As it promised, Microsoft Corp. yesterday started sending Windows Vista
users an update that identifies illegal copies of the operating system
installed with cracks that the company will disable when it distributes
Service Pack 1 (SP1) in two weeks. Last Thursday, Microsoft announced
the update, which detects two common cracks used to activate pirated
copies of Vista, and said it would hit Windows Update (WU) within a
week. Users who have left Vista’s recommended WU settings alone will
receive the update automatically. Others, said Microsoft, must enable
Automatic Update within Vista or manually call up WU from the Start
menu.
A document
posted to the company’s support site spelled out the details. Among
other things, it promised that the 3MB update “does not affect the
functionality of your operating system.” That jibes with what Alex
Kochis, senior product manager for Microsoft’s Windows Genuine
Advantage program, said last week when he announced the update. If the
update finds one of the cracks, a notice pops up alerting the user, but
it doesn’t disable either crack. The first, dubbed “Grace Timer,”
extends Vista’s activation grace period, while the other, “OEM BIOS,”
mimics factory-floor activation. Users whose PCs don’t have the cracks
will not see the pop-up. Ouch, dark times for all Vista pirates! I’m
sure there will be workaround pretty soon though…
Source: Computerworld
