The thing is that Macs aren't popular enough to warrant any real piracy. Just like with viruses and spyware.

 

Of course when Microsoft fries your system for mistakenly thinking its pirated they'll just be like 'uh my bad?' and fix nothing.

 

No, ready made machines come with OEM licences that are only good for the first machine that they are used on. The end user doesent activate them because its usually done before they get thier hands on it, which is half the reason why such machines thesedays come with restore discs that return them to the point where they left the shop instead of actual Windows discs that start from scratch.

Boxed shop copies have Retail licences, which can be used on any one machine at a time and require activation to prove that you are doing so.

Theres no such thing as full and not full editions, the only difference between the three types is what licence they come with and how the activation system enforces it.

They only time where you get a legitimate volume licence is when you are a large business or organisation that is either getting it direct from Microsoft or buying a ready made solution from a third party that does it for you.

 

Your analogy is flawed.
Say I build a computer with a pirate copy of XP, all the information on that system only exists because of that pirate copy.
Scrubbing the hard drive when caught would be less like getting everything on me smashed for shoplifting a cd and more like having everything I bought with a stolen credit card taken off me.

 

Wasn't there a big kafluffle about this same idea a while ago and there was some possible legal issues due to the ramifications of complete destruction of data rather then crippling?

 

That's flawed, the Hard Drive is legally their's along with anything that wasn't stolen on it, unlike the credit card. Your analogy only works if the hard drive was stolen.

 

There's probably some bs hidden in the fine print that says your pc belongs to them once you install vista.

 

The hard drive is belongs to them yes, but everything on there is only there as a consequence of the theft of an operating system.
The hard is your house for example and you steal a credit card which allows you to furnish it. It would be wrong to take your house, but it wouldn't be wrong to take everything in it that you got with that credit card.
If they legally buy and install software, which I doubt anyone that pirates an operationg system will do to any degree, they should have all the relevant disks and paperwork to reinstall once they get a legit OS. Rather than scrubbing the hard drive they could just lock everything up besides the ability to input or purchase a valid licsense online.

 

....you know considering the school gives me a key of Xp pro and Xp pro copy if I go to a certain course Ill just go to the vista course after a year or so its launched or whatever.

a friend and I were talking about this he said"give them time they always say they cant be hacked and they end up being hacked faster.... they are just giving them a challenge." my answer to that was" like the 360 eh?" he started laughing " yeah like that"

I like xp ...so who cares I aint changing OS soon