[envyravi]

I was surprised to find a website called "Get Into Pc", which offers free download of almost all popular software including MS Office software. Let us have a discussion, opinion and your views on
1. How safe is it to download free soft ware from Get Into Pc
2. Is it legal to do so in India
3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by envyravi

I was surprised to find a website called "Get Into Pc", which offers free download of almost all popular software including MS Office software. Let us have a discussion, opinion and your views on
1. How safe is it to download free soft ware from Get Into Pc
2. Is it legal to do so in India
3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

Obviously illegal. Stay away from such websites. They'll put ransomware on your pc and lock you out of your own machine. Then they will ask for bitcoins to unlock your PC.

Also piracy related discussions are forbidden in this forum. Please do not ask anything regarding piracy.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by envyravi

3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

There is nothing called a free lunch.
If someone is providing anything for free (except advice) be prepared for the worst.

[JoeTheWanderer]

Originally Posted by envyravi

1. How safe is it to download free soft ware from Get Into Pc

If it is a pirated version of a paid software then there cannot be any guarantees that it is safe.

Originally Posted by envyravi

2. Is it legal to do so in India

It is illegal.

Most individual users aren't caught since it isn't worth the company's time. The software companies go after the big fish (for now) like training institutes and companies that use pirated software on a day-to-day basis.

Originally Posted by envyravi

3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

The words 'free software' gets them traffic. Once you have a substantial amount of traffic, you can generate a decent amount of ad revenue, put out sponsored content, etc.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by envyravi

I was surprised to find a website called "Get Into Pc", which offers free download of almost all popular software including MS Office software. Let us have a discussion, opinion and your views on
1. How safe is it to download free soft ware from Get Into Pc
2. Is it legal to do so in India
3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

There are often open source alternatives to paid softwares. You could potentially use the Office online, which is free or use https://www.libreoffice.org offline.

Please pick "open source" instead of "free".

High chance the free software is actually a ransomware, malware etc.

Specifically for 3 - you may not get free software but they are getting free money!. Even if they are able to con (ransomware) a handleful of people each month, it pays them handsomely.

[Soorya Ramesh]

Originally Posted by envyravi

I was surprised to find a website called "Get Into Pc", which offers free download of almost all popular software including MS Office software. Let us have a discussion, opinion, and your views on
1. How safe is it to download free software from Get Into Pc
2. Is it legal to do so in India
3. Why does this website offer free downloads, what benefits' it gets

Hello there, I've also heard about this site. Obviously Free = a trap.
If you have anything important on your PC, Don't download from such sites. If there is nothing that actually concerns you, Download from that site. But have a backup of your files for safety on a hard drive or cloud, So you could format the PC if something goes wrong.

Personally, I would stay away from such sites. Only a few sites provide free software without any catch, But they are really rare to find. I know a few, But not sure if they are really safe.

[GTO]

Stay away from pirated stuff, bud. You are asking for trouble. And due to competition, software is so well-priced today that there is no need to even consider pirated software (similar to how free streaming and legit song downloads for 8 bucks killed music piracy). I just bought a Windows 10 key from Amazon for <3000 bucks. Really can't get cheaper than that for a full blown OS.

If you don't want to spend on MS Office, use Google Docs. Works beautifully in the browser and is compatible with MS Word, Excel etc. files. Power users though will see some inconsistences (e.g. formatting changes) and are better off buying a licence (just 2.2k on Amazon).

[SmartCat]

There is something more to "Get into PC" than meets the eye. I suspect these are beta versions of software that were given away for free for testing (eg: via Microsoft Developer Network). Because:

1) Google will never approve a website that hosts illegal content for their advertising solutions. But this website is hosting Adsense ads:



2) "Get into PC" has their own 'Report Abuse' and DMCA complaints page:
https://getintopc.com/dmca/



3) Pirated website will always have ads for 'software' that installs malware on your computer (Eg: speed up your computer, speed up your internet type etc). But this website is surprisingly clean.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

There is something more to "Get into PC" than meets the eye. I suspect these are beta versions of software that were given away for free for testing (eg: via Microsoft Developer Network). Because:
1) Google will never approve a website that hosts illegal content for their advertising solutions. But this website is hosting Adsense ads:

