The problem is so bad, Redmond reckons, that around one-third of all copies of Windows in use worldwide are illegitimate.
If so, the potential for Microsoft to grow its revenues by enforcing legitimate usage is obviously huge — an incentive which grows only more attractive when one considers Windows’ virtual saturation of the desktop market.
Already some commentators are saying such a program may anger some people who are used to using illicit copies of Windows XP for free and push them to consider switching to Linux or Mac OS X. While this may not be a large proportion, a shift representing just a few percentage points could be claimed as a victory by Microsoft’s rivals.
Link: Optus.net
