In a bid to deter people from using copy versions of Windows XP, Microsoft is now updating its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool to introduce a few uncomfortable niggles for users of pirated versions of Windows.
These include replacing the
desktop wallpaper with a black screen every 60 minutes. As well as this, copies of Windows deemed to not be genuine will also have a translucent watermark above the system tray, which Microsoft calls a 'persistent desktop notification.'"
According to the blog, the scheme will be
focusing on the productA edition that is most often stolen, which is apparently Windows XP Pro. Users of this OS, according to Microsoft, have the highest likelihood of having a non-genuine copy.
When Microsoft Vista Service Pack 1 ships sometime in early 2008, it will strip away one of Vista's most annoying features and remove one of the most persistent objections to Vista's adoption. Microsoft plans to remove the infamous “kill switch” from
Windows Vista when SP1 is installed, restoring the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program to its original role as a series of persistent but nonlethal notifications.
Senior product manager Alex Kochis laid out the changes for a handful of
reporters and analysts: Based on customer feedback, we will not reduce user functionality on systems determined to be non-genuine
This suggets that the WGA team has finally realized that they need to react forcefully to a year of
embarrassing WGA glitches, server outages, and nonstop customer complaints.
In the current retail copies of Vista, there are dire consequences for failing to activate a retail copy of Windows Vista after 30 days or ignoring the three-day “grace
period” when a system falls out of tolerance after too many hardware changes. When the timer runs out, the desktop turns black and its icons disappear and the Start menu vanishes. You can copy your personal data files, but you can't open them, and you're
granted the right to use Internet Explorer for one hour before being forcibly logged off.
In its post-SP1 incarnation, the penalty for ignoring these activation notices is … more activation notices. The most annoying change is an Activate Now
dialog box that forces you to wait 15 seconds before the matching Activate Later option is available to be clicked.
In a bid to deter people from using copy versions of Windows XP, Microsoft is now updating its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool to introduce a few uncomfortable niggles for users of pirated versions of Windows. 