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Microsoft uses new techniques to stop piracy
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 06 December 2007, 17:27 IST
Los Angeles: In the next major update of the operating system, Microsoft would disable the two primary methods used by software pirates to illegally copy Windows Vista software.
Every year, the company loses billions of dollars to software piracy. According to Microsoft, compared with its previous operating system, Windows XP, the new features built into Vista are reducing piracy levels by half.
The company plans to improve that one step farther with changes built into Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the first major update to the operating system, which is due out in the first quarter of 2008.
Moreover, Microsoft plans to close a loophole that allows pirates mimic activation used by some computer manufacturers to install Vista.
"About 35 percent of the world's consumer software is pirated. Windows, which sits on more than 90 percent of the world's computers, accounts for the bulk of those pirated copies," informed trade group Business Software Alliance.
As a part of this move, Microsoft would also change ways of dealing with pirated versions of Vista, whose users will now get recurring notifications. Currently, the company shuts down features in Vista when it finds a pirated copy. The company said improvements in reducing piracy helped to spur a 25 percent rise in Windows sales in the September quarter.
