I'm surprised that it took as long as a week, however, I'm not at all surprised that it was a Chinese manufacturer that was the source of the leak. Piracy is a huge source of income for "organisations" and with wages so low in China, a month's wages to the first viable ISO is small change to some.

What beggars belief is that Microsoft have obviously left in the same exploit sa in Vista. Microsoft would have been better off slashing the price of the OS by 90%, making it so cheap that it was more hassle to apply any "crack".

By the way, there was a crack already for the RTM long before Microsoft announced it going gold.

Windows 7 deserved to be cracked, it's basically a Vista SP3. Anyway, I don't know why they bother with this genuine activation protection? It just punishes legimate users, like me, I was gonna activate Vista the other day, and I had to call some damn machine in the UK with a mobile phone, costing $1 a minute at least.

Whoever uses cracks wouldn't pay for it anyway (majority speaking), this applies to games, movies, music and generally software. If anything, piracy sheds a light over software which would never have had any attention. Take WinRAR for example, if the scene didn't apply the rules of the use of WinRAR, no one would have used it, let alone pay for it.

in the screenshot, it seems as if the taskbar has become smaller, is that how it will be in the RTM release?

theres an option in the properties for the taskbar to make it look like it used to, i prefer it that way with the new functionality of taskbar, you could also go back to having it just like vista where it shows the name and separates the windows

hey bluecloud its bad enough that windows 7 isn't released yet but we don't need your crappy opinion. By the way hooked on phonics has a good promotion going on; you should check it out.

Let's hear it for the most secure version of Windows yet! (end sarcasm)

Why crack a free program? Besides, now that they've done it before the Commercial release, won't it be resolved before the Final?

lol

Micro$ofts list price is $300

$300 for JUST THE OS.
WOW.

You are righton BlueCloud, I argue with the same point about media piracy. If the media conglomerates would sell the music for a low and palatable price point, who in their right mind would even waste the time to illegally download, rip, burn, etc. They have become their own competition through price discrimination and the result is self cannibalization. Fire the marketers and get some economists.

I'm not surprised in the least that it was cracked.
In formation like this should be kept on a computer not connected to the internet, though.

If the OS were only one dollar, people would still hack it for the sole pleasure of saying they did it. Too many people in the world have no life and no recognition in life and they will always do this sort of thing as a way of hollering "Hey! Look at me! I am here!"

Oh dear!
Someone used the same trick on windows 7 as happened on Windows Vista. Naughty crackers.
I wonder how much code and how many coding hours have gone down the tubes?
Not to mention the wasted cpu cycles in overlording the PC and ensuring that it is M$ genuine. RTM SP1 here we come! and yet more "genuine pain in the a**" validation type technology. No thanks!

I joined the Microsoft beta testers programme some time ago.
I have the RC installed and also Ubuntu Linux 9.04. on the same hardware. I won't be upgrading my XP installations at all. The latest M$ offering is yet more of the same proprietary lock in $tuff that M$ have been fobbing us off with for years. Eye candy, shinier interface and more excuses to ram locked file formats down our throats.

Seriously, the Windows 7 is sluggish on my rig compared to the free and open source offering from Ubuntu, and no doubt Fedora, SuSe and the rest.
One more week of testing and the space taken up on my rig by Win7 will be reclaimed forever.

M$ have to come to terms with the fact that it is not 1995 and that their monopoly days are over. No doubt they will give Lenovo a hard time over this fiasco, but, seriously - even if they fix this issue before a public release, there will always be some script kiddie who will want to stick it to the man.

Microsoft operating systems are like a drug. Yes they are quite nice looking, and slick on the outside, but under the bonnet is a whole menagerie of worms. Upgrading is a pain because your backup sets are invariably incompatible with the new environment, as I discovered when I tried out Vista and my DLT tapes were useless.

My personal computing experience is better under Linux than Windows, and although I acknowledge that there are many who will take advantage of this new exploit, I personally won't. It is not because I am particularly moral, but more through a sense of practicality. Why on earth would I want to criminalize myself in the eyes of M$ and their legislative peons when something as good as Linux meets nearly all my needs, and a legacy, legit copy of XP, running in a sandbox can fill the gap until Linux catches up with CAD.

It is not the number of people who crack the illegit copies of Win7 that will kill Microsoft, rather it is the growing number of folks like me who have had enough of being milked and taken as suckers and will pass over "opportunities for a new user experience" and go for something more consumer friendly.


I am sure that Proprietary software will become as socially unacceptable as using cracked versions of the same.

So folks, don't break the law, ridiculous and stacked in M$'s favor as it is. Fight software patents and use the free alternatives and enjoy the same feeling of smug satisfaction that I have no need of any Microsoft software any more.

Marcus Harman,
Thank you for your great post

@Marcus Harman

Nice post, I'm sorry to tell you that sadly, CAD is not making any progress in Linux, I know, thats the thing that keeps me hooked on Windows, things like Corel and PDF certification and revision. Running a VM is not an option for optimal performance. Also I make a little of IT support so I couldn't be more thankful for the existence of Windows. My point is, Windows puts money on my wallet in several ways, so the best tool for the job. I run debian on my old laptop and Ubuntu server on an old box and it's just great. I pay for the license (XP pro) for my workstation but I don't for the VM one. I'm a criminal? tool?

I'd rather pay for w7 license than to switch to MAC and have my ass handed with overpriced and underpowered hardware (I have iPods but those are not tools for my job) but I'm not to buy another license to have a VM, as the same thing that I'm not spending a buck in w7 until SP1 is out but I'm jumping into it next week. So I'm going to crack it.

