Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 23rd Jan 2007 21:17 UTC
Microsoft disclosed Monday that over one in five Windows installations were deemed non-genuine through the company's Windows Genuine Advantage program, which requires users to validate their operating system before downloading updates from the company. Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of those, the non-genuine rate was 22.3 percent. 56000 reports have been made by customers of counterfeit software, which grants that user a free replacement copy of Windows.
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Member since:2005-12-02
"strongly doubt that. I think 50% of desktop computers are probably business based, and I doubt they have higher than a 10% piracy rate (the major players just can't get away with much piracy there, and the little guys are comparatively ... little). "
I agree on the point of piracy being extremely low in business. As for the 50% of all desktop computers being business based, that I don't agree with. In most businesses each employee has 1 computer to work on, with a few exceptions. In Census records the average home in the US has 3 computers in use by the family. Those are not business desktops, but consumer desktops.
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Member since:
2005-06-29
I strongly doubt that. I think 50% of desktop computers are probably business based, and I doubt they have higher than a 10% piracy rate (the major players just can't get away with much piracy there, and the little guys are comparatively ... little).
And in the home most people buy Windows from Dell or a big box store. The little retails stores occasionally pirate and occasionally they're completely honest about their use of Windows. I happened to work in one that did the latter, and we were carefully told what you could and couldn't do with a Windows license.
Most users with the know-how to pirate make up a small percentage.
Now that's all in the US. I'd guess that US piracy is far lower than 22%. Maybe places where you can actually purchase pirated copies (from a distributor, not your friend) have a higher rate? But I bet a lot of those computers never get online!