Vista, Office 2007 cracked. Kind of.


Recommended Posts

This is why there needs to be stiffer penalties in place for piracy.

If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't steal it. If I can't afford a piece of software, I don't steal that either.

It is just common sense.

People always bitch and moan about the cost of software, yet they don't realize the cost of _making_ said software. Software authors are real people with real daily lives. Just as you value your money, so do they.

When you pirate a program that even costs as little as $25, you could be stealing $25 from someone's family. I don't care how big or how small the company is. They work hard to create the software we use, and they deserve to be paid for it.

Just as you deserve to be paid for the work you do.

This is why there needs to be stiffer penalties in place for piracy.

If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't steal it. If I can't afford a piece of software, I don't steal that either.

It is just common sense.

People always bitch and moan about the cost of software, yet they don't realize the cost of _making_ said software. Software authors are real people with real daily lives. Just as you value your money, so do they.

When you pirate a program that even costs as little as $25, you could be stealing $25 from someone's family. I don't care how big or how small the company is. They work hard to create the software we use, and they deserve to be paid for it.

Just as you deserve to be paid for the work you do.

Post of the decade (Y) :yes:

because the can get it for free and the software cost to much but if they bought the software the price would go down

"but if they bought the software the price would go down"

that has to be the most moronic statement i've seen. you honestly think they will give you 'discount' if there was nobody pirating? :rolleyes:

The vista rc/beta key crack method is quite bad, as you will end up with a time-bombed vista that stops working on May 31, 2007.

there will most likely be hundreds of cracks for it by then

This is why there needs to be stiffer penalties in place for piracy.

If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't steal it. If I can't afford a piece of software, I don't steal that either.

It is just common sense.

People always bitch and moan about the cost of software, yet they don't realize the cost of _making_ said software. Software authors are real people with real daily lives. Just as you value your money, so do they.

When you pirate a program that even costs as little as $25, you could be stealing $25 from someone's family. I don't care how big or how small the company is. They work hard to create the software we use, and they deserve to be paid for it.

Just as you deserve to be paid for the work you do.

Software developers for mssofty get paid a yearly salary regardless of sales, like Anna. Look at Anna. Doesn't Anna look happy she's getting paid 5 figures to develop Vista?

Edited by TEMPNEGROQ

This is why there needs to be stiffer penalties in place for piracy.

If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't steal it. If I can't afford a piece of software, I don't steal that either.

It is just common sense.

People always bitch and moan about the cost of software, yet they don't realize the cost of _making_ said software. Software authors are real people with real daily lives. Just as you value your money, so do they.

When you pirate a program that even costs as little as $25, you could be stealing $25 from someone's family. I don't care how big or how small the company is. They work hard to create the software we use, and they deserve to be paid for it.

Just as you deserve to be paid for the work you do.

You've missed the point. I don't think many people have issues with PAYING their software but they're more displeased with OVER-paying.

It seems that the marketing people at MS still haven't found the equilibrium point on the price and demand chart seeing how many are complaining, basic economic question there for maximizing profit...

Anyone who thinks that the price of software is a good reason to pirate any piece of software is an i***t. Same goes to anyone who thinks that it is alright to pirate software. Microsoft owns the rights to the intellectual property; if you don't want to buy it, use a free alternative.

but look on the flip side...one reason why the price is out of reach for some..is because when MS spends millions to prevent some 'privacy' at a losing level..then try and recover the cost...but think about how many millions and millions MS made even with their practice...'pirates' are probably better at coding and hacking than any MS coder..until they hire the pirate...I don't think MS will lose any money..but probably gain a greater percentage of the market to just lower the price and not fight a losing battle..if you took the cost of what MS spent with OGA,WGA to how many illegal copies are actually being used...they lost money.

"edited to add"...I do agree that some measure has to be taken by MS to protect their software...but not at the expense of all the legit and honest Microsoft Customers...making it 'call home'...pain to update...activate...validate...patch this..update this OGA,WGA.

Edited by jwjw1

Why can't people just buy the damn software? :no:

Anyone who thinks that the price of software is a good reason to pirate any piece of software is an i***t. Same goes to anyone who thinks that it is alright to pirate software. Microsoft owns the rights to the intellectual property; if you don't want to buy it, use a free alternative.

Sorry, I had to register and say this, because comments like this keeps irritating me.

Not everyone lives in USA, Canada, or UK. For most people over the world Windows and Office just cost too much. For me Vista Home Basic will cost more than my month income, same as XP Home is now. And I need Premium at least, not to mention that I could take advantage of what Ultimate has to offer...

