Microsoft announced Tuesday morning that it would withdraw
an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disabled most the operating
system if it considered that a user did not pay for a copy of the software.
The so-called “Kill Switch” was especially designed to
prevent users with illegal copies of Vista
from using certain features.
In case a user fails to activate its Windows Vista copy
within 30 days, the operating system is automatically switching to a “reduced
functionality mode”, blocking acces to features like Aero Glass, ReadyBoost or
BitLocker. It also limits the amount of time the user can remain logged in to
one hour.
In case a blocked or counterfeit product key, or incorrect
or modified activation binary files are detected, windows Vista
enters in a "non-genuine reduced functionality mode".
However, the tool has been a source of frustration to some
users, who have complained that the tool sometimes disabled legal copies of Vista.
Since April 2006, when WGA started unfolding its wings from
inside a "critical update" delivered to Windows users, one in five
computers running Windows has failed Windows Genuine Advantage tests according
to data provided by Microsoft themselves. More than 22 percent of over 500
million systems that were subjected to the browser-based validation scheme were
identified as invalid copies of Windows.
Microsoft said it would drop the activation scheme in the new
Service Pack 1, a major update to Windows Vista. Previously, Microsoft
explained the updates packed in Windows Vista SP 1 fall into three categories: quality improvements, improvements to the administration experience and support
for emerging hardware and standards.
The first beta release of the service arrived at the end of
September, but the company said that the finished product would not ship until
sometime in the first quarter of 2008.
The new update will help the users to install their legal
copy of Windows Vista without having the same problems as before. In case they
have an illegal copy of Windows Vista users will get pop up messages, which
notify them about the status of the software along with information about how
to make the software legal.
The tool can also “lock” Vista
from further use if it believes it is an unauthorized copy.
"Although our overall strategy remains the same, with
SP1 we're adjusting the customer experience that differentiates genuine from
non-genuine systems in Windows Vista and later in Windows Server. Users whose
systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and
recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine. They
won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to
them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take
action," said Michael Sievert, Corporate Vice President for Windows
Product Marketing, in an interview published on Microsoft's site.
Microsoft’s effort to discourage piracy of its software have
registered good results lately, reducing fake copies by half-compared to the
previous version of the system, called of Windows XP.
In its effort to prevent piracy, Microsoft said it had
pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft
products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 “illegal and
improper” online software auctions.
Microsoft’s announcement follows after last month the senior
product manager Pete LePage wrote on the Internet Explorer team’s blog that the
next update of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer wouldn’t bug us anymore with the
irritating “Click to Activate” warning.
