My Version is not Genuine, its just to expensive! I still have to patch it though, You?
The last Genuine Version of Windows I have used was Windows 98, Or was it 2000, I dont remmember!

I got one Windows 2000 Professional copy with my PC (OEM version). Now I'm using MSDN AA copies - I have access to genuine copies of all supported MS Systems.

Nope. My win 7 is just a cracked version of the 7600 rtm released when that surfaced. Reason is because I didn't want to end up with 2 oem copies of windows for one pc as I had to replace hardware in this pc and it was too much for it to be ok with vista plus I wanted to goto 7.

Then why did you vote yes? you can revote?

on 3 Computers is Genuine (OEM all) and my first one from 2004 not (XP Pro.) and my very old one (Win 98 SE)

VMs: Nope, not one of them
Physical machines: Yes, all of them.

No my main computer is not genuine. But the family computer is with Windows XP and my mothers school laptop as she is a teacher. I dont see the point of wasting money, when you can get it for free, and it works perfectly fine most of the time. If i have the money though, say for a new game i will buy it. Its esier than trying to get it working illegally.

I hope you don't expect to get paid for your work.

FAIL. I never actually voted because its showing that I haven't so ill vote now but someone else must have voted yes and not posted.

No, i dont. But i would rather spend my money on other things than spending thousands of dollars swapping all my software to make it legitimate, when it works fine the way it is and i can use it as many times as i want. Not just 1-5times, then having to buy another licence.

I agreed with Ambig, I hope your first 5 works are paid, the rest are for free.

You can use your Windows license as many times as you want. But there are limitations in transferability within licenses. It all boils down to you not wanting to dish out money. If you expect to be paid, why not MS? It's total hypocrisy. The software is obviously of value to you, or you wouldn't be using it. And with Vista/7, changing the key is very easy.

I mean, we're not talking about beta software, which MS doesn't sell and expect to earn them money. Software that is often riddled with bugs and used often times as something to mess around with and experiment. We're talking about retail software that a company sells to make money from.

Regardless of how you obtain the software, whether it's just a copy from someone else, physical or downloaded, it affects the company the same way that stealing does. While it's not a "loss" of money in a physical sense, it is a loss of a sale. They still invest millions, perhaps billions, of dollars into R&D. And a person who downloads a copy of the software illegally is in effect a loss sale, while you still get to use their software that they created. They could lower the price to something that is "cheap" or "reasonable," like 30 bucks, and there would still be people with the same "why pay when I can get it for free attitude." It's pretty sad when people think they have some unearned entitlement to get free software, just because they don't feel like paying and they want or need it. That if you want or need a piece of software, and if the price doesn't agree with you, then you'll simply get it for free.

I find it sad when I see college students do this, when often time the software can be obtained legally for a low price, and in some cases, for free.

It's because of the attitude that is found in many (not all) people who crack software, that companies are getting more and more stringent with their anti-piracy techniques, often putting more burden on the honest users. Now, I could blame the companies and just say, "hey, they're fighting a losing battle," but that's not realistic. No, I'll blame the pirates.

Thank you for making software ownership more cumbersome and more complicated. Thank you for forcing companies to impose those very same activation limits that you yourself complain about (after all, it is because of people like yourself that we even have activation limits). Thank you for causing prices to increase, as the R&D spent on anti-piracy measures gets passed to us, the people who actually buy the software.

Sincerely,

[censored] Off Consumer who hopes that MS and other companies will hunt down pirates and financially ruin you for the rest of your life, as well as someone who's tired of the self-entitled attitude that's found throughout the Internet.

As long as companies take a passive role against pirates, nothing will ever get done. Those who pirate will continue to use the software for free, with the only risk being malware, while people with legitimate licenses get screwed.

I used to pirate all the stuff all the time (peaked was when I was in uni-downloading stuff over dialup... way long time ago.)

Now, the stuff that goes into my physical machines is all original (plus the disks too!) but my VM stuff is pirated, except for XP (which uses my MSDN key) because I got tired of patching XP.

I have Vista Professional SP2 cracked because my dad bought a DELL laptop but since it's not the same hardware as my DELL, It asks for activation ;P

All my copies of windows are genuine exept for NT 4 and ME. I even have a COA for Windows 3.1.

Im more of a pirate before you buy .. i had a pirate version of vista for a few months to see how it was .. then i got a legal copy from MS

i've got 2 genuine vista ultimate upgrade licenses, and a [censored] of genuine keys from my technet account .

Well, in a way.

I'm using a pirated copy of 7, but I own a legal license for it (one key for both x86/x64, Microsoft gave it to my dad for completing Microsoft Silver Certification)

Windows XP, illegal (Microsoft even knows this, as I wasnt able to get WMP11, no complains here, more the excuse to get iTunes
Windows Server 2003, illegal (Never use it, it was basically for Hiroshima and EABG (before the move))
Codename: Hiroshima, legal (I'm the creator [censored], It's legal (somewhat))

Awesome. Very well said. Both my Vista Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Premium are both legal. It's the honest and responsible thing to do. I hope when people become more mature, they will realize the importance of honesty and integrity (this applies to purchasing software as well).

Indeed, when you can afford a software.
Why would you want to pirate it? Just buy it!

I have a Genuine copy of Windows Vista Home Premium.My previous PC wasn t Genuine tbh.

I need the option of Yes and No!

Wasn't the option of Yes and No were there for you to vote?

But i cant afford all my software, thats the only reason i use pirated sofware. Although you (Ambig) are having a go at me. Many people pirate, not just me, i dont get all the stuff my self ,half them time i get it off other people, a few of them are even on BA, not mentioning any names. When i can use legal software, i do. I only use a small amount of pirated software. Mainly my OS (on a few computers) and the rest is legit. Other than my movies and tv shows, which half of are dvd rips as backups ( i tend to loose or scratch disks lots). No i dont get any software as you call FREE or CHEAP, i pay the full price liek everyone else, and when you dont have a fultime job its hard to pay for everything. Also i dont make the cracks or illegal keys for any software i do use, so i can not be blamed for that. Lastly im sure more than half of BA uses illegal illegal keys and cracks for Betas as they are not supplied with the betas and the software is not out to the public legally. Its leaked, therefore illegal. I do try. More than 90% of my games are legitimate because its easier to buy them then find a crack to make them work and other problems like de-activating them and half the time it not working.

I dont have to explain myself to you. Its not just me, many others do it, im sure even you have at one stage.

I have a suspicious looking Windows Millenium Edition CD-ROM, which I purchased a few years ago. It came in a Case Logic envelope, with a photocopy of the back of the Windows Millenium Edition packaging. This photocopy was made of some kind of weird glossy paper, though I'm not sure where I put it. Inside it was a CD-ROM labeled as "Windows M/E True Retail", even though it contained an OEM copy. To me, it looks very fake (and probably one of the worst scams I've seen, not even a very convincing one at that).