Vista PCs to lock out rogue software
Joris Evers
CNET News.com
October 06, 2006, 09:40 BST
As part of Microsoft's 'Software Protection Platform', people will
be shut out of their PCs if the OS isn't activated soon after
installation
Windows Vista will have new antipiracy technology that locks people
out of their PCs if the operating system isn't activated within 30
days after installation.
If Vista is not activated with a legitimate product registration
key in time, the system will run in "reduced functionality mode"
until it is activated, said Thomas Lindeman, a senior product
manager at Microsoft. In this mode, people will be able to use a
Web browser for up to an hour, after which time the system will log
them out, he said.
The new technology is part of Microsoft's new "Software Protection
Platform", which the company plans to announce on Wednesday. It
will be part of future versions of all Microsoft products, but
debuts in Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn", said Cori
Hartje, director of Microsoft's Windows Genuine Software
Initiative. Vista, the successor to Windows XP, is slated to be
broadly available in January.
Microsoft has escalated its battle with software pirates during the
past two years through the "Genuine Advantage" add-ons for Windows
and Office, its biggest cash cows. The company is now expanding its
push by baking antipiracy features into its new products and taking
more drastic action when it finds that a product was illegitimately
acquired.
Many users shouldn't be confronted by Vista's antipiracy
technology, however. People who buy a PC with Vista installed from
companies such as Dell, HP and Gateway, for example, should find
the operating system activated already.
"Everything is going to be good to go right out of the box," Hartje
said. "This is more for those who install after the fact."
Those who install Vista themselves, for example on existing PCs,
will have a 30-day period to activate the operating system and
validate with Microsoft that they have a legitimate licence.
"During those 30 days, you get warning messages, it counts down.
During the last three days they get very frequent," Lindeman
said.
If ignored, after 30 days Vista will display four options. The
first will allow the user to activate online, the second is to run
in reduced functionality mode, the third is to enter a product key
and the fourth displays instructions to activate by phone, Lindeman
said.
"In reduced functionality mode, we will let you use your browser
for periods of up to an hour before we log you off," Lindeman
said.
Barring people from using their PC is a significant change from the
antipiracy features that Microsoft bolted on to Windows XP with
Windows Genuine Advantage. In XP, the piracy-busting features only
put a block on downloading additional programs from Microsoft's Web
sites.
Windows XP also included product activation, but people could still
use their machine in "safe mode" if the operating system was not
activated. Moreover, no activation was required if a volume licence
key was used, the most popular way of pirating Windows. Starting
with Vista, Microsoft will no longer give out those types of
licence keys, which are typically used by larger
organisations.
"Piracy is one of the most significant problems facing the software
industry," Hartje said. More than a third of all software installed
last year was pirated or unlicensed, she said, citing figures from
the Business Software Alliance, a software industry group.
Microsoft will continue to check if Vista was legitimately
acquired, even after activation. This happens, for example, when
downloading additional Microsoft programs. Should a licence key be
deemed illegitimate, the user will be given another 30-day grace
period to acquire a legitimate licence key, Microsoft said.
During this grace period warnings will be displayed and Vista will
block access to the Windows Defender antispyware tool, ReadyBoost
memory expansion feature and Aero advanced graphics option,
Microsoft said. Also, a persistent text will display in the lower
right hand of the screen: "This copy of Windows is not
genuine."
If Vista is not validated after the 30 days, the user will again be
locked out.
As part of the increased effort to make it harder to pirate its
products, Microsoft is also changing the way businesses license its
software. New licensing systems will replace the current volume
licence keys, which have been widely abused, Hartje said. "Fifty
percent of the piracy, we think, uses keys issued to volume
licensing customers," she said.
Volume licence keys are registration codes for products that
Microsoft gives out to large organisations in plain text. One key
can be used to activate and run an unlimited number of copies of
the product, for example Windows XP or Office XP.
Starting with Vista, Microsoft will offer two different types of
keys and offer three different ways to distribute them within an
organisation. In all cases, some more work will be required on the
part of the technology department at a company.
"They will just need to do a little extra planning," Hartje
said.
The first type of product key to replace the current system is
called "multiple activation key," or MAK. An IT pro at a company
can install a key on a machine that will then need to be validated
online. Alternatively a proxy can be set up centrally to activate
multiple systems at once, according to Microsoft.
The second licensing option is called "key management service", or
KMS. This requires the organisation to set up a KMS service on the
corporate network that will activate client machines. The Vista PCs
will silently find the KMS service and activate, according to
Microsoft.
It may seem as though businesses will have to count all their
licences, but it's really not as bad as it sounds, said Michael
Silver, an analyst with Gartner.
"It has nothing to do with licence counting right now, but
companies will need to expend time and effort and some money to
administer this, in the name of helping Microsoft recoup revenue
lost to piracy," he said. "There needs to be more of a benefit [for
customers]. Linux and Mac communities will try to make hay with
this, but this will not be the tipping point."
This is the specific details on the logging off of VISTA,
all please read carefully. 
