Only 75 cents???

MasterAkumaMatata

Established Member
According to the inquirer, Microsoft is unable to contain XP piracy in Asia.

According to our informant, the price of XP Pro, with serial and cracked activation, all self-installing is 75 cents US.

Office XP, Windows XP Pro, and with Plus bundled on six CDs and multiple language packs costs a mere $2 US
. The counterfeit packaging on this picture says that it is the Chinese version, but actually it is the English version with a Chinese language pack which can then be used with either language.
####, that's cheap. :shocked:
 
Eather way, microsoft is just getting what they deserve. Did you know that xp doesn't have dos, only an emulated version? Im sticking to win98 2nd edition myself.
 
Windows hasn't had "dos" since Win 2k...

Before that NT didn't have "dos" for any version.
 
Yea, but the differance is that now the OS has been changed from 16 bit to 32 bit, and its backwards compatability has been jeperdised (I know I spelled that wrong) because of that.
 
Well I still its BS how Microsoft wont allow you to put one copy of XP on two different systems, but then again XP aint all that great anyways
 
WinME doesn't have real mode DOS without a patch either. Never been an issue for me. The DOS emu works fine for my purposes as I don't often play DOS/Win 3.1 era games.

The thing about WinXP that I don't like is the security stuff. I don't mind buying something at retail prices, but after I've paid my hard earned [or stolen] cash I don't want nobody saying how I can use it, e.g. if I wanna put it on both of my PCs I'm not gonna pay for another license. Some may call that piracy, but I don't give a ####. Unless someone figures out a way to crack the security checks I'll never use XP on my shit.

To the Asian piracy issues... who cares? I doubt they'd sell anything close to the number of the pirated discs in a retail version anyway. IMHO "piracy" helps promote products. Look at PSX. The easiest shit to "pirate" ever, and it sold in huge numbers - both systems AND games. I know people who bought PSXs just because they could copy rental games [the guys I know never would have bought PSXs if they had to pay retail prices for games], but some people with pirate ideals will and do buy stuff all the time.

In other words... live long and prosper you crazy Asian pirate boyz. ;)
 
I was also reading that XP has some fees that go to MS when you use certain features. I can't remember the details, but there's what people are calling an "MS Tax" for when a customer wants to submit their dig pics to an online photo store to get them professionally printed. A few cents for every order goes to MS just because they used their software to do it. And there was a huge complaint from Kodak about how their software wasn't as obvious to use and make the default. Things like this really piss me off. Since MS got called out by the DOJ I've felt less and less hatred for them, but they're still pulling crap all the time. *Sigh*.. at least they have the old style Sidewinder pads back out in USB. Woo?

As for the no DOS. That's one reason I didn't get ME (aside from the other horrible things I heard about it). I like to have a simple OS that I can use to (try) and fix things when Windows messes up. Besides, my Win98 install works fine, why take chances with a new OS when what I have works fine?
 
The only things I don't like about ME are the default settings [esp System Restore] and the large install. Otherwise it's better for me than 98SE in every way.
 
I doubt that MS will ever be able to use "enforcement" efforts to eliminate the sort of ubiquitous piracy that happens in these regions, especially the poorer ones. I'd also bet that the Chinese government wouldn't be too happy having a huge American company telling them how to run things...

MS could probably put huge dents in piracy if they sold their products for comparable prices, such as charging $1 for a full retail XP rather than whatever they do charge (probably at least $100). However, vast differences in regional prices would probably open up a Pandora's Box of potential loopholes that would allow people worldwide to just legally buy a cheap version for $5 or so... In theory, MS might combat this by withholding added value such as free support. Of course, that would require them to add some value to begin with...
 
lol... i've seen that piracy first hand... there is this local PC store I goto, and they sell full versions of XP cracked for a mere 39 cents... buy any 2 items, get xp free :D!! I haven't gotten any, though, because I hear it sucks ass, plus I use dos a hella lot. I didn't know you couldn't put it on 2 pc's... thats gay... oh well, I'll stick with mandrake and Win98 SE
 
they charge 250 for a full retail version, Ex.

fucking ridiculous.

the 75 cents are much closer to the actual value.. considering about half the people who got it, be it copy or original, can't even install it cause the install is totally fucked up.
 