I can take 2 years loan for PC parts, that's how I'm making upgrades, but I won't do this for a piece of software. You see, every piece of hardware costs. Manufacturing, licenses, transport. Software on the other hand is a one time cost, you make it and than just duplicate it forever and sell it. No matter if MS will charge 25 or 200$ for Vista, they will make hundreds of billions on it. Hell, they would even make more money on it, if they would sell it for less. There are millions of people over the world who won't buy Windows no matter the protection that is put in it, simply because they can't afford it. And as long as they can get it for free, they won't switch to alternatives. Linux and OpenOffice aren't yet mature enough for this. Besides, there is also a matter of software people can run on Linux plus usability and eye-candy issues. Software just needs to look good and be intuitive in use.

This is why there needs to be stiffer penalties in place for piracy.

If I can't afford a chocolate bar, I don't steal it. If I can't afford a piece of software, I don't steal that either.

It is just common sense.

People always bitch and moan about the cost of software, yet they don't realize the cost of _making_ said software. Software authors are real people with real daily lives. Just as you value your money, so do they.

When you pirate a program that even costs as little as $25, you could be stealing $25 from someone's family. I don't care how big or how small the company is. They work hard to create the software we use, and they deserve to be paid for it.

Just as you deserve to be paid for the work you do.

Chocolate bar takes money and resources to make. It's a physical object. A piece of software can be replicated for free. That's how it's different. I do agree however that companies deserve to get paid for fine products they make but NOT if they charge so damn much. A lot of people simply can't afford to spend $230 on the new OS and piracy offers a good alternative. And since we can agree that any computer is useless without operating system, one is forced to either buy one of pirate one.

Software developers for mssofty get paid a yearly salary regardless of sales, like Anna. Look at Anna. Doesn't Anna look happy she's getting paid 5 figures to develop Vista?

So if no one pays for software that is being developed, how exactly do you think they'll be able to make all the hotfix's that arguably end up being needed for each product because some finds an exploit (and if it doesn't get fixed everybody bitches), when the money dries up? Are you going to write it? For free? Lets see how much you paid for your bachelor of sciences degree, and then we can talk about your idea of charity work.

Dave Penny,

Micosoft Software Advisor

*Great, here comes the flood of flames and questions*

PS, if your wallet is that tight, get Student XP, its free and legal

because the can get it for free and the software cost to much but if they bought the software the price would go down

People wouldn't buy Vista/Office 2k7 if it cost $1.50! remember the stink alot of people made over MS charging for the Office 2k7 public Beta downloads? many people want something for nothing.

To the "crack", that will easily be defeated by MS. Simply block all the BETA keys, so I doubt MS even care about it (since they technically don't need to do anything, the beta keys are most likely "time-bombed"). Sure people could distribute working RTM keys for people to use and/or crack the activation (as was done in XP) But Vista's activation is alot tougher then XP, but while it is definitely not unbreakable, is it really worth constantly cracking (possibly every month) just so you can have it for free? personally I'd rather pay and never have to worry about such things...

Software developers for mssofty get paid a yearly salary regardless of sales, like Anna. Look at Anna. Doesn't Anna look happy she's getting paid 5 figures to develop Vista?

I don't care what Anna makes.

I don't care quite frankly what Bill Gates makes.

MICROSOFT has invested more than you will ever realize into creating Windows Vista and Office 2007. The company _deserves_ to be paid for it's work.

That is like stating you won't pay $1.99 for a hot dog at 7/11 because the cashier makes $8/hr.... or the store owner made $600,000 last year.

Who cares who made what? The company sets the retail price and you either buy it you don't, but you don't steal it. That is a crime. That makes you a thief.

Whether you steal software or a piece of candy, you are a criminal. Fact is fact...

I don't care what Anna makes.

I don't care quite frankly what Bill Gates makes.

MICROSOFT has invested more than you will ever realize into creating Windows Vista and Office 2007. The company _deserves_ to be paid for it's work.

That is like stating you won't pay $1.99 for a hot dog at 7/11 because the cashier makes $8/hr.... or the store owner made $600,000 last year.

Who cares who made what? The company sets the retail price and you either buy it you don't, but you don't steal it. That is a crime. That makes you a thief.

Whether you steal software or a piece of candy, you are a criminal. Fact is fact...

