You have gotten those E_Mails buy software at deep discounts. It is very tempting to save 85% to 95% on your favorite Software Titles. Why would you pay $279 for Windows XP when you can pay $49. Most of the times these are Pirated copies of the Software. You can run into huge problems later when you seek upgrades, Support or Security patches.

Anyone can rationalize buying Pirated software. Who are you hurting? Bill Gates is so rich he can afford to loose a few sales. No you won't hurt Bill Gates to much. But what about the Microsoft Employee with a wife and a Child or 2. If Microsoft looses enough sales tom these pirates who do you think will be laid off. The Working Man with a wife and children to support. The single mom trying to make a better life for her and her children. People much like you are going to suffer the most.

If ethics alone are not enough to keep you from buying pirated software how about the fact that Microsoft is now verifying that you have a legal copy of their software before they allow you to download updates. Updates that are often meant to plug security holes in the software that leave your computers fair prey for worms. Viruses and Adware.

You will want those security updates. Buying Pirated software will cost you more in the long run because you will need to buy a Microsoft version to get support and upgrades