vincevincevince - 12:35 am on Oct 18, 2006 (gmt 0)

If the pirate clears off to some other platform, MS is no worse off.

If it had not been for piracy of Microsoft software they would have a much lower market share today. Microsoft has needed piracy at the bottom-feeder level to engender monopoly at all the higher levels.

Personally I don't see piracy as bad if there are no free alternatives, but once there is a free and workable alternative (e.g. linux) then there is no excuse for piracy to continue.

Transfering software between machines is just another thing which is going to make owning Microsoft software harder. With XP today a legitimate owner has to go through a complex activation process which involves either an internet connection or a phone call (there is no fully disconnected activation process).

Compare that to a pirated copy which can be fully activated with a couple of clicks, or compare it to other operating systems which install and then run, no fuss.