Well I'm getting my copy tday so i hope to prove you all wrong... probably won't happen... considering I'm on ME at the mo and it works fine.. except for a few Direct X games... Theme Hospital... Sheepdog & Wolf... apart from that (and the dos emulation which is easy to fix!) its fine. XP looks so sweet too.

I like Microsoft and I may not like their new ideas but you can't complain cos there are ways around everything!


:cool:
 
Actually I'm using XP and I think it's great. Well, as far as M$ goes that is. The compatibility with 9x apps and games is way better than 2000 was. Every Windows program I've tried so far works. The only real downfall is the lack of real DOS, but there really isn't anything that can be done about that.

In case it's not clear from other posts. Windows ME does have real DOS, it's just hidden and not used in the same way it was for 95/98/98SE. If you have a DOS program that worked in ME don't assume it'll work in XP. Some DOS stuff does work(very little), but don't expect any sound for games or anything like that. XP DOS support is minimal at best where as ME had full DOS support if you fooled around with it enough.

BTW, I picked up XP cause it came with so much free stuff at Circuit City(free Palm Pilot!) but I have a pirated copy anyway to install on other machines and just cause the legal setup is a pain in the ass. Hopefully M$ learns from this. I think a lot of people are rejecting the OS because of the crappy licensing process. If you can get a pirated copy or lots of free stuff, I say go for it, it's a much better OS than 98 or ME unless you really use a lot of DOS stuff.
 
From the perspective of somebody who loves to tinker around with computer hardware, it's no joke that MS OS's accumulate a world full of useless software complications from edition to edition. Sure, for Commanda and a few others here, there are only a few non-vital programs that won't run. But for a guy like me, it'll be all of my old hardware that won't get XP support from MS or even the companies who made them for at least a year. My bro has XP, and he can't use his $150 sidewinder yet (and that IS MS). It usually takes only a few months for something like that, but for the old AMD systems and my darling unstable video cards, which are only stable after months of tinkering, XP is just a disaster waiting to happen. I have an exampe or two that came about with '98 when I first got it, but thanks to some industrious programmers in Germany with plenty of time on their hands, I found working drivers for my rusty old computer parts.

I just don't see the point... there are as many pains in the ass as improvements. '98 works perfectly, and it's not like Microsoft is going to loosen its grip on the balls of the computer industry when you all rush out and buy from good old Gates. I'd rather keep with the MS OS's I bought in my years of ignorance, and wait for AOL to merge with Microsoft and insert computer chips in my brain, and monitor what comes out of my ass.
 
I dunno why people complain about lack of compatibility in win2k. I have not had a single game, program, emulator or even dos utility (minus dos games, but that's identical in XP) fail to work. none. they all work as good or better than in win98 here.
 
got xp running last night... sweet!!

everything runs really well (better than ME except for dos stuff!). Oh and by the way my computers no a spring chicken either the newest this in it is my graphics card which is a tnt 2 everything else is older and works... with some tinkering of course.
other17.gif


Bill has done it again (I'll leave IT to your personal discresion.... oh crap i can't spell t'day)
 
Bah... I won't even try to encourage people to fight for their rights any more.

Enjoy XP... if it's better than '98 or ME, and you have the money, I can understand.

(secretly, i'll continue hoping that Gates monitors all your pirated software with XP and has you jailed or fined) hehehe...

just kidding.
 
Quote: from Arakon on 8:06 pm on Nov. 6, 2001

I dunno why people complain about lack of compatibility in win2k. I have not had a single game, program, emulator or even dos utility (minus dos games, but that's identical in XP) fail to work. none. they all work as good or better than in win98 here.


You're quite lucky then. Everyone I know that has tried Win2K has had at least one thing not work. Sound cards, video cards, DVD drives... Some of them found work arounds, some didn't. Guess there's a bit of luck involved.
 
the only things ive had not work on wink 2k was a parallel port scanner (which is currently connected to an old 98se system) and a crappy s3 agp video card, which i got in a box of junk for £1

everythign else ive had has worked fine, and with the advantage of the machine not crashing every few hours on top of that, also not having to reinstall the os since janurary(when i installed it last) is nice, compared to 98's 2- 3 month time before the #### thing screws itself up
 
hey y does everyones version of 2000 not crash ... mine did all the time so i went back to 98 until xp came out... its mostly fine now and only crashes cos I have a new 'screwed' motherboard

need to get that replaced.. and get an athalon while I'm at it...
 
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