It could very well be that both parties are exploiting some grey area here. The illegal content (cracked software with digital controlling rights removed) is often on some third party server that is moving around in some lawless country. While the website making money off of ads is only hosting user submitted links to questionable product. Why would Microsoft or Adobe go through all these hoops to provide Beta versions, while they have such a strong army of fans in their developer network?
Also, Google has abandoned their "Don't be evil" long ago. They happily play ads on Youtube for obviously copyrighted content like highlights and countdowns of sporting events. These users making paltry earnings with these video edits and copyright owners are constantly playing whack-a-mole, and Google seems to be happily cashing ad revenue (till copyright is claimed).

PS: Just stating my opinion, I do not have any competency in legal matters corresponding to copyrights and licensing.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

There is something more to "Get into PC" than meets the eye. I suspect these are beta versions of software that were given away for free for testing (eg: via Microsoft Developer Network). Because:

1) Google will never approve a website that hosts illegal content for their advertising solutions. But this website is hosting Adsense ads:

Attachment 2149827

2) "Get into PC" has their own 'Report Abuse' and DMCA complaints page:
https://getintopc.com/dmca/

Attachment 2149828

3) Pirated website will always have ads for 'software' that installs malware on your computer (Eg: speed up your computer, speed up your internet type etc). But this website is surprisingly clean.

I looked some more into it.

Looks like it uses self hosted WordPress. Pay attention to the image urls - classic WordPress format.



The theme in use? "Mystique" https://wordpress.org/themes/mystique/. This theme was last updated in 2012 (10 years back?).

The domain resolves to an IP which is hosted in Ukraine.

I wouldn't trust *any* software from a site with these properties irrespective of their DMCA page, AdSense etc.

[a4_attitude]

I downloaded trackers with excel for my Mac, Now I don't know how to get rid of them, still trying to find solutions
after going to this thread I also saw some links for Mac (lifetime) why these are. not available on Microsoft website, as they are offering only subscriptions
any other source to use excel on Mac?

[batish]

Originally Posted by a4_attitude

any other source to use excel on Mac?

You can also use onedrive.live.com. The only catch is it is online and the files would be saved on Microsoft's server. Although, you can download a copy in your mac. Works just like regular office.

[Ravi Parwan]

Originally Posted by batish

You can also use onedrive.live.com. The only catch is it is online and the files would be saved on Microsoft's server. Although, you can download a copy in your mac. Works just like regular office.

It is regular office!
it is part of the office / MS subscription, bundled software for single user, multiple machines. You log in to the MS onedrive website, then download whatever you need from the office suite. around $5-10 per user per month for a corporate license, cheaper for home licenses (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/micr...=tab:primaryr1). We are using this service for the last couple of years and it is simple and integrated.

[MayurS]

Originally Posted by GTO

Stay away from pirated stuff, bud.
=====
(e.g. formatting changes) and are better off buying a licence (just 2.2k on Amazon).

Hi GTO why did you spend <3000 on windows 10 key when Microsoft is offering it for free? I upgraded my windows 7 to windows 10 for free with their Windows Media Creation tool

Attaching screenshot of steps for reference
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tec...-away-for-free

[gotoguru]

Originally Posted by GTO

Stay away from pirated stuff, bud. You are asking for trouble. And due to competition, software is so well-priced today that there is no need to even consider pirated software (similar to how free streaming and legit song downloads for 8 bucks killed music piracy). I just bought a Windows 10 key from Amazon for <3000 bucks. Really can't get cheaper than that for a full blown OS.

If you don't want to spend on MS Office, use Google Docs. Works beautifully in the browser and is compatible with MS Word, Excel etc. files. Power users though will see some inconsistences (e.g. formatting changes) and are better off buying a licence (just 2.2k on Amazon).

I still have a doubt on the deep discounted prices offered for MS office on Amazon vs the prices offered at the direct Microsoft online stores. I am still purchasing from direct Microsoft websites and not from Amazon for the fear of buying pirated keys. I want to know if I am unwantedly spending more?