People here sure seem to hate Microsoft. Why is that? I'm pretty happy with the MS products I own. As far as the protection, I still think it would be much more acceptable to buyers if it actually did prevent piracy. In the real world honest people have to go thru hassles because of thieves. Be we put up with it because the thieves have to go thru the hassle too; and are prevented from stealing or even caught stealing. But in the software world, ONLY the honest people get the hassle. The thieves will get a cracked version and go merrily on their way.