Now you if you worked for MS you'ld sound like you are trying to get a raise

You've missed the point. I don't think many people have issues with PAYING their software but they're more displeased with OVER-paying.

It seems that the marketing people at MS still haven't found the equilibrium point on the price and demand chart seeing how many are complaining, basic economic question there for maximizing profit...

If you feel that you are over paying, then don't pay.

No one stating you _have_ to upgrade or even use Microsoft's software.

You make the choice to pirate it or pay for it. Don't blame the company.

If I want something bad enough, I _save_ my money until I have enough for it.

$400 in the grand scheme of things is not hard to come by. That is 80 hrs work at $5/hr. Surely you can find something to pay you that for two weeks to afford Vista? No?

So if no one pays for software that is being developed, how exactly do you think they'll be able to make all the hotfix's that arguably end up being needed for each product because some finds an exploit (and if it doesn't get fixed everybody bitches), when the money dries up? Are you going to write it? For free? Lets see how much you paid for your bachelor of sciences degree, and then we can talk about your idea of charity work.

You can lower the price to half of what it is now and still you will be able to pay-up all your employees. I will even say more! Lowering prices to half of current state will make 3 times more people buy your product, so you will make even more money on it that you're making now.

Lets get it straight, if someone can't afford buying Windows, he/she will not do so, no matter the copy protection or how irritating you'll make it to use pirated copy.

PS, if your wallet is that tight, get Student XP, its free and legal

You still don't get it, that there are countries, where you are not a student, you work 8 hours a day and earn 180-600$ per month, do you? And that's for majority of people, many of them with higher education. And no, it's not some third world. Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary... it would be easier to count countries that can afford it, than those who can't. And I would risk the statement, that there is over a billion of people over the world, who are using pirated Windows and would like to go genuine, but they can't afford it.

So if no one pays for software that is being developed, how exactly do you think they'll be able to make all the hotfix's that arguably end up being needed for each product because some finds an exploit (and if it doesn't get fixed everybody bitches), when the money dries up? Are you going to write it? For free? Lets see how much you paid for your bachelor of sciences degree, and then we can talk about your idea of charity work.

Dave Penny,

Micosoft Software Advisor

*Great, here comes the flood of flames and questions*

PS, if your wallet is that tight, get Student XP, its free and legal

Hi Dave,

I happen to agree with you.

Software requires funding. Everything that is free source eventually has money of some sort behind it, even if it is solely the author's own.

The cost that goes into creating, supporting, and then maintaining an operating system is massive. Retail cost of home user computer's simply doesn't cut it. OEM licensing, partner funding, and out-source management is required to maintain _any_ viable leading edge software solution.

While I wish I was still a student and could get Vista for free, I will shell out my money for Microsoft's products because the alternatives are still not up to speed, and software/hardware vendors will be supporting the newer versions more than the previous ones.

I run an anti-piracy website and co-operate with the SIIA. I know the struggles that software developers go through on a daily basis to protect their assets. I help a small group of authors protect their software, and while their products sell for less than $29 in some cases, I have estimated a loss of over $600,000 over 5 yrs to piracy.

These are hard working people who create their software a second job to support their families, and piracy even touches their lives.

Penalties need to be tougher for anything to be realized.

Edited by Somnus

$400 in the grand scheme of things is not hard to come by. That is 80 hrs work at $5/hr. Surely you can find something to pay you that for two weeks to afford Vista? No?

