MS allows Pirate copies of Windows to upgrade to 10

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh Matey! This be good news! Even if you own a pirate version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1, you can still get a LEGAL copy of Windows 10. This has been confirmed by MS and this is a very smart strategy to battle piracy!

So far this is was announced in a press event in China

"We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10," he said in a telephone interview with Reuters. The plan is to "re-engage" with the hundreds of millions of users of Windows in China, he said, without elaboration.

Link

ITS A TRAP lol.

Convincing pirated copy person to buy windows 10. <----That's what they are thinking. Ironic though, I figured those folks would just just pirate windows 10 as well.

That's interesting. I wonder...

I have enough parts left over from a recent upgrade that I could actually build an entire another PC (albeit at lower specs to my main machine). The only thing I don't have for the theoretical machine is a Windows license (as I reactivated and tied it to the newer machine). Is it possible that an unauthenticated (but legit) versions of Windows could be upgraded to an authenticated version of Windows 10 because of this?

I read this yesterday and I made a little research over the web. Rumors saying that Microsoft is going to do this worldwide.

Why Microsoft would offer free upgrade to people with pirated windows?

1st, most people that have pirated windows don't know it. So in the end this becomes a very unpleasunt situation for the customer that Microsoft wants to avoid.

2nd (and I believe the real reason why Microsoft doing this). Microsoft expects to earn more from people that will use their app store and their programmes like office etc etc. With analysts saying that the pirated Windows are 75% of total Windows OS (this number might be even bigger at China) their appstore potential customers will grow 300%.

3rd, Microsoft said that no matter what they do, pirates always crack their products so there is no point doing this...

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Now the real question is what happens to people that paid for Windows 7, 8, 8.1?

edit: From PCPerspective:

At WinHEC today Microsoft announced that any eligible version of Windows running on hardware compatible with Windows 10 can also upgrade to a new and fully licensed version of Windows 10 when it is released.

Also from the source:

Update: 03/18 14:59 GMT by S: Microsoft has clarified that the free upgrade will be offered for unlicensed copies of Windows worldwide, not just in China.

ps: Well at least after this, pc gaming will become cheaper...

why pirate something free to begin with?

I think I found the catch:

Microsoft says free Windows 10 upgrades for pirates will be ‘non-genuine’ and unsupported, stays mum on security

When Microsoft confirmed it will offer free Windows 10 upgrades to pirates worldwide, many were shocked. VentureBeat has been trying to get more details from the company, which disclosed today that after PCs with pirated copies of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are upgraded to Windows 10, they will remain in a “non-genuine” status and Microsoft will not support them.

“With Windows 10, although non-genuine PCs may be able to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade will not change the genuine state of the license,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “Non-genuine Windows is not published by Microsoft. It is not properly licensed or supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. If a device was considered non-genuine or mislicensed prior to the upgrade, that device will continue to be considered non-genuine or mislicensed after the upgrade. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including Non-genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud — identity theft, credit card theft, etc. — public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions.”

Yet this doesn’t provide enough answers. After a pirate upgrades to Windows 10 for free, does this “non-genuine” version expire and become unusable after a certain period of time? Does no support mean no security updates for pirates?

Microsoft declined to answer both these questions. The company did, however, explain that it will have a system in place to get these pirates to address their “non-genuine” status.

“We will provide a mechanism for non-genuine Windows 10 PC devices to ‘get genuine’ via the new Windows Store, whether they are upgraded versions of Windows or purchased,” a Micrososft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “We will have details on this as we get closer to launch.”

It’s worth looking at how existing Windows versions expire when they’re in non-genuine status. The Genuine Windows FAQ says the following happens after 30 days:

Until you correct the issue, you’ll receive periodic reminders that Windows is not genuine. In addition, to more clearly display these messages, your desktop might turn black. You can reset it, but every 60 minutes, it will return to black until the issue is resolved.

This is called Reduced Functional mode, and it basically means your computer turns off every hour. Microsoft will, however, let you squeeze in security updates during this limited time frame:

Regardless of genuine status, you’ll still be able to get critical security updates. However, if your copy of Windows isn’t genuine, you won’t be able to install many updates that are exclusively for genuine Windows customers, including Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft strongly recommends that you get genuine Microsoft software immediately to help ensure a safer computing experience.

In short, Windows eventually becomes unusable (unless you are perfectly happy with using your computer in less than 60 minute increments), though it will continue to get security updates. This only applies to the latest versions of Microsoft’s operating system (Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.x).

Windows 10 could end up behaving differently in terms of expiry and security updates. Microsoft has experimented with various solutions over the years, and while the company is clearly interested in a different approach, it isn’t yet ready to share everything.

The direction Microsoft chooses to go will not just affect its bottom line and pirates but other Windows 10 users as well. Getting more users onto the latest operating system is great, but it’s useless if they’re not getting security updates. This is something Microsoft has struggled with for years, and the company underlines the problems at the end of the first statement above: “Use of pirated software, including non-genuine Windows, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud — identity theft, credit card theft, etc. — public exposure of your personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions.”

Piracy hurts the Windows ecosystem as a whole. Yet the decision is not a simple one.

If Microsoft gives pirates a free upgrade with no strings attached, like it is doing for genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users, it will likely face some backlash from paying customers. But if Microsoft locks pirates out of a critical part of Windows 10, they will simply revert to circumventing the “non-genuine” status, just like with previous versions of Windows.

LOL i didn't recognize the upgrade was free.

It has to do with china because 2/3 of windows is pirated, funny tho coming form a country that basically stealing out production work from us is the most pirated country, but yet no big companies like apple and Microsoft don't say anything about the piracy or counterfeit or try to do anything about it in china, why coz its cheap labour and if they complain china has a cry about it.

Huh? How can you have Windows on your machine and not know it's pirated?

Well you and me and many other people in the forum here, can understand if its pirated or not, but most people can't.

Most people just know that by pressing a button can surf the internet, play games, use office etc etc... And they don't care about the rest.

The reasons that I wrote is what Microsoft reported and not my thoughts.

Good on them, finally the corporate world is virtually admitting that piracy isn't nearly as dangerous as the propaganda they release says.

They're planning something...

You do realize that pretty much all computers in Hong Kong run on just a few hundred copies in total of Windows ? And that China being a place with close to zero IPPR has all of its computers run on just several thousand copies or so...

This piece of news for China I would just evaluate as "yes, well, since you're all d!cks over there hiding behind your government and such, we've jsut decided to stop caring about your versions of Windows OS". Honestly, I wouldn't blame them ... that "market", as well as HK's are a nightmare for digital products. There are some small fees that seem to flow to cover for the full price of a licensed copy of Windows, but that's another topic.

i think it actually is a trap. They likely will have windows 10 full of monitoring apps and key logging software that they will use to spy on and steal information from.

Didn't the Windows 10 preview already have some type of keylogger or something built into it so microsoft could monitor what people were using it for? Its the main reason i never bothered trying it because i didn't want any of my banking or credit info being stolen from a rogue microsoft employee.

Its all likely the US government had the NSA work with microsoft to make windows 10 filled full of stealth monitoring software to make thier job easier, and now that its "free" people will blindly go for it

And the noose tightens a bit more...

Win 7 and Win 8 supposedly has back doors to allow the traitors (NSA and who knows what else) in. It may well be far past too late.