Microsoft Tweaks Windows 7 Antipiracy Mechanism [ May 8th, 2009 ] Posted in » Common
Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)’s Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy technology is so widely loathed that the very mention of WGA is enough to cause customers’ blood pressure to spike. Apparently cognizant of this, Microsoft has given the antipiracy technology built into Windows 7 a new name: Windows Activation Technologies.
Windows Activation Technologies is more than just a repackaged version of WGA, however. In a Q&A posted Thursday to Microsoft’s Web site, Joe Williams, general manager of Worldwide Genuine Windows, said Windows 7’s antipiracy mechanism will work as it does in Vista Service Pack 1.
Vista SP 1 users who don’t activate at login see a dialog box asking them to do so, but Microsoft grayed out the ‘Activate Later’ option for 15 seconds, presumably to give users time to think about the gravity of the decision. In Windows 7, users don’t have to wait 15 seconds to choose to activate later, although they are presented with a dialog box informing them of the benefits of activation, according to Williams.
Microsoft introduced product activation with XP as a means of combating piracy by requiring users to input a valid product key in order to activate the system. In 2005, in a bid to stamp out product activation circumvention methods that had sprung up, Microsoft introduced WGA, which verifies the authenticity of a user’s copy of Windows on an ongoing basis. Williams said Microsoft will continue to issue WGA updates for XP.
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