4 ms·

You could probably find this info in the trade press like InfoWorld, but yes, Microsoft was essentially giving-away Windows to get it catch on. 3rd party ISVs a

by flomo 8y ago

You could probably find this info in the trade press like InfoWorld, but yes, Microsoft was essentially giving-away Windows to get it catch on. 3rd party ISVs also used "runtime Windows", and you could get a full copy free with a MS mouse, or Visual Basic, or etcetera. You could also give copies to all your friends and coworkers, there was no copy-protection, and the software police didn't mind. Didn't really catch on until Windows 3 however.

digi_owl 8y ago
I seem to recall reading that MS only started doing the activation thing in XP because the BSA threatened to throw them out. Frankly MS has held that it is better, for them, that the public pirate MS software than switch to alternatives. Also, private usage of MS software is seem by them as a sales pitch towards businesses. It allows MS to argue that potential employees already knows basic operations, so there is less required training for new hires.
- mwcampbell 8y ago
  > I seem to recall reading that MS only started doing the activation thing in XP because the BSA threatened to throw them out. I don't buy it. Microsoft was so huge that I don't see why they would care about the BSA. It seems more likely that product activation really has helped Microsoft make more money.
  - bitwize 8y ago
    Microsoft co-founded the BSA because the software piracy rent-a-cops of the day -- the SPA -- sided with the DoJ in the antitrust suit against Microsoft.
bitwize 8y ago
It didn't catch on until Windows 3 because Windows 3 was the first Windows version to come preinstalled on new PCs. Microsoft knew then what the Linux folks never understood -- preinstallation is key.
- ptx 8y ago
  That preinstallation is key was widely understood, which is why Microsoft structured their agreements with OEMs to make selling machines with non-Microsoft operating systems very difficult.

by flomo 8y ago

digi_owl 8y ago

I seem to recall reading that MS only started doing the activation thing in XP because the BSA threatened to throw them out. Frankly MS has held that it is better, for them, that the public pirate MS software than switch to alternatives. Also, private usage of MS software is seem by them as a sales pitch towards businesses. It allows MS to argue that potential employees already knows basic operations, so there is less required training for new hires.

mwcampbell 8y ago
> I seem to recall reading that MS only started doing the activation thing in XP because the BSA threatened to throw them out. I don't buy it. Microsoft was so huge that I don't see why they would care about the BSA. It seems more likely that product activation really has helped Microsoft make more money.
- bitwize 8y ago
  Microsoft co-founded the BSA because the software piracy rent-a-cops of the day -- the SPA -- sided with the DoJ in the antitrust suit against Microsoft.

bitwize 8y ago

It didn't catch on until Windows 3 because Windows 3 was the first Windows version to come preinstalled on new PCs. Microsoft knew then what the Linux folks never understood -- preinstallation is key.

ptx 8y ago
That preinstallation is key was widely understood, which is why Microsoft structured their agreements with OEMs to make selling machines with non-Microsoft operating systems very difficult.