Microsoft features the best examples of pirated copies of its latest operating system Windows Vista. The Redmond company offers a variety of examples of counterfeit Vista products, in an effort to combat the piracy associated with the operating system. The 2007 Office System was also not overlooked in this matter. Alongside Vista, Office 2007 is one of the most prized items for the software bootleggers worldwide. Microsoft is delivering palpable proof of this. Along with the Windows Genuine Advantage and the Office Genuine Advantage mechanism, the Redmond company is also enabling customers to verify if the copies of Windows and Office along with additional software titles are genuine.

The Counterfeit Microsoft Software Gallery complete with examples of rogue products collected by Microsoft from around the world is designed to provide customers with a resource to let them compare genuine and pirated Vista and Office 2007. All the items in the pirated Microsoft collection have been gathered in March and May 2007. The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate, a Chinese variant of x64 Vista, Office 2007 Enterprise, Office 2007 Professional and additional Vista editions have been counterfeited and sold worldwide. Such scenarios are in the detriment of unsuspecting buyers that are looking for a great deal only to end up buying pirated materials.

After it has discontinued the Windows Validation Assistant and Office Validation Assistant, Microsoft has introduced the Windows Comparison Guide and the Office Comparison Guide via How to Tell. Both tools will help users tell if the copy of Windows or Office they acquired is a genuine product. Both guides will present to users a set of questions complete with examples of anti-piracy measures implemented by Microsoft in order to determine if the products are counterfeit or not.

"All genuine editions of Windows can be identified by their anti-counterfeiting features. Answer the short questions below to compare your features with those found on genuine Microsoft software. (...) To help determine whether your copy of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2003, or Microsoft Office XP is genuine, Microsoft recommends that you compare the special piracy prevention features of your installation disc and Certificate of Authenticity (COA) with those included with genuine Microsoft software," read fragments of Microsoft's description of the WCG and OCG.