Windows 7 ISO - to download or not?

[Niode]

I got the student version of Windows 7 Pro X64 for £30. It's an upgrade version. I installed it on a completely vanilla HDD and it never asked for a previous install or a legit Windows install disc. It activated without a problem despite me never having a legit install of windows on the drive.

Just get the student 'upgrade' of Windows 7 Pro x64, for the price it costs you'd be mad not to. I wouldn't bother risking downloading it, you never know what's in it, unless you reversed engineered it. Which, let's face it, if you could do that, you wouldn't need to torrent a pirated version of it.

[executioner]

Could any of you guys help me obtain one of those $30 windows 7 pro upgrade licenses? I'm trying to get legit and at that price its a bargain.

[Niode]

Could any of you guys help me obtain one of those $30 windows 7 pro upgrade licenses? I'm trying to get legit and at that price its a bargain.

Are you a student?

[17DaysOlderThanNES]

Ethics aside, I would stick to legit OS's, especially if it's your primary operating system. I wouldn't want to chance the operation of my computer on some dude's ability to properly dump the operating system. It's just not worth it.

[executioner]

Could any of you guys help me obtain one of those $30 windows 7 pro upgrade licenses? I'm trying to get legit and at that price its a bargain.

Are you a student?

Nope.

[Niode]

You need a valid student/education address to get the student discount. Unless somebody here is willing to give you their student/education address then you're out of luck. It's also one copy per student/tutor, so the donater would have to accept they can't get in on the offer at a later date.

Valid addresses end in .ac.uk (in the UK) .edu (in the US) there may be more but those are the ones that I know of.

[elvis]

There's no reason reason to support Microsoft....so if you're set on using a Windows operating system you might as well pirate.

Microsoft are far more interested in mind and market share than dollar profit at this stage.

Merely using Windows is "supporting" Microsoft, whether you pay for it or not.

As a long-term Linux user, I don't condone copyright infringement in the slightest. If you want to use Windows (for any reason - whether it's the love of Microsoft or the sheer convenience of the OS), then you should pay for it. End of story. If you can't accept the terms Microsoft place on their software, then stop using it all together and look for a legal alternative.

You don't get to stand on your soapbox and say "don't support Microsoft" and then continue using their software anyway. Copyright infringement is not your god given right. Either use a free alternative, or put up with the dollar cost associated with the OS you want to use.

[Niode]

There's no reason reason to support Microsoft....so if you're set on using a Windows operating system you might as well pirate.

Microsoft are far more interested in mind and market share than dollar profit at this stage.

Merely using Windows is "supporting" Microsoft, whether you pay for it or not.

As a long-term Linux user, I don't condone copyright infringement in the slightest. If you want to use Windows (for any reason - whether it's the love of Microsoft or the sheer convenience of the OS), then you should pay for it. End of story. If you can't accept the terms Microsoft place on their software, then stop using it all together and look for a legal alternative.

You don't get to stand on your soapbox and say "don't support Microsoft" and then continue using their software anyway. Copyright infringement is not your god given right. Either use a free alternative, or put up with the dollar cost associated with the OS you want to use.

QFT

It always makes me laugh when people say I use Windows but don't support Microsoft. That's just supporting Windows as much as say a school does when they force kids to use Office. By simply using their software more than any alternatives you are cementing Microsoft's market leader position. More software will be Windows exclusive, because that's where the lion's share of the market belongs. If you don't want to support Microsoft, use Linux, or OS X. Don't just be a sheep and download a cracked version of Windows. Besides there is absolutely no guarantees that a cracked version of Windows is malware/trojan free. If you want to use Windows you may as well just buy legit. For piece of mind more than anything.

[17DaysOlderThanNES]

QFT

It always makes me laugh when people say I use Windows but don't support Microsoft. That's just supporting Windows as much as say a school does when they force kids to use Office. By simply using their software more than any alternatives you are cementing Microsoft's market leader position. More software will be Windows exclusive, because that's where the lion's share of the market belongs. If you don't want to support Microsoft, use Linux, or OS X. Don't just be a sheep and download a cracked version of Windows. Besides there is absolutely no guarantees that a cracked version of Windows is malware/trojan free. If you want to use Windows you may as well just buy legit. For piece of mind more than anything.

OK, well when Linux runs all of the software that Windows can, let me know. I use Mac OS X, but I still keep Parallels up and running with XP for stuff like DiscJuggler, WinRAR, 7zip, etc. that don't exist (in acceptable form) on other platforms.

For the record, since non attorneys always like to think they know what copyright infringement is, non-profit copying of a program isn't really copyright infringement. Is it unauthorized use of the software? yes. Is the developer happy about it? probably not. Should you support software you like? absolutely. Copyright Infringement in most cases only pertains to people trying to profit from copied works (or supplying them to a mass audience like people that share songs on Limewire to thousands and thousands of people).

People that work in similar fields (music, movies, writing, etc.) always like to get butt hurt and demand they deserve money from everyone that might've heard a song on the radio or saw a movie at a friends house, but that's not really the case. I'm not saying it's ethical to bootleg a current gen OS even if you don't fully like the company as I personally believe in the 5-10 year technical obsolescence model, but it's not "OMGWTFBBQ COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LETS BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!" either. I for one really enjoy the Rifftrax model of business where they acknowledge you can download their riffs attached to the movie on thepiratebay and just have a "donate" button on their page to give what you feel is appropriate. I think entertainment/software will eventually have to accept the "we give what you deserve" model as people start to get annoyed by overpriced software/entertainment that doesn't deliver on its promises and choose to bootleg everything instead.

oh, and it's "peace" of mind, I don't know why everyone thinks they need a part of a brain.

[pepharytheworm]

^^^^
Not if you like Iron Maiden. I have a feeling Niode is a fan.