Software piracy, as a theme, is seldom mentioned on Microsoft’s own website. We cannot and will probably never be able to prove this however, there are some hard-to-ignore evidences on which our conclusions are based. With business and the cloud as the absolute priorities, one might argue that software piracy amongst consumers was considered as being of lesser importance. Nadella’s promotion - he was the Executive Vice-President of Cloud and Enterprise group - also meant that Microsoft’s transformation into a services-first company was only going to accelerate. ![]() Not having to make money selling your user data was a powerful catalyst and a force of change for Microsoft. Ironically, Microsoft is where it is because it failed to come up with a real alternative to Google’s Android and had to double down on businesses, public sector and enterprises. Under this new CEO, hell froze several times while the company’s share prices rose from $37.50 to almost $138, becoming the only company with a trillion dollar market share and, perhaps more importantly, untarnished by the privacy morass that has proved to be more than a spot of bother for the GAFA quartet (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). Integrating a Linux kernel into Windows 10 or embracing Android like its own operating system would have been seen as acts of heresy only a few years ago, and yet they happened. Under the stewardship of Satya Nadella, the company regained a sense of purpose after a short mid-life crisis and emerged as a very different, more accommodating company. Microsoft has matured after enduring some of its toughest years during the Ballmer years. That is a less aggressive tone compared to the Microsoft of yesteryear that talked of the billions of dollars (opens in new tab) of potential revenue lost to piracy. According to industry experts, use of pirated software, including non-genuine Windows and Office 365, results in a higher risk of malware, fraud public exposure of personal information, and a higher risk for poor performance or feature malfunctions.” When we reached out to Microsoft’s PR team with our findings, the response was as follows: “We encourage customers to purchase genuine Windows and Office 365 from Microsoft or from one of our trusted partners. ![]() ![]() If you see a listing on an auction site, online classified ad, or other online page advertising product keys, it’s a good indication that these keys are likely stolen or counterfeit”, says the relevant Microsoft page. Microsoft’s stance on this is clear “With the exception of Product Key Cards distributed with Certificates of Authenticity (COA’s), Microsoft does not distribute products keys as standalone products. Clearly, this is piracy at an industrial scale that cost Microsoft tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars per year. (Image credit: Future/Desire Athow) (Image credit: Future/Desire Athow)Įbay has, at the time of writing, hundreds of listings for extremely cheap Microsoft Office and Windows 10 licenses, openly available for sale.
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