You May Be a Victim

...of software counterfeiting. Honestly, I wish they had said piracy. It sounds so much more festive.

As I've been playing Starcraft 2 on my desktop recently, this message has been popping up frequently, kicking me out of the game. Recently almost every time I use Windows (I'm using Windows 7 on this computer) I'm bothered by how annoying it is. Programs crash, pop-ups distract me, and it's generally just more of a pain in the ass than Mac OSX. I feel sorry for people who don't know all the ins and outs of Windows like I do.

The Victim and the Culprit

Yeah, I didn't pay for Windows 7. I was an "official" Beta tester before it was released, and then I downloaded and installed a cracked copy. If it actually came down to paying $350 or more (however much Windows 7 Ultimate Edition™ costs nowadays), I'd just as quickly go back to Windows XP. That operating system is ten years old and feels like Mac OS 9 (that is, painfully antiquated) but at least it isn't as problematic as Windows 7.

Pondering the Future

Recently I came across this article, which considers the circumstances under which Apple's market cap tops that of Microsoft. I wholeheartedly agree with the author: Microsoft's days on top are numbered. With Google and Apple filling the gap by taking an ever-increasing market share from Microsoft with their superior mobile and desktop platforms, I say good riddance.