Again, depending where do you live. I get 8-9$ per 8h of work, so it would be about a dollar per hour. After paying all my bills I get left with about 50$ for food and clothes for whole month. Not too much to spend on software, eh? And there are about 20 million of people in my country that lives like this.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Oh no...the wallet is already screaming. So many games and so little time. Being old and responsible is awful!
    • LibreWolf 152.0.2-1 by Razvan Serea LibreWolf is an independent “fork” of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox. LibreWolf is designed to increase protection against tracking and fingerprinting techniques, while also including a few security improvements. This is achieved through our privacy and security oriented settings and patches. LibreWolf also aims to remove all the telemetry, data collection and annoyances, as well as disabling anti-freedom features like DRM. LibreWolf features: Latest Firefox — LibreWolf is compiled directly from the latest build of Firefox Stable. You will have the the latest features, and security updates. Independent Build — LibreWolf uses a build independent of Firefox and has its own settings, profile folder and installation path. As a result, it can be installed alongside Firefox or any other browser. No phoning home — Embedded server links and other calling home functions are removed. In other words, minimal background connections by default. User settings updates Extensions firewall: limit internet access for extensions. Multi-platform (Windows/Linux/Mac/and soon Android) Community-Driven Dark theme (classic and advanced) LibreWolf privacy features: Delete cookies and website data on close. Include only privacy respecting search engines like DuckDuckGo and Searx. Include uBlockOrigin with custom default filter lists, and Tracking Protection in strict mode, to block trackers and ads. Strip tracking elements from URLs, both natively and through uBO. Enable dFPI, also known as Total Cookie Protection. Enable RFP which is part of the Tor Uplift project. RFP is considered the best in class anti-fingerprinting solution, and its goal is to make users look the same and cover as many metrics as possible, in an effort to block fingerprinting techniques. Always display user language as en-US to websites, in order to protect the language used in the browser and in the OS. Disable WebGL, as it is a strong fingerprinting vector. Prevent access to the location services of the OS, and use Mozilla's location API instead of Google's API. Limit ICE candidates generation to a single interface when sharing video or audio during a videoconference. Force DNS and WebRTC inside the proxy, when one is being used. Trim cross-origin referrers, so that they don't include the full URI. Disable link prefetching and speculative connections. Disable disk cache and clear temporary files on close. Disable form autofill. Disable search and form history...and more. Download: LibreWolf 64-bit | Portable 64-bit | ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: ARM64 | Portable ARM64 Links: LibreWolf Home Page | Addons | Screenshot | Reddit Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Hands on with iFlyTek AINote 2 E-Ink tablet: insanely thin and smart by Taras Buria During Amazon Prime Day 2026, iFlyTek is offering its E-Ink tablets with big discounts. The AINOTE 2 is now available at 20% off, allowing you to save quite a lot on one of the thinnest E-Ink tablets out there. I was offered a chance to look at the device, so here are my impressions. The AINOTE 2 is a large 10.65-inch E-Ink tablet that strikes you the moment you take it out of the box. It is extremely thin. At just 4.2 mm, this tablet is at the edge of what is possible for a device with a USB Type-C port. It is also very light, which makes it comfortable and enjoyable during long reading sessions. The tablet has a gold metal chassis with the front and back made of plastic. The back also features four rubber feet that prevent it from sliding around your desk when writing. Besides a USB Type-C port and an LED indicator, there are two buttons mounted on the top edge: a power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a dedicated AI button. I would say the fingerprint scanner is quite mid. Given that iFlyTek positions the device as a digital notebook, it makes sense to have a biometric scanner to protect sensitive information. However, it is not the fastest fingerprint reader, and sometimes it fails to recognize my finger. I assume that is due to the tablet's insane thinness. A dedicated AI button is an interesting choice, especially in the middle of the top edge. I can see this button being useful for those who heavily rely on AI and use it frequently, but I cannot help but think its placement is impractical. Having it on one of the longer sides would make so much more sense. The AINOTE 2 is a very pretty device. Gold finish with thin chassis and nearly symmetrical front bezels create a fantastic combination, and iFlyTek cleverly hides the front chin with a section that looks like an extension of the screen, housing two touch-capacitive buttons: one for AI and one for quick notes. This section can also scroll pages when you swipe from the middle to the left or right. It is a cool idea, and very handy when you need to scroll tens of pages at once. AINOTE 2's elegant look extends from its exterior to its software. The user interface is very clean and not cluttered with an abundance of buttons. The tablet prioritizes the note-taking experience, and when you unlock it, it defaults to the list of all notes and folders. Additionally, there is a separate "Schedule" section with your calendar, tasks, memos, and other productivity features. You can connect your Outlook or Google account or use a local calendar. The tablet has quite a lot of AI features powered by OpenAI's GPT-5 and Google's Gemini 3. Besides a standard app with all your chats, you can invoke AI by pressing its dedicated button and dictating your request. It is not limited to just chats. It works with the built-in calendar, and you can tell it to create events, tasks, notes, and more. Additionally, AI features are integrated into the built-in notepad, allowing you to summarize