Newlaunches

Only 244 copies of Genuine Windows Vista sold in China

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Microsoft spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS ‘Windows Vista’ in China, in fact the IT juggernaut threw up the biggest Vista Ad on the 421 meter high Jin Mao tower in Shanghai China. However after 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere 244 copies of Windows Vista. Software piracy is rampant in the middle kingdom and a pirated version of Vista sells for a mere $1 on the streets. The following numbers are quoted by Windows Vista chief distributor in Bejing.


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Source (Japanese)

Dhiram Shah

89 responses to “Only 244 copies of Genuine Windows Vista sold in China”

  2. 244 copias de Windows Vista vendidas en toda China

    Tenemos informe de que la oficina principal de Microsoft en China (que alcanza al 90% de la población de ese país) apenas vendió 244 copias legales de Windows Vista en TODA China en las primeras 2 semana de haberse lanzado. Esto después de haber gastado m

  3. I know its a copy but still freakin’ fun to see that they where not even able to write Ultimate right on side of the package. “Ulimate”, hehe.

  9. Only 244 copies of Genuine Windows Vista sold in China

    After 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere 244 copies of Windows Vista. Software piracy is rampant in the middle kingdom and a pirated version of Vista sells for a mere $1 on the streets. The following numbers are quot…

  12. This is actually pretty funny given that where I am living – at regional city with a population of about 60,000 – has probably managed to beat this, albeit it would have taken four weeks but still.

  14. 244? Yeah, right. Talk about inflated statistics! I bet that 243 of those were purchased by Microsoft to puff up the numbers.

  15. I also live in Asia and have found that most major software available on the net cannot be purchased over the net and thus I went in search of buying the software through a distributor. What I found shocked me. Adobe InDesignCS2 Suite as an example, costs almost double as did Microsoft’s Publisher. And this in a country where the medium income is less than $200 a month. It is really hard to find a valid copy of anything. And for someone like me that wants to stay within compliance and not be a Pirate, it is becoming very difficult to stay current. Another thought was to buy the software in the USA through a distributor and have it shipped to me though the Postal system. Wrong again as there are high import duties in place to prevent this. Sometimes it seems that they want us to use copies.

  20. This is capitalism at its finest. The market and purchasing power of the people determines how well it will sell, and we can all see that it’s dismal. Given the almost zero practical advantages or improvements over windows XP other than being chock full of DRM and eye candy, this is a very sensible decision by customers.

  22. What do Microsoft expect? the cost of Vista in China is ridiculously expensive and piracy is rampant and cheap. They only have themselves to blame and I feel no sympathy. But on another point does this mean that China has a better PC infrastructure than the west as most computers don’t have the power to properly support vista ultimate?

  23. This is ridiculous. Vista is way too easy to pirate, I’ve heard stories of Microsoft actually teaching how to do it. This is just sad too, on the right edge it even says Vista “Ulimate.” I’m glad my Windows box did not contain any typos.

  24. http://Badvista.org
    i’d boot leg it also but i dont like it for that fact that they try and limit you to what programs you can and cannot use
    if you read the license for vista like all the “Fine Print” you see that they have the right to delete programs off your computer without your knowing

  25. You guys are totally missing the point…
    The targets of Microsoft’s campaigns are for buyers of new PCs from Sony, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, etc. that come preloaded with Genuine Windows Vista. They’re trying to push demand up, so that PC suppliers have to load their systems with Vista at the factory, where it has to be genuine, of course. You all think Microsoft really thinks they’re gonna have people buy the original Vista for their current PCs in China ?! Come on…..

  27. Windows? Why even bother…The Chinese government probably uses some flavor of X. They aren’t stupid like the US Government.

  28. Piracy is a problem, but hardware requirement is a problem too. People still want to use new os with their old computers.
    Another factor will be most of the softwares and hardwares still not fully support vista yet.
    So why not wait til later when everything is fully compatible.

  29. That’s gotta be fake anyway.
    There is absolutely no way there could have been sold just 244 copies. Maybe they’re missing some zeros…

  30. If there was no piracy how could have MS survived? Windows is the most used software only because of it. And you know who would care about MS if their software is not the most used Ulimate Pofessional crap on the planet.
    And for you who want to stay legal – just upgrade to Linux.

  31. o(∩_∩)o..plz pay attention to the purchasing power of most of the Chinese people.What a foolish man it is if he pays one or two months’s salaries in buying a genuine copy.What Microsoft should do is to reduce the ridiculous-high price !!

  33. Not to be rude.
    Maybe China aware of how GOOD vista going to be, in other word 244 don’t know about vista.

  34. good job by chinese. vista deserves this =)
    I’m happy to see that anyway
    ps: I’m flying to Shanghai this summer

  35. Most of the people commenting here seem to fail to realise that the pictures are of FAKE copies of Vista. Hence the typo.

