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
I had a free plane ticket to Doha once, never went, I really want to see Oman.
Amend, I want to see Oman as well as Qatar
Not Oman....Qatar :)
There is more than one Doha....
And if you get to Qatar, you need to visit Bahrain and Dubai....
Both are excellent and when I first got there, surprisingly western.
ah ok I gotcha :)
I like the off beaten track, I tend to go where most don't.
Did a few weeks in Laos and Cambodia, loved it, lots more places, but those were the most 4th world.
I downloaded Open Office after PJ linked to it on a DUmmie Funnies thread, a lot better than spending all that money on MS Office in the store.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.