[Teve Torbes @ Apr 12th 2007 10:24PM]

As Bill Gates has said in the past, Microsoft owes much of Windows success to piracy. Microsoft needs some piracy of its products, especially among influential people like programmers, execs, etc... who either make Windows more valuable as a platform (more Windows developers means more Windows apps) or have the influence to make big purchasing decisions (the CTO uses Windows at home, so the whole corporation should too). The bulk of Windows revenue comes from PC OEM licensing and corporate licensing. Microsoft putting the squeeze on the average Joe and making Windows harder for him to pirate is just Microsoft's way of squeezing more revenue out Windows. Microsoft could easily make pirating Windows impossible, but they won't because they want savvy people to pirate it, and (learn to) develop for it. Thus, the major loop hole of the OEM licensing system.