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Oct 22, 2009
Pirated Windows 7 popular <!--10 min-->
Thousands of bootleg copies even before official release <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Chua Hian Hou </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
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Microsoft's new Windows 7 held its official launch in Singapore on Wednesday night, attracting hundreds of potential users. -- PHOTO: AP
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EVEN as hundreds of legitimate users queued for hours to buy Microsoft's new Windows 7 software at its official launch here on Wednesday night, many others did not even move from their computers to get it, downloading bootleg copies off the Internet. The software, which manages a computer's operations, is currently the top software download on popular file-sharing sites like Mininova and IsoHunt, both of which have had bootleg copies available since Tuesday. According to the sites' statistics, thousands of users are downloading the operating system, even now.
Microsoft's office here has also seen online users on popular local forums discussing ways to download the software giant's first operating system since 2007's Windows Vista, said a company spokesman. Illegal downloads are easily available and convenient, said software industry watchdog Business Software Alliance's (BSA) senior director of anti-piracy, Mr Tarun Sawney. According to the BSA, some 36 per cent of computers here last year were running pirated software, a small decrease from 37 per cent in 2007 and 39 per cent in 2006. So far, the Internet appears to be the only way to get the bootlegs, said a Microsoft spokesman, who noted: 'We have not seen retailers selling (physical) bootleg copies.'
[email protected]
Oct 22, 2009
Pirated Windows 7 popular <!--10 min-->
Thousands of bootleg copies even before official release <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Chua Hian Hou </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
</td> <td width="10">
Microsoft's new Windows 7 held its official launch in Singapore on Wednesday night, attracting hundreds of potential users. -- PHOTO: AP
</td></tr> </tbody></table> <!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
EVEN as hundreds of legitimate users queued for hours to buy Microsoft's new Windows 7 software at its official launch here on Wednesday night, many others did not even move from their computers to get it, downloading bootleg copies off the Internet. The software, which manages a computer's operations, is currently the top software download on popular file-sharing sites like Mininova and IsoHunt, both of which have had bootleg copies available since Tuesday. According to the sites' statistics, thousands of users are downloading the operating system, even now.
Microsoft's office here has also seen online users on popular local forums discussing ways to download the software giant's first operating system since 2007's Windows Vista, said a company spokesman. Illegal downloads are easily available and convenient, said software industry watchdog Business Software Alliance's (BSA) senior director of anti-piracy, Mr Tarun Sawney. According to the BSA, some 36 per cent of computers here last year were running pirated software, a small decrease from 37 per cent in 2007 and 39 per cent in 2006. So far, the Internet appears to be the only way to get the bootlegs, said a Microsoft spokesman, who noted: 'We have not seen retailers selling (physical) bootleg copies.'
[email protected]
