Thursday, December 6th 2007

Vista Counterfeit Rate Claimed to be Half That of XP

Despite Microsoft initially blaming disappointing sales figures on software pirates, the company's Vice President of Windows Product Marketing, Michael Sievert, has now claimed that the piracy rate for Windows Vista is actually half that of XP. In an interview, he said:
While piracy rates are hard to measure precisely, we're seeing indications from internal metrics, like WGA validation failures, that the Windows Vista piracy rate is less than half that of Windows XP today.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is putting this down to the fact that Vista is harder to counterfeit. However, some analysts are suggesting that it may be linked to the fact that even pirates expect a stable operating system, and perhaps they choose to use Windows XP over Vista for reasons such as that rather than because they lack the means to pirate it. Of course, another explanation could be that software pirates have actually found a way to counterfeit Windows without being detected, which would also account for the lower rate of WGA validation failures.
Source: DailyTech
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28 Comments on Vista Counterfeit Rate Claimed to be Half That of XP

#1
Basard
Yeah, I saw the title, and thought to myself... "why would you want to pirate this?"

Microsoft's new anti-piracy plan--Just make something nobody wants to pirate.
Posted on Reply
#2
DanielF50
BasardYeah, I saw the title, and thought to myself... "why would you want to pirate this?"

Microsoft's new anti-piracy plan--Just make something nobody wants to pirate.
You are correct Sir!

I thought exactly the same,

Why would any WANT Vista? I had it, returned it, went back to XP, I got about -20-50 fps less on Vista on most games compared to XP...

Microsoft! its not that its harder to pirate!, its that Vista is crap compared to XP!!! ¬_¬

Daniel
Posted on Reply
#3
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
It's sale rates are half that of XP too.
Posted on Reply
#4
[I.R.A]_FBi
my actual thoughts why pirate sh88 when u can pirate chocolate?
Posted on Reply
#5
WhiteLotus
the demand for vista isnt as high as xp - so why would pirates pirate something nobody wants?
Posted on Reply
#6
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
WhiteLotusthe demand for vista isnt as high as xp - so why would pirates pirate something nobody wants?
well seeing as i am a pirate & I have pirated the Vista ship for like less then a day to see what it was like....full install, games, firewall & my apps etc in the end I tought it was pretty w4nk so went back to XP
Posted on Reply
#7
bigboi86
A lot of people hate on vista... but I enjoy the GUI, and even some of it's features. I have had no lag in games because of vista, there might be a 5-6fps difference if I were to test it but I haven't seen any difference noticeably, and that's what matters.

It runs fluid like XP did. Has a better GUI(big thing for me), and ALL my applications work on it flawlessly.

The ONLY thing that gets to me about Vista is I have to disable driver signing each time I boot the machine up if I want to overclock my graphics card.
Posted on Reply
#8
Kreij
Senior Monkey Moderator
bigboi86The ONLY thing that gets to me about Vista is I have to disable driver signing each time I boot the machine up if I want to overclock my graphics card.
Did you try opening a console window and typing;
"bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS"

I do not have to disable it each time in 32bit Ultimate and it is supposed to work in 64bit also.
Posted on Reply
#9
mandelore
i really find it pathetic all this vista bashing. cmon u grumps, i am a crazy assed gamer and overclocker as you well know, and I use vista, its great. so stop yer whining, accept its here, in use and people like it. i couldnt go back to xp, I like vistas gui too much, the functionality etc.. games dont suffer at all. I should know, i bleedin play em
Posted on Reply
#10
Hawk1
^^^ What he said. I like Vista and the only issue I had was with my xfi card, although I have yet to try the new driver (this weekend).
Posted on Reply
#11
mdm-adph
KreijDid you try opening a console window and typing;
"bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS"

I do not have to disable it each time in 32bit Ultimate and it is supposed to work in 64bit also.
...and yet I'm constantly hearing about how Windows is so much better than Linux because you "never have to go to a command line"... :p
Posted on Reply
#12
trog100
how much anything is pirated is a direct indication of how much its wanted.. nothing else..

trog
Posted on Reply
#13
Ser-J
Vista sucks, and yes i use vista on my laptop because I have no other option, cant go back to XP, cause no drivers for it......... I don't even know when i will switch my tower to Vista.
Posted on Reply
#14
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
i had a pirated copy of vista installed and after 2 days i uninstalled it and went by to XP. when i was running vista i turned all the gui shit off and it looked like windows 2000 which made me happy. currently i am running ubuntu because my x1800xt is seeing its last days.
Posted on Reply
#15
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
I see all kinds of Vista Copies out there that work.
Posted on Reply
#17
Ravenas
I like Vista, but it's really not enough to make me like it more than XP. I thought that overall, XP was just a great and solid operating system. I have no qualms against Vista, I'm just fan of Mac and XP.

I can understand the amount of piracy that's happening with Vista though (even though it's less than XP and it's harder to pirate)...The product itself isn't worth the price in my opinion. Granted, this is coming from a college student who doesn't have a huge surplus of money. Either way though, I don't think Vista is worth the price, but that's Microsoft for you.

:toast:
Posted on Reply
#18
Conti027
i like Vista and i pirated mine but i would never back to XP had way to many problems with it and Vista works great and i i dont think i lose any fps but it doesnt matter cause i can play anything
Posted on Reply
#19
strick94u
Ha Micro center sell vist home premium(oem) for 70 buck with a hardware purchase and have a shopping cart full of the packages and nobodys even trying to steal it xp is 99 and locked up in a display case:laugh:
Posted on Reply
#20
mandelore
TheGuruStudpro-vista = noob

End Of Story:laugh:
How childish, because I like Vista your calling me a noob?

Thats pretty pathetic, how sad. You just show yourself up as a nooblet, for I am certainly not.

:slap:
Posted on Reply
#21
Spunky
TheGuruStudpro-vista = noob

End Of Story:laugh:
No, you = noob. A lot of people having problems are simply idiots. I haven't had a single crash under Vista since I bought it. Why? Because I know how to fucking research. I read about all of the problems with Vista before I went out and bought the damn thing, so I knew exactly what to expect.
Posted on Reply
#22
Wile E
Power User
Add another person who's only problems with Vista were caused by operator error, in all but one instance. That one instance was a Cat release that caused a BSOD on boot. Not Vista's fault either.
Posted on Reply
#23
Luke
I like vista it works great on my system the only time I have crashed is when I over clocked to far. Vista Is good if you ask me. My system seams to work better with vista. Vista is the way of the future accept it.
Posted on Reply
#24
rogcaw82
Vista 32 works for me. Features are good. gaming is good
Posted on Reply
#25
Random Murderer
The Anti-Midas
Jimmy 2004Of course, another explanation could be that software pirates have actually found a way to counterfeit Windows without being detected, which would also account for the lower rate of WGA validation failures.
this is exactly what is happening. i know my "borrowed" copy passes ALL the validation tests as though i had bought it, and i didn't even need to activate or put in a s/n during install ;)
Posted on Reply
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