As mentioned many time before, M$ themselves have set the standards very, very high, indeed - it is THEY who have shown how to "pirate" other people's hard, inspired and inspiring work, without ever even dreaming of compensating them or even crediting them for their "contribution"! I hope they have plenty of influence, as is "right and proper"...
Pirating is fine when you're a kid (for example, in your teens) and for defunct software. Beyond that, there's little excuse for doing so. Just because a company is successful doesn't mean you shouldn't pay for their products.
too poor to afford a program i really only need because karen got her office through her husband and instread of using open office like everyone else, demands we deal with her office files that constantly break in some way or another when changed in OO. the day she loses her job, i'll gladly uninstall my office again
Agreed...I am a systems admin and has been for over 20 years now. This is the BIGGEST hates of my job figuring out Microsoft's licencing. If you need 20, it's never just buying 20, there is always some complications someplace. Even more when you have a budget, like MOST IT deparments have.