Random thought: Windows is largely successful because of Piracy

Windows as a software package would have never been affordable to individuals or local-level orgs in countries like India and Bangladesh (especially in the 2000’s) that are now powerhouses of IT. Same for many SE Asian, Eastern European, African and LatinoAmerican countries as well.

Had the OS been too difficult to pirate, educators and local institutions in these countries would have certainly shifted to Linux and the like. The fact that Windows could be pirated easily is the main factor that led to its ubiquity and allowed it to become a household name. Its rapid popularity in the '00s and early ‘10s cemented its status as the PC operating system. It is probably the same for Microsoft Office as well (it is still a part of many schools’ standard curricula).

The fact that Windows still remains pirateable to this day is perhaps intentional on Microsoft’s part.

dontcarebear,
@dontcarebear@lemmy.world avatar

I agree. If they would’ve locked piracy down sincerely, Linux might have had a shot back in the 90’s.

0x4E4F,

Yeah, the 90’s were the turning point for MS. If they flopped, we would have a whole different story right now. Unfortunately, they didn’t… which is why we have to have everything MS compliant right now on OSes that share nothing in common with Windows.

Samba and Wine are perfect examples.

pragmakist,
@pragmakist@kbin.social avatar

The vast majority of the value of a consumer facing computer system is in the people who help other people.

They know that.

Valmond,

That’s how they got around selling at a loss to crush the competition I guess.

somnuz,

Yup, when I was talking with a few different Microsoft representatives, they just straightforwardly stated that they don’t focus at all on punishing or pushing consequences for “obtained/purchased windows instances via any existing alternative/not supported ways” when it comes to private/home users.

They surely and happily will put the idea of buying a key or official upgrade from their certified resellers locally or online on the table.

It is quite a different story with larger organizations and companies.

Of course all this info is based on just a few talks during the last decade and with incoming subscription (ugh) model a lot will change, I guess.

alvvayson,

You are right, but it’s not just poor developed countries and not just windows either.

Back in the 1990s, copy protection in general was weak and companies wishing to expand market share did not prioritize combating piracy.

They always just focused on making the big companies pay through licensing audits and kept prices high to ensure revenue.

The whole industry just accepted that students, researchers and tinkerers would pirate their software.

Photoshop, Office, Visual Studio and even enterprise software like Oracle had this dual strategy: let piracy help spread market share among those who can’t or won’t pay, while maintaining high prices and security audits to drive revenue from companies.

Many companies still follow this strategy.

Voltage808s,
@Voltage808s@kerala.party avatar

I saw a yt video few years ago about how microsoft allowed windows piracy on South Asian countries to increase windows adoption rate.

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