In the end MS is happy to see their market share BUMP, that's why they didn't do anything about this same hack in Vista. They need to have a lot of screens showing w7 so average joe can gain confidence and mind-share in the OS. by SP2 they will laund WGA on steroids and let's start again. :)

So, what works for you may not work for everyone else.

Yeah, no offense or anything, but Linux isn't going to break into the mainstream anytime soon. And by anytime soon, I mean basically never. Linux users have been preaching about their operating system for years, and for years its the same story.

The problem is the majority of consumers really don't care about your so-called menagerie of of worms. What's more, Windows 7 is probably Microsofts best Windows to date. The speed of XP with the slick looks of Vista, and more intuitive than both, combined. I think it's safe to say if "7" is slow on your rig you're on pretty dated hardware.

Now while you rage against the evil empire millions of users will enjoy a much improved experience on Windows 7, I'm sorry to say (actually I'm not, my brief time with Linux was command line hell and I wouldn't wish that clunky interface on anyone).

I'm hardly a MS fanboy. I refused to upgrade to Vista because it was virtually an untested alpha released onto the unsuspecting public. But as bad was Vista was, Win 7 is that much better.

Dude, Give Ubuntu or any other mainstream distro a Try. Just Run it from the live CD if you dont want to install anything on your hard drive. I think people still think that linux is all command line and you have to learn a lot of commands to use it but those days are over. All the things that a average user needs to do with his computer can be done using a GUI in Linux.
Its just 700MB ISO, Download it and give it a try. you dont need to install anything, just run the live cd. you will not regret it.

Dude, you should at least give Ubuntu a try, no command line needed.
You can dual boot with windows if you need it, just get a version with the partition editor.

1000s of totally free programs available to be installed within a few clicks, all inside a easy to use graphical interface.

It's really a lot easier than it used to be.

Spot on! I'm with you. At several hundred dollars a copy (and with 5 PCs) there is no way I am going to be able to afford Win7.

The only reason I am 'stuck' with Windows is their Media Centre app that comes with Vista Premium and Ultimate editions and all copies of Win7 Premium and up. I am addicted to the 10 foot interface that I action with my infrared Remote Control.

I'd love to switch to Mythbuntu - if only I can make it work as smoothly as Windows Media Centre (it does not see my DVB-T tuner card - but one day it will!).

Except for the OS, my PC uses only non-Microsoft applications. Firefox web browser, Thunderbird email client, Open Office v3 (it even opens MS Office 2007 files, and can be set to default save in MS Office 2003 formats), Pidgin and Skype. Media and video players aplenty.

On my Linux Ubuntu PC? The same applications!

So why do I need Windows again? Oh, darn! Myth TV issues. For now; but one day it WILL be fixed. Right??

Cheers!
skris88
Sydney, Australia

@skris88:

Though I wouldn't advise giving up on Mythbuntu, I will say I've successfully setup Ubuntu 9.04 as a host with Win XP SP3 w/ Media Extender to a Linksys (Win-only) Media Center Extender device. This was setup on a P4 w/ 768MB over 802.11g WiFi.

Check out Sun's VirtualBox for the guest Windows VM, use Bridging instead of NAT for the network connection, setup some Shared Folders to map your media library.

People are always afraid of change and want to hold on to old stuff. I tried Linux and it doesn't meet all of my needs and ppl say it's free but to a certain extent it's not. I wish ppl would get off there high horse about linux because there is bugs and security leaks in as well, which i exploited myself.
There is no perfect software out there, so stop whinning and complaining.

I tested ubuntu and I didn't like it too much.
I tested win 7 from free download and I love it.
But who are we to judge one taste?
Let everyones to choose their option.
Everything else is the dust of the winds! Ha-ha-ha!

Hey! The serial in the picture is mine too! :O

Some rouge pirate must have downloaded and installed this on my computer overnight while I was sleeping peacefully in bed!

Microsoft needs to stop with the overpriced software with Microsoft Windows 7 and Vista., I called microsoft a few days ago and said " i would protest and get eveyone in washington state to come to Redmond WA at microsoft and Burn Their DVD in a bucket!" Stop With the overpriced Software. People with Vista should get a huge discount RTM or OEM whatever.
i also told them i will hack Windows software none stop and send them Pictures just for them to get the point., $300.00 for Windows7 Ultimate WOW Someone in microsoft has a Drug problem.

I appreciate MS giving me a chance to use Windows 7 for many months prior to release. It worked well and they auto updated it very effectively - all without charge to me. They don't make money until the release date. I expected to pay for their product eventually and had hoped that their minds would change on how they would terminate the RTM program. For months I had built my system both from a hardware and software standpoint and hated the idea that on June 22, 2010, the system would stop working and that after that I would have to erase and re-install a full version. I had hoped that MS would eventually announce an "upgrade" from RTM to the release version at a fair price ($50) so that I would not have to give up the work of many months. No Luck. That is why a "crack" appeals to me. I can continue to use my RTM system without interuption. If it works, I would gladly give the "Cracker" the cost of the Released Versn just for the convenience it provids for me.
It just seems to me that an effective way for MS to handle this crack is to give RTM users the ability to Validate their RTM copies with one of the licenses they are selling in their Home Premium 3 pack.

Ubuntu 9.10 is out... the best version so far... try it out...
Linux is the best for networking... with native secure shell support... you can run graphical terminal for free and connect to other Linux machines and running programs on those machines instead.

I agree Linux is not as easy to use as Windows, and takes some time to learn, but with the new knowledge comes extra power and freedom.

But I guess, the mass settle for Windows because it easy to use. Not everyone wants and can get a PhD. Microsoft knows exactly how to make the Gaussian distribution work for them and get the most out of the average Joe's pocket.