Some of this was pretty explicit and pretty well documented. In the late nineties, Microsoft strategically encouraged piracy in many developing countries, to de

Some of this was pretty explicit and pretty well documented. In the late nineties, Microsoft strategically encouraged piracy in many developing countries, to develop lock-in. This wasn't just comfort; once a country has infrastructure built around Windows, from scripts, to data formats, to workforce skills, to everything else, it's almost impossible to switch off. At the time, the plan was to crack down once countries developed a little bit and could afford to pay. Indeed, many years later, Microsoft then cracked down on piracy when countries reached middle income. I'm not familiar with Microsoft to know if that was intentional follow-though on the original strategy, or coincidental. By the time the crackdown happened, Microsoft was a very different (and much less strategic) company with different people. In either case, they came out way ahead for it.