Windows 7 - Continuing the Fight Against Piracy.

Yes, the variety of hardware certainly is a factor in compatibility, and that is something that should be addressed much better than it is. If there were a uniformity in hardware, software development would be much simpler, thus cheaper. In the real world, my ideas are not terribly realistic, but all sectors of the industry would have to cooperate far far more than they do. If someone could make this come about, it would solve a lot of problems, besides just the theft aspect.

Very interesting thread. It seems some of us feel they are entitled to MS O/S at the price of their choosing.

My suggestion to those folks is if you do not like the use rights MS sells you to their intellectual property then do not buy it. If the restrictions MS places on the use of its product chafes your skin, do not buy it. If it is to much money for you then do with out.

You have open source options. Why not use those exclusively? I will tell you why. Its because the open source can not compete with the software, the infratructure, the distribution system, the global compatability, produced by a industry driven by profit. Profits are good.

Why not write it yourself? You lack the skill, money, depth and ability. But you think others owe this to you as a gift.

see my sig.

What about censorship? Manhunt 2 AO is only available uncut in the US, Canada, and Mexico on DirectDrive. So I can wait if it ever comes out (not likely as its been banned and censored nearly everywhere) or get it another way in 2 hrs.

My life would be incomplete WITHOUT torrents

I have actually never torrented. Granted, for a long time I had no computer though. But with my luck, I would be the one the RIAA caught in the act....so I'm not going to start now.

What does it cost to make an OS?
What does it cost to mass produce large quantities of cd/dvd's of that?
There is huge profit in it or we wouldn't have one of the richest people in the world in charge of the company. Thanks Apple for giving us him.

It's interesting how many people(in this forum, for example) actually paid for their OS.

Hi there
Does downloading from Technet (paid subscription) count as "Paid for OS".

Cheers
jimbo

Well, with respects to my OS...I simply don't trust a pirated version of the OS running on my machine. To me, it's like buying a really crappy off-brand mobo and then plugging all state of the art components into it...a bad base just isn't going to lead to good results.

For many people, their OS's are legit because it came with the computer they purchased. While many of us here like to build our own machines...there are probably quite a large number of people who just bought an off the shelf prebuilt machine which of course came with a properly licensed and paid for operating system.

As jimbo mentioned, many around these parts have invested in a Technet subscription. For $250-$350..you get handfuls of licenses for all of the Windows desktop OS's, server OS's and Office products. For many, paying that sum of money to have legit copies and licenses for that many products is simply worth it.

For me, it's a matter or principle. I'm a fan of Linux and open source. But I also feel that Windows and commercial software has it's place. However, I don't believe that I can praise the benefits of running Microsoft Windows without having to be subject to the cost and licensing restrictions. So, for me, I have to pay the $200 or so for the OS and then find the value of doing so in order to tell others that it's a good OS. If I don't feel it's worth the $200...then I should just run something that doesn't cost $200...and there are tons of options available.