Is Microsoft overstepping their bounds?

Ok, so we all know that Microsoft loves to make something a craze and then abandon it. They did it with chat and now they are trying to do it with their browser. I thought Internet Explorer 7( IE7) was a freee download for public use. Thats the way it appears on their site, they tell you nothing else about it. But download it and try to install it, they want you to validate your copy of Windows. Some of us use Linux as our prime OS becuase Microsoft is so greedy. I mean honestly, as soon as I can pick up a copy of OS X for Intel, I will install it in a heartbeat and enjoy the performance boost over any version of Windows. Thats part of the reason why I use Fedora Core 5 with CGYWin plug in and my old faithful copy of Windows 2000 Pro as its basis. But try to download IE7 using 2000Pro and it wont happen.

And to boot that thought, why is it Microsoft thinks that their new Vista is worth 200 plus bucks when almost 4 or 5 years later they still haven't finished fixing XP ? If Microsoft really wanted to reduce their piracy rate they would put their pricing in line with other OS's and that would be closer to about a hundred bucks for a fully functioning copy of their software. Its not like the days of Windows 95 when they had the corner on the market. There are alternatives out there on the market now and Microsoft doesn't have the market cornered.

Going back to the original arguement about IE7 needing validated. Why would I waste my time and have to reboot my computer at least twice when I can download at least 3 other browsers out there and not need to reboot the puter for it to take hold. I mean there is Firefox 2.0, Opera 9.0, Maxthon, and even the old standby of Lynx. And they all install without a hitch. But to get to IE7, you have to validate. If its a free download, why do we have to validate it? Its not an integrated part of Windows, is that not overstepping the bounds of common sense and going back towards the monoply that Windows was originally heading toward? Only in America are people so lapsidisical and willing to just take what comes on a computer without questioning if there isn't something better out there for themselves to use.