How does microsoft detect/enforce Office piracy in Vista?

Does MS Office communicate with the internet and microsoft detects whether it is pirated or not? I told my friend it was not a good idea because MS seems serious nowadays but he can install a pirated version of Office 2007. How big a risk would he be taking?

How does microsoft detect/enforce Office piracy in Vista?virus protection software

Validation means checking the license and activation code which you used during the installation. If they are found in the blacklist the validation fails... A blacklist is a list containing fake codes which where either generated or stolen from other companies.

In the privacy statement it says clearly that when connecting to microsoft server for updates, the computer doesn't send private information which could help them identify you so the only thing microsoft can do is to notify in case you're using a pirated copy and deny access to updates and so on...

How does microsoft detect/enforce Office piracy in Vista?adware

Well, Microsoft allows you to use the software if you can pass the serial part of the installation. But, Microsoft got smart with the Office update feature. Sure, you may be able to use the software perfectly fine. But would you feel safe about having software you can't update with critical security flaws that MS Office always contains?

HELL NO! If he gets passed the serial part of the installation hes going to be stopped dead on trying to update the product and thats going to leave him vulnerable.

Why does he need Word 2007? Or Microsoft word period? Open office is a great alternative if he needs more then just Word(Excel, Powerpoint..etc)

If your just needing a copy of a word processing software.. I just recently downloaded Abiword. I love it.

Give it a try!!

good luck,

Dominick