It’s just a method of reducing cost - Microsoft did the same with the DVD playing codec. Their own DVD player wouldn’t function until a 3rd party codec was installed.
One should also think back to Microsoft’s approach to fonts. Where they made Frankenfonts instead of licensing the real ones.
You are joking, right? KMS activation is a total no-brainer, most of the times it is even already included in the build iso, so it "just works".
I always thought that everyone kinda understood that MS has been using piracy as a mean to popularize it's OS. Let some individual in Russia use pirated Windows, you will be paid anyway when this kid gets a job and starts using Windows in enterprise.
Ssssshhhhhh, you should read it as as their platform includes **legally-sufficient** protections against piracy