It was only a matter of time, and they are fully within their rights. Microsoft are now steping up their efforts to make sure that your copy of Windows is legit. (click here for article) It’s been slow in coming, but if you’ve been downloading patches, add-ons etc, then you would have seen them slowly ramping up to this.
I’m interested in a couple of things:
1) Will they manage to gather the extra cash they’re hoping for? (I’m guessing they’ve done their homework and the answer is yes)
2) Will this innitiative from Microsoft create a fresh drive away from Windows towards Linux? Will people rather pay Microsoft the money they owe, or have a bigger carrot than what Microsoft is offering, to move to Linux? Certainly the writing is on the wall around all Microsoft products. If you aren’t a paid up user currently using their products illegally, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll have to hand over your money.