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Chad Harris wrote:
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=334
Contents of the article:
> The case for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 just got a lot stronger.
>
> When SP1 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. Vista
> activationIn a confidential briefing ahead of today’s formal
> announcement, WGA senior product manager Alex Kochis laid out the
> changes for a handful of reporters and analysts. One of the bullet
> points on Kochis’s PowerPoint deck was especially blunt:
>
> “Based on customer feedback, we will not reduce user functionality on
> systems determined to be non-genuine”
>
> Those italics are in the original, suggesting 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. Beginning with the final, released version of SP1 next
> year (the modified WGA code will be missing from all but the most
> exclusive of SP1 betas), Microsoft plans to roll back WGA to its
> original format as a series of notifications that nudge and nag but
> don’t block access to any installed programs or Windows features.
>
> The Softies responsible for WGA, including Kochis, wince when they
> hear the term “kill switch.” They prefer a more benign description,
> reduced functionality mode, when talking about the final step in
> Vista’s progression of penalties for any system that fails to pass
> its online test of activation status. But as I noted last year:
>
> Microsoft denies that this is a “kill switch” for Windows Vista, even
> giving it a separate question and answer in its mock interview
> announcing the program. Technically, they’re right, I suppose.
> Switching a PC into a degraded functionality where all you can do is
> browse the Internet doesn’t kill it; but it’s arguably a near-death
> experience.
>
> In 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.
>
> With SP1 installed, a Vista system that fails validation - one that
> Microsoft calls “non genuine” - will continue to work exactly as
> before. All programs will run, the Aero interface will keep its
> transparent window borders and whizzy effects, ReadyBoost will remain
> enabled, and there won’t be any time limit on your user session. If
> your copy of Windows is flagged as ”non genuine,” you’ll have to deal
> with some minor annoyances: the desktop background is a solid black
> (the better to see the “non genuine” label in the desktop’s lower
> right corner). If you change your desktop to something less stark, a
> scheduled task will paint it black again one hour later, and you’ll
> see a small “Activate Now” alert in the same location, which you’re
> free to ignore.
>
> Restrictions on Windows Update will remain unchanged. If your system
> is flagged as “non genuine,” you’ll still get critical security
> updates, but you’ll need to pass a WGA validation check before you
> can download optional updates and new, signed drivers.
>
> But that’s it. Under the new system, you can run Vista indefinitely
> as long as you’re willing to put up with a few nag screens.
>
> The new SP1-era WGA code is designed to detect two of the most common
> Vista cracks: one tries to fool Vista into thinking that it’s an OEM
> copy with a matching OEM BIOS; the other rolls the mandatory
> activation checks ahead to 2099 or some other ridiculously distant
> date. Both the OEM BIOS and Clock Timer hacks are detected when SP1
> is installed; the goal, says Microsoft, is to alert innocent or naive
> consumers who’ve been ripped off by crooked system makers or who
> purchased hacked Vista copies from shady online vendors. But even
> those known fakes will run indefinitely if you choose to ignore the
> messages.
>
> Microsoft says the new notifications will lead to online “get legal”
> offers comparable to those for XP:
>
> * Windows Vista Home Basic, $89
> * Windows Vista Home Premium, $119
> * Windows Vista Business, $145
> * Windows Vista Ultimate, $199
>
> Ironically, those prices are significantly better than the retail
> prices that you’ll find from legitimate Windows resellers. In theory,
> at least, a consumer could install a copy of Windows Vista without a
> product key, refuse to activate the system for 30 days, and then
> purchase a perfectly legal license at a discount using Microsoft’s
> online offer.
>
> This drastic change in Microsoft’s WGA system is only the latest in
> series of attempts to smooth WGA’s rough edges. In August, Kochis
> apologized on Microsoft’s WGA blog for an outage that incorrectly
> flagged thousands of customers’ systems as “non genuine.” In October,
> Microsoft removed the WGA validation requirement from IE7 downloads.
> Two weeks ago, on November 20, Kochis promised to “build more trust
> in WGA” by improving its back-end systems, its response times, and
> its customer support.
>
> Getting rid of the “kill switch” is a much better way to build that
> trust.
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