Buy the software.  Good God, the worry you have you'll be caught is not worth just paying for it.  If you pirate, you are stealing.  Stealing is wrong, and will make you feel guilty, and you will worry, a little, everytime that commercial runs on the radio about the "software police" and ex-employees or such turning you in.  I agree, single users have little to fear about being caught.  I would not like worrying about it every time I go for an update, or a patch.  Thats when I think they could notice an illegal copy.  Its like with shareware; I pay for the good ones, that way they make money and will create more good software.  Without compensation, they will not be around to support or offer new stuff.  What I hate, is when I buy something like Win ME and it just sucks, and you have no recourse.  I feel Micrsux owes me an OS for that,