Just wondering how many people have a legit/bootleg copy. The price of the OS, I think it should be a bit cheaper and bootlegging might not be so common. I realise those who download torrents and what not will always... but perhaps some others would rather buy a copy and have the support/no issues rather than save a few hundred bucks and deal with the problems.

I will never touch a bootleg or Illegal copy of an OS, its bad enough people can do damage to your computer with smaller downloads, but to download and run an OS that most likely has nasty surprises in it. I might as well just private information to them right now.

Well if you know what your doing and where its coming from you can usually pull it off. You definitely should stay away from torrents, and Im not going to explain where or how I managed to score a bootleg. I know its wrong and I want to buy a legit copy soon. But scene rips is where to be at, as they will and should not have virus's unless altered somewhere down the line depending how quick/early you get them.

But I wouldn't suggest downloading off shady sites or torrents (wouldn't suggest downloading in any illegal form). Often if it has a .nfo and .svf with about files at 14megs you can supect it is a scene rip and good to go. Other iso's/que's ect I would stay away from always.

Hopefully, you don't bootleg or have bootlegs and I wouldn't recommend downloading anything illegal. If you do download the software illegally and you do like it, buy the software and dispose of the bootleg copy. If you don't like it, just dispose of the bootleg copy.

Support software developers.

First of all, how do you not have a legal copy of XP? Like every computer in the past three or four years come with a legal version of XP. Plus, if you want a free OS get Linux. As for the price comment, OS's take years to create, develop, and research. This means it costs a very large sum of money to create it and then maintain it. This forces companies to sell the OS's at a high cost. If they did not, the company would not be profitable at all and that means no one would invest in it and the company would fail. If you do not like this fact, you can always go open source and get a free os. The price does not cause more pirated software, people who do not realize how much work goes into an os are the ones that are too naive and thus try to cheat the system.

I have an OEM copy of Windows XP. Even if it didn't come with the computer, I would have bought the retail version. With the Windows Genuine Advantage, Windows Activation, and other stuff like that, it seems that an illegal copy would be too much hassle. Not only that, illegal copies are obviously illegal, and I really don't want to get into trouble.

I have 2 operating systems winxp and winVista
WinXP is genuine, but my version of winVista is somewhat half genuine half not genuine.

Linux is free, comes in all sorts of flavors, and has a large community of developers and users who are willing to help with support, troubleshooting, et cetera. So if you can't afford Windows, you can always afford Linux. And if you don't want to use Linux, you can use a library computer.

There is no good excuse to steal from somebody else. Period. Just because some people hate Microsoft and can't stand the high prices does not mean that it is okay to rip off the developers, programmers, et cetera who put their time and effort into creating the software. Yes, Bill Gates has a stranglehold on the market. No, he won't notice if you rip off just one little copy of his operating system. But the software belongs to him, so he deserves whatever he can get for it.

There are alternatives to piracy. I just mentioned Linux as one of them. You can also use a public/school computer, work to save up your money until you can buy Windows, see if your school or workplace offers some sort of discount on legit copies (my school does that with Microsoft programs), et cetera.

Besides: the excuse of "It's so expensive" doesn't really fly with me when I meet people who will rip off the OS...and also rip off a five-dollar card game because they can get away with it. SUUUUURE the price is a factor in that choice.

Well, I am using an OEM Windows Vista that came with my laptop. And also, the Windows XP I have installed is also an OEM version.

I used to have a pirated version which I downloaded from internet but I found out that Microsoft wont allow me to install and enjoy most of their Windows updates, so I had to get an OEM version to install and use. It doesn't require activation on my HP Compaq Laptop.