consider myself one nor do I consider my version of Win 7 to be Pirated either....I am evaluating it to determine its suitability for my purposes.
If you are so concerned, simply go back to build 7000...but you might have to download it from a torrent if you didn't hang onto the ISO.
Last edited by andych; 22 Apr 2009 at 17:08. Reason: Spelling...Doh
Yep i'm a pirate and seem to have no problem with it.
So this statement from Microsoft means nothing huh?
These interim builds are distributed internally and to third party partner ISVs, IHVs, around the world that they use to test their products for compatibility. During this process, one of these interim versions may be leaked and end up on a torrent site where anyone can download it.
These leaked versions were never intended to be publically available and are only meant to be used for the specific testing scenarios that I mentioned before.
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