I never said anything about it being more secure because they were pirated. We were discussing distribution and how many copies are in use but not accounted for in stats.
And I never said I agree with the usage, I only said I have seen it happen.
Microsoft knows this.. and have thus avoided really cracking down on this practice except to push a point. But now that revenues are flat, Longhorn has been indefinitely postponed and things are not looking as rosy as they once did, M$ is having to do something, anything for revenue growth.
Frankly, Microsoft seems to be suffering the fate of companies that win or get soft treatment in Anti-Trust actions. One could argue that if Microsoft had been broken up.. the shareholders probably would have twice the value in their shares as they do now.. because the current situation with Microsoft actually is suppressing sales and blocking innovation and thus new products and profits. Its called inertia.
Microsoft has moved from rapidly growing marketing company to a monopolistic overreaching cash cow. This is the nature of the beast once you own 95% of the market. You can't grow it another 20% next year. They have tried desperately to find other new technologies and rides.. but Microsoft has had remarkably bad luck in almost all of these adventures.
A broken Microsoft would have delivered the shareholders stock in multiple competing companies each facing each other .. but also would have potentially expanded Office into Linux, and perhaps they would be in better shape then they find themselves now in the context of the new Cell processor.
BTW - the referenceed article above on the Cell processor is enough to make anyone who is in love with Wintel sick.