Windows 7 Already Pirated, Not Even Out

Pirates have really jumped the gun when it comes down to Windows 7. The operating system is still far from being finalized but pirated copies of the next iteration of the Windows client are already on sale. One shop in Philippines was offering, among various other bootlegged software products, a counterfeit copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. The fact that Windows 7 is evolving from Beta stage to Release Candidate, with the RTM reportedly planned for the second half of 2009, and General Availability even later than that, failed to present any sort of impediment for pirates looking to make a quick buck.

And a quick buck is right, since the pirated copy of Windows 7 comes with a price tag of just 50 to 70 pesos, according to CNet Asia. 70 pesos in no more than 1.4 USD, with 50 pesos representing just $1, which is of course overpaying for the software. While under normal conditions $1 price tags would be nothing short of a too-good-to-be-true bargain for any commercially available Microsoft software products, this time around $1 is simply too much. This because Windows 7 is actually free.

Of course, the pirated variant of Windows 7 contains Beta Build 7000 of the operating system. Microsoft started serving Windows 7 Beta to the public on January 10, 2009 with downloads discontinued only on February 12. During that time, the Redmond company offered free, unlimited access to Windows 7 Beta Build 7000, with an emphasis on free, along with the product keys necessary to activate the product. In fact, product keys are still up for grabs with the activation process continuing to be live.

Microsoft doesn't charge for Beta software. The Redmond company permits testers to run pre-release versions of its software products in exchange for the feedback they provide. Traditionally, pre-release versions of Microsoft software products are time-bombed, and Windows 7 makes no exception to this rule, as the Beta development milestone of the operating system can be test driven only until August 2009.