Several of my friends have Windows 8, I personally used Windows 7 a year before it officially got released. If you work in the computer industry, you can easily get legal evaluation copies that updates regularly. The later stages before release often give out public "release candidates" to the public that works for six months for example. I got my early Windows 7 through my school, legal and free and it still works just fine on my laptop.
Don't insinuate that someone is a liar unless you are absolutely sure.