Microsoft Reports Windows 95 Piracy

Three weeks after Microsoft distributed samples of its Chinese version of Windows 95, pirated versions of the software have swept into the market, a company official said Thursday.

Microsoft sent out a trial version of Windows 95 in the simplified Chinese characters earlier this month, asking recipients for suggestions on improvements.

A final version of the Chinese software will go on sale in late December.

Illegal copies of both the English and Chinese versions of Windows 95 are being sold widely in China, Duh said. He declined to estimate the company’s losses.

Software is widely available in Chinese cities in illegally copied versions sold for a small fraction of the price of the legitimate versions.