  38. Vista costs a months pay or more for most of china’s population. Think about that in terms of your own country.. would you pay that?

  40. Vista will eventually replace XP through OEM.
    The cost of the software in china has to reflect its export value regardless of national average income; otherwise people would export legal copies to western countries at a fraction of their domestic retail.

  44. You’re all retarded expect for Bob…..those are pictures of the pirate copies, of course there are bound to be typos..the people pirating are freaking Chinese and English isn’t their first language. Why would MS even package Vista in slim cheap cd cases.

  45. pirated copies live FOREVER, as long as softwares can be technically copied while regional economic diparities exist… no sympathy, no surprise.

  46. “Bob on April 19, 2007 3:12 AM – You dumbshits, that’s a picture of the pirated copy.”
    – Thanks Bob. Well dur!! It’s a good thing you’re around, ‘cos I’m sure that not a single person who commented on this fact in the comments above noticed that!! What do you think is the point of this discussion is!!

  47. hahaahaahahahhahahaha
    heres my question *snickers* does it run in english or just chinese, cause i think vista might be worth a buck. might.
    *wait forgot
    postage is at least $5 from china….

  48. Your shocked by this?? Chinese wont pay for anything they are plain used to just stealling stuff…. They have morals of any kind when it comes to stealling USA products or goods. Its disgusting….

  50. your glad your copy of vista had no typo on the box …… hell for a saveing of 590 odd euro they can spell it how they bleedin like. i bought a copy of xp in november and to buy a full version of vista ulimate here in eire is 600 lids. id buy that for a dollar

  51. Tom on April 19, 2007 8:07 PM
    Vista will eventually replace XP through OEM.
    The cost of the software in china has to reflect its export value regardless of national average income; otherwise people would export legal copies to western countries at a fraction of their domestic retail.
    **********************
    They can set a low price for the CHINESE version, which is probably of little value to most American who only use the English version.

  52. China will have over 300million high net worth individuals by 2010…. more than the entire population of the U.S. AND THEY CAN’T BUY MORE THAN A FEW COPIES OF WINDOWS – WTF !

  53. Tom,
    in 30 minutes a ubuntu feisty live cd can give me a office computer capable of tracking my finances and creating websites.
    it will have the capabilite to use windows software like photoshop, quicken, internet-explorer, dreamweaver, world-of-warcraft
    with a few clicks i can play mp3s, ogg, avi, wmv, wma, flac, audio cds, dvds, vcds, scvds, ecds
    witha few clicks i can install software that is garunteed to be free of viruses or malware
    so tell me why would i or m grandma want windows vista, especially a versio ntaht was once originally designed for china and then language cracked for english users?
    and reminding you that this is from a company who devote their time to invading your privacy.

  55. Go pirates. No point in paying shit for Vista. It’s just bloatware. As for the security, it’ll become just as bad as XP’s is. Linux is the way to go.

  57. So the Chinese have found a way of successfully getting aroung the Vista activation then ?.
    We can re-arm but that is finite…

  61. Just follows the old adage, “There are always 244 dumb people that will pay any price for something worthless.”
    Hey… I don’t make this stuff up…

  62. dodo: well you should probably just read some other comments as it is absolutely clear that a large number of commentors in fact did not understood that the pictures are showing pirated copies. so if u are unable to read, shut up.

  63. vista can easily switch language. just a new one (language, not copy 😉 and the os is “translated”. $1 pirated, $3 original.
    so i guess they’ll limit the language “conversion” feature.

  64. What really get me is ? Microsoft took 5 years to make Vista , Why did it take so long for just that ? I wish I could work at Microsoft , I can be really good at doing nothing to

  65. I like the Mickey Mouse picture on the packaging. Does Microsoft China have a deal with Disney too?

  68. The Mickey Mouse picture really sums up Vista… it took the richest, greediest company in the world 5 years to make something which is truly “Mickey Mouse” compared to the part-timers of Linux.
    Kudos Kudos Chinese!!
    BTW, how long will it take for these to become available on eBay?

  69. its the same situation here in Kuwait.
    No one is interested in buying the original copy, in fact many people bought the pirated copy of Vista for about 6$ .. and they just un-installed Vista after using it for 30minutes!
    After installing Vista, i couldn’t get my 5.1 speakers works! Windows Media Player only deliver sound for 2 speakers .. and creative didnt fixed this yet, so why should i pay for something it dont work probably?
    BTW .. i own a genuine copy of Windows XP, and i bought it when i made sure everything will work fine on it

  71. heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! vista is a bloated POS anyways,go to the ubuntu website and order a free linux cd,copy it and give it to your friends and family.