notes, ask questions about your notes, and more. The tablet can OCR handwritten text in different languages (about 120 languages, which is very impressive), and it surprised me with very good accuracy. Voice note transcription is also available, including a "multiplayer" mode where the tablet detects each speaker. Unfortunately, the AINOTE 2 has no built-in speakers (even though it somehow makes a tapping noise when you flip pages using the Quick Bar), so the only way to listen to something is to connect a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. However, there are four front-facing mics for dictation, voice notes, AI chats, and more. Unfortunately, certain features require a Pro subscription that costs $5.99/mo or $59.99/year. Those include offline voice transcription, access to better AI models, the ability to edit notes on a PC or mobile app, and extended service coverage similar to Apple Care. It is a bummer to see yet another app, especially in a device that costs $649, but at least they give a free 90-day trial so that you can see if the benefits justify the price. As for the reader, it supports PDF, EPUB, TXT, MOBI, AZW3, DOC(X), XLS(X), PPT(X), JPEG, JPG, and PNG. The app is quite customizable, with features like text contrast/boldness/size adjustments, margins and spacing customization, and the ability to load custom fonts. Plus, you can annotate books with the stylus, add text notes, and use AI to work with them. Just keep in mind that most AI features require an active internet connection. Like with other E-Ink tablets with Android inside, you can load any other reader you want from the Google Play Store or a third-party source. Despite its hefty price tag of $629 or $519 by the time of publishing this article during Prime Day 2026, the AINOTE 2 has quite modest hardware inside. There is only 4 GB of RAM and about 42GB of storage. It is powered by the RockChip RK3576 processor with 8 cores at 2.2 GHz. Given that the tablet runs Android 14 and has Google Play, you can install Android apps, but do not expect much from this thing performance-wise. As for the battery, there is a 4,000 Li-Ion battery, which, on full charge, lasted me for about one week of active daily use of reading and note-taking. The screen has a resolution of 1920x2560 pixels, which equals 300 PPI, a perfect spot for a sharp, nice-to-read display. It supports EMR styluses that do not require charging, and I have to say that the note-taking experience on this tablet is fantastic. Stylus lag is nearly imperceivable, creating a very natural, paper-like feel. The stylus comes in the box (including two extra nibs), and it features an extra button for various actions and an eraser on top. It magnetically attaches to the tablet and stays safely secured. The stylus has a very nice coarse texture, and thanks to using Wacom tech, you can swap it for any other EMR pen if you wish. The AINOTE 2 has no front light, and because of that, the display sits very close to the screen surface, reducing the distance between the stylus tip/your finger and the display to a minimum. No front light is certainly an inconvenience in certain scenarios, but the screen makes up for that with a seriously impressive paper-like feel and writing experience. In dark conditions, you will have to find a lamp, but the good thing is that the screen has a solid anti-glare surface that diffuses light. The display has two modes: Crisp and Fast. Crisp ensures the image stays, well, crisp and sharp, while Fast speeds up refresh rate and response by toning down display resolution and making everything a bit more jagged. In my testing, I only used Fast mode when browsing the web for a much faster render time. The iFlyTek AINOTE is an impressive device, but it's not flawless. A few things disappointed me during a week of using it. Software localization has a bunch of not necessarily broken, but certainly awkward, machine-translated English. System navigation is not good, as there is no universal "Home" gesture. To go to the main page, you have to swipe up and then press the Home button from the multi-tasking window. There are many gestures for various actions, such as display cleanup, screenshot, undo/redo, but no back/forward or Home gestures. I really hate that the tablet won't let me update its software without creating an iFlyTek account first. Finally, privacy could be a concern for some, as most tablets' features require an active internet connection, an iFlyTek account, and sharing data when using AI. If you can overlook its quirks, some of which could be addressed with software updates (I received two with massive changelogs over a single week), and accept a $519 price tag (with a discount), you will be happy with the AINOTE 2. However, if you do not need that many AI features in an E-Ink reader or you want something a bit more affordable, you'd better look at cheaper competitors from BOOX or Amazon, such as the BOOX Go 10.3 Gen 2 or the Kindle Scribe, which is currently 24% off during Prime Day sales. Buy iFlyTek AINOTE 2 on Amazon - $519 | 20% off with Prime What I liked What I disliked Very impressive hardware Beautiful design Fantastic display with an EMR stylus Supports offline voice transcription Easy-to-use software Clever, useful, and well-made AI features A fingerprint scanner Very expensive Some features require a subscription Poor system navigation Mandates a user account No speakers Privacy could be a concern Note: iFlyTek provided the review unit without any editorial input or review guidance. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Look up "greed". If you are willing to buy that it's only inflation, I've got a bridge to sell you.
    • Very umm, blue?  
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      kinowa earned a badge
      First Post
    • Rookie
      krychek57 went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Grand Master
      Jaybonaut went up a rank
      Grand Master
    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      416
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      168
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      132
    4. 4
      Xenon
      73
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      73
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!