3 ms·
I recently acquired a Mac Book Pro. There was precisely one Windows program I wanted to run on it (SuperMemo) under Parallels, which received good reviews. Rath
by erdos2 20y ago
I recently acquired a Mac Book Pro. There was precisely one Windows program I wanted to run on it (SuperMemo) under Parallels, which received good reviews. Rather than wait to purchase a copy of Windows from the local CompUSA, I used an OEM copy of Windows from a defenestrated a DELL box (I replaced Windows with Debian). After installing XP as a guest OS under Parallels, I activated XP online by purchasing a product key through the Genuine Advantage program.
But that wasn't good enough for Microsoft. Microsoft informed me in their emailed order acknowledgment that I was some kind of felon: "To convert your counterfeit Windows XP software to a genuine copy of Windows XP using the new Product Key, you will need to download and run the Windows Product Key Update Tool on the same computer you used to purchase the electronic license for Windows XP."
The following week I received in the mail a Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP Professional; it contained a letter asserting that I had "submitted a counterfeit report" with my order, and that this report would be "treated as confidential." Moreover, "...Microsoft's anti-piracy team investigates each and every lead we receive. Since investigations are ongoing and extremely confidential, we are unable to provide you with the status of the particular lead you have submitted. The length of time to bring about enforcements varies depending on the nature of a particular investigation."
Hateful monsters! Frightful miscreants! I suppose I deserve this for having anything to do with Windows.
- grauenwolf 20y agoTechnically it isn't a legit copy of Windows. OEM versions are usually tied to the computer they are originally sold with. Personally I don't think it is fair, but that's how licensing works under a monopoly. Jonathan Allen
- BitGeek 20y agoTied how? Certainly not legally. When you buy the computer you buy a license... no court would uphold charging people for something and not letting them have it. The "shrinkwrapped" license agreements are not really enforcable... at least not in a legitimate (eg: competant) court.
- fishcar22 19y agoActually yes legally. You never buy the software. You are always buying the right to use the software under a set of circumstances. OEM Licenses are licenses sold under the basis of being tied to a single physical piece of hardware.
- Goladus 20y agoThe language makes it sound more like they are going after people who mass-produce illegal copies of windows.
- linuxiac 20y agoThat is how convicted felons think, everyone else is a felon, or is going to be one! But, yep, you now deserve this for having anything to do with multiple convicted felon and pirate Microsoft. Nobody of integrity openly deals with convicted felons, for the taint will corrupt our customer trust. We all switched a decade ago. Where were you? Well, never too late!