Piracy

Even the great Windows XP edition has been hit by Piracy. Windows XP has been famous for its stability and efficiency over the other versions of Microsoft Windows.

It is also the first version of Windows released by the Microsoft that employed product activation in order to combat software piracy, a restriction that did not go well with several users and privacy advocates.

 

Microsoft Windows has used a Windows Genuine Advantage notification, which can be used to indicate a false validation. Product activation keys like this are normal with a quiet a few other products of other manufacturers but Windows launched this service with the Windows XP brand in order to curb unauthorized distribution of Windows XP which had been occurring very frequently. Infact, Microsoft had lost millions of dollars due to piracy and unauthorized distribution of its products.

 

This Activation requires the computer or the user to activate with Microsoft within a certain amount of time in order to continue using the operating system. But if the user's computer system ever changes - for example, if two or more relevant components of the computer itself are upgraded - Windows will refuse to run until the user reactivates with Microsoft.

 

If the license key entered by the user is judged not genuine, it displays a nag screen at regular intervals asking the user of the operating system to buy a license from Microsoft. In addition, the user's access to Microsoft Update is restricted to critical security updates, and as such, new and better versions of other Microsoft products will no longer be able to be downloaded or installed. Hence, Microsoft rules out any further help to such a version.

 

Microsoft Office 2007 was preceded by Windows Media Player 11, verification systems for Internet Explorer 7, which was inturn, preceded by WGA for Windows. The above method of validation was a first for Microsoft but has turned out to be very productive.