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Microsoft to nix some Net product activation
February 24, 2005 -
It's Windows vs. Windows as Microsoft battles piracy
February 3, 2005 -
Microsoft: Legit Windows or no updates
January 25, 2005 -
Microsoft: Can we check your software license?
September 17, 2004
As reported earlier, the updated program calls for the top 20 PC makers to activate Windows XP on every system before it ships. If a customer has to reinstall the operating system, as long as they use the restore disks from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), activation will be automatic, said Keith Beeman, director of worldwide license compliance for Microsoft.
"For users of genuine Windows who have gotten Windows from one of the larger OEMs or smaller OEMs, it should be zero impact," he said.
The change is the latest attempt by Microsoft to target software pirates who try to sell stolen copies of Windows XP or the certificates of authenticity that mark the software as legitimate. The company has a plan to check that people's operating systems are properly licensed before allowing them to download certain updates. The plan, known as the Windows Genuine Advantage initiative, was introduced in January.
Microsoft is aiming to cut down on the theft of the certificates of authenticity shipped with every system that has Windows preloaded. Microsoft customers had sometimes had problems because their certificate had been stolen and used to activate pirated copies of the operating system.
"We have had a lot of requests from our resellers to do this," Beeman said. "Many of them are trying to compete with groups that pirate Windows, and thus have an unfair and illegal advantage."
The people who will feel the effect of the program are those who loan their certificates to friends or those who are using a stolen certificate, he said.
"It is not a small number, but what we expect to have happen is the counterfeiters who are using these keys will realize very quickly that those don't work anymore," Beeman said. "They are going to have customers that are unhappy."
In those cases, Windows users will have to contact a Microsoft call center and answer questions from a Microsoft representative. They will, most likely, also be informed that they have a stolen copy of Windows running on their system, Beeman said.
Microsoft plans to extend the program to all its OEMs, he said.
See more CNET content tagged:
certificate, activation, OEM, software company, Microsoft Corp.
The automated system is annoying, and RARELY works. The ops who take over the call after the automated process fails are located in INDIA (as should be expected, as Ballmer lives up to his word ("all non-developer positions at Microsoft will be relocated to India")), and the ops have no problem providing you with an activation number.
Bottom line: none of this solves the issue of piracy, it just adds annoyance for those of us consumers who happen to be in the IT sector.
What a joke.........
I just don't understand why I need to go through so much effort for an OS like XP? If it were upto me, XP would be wiped off the face of the planet. I don't want to sell copies of XP, I want to discourage it's use at all.....it is dangerous.
Why on earth would I even be worried about wether or not I could get updates from MS? Every update just means more problems, more holes, and more vulnerabilities.
XP isn't worth all that MS drags people through.
If you can hold down the fort long enough, the exploits, viruses, bugs etc will eventually pass you by.
Once the operating system and its service pack are outdated and your immunized from the older threats you dont need to install bug/exploit filled patches/upgrades anymore.
Ive gotten off the MS treadmill.
I still use Win98 and havent patched it in years. Modern spyware adware viruses etc, if they can even run on my system just wig out and fail to do what they were intended for because the OS isnt up to date. Older malware designed for my OS has become nearly extinct and are well known.
Problem solved.
It may seem dangerous and extreme but desperate times call for desperate measures.
I wouldnt even use a MS OS but some parts of my job require it.
tham for Linux. I may even do it sooner. Whatever, I won't need
to phone Bill about anything after that.
They stopped supporting their 'modern' browser if users don't shell out for XP, this is not a far step from that immoral policy.
MS really is clueless. Linux and mac are growing steadily, meanwhile 50% of the windows world is using something besides XP. It seems that nearly everything they do is to force people away from them. That is just fine, the computing world is better off with a much smaller microsoft.
When they started Activation on Home XP everyone was up in arms but they can't try that crap on corporate editions..corp editions started poping up a couple days after XP went gold on the USNET..even SP1 which they said blocks 90% of pirated keys was showing up on the USNET in a Windows XP Sp1 intergated cd image with cd keys that work..personally I could care less what MS tries to do because history as shown us every copy protection and activation method as been by passed time and time again..DVD? Anyone remember how crazy protection was in the 80s?
The more you tighten your grip, the more customers will slip through you finger you arrogant pompous pricks.
I think a lot of people will now strongly consider Linux when they learn they will have to buy a valid copy of Windows...and for those less technical people who are thinking of Linux, well, we'll enjoy a bit of extra cash helping them get it on their system!
Not everyone makes and OS decision based on cost of the software and it takes more than a free office knock-off to get people to switch. People that have real work to do with thier desktop PC's simply don't have the time fool around with something that will not do the job.
Now that is not to say that in 5 or 10 years Linux won't be viable. I hope it is. I hope companies like Macromedia and Adobe come around. I would love to see Microsoft control take a nose dive. But, saying Linux is a viable alternative now is just stupid. Just like telling people that buying a Mac will take care of all of their problems. While the Mac is a bit more viable, you are still dealing with a monopoly except this one controls the hardware and face it their isn't as big a choice of software for the Mac either. Sure, Apple's software is nice but I am not going to trade on monopoly for another one and top it off with a proprietary system which is what Apple seems to be heading for by releasing software products that cause companies like Adobe to abandon Mac versions of their software. If Apple keeps going you will be locked in to a hardware monopoly and a proprietary software system. That to me is much worse than Microsoft.
Robert
Unmentioned but in this category will be people who rebuild a PC by replacing the motherboard with a non-OEM motherboard. I cannot see MS allowing reactivation of such systems.
In essence, Microsoft's real target here is BOTH counterfeit Windows and independent MOBO makers. At bottom, Microsoft is using the pretext of copyright to eliminate the system rebuild process that many users employ to replace their PCs when they are either too slow or just worn out.
Lawmakers need to look at this move very closely, as reasonably speaking copyright law was never meant to be a means by which entire markets live and die. The flip side of the coin is that Microsoft knowingly marketed an Activation schema it now claims by implication was meaningless. The firm freely chose to do so, and is now asserting an implied right to kill off an entire aspect of the PC industry--the homebuilt PC--just to correct its own lack of due diligence.
Notice the reference as well to major PC sellers. The true free market is not made up of just these 20 or so major PC makers, and yet MS is clearly saying this IS THE ONLY VALID MARKET in practice.
Lawmakers are failing again to defend the free market but instead are promoting little more than a tethered sandbox in which all users get the freedom to pay thru the nose.
- Windows Genuine Advantage initiative...
- by March 2, 2005 9:52 AM PST
- What about the Consumer Quality Assurance Advantage Initiative? Why is it always the consumers that get sc*wed. If Microsoft wants everyone to pay such high prices for their products how about putting out a product that is worth the money? Meaning few bugs and fewer security holes. Why should be pay big bucks for third world, poorly designed, cr*ppyly programmed products and then have to put up with this bull?
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(17 Comments)Robert