  72. Where did these stats come from? There is no way Microsoft sold only 244 licenses of Windows Vista in China regardless of piracy levels.
    -SF

  74. on my opinion they only sold 244 copy of their gaseous plant because its the number of computers in china that can run vista without problems: i tried to install this on a recent computer and it never started. On another one where it was running it was impossible to use dvd writer. Its a ugly fat bad software and thats it

  75. Only 244 copies of Genuine Windows Vista sold in China

    Microsoft spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS ‘Windows Vista’ in China, in fact the IT juggernaut threw up the biggest Vista Ad on the 421 meter high Jin Mao tower in Shanghai China. However after 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from…

  76. Ok, I just hear lots of bickering on how bad vista is from a bunch of programming geniuses. Don’t get me wrong, I love linux. I think ubuntu is one of the closest runners in the windows replacement race. I just don’t think its “not worth the media its printed on”.. China lets piracy run rampid, they have “Coach” purses and “Bur berry” scarves on every street corner for 3 bucks. I think MS should have created a Chinese version maybe off of the standard edition and marked it accordingly. I’m sure they can take a few politicians out for fancy dinners w/paid escorts to pursued the Chinese government to crack down. Unfortunately with their uncontrolled breeding habits they outnumber police. This is a big reason you have such chaos and immorality all over. All we can do it be grateful for what we have and continue to stay legit for ourselves. If you hate MS.. then don’t use it. No one is putting a gun to your head. Don’t sit there and bitch about how 99% of the world is retarded. Shut your traps and get on with your DnD fantasy role playing games. Thats just my opinion.
    Vista is ok for its cost(200$-500$). Vista is better in a business environment.
    Ubuntu is incredible for its cost(free).

  77. With China developing so quickly, Microsoft has a big stake is ensuring that China gets addicted to their products. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a subsidiary in China that is producing the ‘copies’ and ensuring they get distributed. Hell they can probably even claim some tax exemption because they are running at a loss in China.

  79. I for one, am a pirate, Running Windows Vista Business Edition, i didnt feel like paying Microsoft for something that blue screens once in awhile, so i rather consider it “borrowing” of the software. If you dont activate it, its not pirating, its just being lazy. 😉
    I prefer spending my 500 bux on new hardware then to wasting it on high priced software.

  80. LOL at the posters saying those Chinese are immoral for not paying for a real Vista version, forgetting most of them probably have to sell their kidney to get a legal version of Vista + additional software.

  82. the matters with the issues guys, whether the packaging has mis spelled it is good replica of the genuine but in less pain in the ass in reinstalling this OS and have cheap price. i don’t have sympathy to microsoft coz they are all bunch of billionaire’s even though they lost millions that a pizza cake for them. In short technology doesn’t matter to genuineness but rather how to use in our life and create another thing out of it. How can a third world country avail this expensive cutting edge technology??? To microsoft and others IT company “technology carries the sin of humanity that hungers for knowledge”. to all crackers we all thanks to you..

  84. I’ve noticed mac isn’t mentioned here.
    Microsoft is trying to underestimate linux because of few software compatible to it.
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/compare/default.mspx
    There will be pirated software until they make the prices of software cheap and programmers that crack software exist.
    There are good copies but China’s pirated copies are lame.
    imagine “Windows Vista Ulimate”
    American,Japanese,Spanish(includes Mexican) and some Muslim pirated software are better.
    Chinese sometimes invent name for some software like Windows Vista Professional.
    That isn’t offered by Microsoft.
    Now there are now viruses and malware that works for linux and windows.

  85. u guys are dumbasses… the typo’s just the packaging not the actual software.. it’s not language cracked.. it says on the box in chinese “simplified chinese version”
    and in the streets there they also sell english copies.. u know the ones that are pre-cracked.

  87. There’s no benefit to using legitimate software, unless you want the good feeling you get from having legit stuff. I’m using a genuine version of XP Home, and Microsoft keeps saying that there’s an advantage to having genuine stuff (genuine advantage). My ass there is! I know a guy who is using a pirated version of XP, and he gets all the same stuff I do. He can even keep his XP up-to-date! I’m using legit, and I still get nagged to have WGA. All this anti-piracy crap is just annoying to legit users, and they should just cut it out. You can’t win the war against piracy. EVER. Vista: pirated. Latest games: pirated.

  88. u guys r so negitave about vista saying that its worth a buck because some of its true but thats harsh to microsoft and bill gates vista has its up sides and its down sides just like windows xp
    At the minute im on vista SP1 and no problems

  89. sp1 for vista has been fully cracked!!!
    so basically microsoft should give up man cp was hacked too same now vista microsft are working on windows vienna now!!!!
    the os after vista