Vista pirated half as much as XP, Microsoft rejoices

While it admits it's not possible to pin down an exact number, Microsoft has let out word today that it estimates the counterfeit rate of Vista to be about half that of XP, a figure that it seems to be more than pleased with. Of course, one could interpret those numbers in slightly less positive ways, but Microsoft claims the sharp dip in piracy is due to Vista's amped up authentication system, which it says is a "proven and effective way to combat piracy." To come up with the numbers, Microsoft apparently relied statistics based on Windows Genuine Advantage validation failures, as well as other unspecified internal data. As TG Daily notes, all this follows Microsoft's announcement of revised anti-piracy measures in Vista SP1 and, specifically, some big changes to the aforementioned WGA feature.

[Shandooga @ Jan 30th 2008 9:48AM]

I'm going to take from this that Vista is half as desirable as XP.

[Jack Straw @ Feb 8th 2008 5:21PM]

Who wants to pirate an OS that SUCKS

[Jack Straw @ Feb 8th 2008 5:31PM]

Who wants to pirate an OS that SUCKS

[ch. @ Apr 7th 2008 2:29AM]

vista is just an ad/campaign for XP. have you noticed how many XP bashers started to praise it after vista came out?

[rex rudi @ Apr 25th 2008 9:12PM]

I wouldn`t use Vista even if they payed me.... Now I use OSX Leopard and my 4 core cpu is used fully for the first time, long live hackintosh.

[Eduardo Valencia @ May 1st 2008 12:09PM]

lol i have Windows Vista ultimate,and it offers alot more than XP,it's more secure,more reliable,more good looking,more features.

So i applaud MS,Cracking Windows Vista ain't easy,this is quite a progress,DOWN WITH PIRACY!

[[e-mail] @ Aug 12th 2008 4:21AM]

Well it is fact that Vista is not as versatile, app-friendly and hardware-compatible as XP. xp was the ultimate version of windows and remains till date.. but as h/w gets cheaper by the day MS thought lets stop XP and sell a better/costlier version of windows...

MS set its own standards high with XP but I read a lot against MS and vista on this page.. and i dont agree with all of that..

c'mon ppl, think like Bill gates...he gotta keep microsoft running after being hit so bad by piracy on all popular MS softwares... whats wrong if he puts vista campaign on high and stops XP sale..

But then he shouldnt make such half-true comments about vista's geneuine advantage..

[Ryan @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:21AM]

As a 4th year student studying web design I can say that most people in my area at University avoid Vista for many reasons. The migration could cause headaches and waste vital hours during our course.

Just another example of why Vista is not wanted and for any student entering a computing course with XP on their system this term, there is a good chance they will be still using it in 4 years time because of the massive advantages.

Microsoft could be making their money from this target audience (which is massive) in other ways such as an Experts-Exchange.com copy-cat run by Microsoft for their software only. Get the money from follow up services that students can see results from etc

It does my head in how Microsoft can get it right and get it wrong at the same time because I'd love to be using Vista!

[Chris @ Dec 4th 2007 3:27PM]

Great. So Microsoft makes a product so bad that no one even wants to steal it, and they decide to use that to convince people their DRM is working. That'll surely help sales...

[Ryan Trevisol @ Dec 4th 2007 3:43PM]

I have to agree. I used Vista Home Premium today at work, and I wanted to shoot myself.

[seoultrain @ Dec 4th 2007 3:45PM]

to Microsoft's credit, there is no FCKGW key for Vista.

[m @ Dec 4th 2007 4:03PM]

but seriously, FCKGW.

[Michael Emmons @ Dec 4th 2007 4:15PM]

Did anyone stop to consider that perhaps those guys over at MS have heard of statistics before? When they say Vista is pirated half as much as XP is it at al possible they are looking at _percentages_ of the total OS counts rather than just a straight comparison? You know, like any 9th grader would do?

[Ty @ Dec 4th 2007 4:36PM]

I honestly wonder how many people who have commented on here have actually used Vista Ultimate...

[Jason @ Dec 4th 2007 4:39PM]

Yeah seriously, FCK George W... Oh wait...

[DWells55 @ Dec 4th 2007 5:08PM]

Vista half as good as XP, Microsoft makes money anyways thanks to prebuilts

[Jeff @ Dec 4th 2007 5:12PM]

Michael Emmons:

The point is there is less demand for Vista among both pirates *and* paying customers.

You go telling your investors that sales dollars don't matter, percentages do. See what their reaction is.

In other words, reducing the percentage of piracy means nothing if there's no corresponding increase in sales. What's the point? Ending piracy is a means to an end, not an end in itself. MS could end all piracy tomorrow if they just stopped producing products and released all their software into the public domain. Boom, no more piracy! But what good would it do them financially?

The whole idea is reducing piracy to make more money. If you're reducing the number of paying customers at the same time you reduce piracy, then it's all moot.

I will say one big reason I will never, EVER buy Windows Vista, or any machine with Vista on it, is the DRM (including WGA).

[John @ Dec 4th 2007 5:54PM]

I'm pretty sure Microsoft doesn't have to convince its investors of anything, if you've paid attention to their revenue statements lately.

[AI @ Dec 4th 2007 8:48PM]

the reason is that Vist is Shit compared to XP.

[billy bob thorton @ Dec 4th 2007 9:06PM]

I think one of the biggest reasons is the fact that the build is so large. Most people don't want to download several GB for a half assed update. Also many "pirated" versions pass as authentic anyway

[Greg @ Dec 4th 2007 9:20PM]

Yeah, but you have to think "who pirates this"? Mostly, people who pirate an OS know what they're doing with a computer, and people who know computers don't want Vista plaguing theirs. Therefore, anyone foolish enough to get it is also not smart enough to pirate it.

