How far will Microsoft go to protect Windows 7 upgrade license rules
Microsoft is putting pressure on the manufacturers of a Windows 7 upgrade tool to spell out the fact that most users will be breaching licensing rules. But it’s not clear how far Microsoft is prepared to go to prevent such behavior.
The dispute involves Parallels Desktop Upgrade to Windows 7, a package designed to make the XP/Vista to Windows 7 transition simpler. Manufacturers Parallels are better know for their packages for moving from Windows to Macs.
The new product aims to tackle two problems: the sheer hassle of moving files, settings and other data when a clean install isn’t possible (i.e. any XP-Windows 7 upgrade and any Vista-Windows 7 upgrade other than like-for-like editions), and the fact that some XP software doesn’t work in Windows 7.
The former problem is solved simply enough: Parallels backs up all the relevant data on its own servers and then reinstalls it once the new operating system is in place. But the latter problem is solved by running a virtual edition of XP in the background of Windows 7.
That’s a problem for Microsoft as this is only allowable under its rules where somebody has bought the full-price edition of Windows 7 (and thus now has licenses for both XP and Windows 7). However, most of the people using this software will be running an upgrade edition of Windows 7, which means their Windows 7 license replaces their XP license rather than adds to it.
CNET’s Ina Freid has been repeatedly checking up on this point with both sides and now has a statement from Microsoft reading:
“Microsoft does not endorse moving the user’s desktop from a physically loaded OS into a VM as a consumer solution, because the vast majority (more than 90 percent) of consumers do not license Windows under a license that would allow them to transfer Windows into a virtual machine, move Windows to a different machine, or run a secondary virtual machine that is not running XP Mode on the same machine. Without these license rights, most consumers will not be properly licensing Windows when using the virtualization features of Parallels’ product.”
Microsoft is in talks with Parallels to make this point clearer, but doesn’t seem to have many other options to push its points. It could try to force Parallels to block people from using the software on upgrade editions of Windows 7, but that could be technically tricky. It could even try to get an injunction against the software but, given there are clearly 100 percent legitimate uses of the product, that seems unlikely to succeed.
There’s also the possibility of suing the customers who violate their license, but that’s also a shaky strategy. Microsoft would first have to physically locate an offender, then choose an individual to sue, which is guaranteed to come across as bullying. And even worse, it might lose the case, which throw its entire licensing system into disarray.
Given these circumstances, Microsoft should probably do the bare minimum to assure shareholders it is discouraging license violation, but accept the practical reality that the vast majority of people would consider running old XP software on a legal copy of Windows 7 to be perfectly ethically sound, whatever the licensing technicalities.
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