There are a lot of Open Source alternatives, but they aren't perfect.
Usually they come with technical documentation and often you'll find people are reluctant to help you by saying thing such as "RTFM" (Read The Fecking Manual), and "STFW" (Search the Fecking Web) and things along those lines. Which is often disheartening. The manuals (or man pages) if you use Linux/Unix etc, are often written from the view point of "Everyone has the same level of knowledge as I do, there is no such thing as beginners." Which may be flattering, but very misguided.
However, most pirated software comes without documentation at all. Though, if it's popular, often documentation isn't needed.
If pirating continues we can see a rise in software prices, which means a loss of customers, which means more piracy, which may eventually drive the developers to bankruptancy, or to develop as a 'side-job' while they have a career in another pathway. Though I don't see this happening to companies such as Microsoft and other large software companies (such as Macromedia and Sun), it <b>could</b> happen to the smaller companies.