[Andrew @ Dec 4th 2007 9:39PM]

People steal less from the contents of outhouses than from stores, septic collectors rejoice!

F%&KING DUH people aren't stealing vista! I'm still UPgrading vista machines to XP (or Linux, depending on software need). Once Microsoft actually releases an Operating System instead of an error generator, perhaps I'll have a gander. Until then, Piss on you microsoft.

[Nogami @ Dec 5th 2007 3:36AM]

I got the full version of Vista for about $10 from the school I work at (campus license). Even at that price, I didn't bother installing it. It's worth having, "just in case", but XP still runs fine on all of my systems.

[Rob @ Feb 9th 2009 7:58PM]

@Jeff

Investors do pay attention to percentages. Think about it if you had stock that cost $100 a share went up 1 dollar vs a share that cost $50 and went up $1 dollar which would you want to own. Personally I would rather own 2 of the $50 stock, since I would then have $102 rather than $101 (of course this difference becomes larger with more stock other variables).

So when Microsoft says the rate (Percentage) of piracy is lower in vista than XP its simply (Vista_pirated / Vista_sold) < (XP_pirated / XP_sold). It is not saying the total Vista pirated copies is less than the total pirated copies of XP, because that is obvious to them and the rest of us.

[nikster @ Dec 6th 2007 9:39PM]

Michael Emmons, what exactly has your comment to do with either the original post or the comment you were replying to? I don't know how the comment got high ranked considering no-one had implied that MS was using absolute numbers.

Clearly, the pirate percentage for Vista is smaller. That's because people who pirate their OS have a better choice in XP. Whereas people who get their OS with the PC use Vista by default and by and large don't know how to get XP even if they wanted it.

[vdogg89 @ Dec 4th 2007 3:28PM]

haha, thats cuz nobody wants it!

[andy @ Dec 4th 2007 3:28PM]

copy is the sincerest form of flattery.


i guess no one is flattering Vista.

[applefreak @ Dec 4th 2007 8:10PM]

why do people always beat me to my comment

[Motoxo @ Dec 4th 2007 3:29PM]

uh huh. right.

i heard that toyotas and hondas are stolen about twice as much as the fords and gm products.

must be the amped up security they are using.

[Prokanda @ Dec 4th 2007 4:38PM]

no.. they're just worth more on resale because they're built better and run better.

much like XP vs. Vista.

[bryan @ Dec 4th 2007 4:53PM]

pretty sure Motoxo was just being sarcastic, prokanda. :)
-bryan

[Nubaeus @ Dec 4th 2007 3:29PM]

Stupid report. Xp has been out since...2001? Vista since...2006? You wonder why you get these results.My Vista is pirated and I love it. This is just a stupid post Engadget.

Let the "I hate Vista" comments roll in now.

[rock99rock @ Dec 4th 2007 3:33PM]

Hated it! (2 snaps)

[Bullitt @ Dec 4th 2007 3:38PM]

I agree about the year difference, but vista is crap, so why does anyone steal it?

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 4th 2007 5:09PM]

@rock99rock

zorro snap!

[WL @ Dec 5th 2007 9:53AM]

yeah a um guy i know loves his to, and it authenticates so you kind of have to wonder about those stats

[CosterMonger @ Dec 5th 2007 10:58AM]

Vista: runs your games slower

[jaknell1011 @ Dec 4th 2007 3:31PM]

First: This made me laugh. Did Microsoft consider that most people who are willing to get a pirated copy of XP and Vista would rather take XP?! I know some (most) technicians who groan when they see Vista on a pc. How about this headline: "Vista purchased half as much as XP, Microsoft mourns." The real truth is some people just don't want Vista, and I'm one of them.

[Jkelley @ Dec 5th 2007 8:25AM]

Half of those who choose to steal Vista decided to revert back to their stolen XP.

[bbrown @ Dec 4th 2007 4:42PM]

I did lol

[stellar @ Dec 4th 2007 5:09PM]

+1 haha

[Sam_Smith @ Dec 4th 2007 5:24PM]

I went from pirated XP to pirated Vista, and I'm fed up with the lot. SuSE 10 here I come!

(Oh, and if a 17 year old can handle cracking Vista's anti piracy measure, it cant be that hard)

[Dave @ Dec 4th 2007 5:55PM]

I don't understand the point when vista was easier than XP sp2

[Nathaniel Meyer @ Dec 4th 2007 10:05PM]

All too true, XP Pirates FTW!

[xXTheBanditXx @ Dec 4th 2007 11:07PM]

True dat, i did

[joey @ Dec 4th 2007 3:32PM]

Thats true, I didn't pirate it I bought a macBook, way to go MS, you sent me to apple. Nice work.

[Brian Spence @ Dec 4th 2007 5:01PM]

I'm also in the "Hate Vista, decided to buy a Mac" side of this. I COULD pirate Vista, I just don't WANT to. I still use my XP box to do some surfing from my couch, but that's about it.

[Ben @ Dec 4th 2007 7:17PM]

I hate Vista and bought a Mac as well.....and then installed XP on it.
Seriously.

[frankz00 @ Dec 4th 2007 3:35PM]

Vista is Microsoft's attempt to steal back from the pirates because after you install it, half of your software and hardware is gone!!!

[rock99rock @ Dec 4th 2007 3:32PM]

I hate vista