As we expected, the first leaks of Windows 8 RTM, the MSDN versions have appeared on torrent sites. A Portugese user of The Piratebay has posted numerous original MSDN ISO's to the website. Likely also MSDN subscribers will revert to torrents as many users report that the Microsoft downloads are very slow. The downloads will require an activation key and people on The Piratebay are hoping for the creation of an activation kit. One seems to have appeared. The 'Microsoft Windows 8 Pro + Enterprise Activator v1.5 By bobiras20' has been updated yesterday and while some people report it works, it's unclear if it really does.
So far Microsoft seems to have trouble keeping the Windows 8 out of the hands of software pirates. It wouldn't be surprising if the software giant has ways of rendering pirated version useless in the future. Windows 8 is a heavily connected operating system and it would be easy for Microsoft to update the system with a patch to prevent further piracy. We would also like to warn users installing illegal versions to avoid using their regular Windows Live account , you could potentially lose your Xbox Live, Hotmail and Skydrive accounts.
Another interesting detail that has become known now that the MSDN versions are out, is that the RTM that has been leaked before is nearly identical to the MSDN versions. Software crackers report that by changing a digital signature in the installation files the leaked RTM version and the MSDN versions are 100% identical.
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