Microsoft confirmed independent reports revealing that Windows Vista prices will be cut in half. On August 1, Zan Xiaoqin, representing 8844.com, a Beijing Federal Software online software distributor, indicated that the Redmond company will take drastic measures in China in order to boost Windows Vista in the competition with local pirated copies of the operating system. Aiming to make Windows Vista more attractive, and at the same time to lure Chinese users away from counterfeit versions of the platform, Microsoft introduced an over 50% off price cut to the Home Basic edition.

As a result, Windows Vista Home Basic will be selling in China for just 499 renminbi - just $65.80. The initial price of the operating system was 1,521 renminbi, which means that Microsoft slashed the price tag by no less than 67%. And in addition to Vista Home Basic, the Redmond company also dropped the price for the Home Premium edition, from 1,802 to 899 renminbi, which is equivalent to a 50% reduction. The Microsoft initiative was interpreted as an obvious measure to counteract the growing piracy problem in China by offering its operating system at less prohibitive prices.

The Redmond company emphasized the fact that the slashed prices represent a move designed to allow Chinese users to enjoy the legal version of Vista. Microsoft's official estimated retail prices for Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium editions are $199 and $239 respectively, are absolutely no competition for pirated copies of the platform sold in China for under $10.

Back in February, following the availability of Windows Vista, Alex Kochis, Senior Product Manager for Windows Genuine Advantage applauded the commerce with very cheap pirated copies of the operating system as a success of the Windows genuine Advantage mechanism.

"While Windows Vista was among the counterfeits available it was cheaper (about $5 vs $10 for other software titles) because the vendor said it 'might expire'. While learning that a counterfeit copy of your product is suddenly cheaper than before might not obviously be a good thing in this case I think it is. The fact that the value of a counterfeit copy is dropping is a sign that the product is harder to counterfeit (if it were easier to hack there should have been a non-expiring version available) and while other common applications that are less difficult to hack (and so have at least the similar basic distribution costs) still cost more is a sign that the product in its counterfeit state is truly worth-less," Kochis revealed at the time.

And yes, while the WGA was "successful" in reducing the price tags for pirated Windows Vista, Chinese piracy managed to slash the operating system's price over 50%. I only hope that the conclusion here is not... pirate and you too shall get special Vista prices...