Really? Multiple people make an OS by going off of the same specs, and you call them copies? OpenVMS, OS X, VXWorks (runs the Mars Rover), BSD, Windows NT and others fall under this.
Yet you give a pass to the operating system that was ripped off from another using employees of the company that created it? That's twisted.
Actually, NT qualifies as a "copy" under both criteria, since it's based on VMS and is POSIX compliant.
It's a testament to the quality of Microsoft's product they've been able to hold on to 90% of the market
It's a testament to illegal monopoly practices (convicted), the spread of FUD (Microsoft admitted to this tactic) and sheer market momentum.
You have to admire American billionaires like Bill Gates and Larry Ellison who have taken the best shots the communists and extreme leftists worldwide have dished out, with all the piracy and copyleft software, and still hold their ground.
Don't lump piracy with free software. Free software gets pirated, too, by companies that don't want to have to adhere to the license. For example, Linksys/Cisco, TomTom, Asus, Gigabyte and D-Link, all found to be illegally distributing free software. But IIRC you didn't seem to mind that piracy.
Actually on the offensive now, it appears, even China is agreeing to enforce software laws and is paying US software companies record amounts for software, something long overdue.
I read about that. It is good news. Lenovo (the company you hate) recently signed a $1.3 billion deal with Microsoft, succeeding a $1.2 billion deal last year (so it isn't exactly new news).
Red Flag, the chinese government's version, is based on a direct copy of Red Hat. "Line for Line" copying, the Chinese government got it completely for free, and more where that came from. You repeatedly trying to equate some US company copying another feature, is pathetic.
Free software gets pirated, too
ROFL.