Office Live Team

Why are they pissed? Well, I guess Microsoft distributed an automatic update that is blacking out the screen of pirated versions of the Microsoft operating system.  Every hour, or something along those lines, the desktop background is replaced with a image that marks the system as pirated. Aristechnica.com says:

“All it does is change the desktop background every 60 minutes to a black one with the reminder to go legit. Users can change the desktop to something else anytime they want, but it will revert back to the black one when the next 60 minutes is up.”

This update was released globally but apparently the Chinese have been somewhat vocal regarding their disgust or dislike for the change and the tactic.

What kind of stinks is that Chinese versions of Microsoft software are sold, legitimately, for a fraction of what we pay here in the US. This is apparently Microsoft’s effort to get people to pay for and use the software vs. stealing it.

“Still, upsetting what could potentially be Microsoft’s largest software market could turn out to be a bad move. Sure, the blackout is a mere annoyance, but it’s one of the more intrusive "annoyances" that Microsoft has implemented to date.”

This is all kind of odd but interesting to follow and I cant wait to see what happens in the long run. I wonder what is next for the potentially unhappy users? Perhaps a visit to the Apple store in China or an open source platform? Probably for some users but I am guessing some smart Chinese cracker has already built a workaround.