Windows Vista may still be seven days away from the official consumer release but the operating system is already on sale on the Chinese black market. Bootlegged versions of Windows Vista come with price tags as low as $2.50.

Microsoft has yet to issue an official comment on the matter. But in fact, the Redmond Company is very familiar with the problem of Chinese piracy. Back in July 2006, Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage tools identified in excess of 1million pirated versions of Windows XP using the same license key in China. The total count of pirated copies of Windows XP at that date was over 60 million.

The $2.5 price is insignificant compared to the prices of the genuine Microsoft Vista editions: Home Basic $199.00, Home Premium $239.00, Business $299.00 and Ultimate $399.00. The upgrade prices are $99.95, $159.00, $199.00 and $259.00.

At the present time, it is still unknown what the counterfeit Chinese Windows Vista packages actually contain. According to engadget, the counterfeit operating systems on the Chinese black market are actually Frankenbuild versions of Vista. If this is the case, the versions are a waist of money, the whole $2.5, because Microsoft has already updated the Windows Genuine Advantage tool in order to render inoperable copies of the operating system activated using code from beta versions of Vista.

Another valid possibility is that the bootlegged Chinese Vista may be activated via the 2099 crack, but the Windows Genuine Advantage team has already promised that it will tackle the Vista activation workaround.

Despite the fact that the bootlegged Chinese versions of Vista have preceded the real thing in terms of availability, pirated versions of the operating system have been available for download on Peer-to-Peer networks long before they made their way onto the streets.