Windows 7

[rjk83]

The RC will expire on June 1, 2010 but will start to shutdown every two hours starting March 1, 2010. (Like ender said, effectively over in March and I'm sure by beta he meant RC). Full release was on 10/22 and are now available (full editions have been available for 3 months via MSDN / Technet or SA)

Microsoft already said that all versions, legitimate and illegitimate will receive security updates just like they have in the past. (security updates only, not value add updates and non-security updates)

That being said, there have already been dozens of reports of RC, RTM and Retail versions that were pirated and everything was great but are infected w/ trojans / botnet / etc... It could just be Microsoft fluff, but search for it as I'm sure the internets has more info (the internets knows everything)...

If your going to go illegal, then do it and be prepared for any issues / consequences, but at the same time, don't bitch or comment about issues you had (both good and bad) as if they are a reflection of the OS because you didn't want to pay the small amount for a new OS. If you have a pirated version, keep your feedback to yourself, you aren't running "Windows 7", you are running "Pirated Windows 7"

[Guitar Guy]

The RC will expire on June 1, 2010 but will start to shutdown every two hours starting March 1, 2010. (Like ender said, effectively over in March and I'm sure by beta he meant RC). Full release was on 10/22 and are now available (full editions have been available for 3 months via MSDN / Technet or SA)

Microsoft already said that all versions, legitimate and illegitimate will receive security updates just like they have in the past. (security updates only, not value add updates and non-security updates)

That being said, there have already been dozens of reports of RC, RTM and Retail versions that were pirated and everything was great but are infected w/ trojans / botnet / etc... It could just be Microsoft fluff, but search for it as I'm sure the internets has more info (the internets knows everything)...

If your going to go illegal, then do it and be prepared for any issues / consequences, but at the same time, don't bitch or comment about issues you had (both good and bad) as if they are a reflection of the OS because you didn't want to pay the small amount for a new OS. If you have a pirated version, keep your feedback to yourself, you aren't running "Windows 7", you are running "Pirated Windows 7"

I've pirated my OS since XP. Havent had ANY problems. And I dont always refer to it as "Pirated Windows 7" just as I dont always refer to Windows XP Media Center edition as Media Center edition, I refer to it as windows xp.