Posted on 12/17/2006 4:40:37 PM PST by MikefromOhio
Microsoft updates Vista in latest piracy crackdown
'Frankenbuild' update detects tampering of Vista code that would let users work around the OS' built-in activation system
Microsoft on Thursday released an update to Windows Vista that will shut down unauthorized versions of the OS that allow users to skip the product's activation system.
The move comes as pirated copies of Vista are already making the rounds, mere weeks after the product was released to business customers.
The update, which Microsoft has dubbed "frankenbuild," detects tampering of Windows Vista code that would allow users of the OS to work around the product's built-in activation system, which requires users to validate their copy of Vista with a product activation key to use the full version of the product after 30 days.
Frankenbuild mixes files from various test and final versions of the software. It will require only systems in which it detects specific tampering to go through a validation check for authenticity, according to a posting on the Windows Genuine Advantage blog.
If a version of Vista that has used a workaround to avoid product activation is detected, a user of that software will have 30 days before the OS goes into a reduced functionality mode, Microsoft said. In this mode, all users can do is access their existing files and surf the Web for an hour before having to log back on to the software.
The pirating of Windows has been a perennial problem for Microsoft, particularly in developing countries. The company began coming down hard against piracy last year with a widely criticized system it called Windows Genuine Advantage, which initially required users to validate their copies of Windows if they wanted to use Microsoft's update services.
Microsoft took its antipiracy campaign one step further with Vista by building the validation system directly into the OS. This system requires a Windows Vista user to validate the software through a product activation key within 30 days of using the OS to avoid having the software go into reduced functionality mode
Good point. Sell your MSFT stock.
I'm in the same boat as you are.
The wife is used to Windows and that is what she wants to use.
That hasn't stopped me from building a LINUX server out of one of my two other computers though...of course then the Hard Drive died so I don't have any server at the moment, but that will change here soon...
Never had any :)
I'm still kicking myself for missing the Google IPO however.
As are most of us :-)
Well I had the money to do something significant at the time (I was still in Iraq) and was ready to pull the trigger on getting about 84 shares at $120, and I chickened out.
Oh well....
About six months ago, I mentioned the desire to buy MSFT stock to my broker. He went negative on me. It was $22. It's now about $30, and I expect it to hit $38 by July or August.
That's an insult to WinME!
Admittedly, Microsoft did very well with WGA percentage-wise. But then you forget individuals when dealing with percentages. Around the country were a lot of people who were told they were criminals and couldn't get updates to their OS, and they did nothing wrong.
I was broke at the time I first wanted to buy Apple shares -- at $6 a share and a couple stock splits ago. Damn!
PIRACY: A GROWING PROBLEM WITH LINKS TO ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORISM
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju85643.000/hju85643_0.htm
LOL
And like a Moth to a flame, the OS troll appears....
Did you expect any different?
Just showing the kinds of people you support, in this case organized crime and terrorists. Don't like it being pointed out? Take it up with Congress, who wrote the report. Failing at trying to smear me, and Congress, will be your attempted course of action though I'm sure, since that's all you seem to be capable of.
...as sure as nighttime followeth the day
So, you're accusing us Linux users of pirating, huh?
One problem. While some of us pay for our versions, the vast majority of us have gotten it free?
And why would any of us want to pirate MS software, when most of us hardly use it?
Sheesh, Iggle. Get a life, will ya?
fd--here's where he accuses us of pirating software...
No, I was pointing out mike's glee for pirates and hackers he displayed starting with post #1. But there are well documneted links between linux hackers and organized crime, such as the mydoom authors I'm sure you boys cheered.
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95501,00.html
"MyDoom got press coverage because of the denial-of-service attack it launched against SCO and Microsoft Corp.," says Hypponen. "But nobody was paying attention to what was happening behind the scenes."
Eight days after MyDoom.A hit the Internet, somebody scanned millions of IP addresses looking for the back door left by the worm, said Hypponen. The attackers searched for systems with a Trojan horse called Mitglieder installed and then used those systems as their spam engines.
"We have information that the writers of both MyDoom and Bagle may be Russian immigrants living in various European countries," says Hypponen.
Whoever is behind it, they are organized and running a thriving business, says Hypponen.
They are pushing what? A verification that you didn't pirate their software, when estimates are as high as 50% of all Microsoft software is pirated?
The only thing I see being "pushed" constantly is all this half baked freeware from overseas like Linux.
The DoD doesn't use Linux very much, compared to communist countries where it's the standard, often enforced by law. However our DoD is basically standardized on Microsoft products, which isn't about to change.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061017/hewlett_packard_contract.html?.v=1
Tuesday October 17, 11:45 am ET
Hewlett-Packard Gets $440 Million Contract From Dept. of Defense Agency for Servers, Support
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Printer and personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. said Tuesday it received two computing infrastructure contracts from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency worth up to $440 million over eight years.
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