Did you run a pirate version of MS DOS and Win 3.xx?

[B00tDisk]

Y'know...

Yes, yes I did.  But here's the weird thing: after the fact, with all of the MS OS'es I have used - DOS 6.22, Windows 3.1/3.11, Windows '95, Windows '98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and now Windows 7, I have at some point gotten a legitimate copy.

Starting with XP, I got it just because I got tired of all of the WGA/keygen programs and "preactivated" versions being basically humongous rootkits masquerading as the OS

The copies of DOS, and all Windows prior to XP I got after the fact - some of them, I have no idea how I wound up with them.  My OEM copy of Windows 98 SE?  Nope, no clue where that came from.  Same with Windows '95.  I was looking for a blank CD-R one day and opened up a jewel case and there sat Windows 3.11 on CD (Dell OEM).  No idea how I got that.

I bought Windows 2000 a few months ago at a used book store for $10.  In box, with jewel case, original receipt, everything.  Very neat (got a copy of Office 2000 with it for $15, but sold that with a PC I threw together to make a few extra bucks).

[Karlos]

Nope.

I tend not to use windows even now, despite owning a perfectly legitimate copy.

[Pyromania]

I ran an offical version of MSDOS & Win 3.x using this on my A500.

http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=346

[orb85750]

Defected to Windows with Win 95 (and not too impressed) -- never used MS DOS or Win 3.xx

[Iggy]

Before Windows3.0 came out, I obtained an evaluation copy from some friends at IBM. I was working for a company selling computers based initially on boards from a company called Peripheral Technologies. These systems used 68000 processors tied to an ISA bus and would run a variety of OS' (including Microware OS9).
We also had an NEC V20 based processor card called the ALT86 that could plug into these systems allowing them to run MS-DOS/Windows.

While crude, Windows 3.0 (cleaned up as revision 3.1) was the product that convinced me that other platforms (many with significant advantages over MS-DOS) were in trouble if Microsoft could make an interface that made their OS easy to use, like an appliance.
Which is pretty much what happens. Microsoft OS' powered computers went from being specialized devices that required a lot of learning, to being consumer devices.

Since then, a lot of the fun's gone out of computing.

[amiga92570]

Well as owner of a computer retail store (ACS Computers) I had enough original copies.

[ElPolloDiabl]

I should add that some people would have booted to a directory manager or menu system.

Windows was really the inferior of GUIs available, but at that time I was never critical of something that did what it was suppose to do. The problem nowadays is that you have to deal with Windows at some point no getting around it.

[ToddH]

I ran an offical version of MSDOS & Win 3.x using this on my A500.

http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=346

Yep, I ran the same setup in college. My computer programming classes required a PC running MS-DOS. The ATonce worked pretty well although it was a bit slow.

The first version of Windows I owned was 95. I sold my A1200 for a 95 box. It was a sad day.

[jj]

I own retail versions of
 
WinXP Pro
WinXp Media Centre, which of because of the time it was bought was given free upgarde so..
Vista Home (is that the one with medica Centre ?)
Also Own Win7 Pro, pre-ordered for massive discount
Vista Home OEM
 
I have run inthe past
 
Pirated versions of 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, Windows Milenium and Win 2000

[VingtTrois]

No pirated version but I use this :banana: "FORMAT A:" :banana:  on my originals disks.

A long time ago that my original disks no longer contain MS DOS!!! They are in AMIGA format since many years.

My last victim:

[MarkTime]

I don't recall having any reason to pirate the software in those days.  Oh, as computers were a major hobby, I picked up an original IBM PC with a RODIME 10MB hard drive - but that was years after that wasn't much of a system.  It had disks with it.

Later I got an AST 386sx-16mhz, that one had windows 3.11 on it - but again came with the original system disks - also was not expensive and completely outdated by the time I picked it up.

Because I was buying from surplus houses - they used to have all kinds of extra disks.  I bought OS/2 for a song, and got Interleaf publisher even - some nice desktop publishing software.

When I got my powermac 6100 - I even bought Photoshop! LOL, for like $10 bucks.  It was sitting in a warehouse - it was the upgrade version, but I just inputted the serial numbers that came with it (but had been markered over) - and wa-la, it installed.  I even kept upgrading that up to version 5, before I stopped.  Of course the upgrades were costing real money.

All that has changed, the warehouse shop is still in business, but they never have a real deal anymore.
Thanks ebay.

[motrucker]

I too, voted no because back then I didn't use MS-DOS/ PC-DOS or early Windows. That was my Amiga only period (and earlier the C-64).
I started with Windows 98 but only for games...

[Boudicca]

Did you run a pirate version of MS DOS and Win 3.xx?

Curious Question. I'll answer this with another question, did Microsoft pirate CP/M or did Digital Research pirate MS-DOS and did several pc vendors pirate MSDOS and call it anything but MSDOS, did M$ steal QDOS from some of the unpaid shareholders ?

Lets face it was quite a few years before the legality and the EULA became recognised worldwide and as such it is not possible to pirate any MSDOS before version 7.

Windows 3.x is another matter entirely.

[Lando]

Yes, I had pirated copies of Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, ME, XP and now run Windows 7 Home Premium upgraded from the Windows 7 Starter that came with the laptop with a key given to me over MSN, so I suppose that should count as pirated too.

I think I did purchase Windows 95 at one point in time when I was at university, as I thought there was something wrong with my copied CD (turns out there wasn't - I just had the junkie virus in my bootblock so it was still there after reformatting).

I bought Mac OS X 10.3, 10.5 and most recently 10.6 Snow Leopard, as well as Amiga OS 3.5, 3.9 and Morphos 2.x.

[Franko]

This poll is totally unfair and biased... :angry:

Where is the option for sensible people to answer...

ie:- Or were you just too INTElLIGENT to never have went near MS DOS or WinDoze. :roflmao:

PS: Hurry Up And Put Up A DECENT Amiga Related Poll (the clues in the name of this Forum...)

[Opus]

never bought a M$ OS, 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, xp, 7....are they gonna hunt me down now?