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Windows Genuine Advantage Gets More Lenient
Troglodyte writes in with word that Microsoft is revamping its Windows Genuine Advantage program so that it labels fewer users pirates. WGA now has a third category besides "genuine and "not genuine," called "not sure." Quoting: "[I]t's quite obvious what is going on here: Microsoft has added 'not sure' as a way of cutting down on the number of false positives associated with WGA. As many as one in five PCs were failing WGA checks, but this new setting should both reduce this and give Microsoft the chance to investigate further the kinds of things that are landing folks in the 'not sure' category."
Is this a genuine first post?
Me thinks I need ta be labeled 'genuine pirate'. Aaaarrrrrrrr!
So I guess the new categories are:
1. Not a pirate
2. Pirate
3. Ninja
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
I'm not sure I want them to change anything else after being told my pirated copy was genuine.
I'm a Mac
I'm a PC
I'm not sure
Hackers will always find a way around whatever scheme MS or any other company devises.
Very true, but in the 90s, companies pirating mass quanities of MS software was a major concern. Not only did it kill MS revenue, but it screwed consumers as they thought the copies they were buying were legitimate.
From working in the OEM world at that time, even our trusted vendors would often have workers that would offer 'discounted' OEM copies of MS software from another company all the time. It was so bad that our company had to put in place buying policies to ensure only geniune copies were ever purchased. And even with that policy in place, we had several hundred fake copies of MS software slip through OEM distributors that themselves didn't realize the copies were fake.
This is where all this crap started, but in the process MS lost sight of the goal of ensuring consumers didn't get screwed.
People in MS honestly think the Activation and Keys and WGA were good things to help the consumers to ensure they didn't get worthless copies.
MS just needs a real wakeup call that there are alternatives to dealing with mass production piracy that DO NOT harm or even bother the consumers.
Digital distribution could actually be a real solution as the control of licensing and purchasing could potentially be more easily controlled than relying on Keys and WGA to ensure copies weren't obtained from shady companies.
I don't agree with MS on this, although I do have understanding of where and why all this protection crap started.
Soon the options will be:
* Signs point to yes.
* Yes.
* Most likely.
* Without a doubt.
* Yes - definitely.
* As I see it, yes.
* You may rely on it.
* Chances are good.
* It is certain.
* It is decidedly so.
* Reply hazy, try again.
* Better not tell you now.
* Ask again later.
* Concentrate and ask again.
* Cannot predict now.
* My sources say no.
* Very doubtful.
* My reply is no.
* Chances not so good.
* Don't count on it.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
That is a good question. I wonder Why MSFT can't do the simple things right but can complete the complex ones. maintaining Windows codebase, Extremely complex. Building WinFS so that it works across intranets, With Leopard, OS X will introduce that functionality into spotlight.
Though My first thought was that they wanted to cut down on customers getting the invalid key. Out of every million, 200,000 people where being told that their once valid copies were no longer valid. So in order to cut down on False Postives they added another point. So out of a million customers you have 150,000 peopling calling to say WTF fix this, and 50,000 pirates.
Their numbers still add up but the PR dept doesn't have to work so hard.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
If humans make it, humans can break it.
That's why the next version is being coded by SHARKS! Sharks with frickin' "lasers" on their heads.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
You forgot the best one of all!
* Outlook not so good.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Novell would have each NetWare server broadcast its license on the network. If two boxes used the same license, both boxes would shut down.
And Novell tracked each license number by company. You could transfer your license to a different company by sending Novell a letter on your company's letterhead.
Microsoft couldn't distinguish between the serial number for a mouse and the serial number for NT server. Microsoft didn't keep a record of what licenses you had registered. They couldn't even tell you if you HAD registered any licenses.
So you could get one license code for NT server and install 1,000 "pirated" servers.
And Microsoft liked it like that. That gave them the edge over Novell.
Now that Microsoft's competition is practically dead, Microsoft is looking for ways to increase their revenue by making sure that every single license is paid for. Just like Novell was doing in the 90's.
It doesn't work that way. VLKs are basically on the honor system.
I'm not sure I want them to change anything else after being told my genuine pirate was copied.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Good, because ultimately it will be Microsoft's undoing. Small shops that were 100% Microsoft but were able to do so only by paying for what they cord afford and pirating what they couldn't will now be forced to dump Microsoft or stick with older versions of Microsoft software because the new versions are so locked down they can no longer engage in the casual copying they used to engage in to upgrade those PC's that they otherwise couldn't afford to upgrade. They'll then focus on finding less expensive or free alternatives that can integrate with the existing Microsoft software that they are running. Standards suddenly become important to these shops and they are now open to and aware of alternatives they were not open to or aware of before. Suddenly paying the Microsoft tax seems more and more ridiculous.
I personally had to argue with Microsoft to get an activation code for Windows XP. The hard drive on my IBM Thinkpad failed, and I replaced it under warranty. Windows refused to authenticate using the product key printed on the bottom of my computer, saying the key was invalid. (I had bought the computer directly from IBM, which I expect eliminates the possibility this was a bogus key.) I called the Microsoft authentication hotline, which had an automated voice that insisted that I read out loud the 54-digit code that Windows provided. I tried typing it in, but it ignored me. When I read it out loud, the Hotline told me that number was invalid and hung up on me.
I called back. This time, I didn't try to read it the 54 digits again. When I was silent, it hung up on me. So I called back again. This time, I made random noises at it. After five minutes of random noises (which was quite amusing to those working nearby), I finally got hold of a person.
It took 20 minutes to convince the person at the other end of the phone that my license was legitimate. They gave me a new key to enter. Windows said the key was valid, and everything seemed ok.
Then I rebooted, and Windows again said I had an invalid key. I had to call back again, make random noises for five minutes--my coworkers were laughing hysterically--and get a new key. I told them to wait until my machine rebooted, and they said they couldn't. I asked for a way to reach them directly without making noises at their stupid voicemail, and she said there wasn't a way. While I rebooted, I said I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She waited a moment and then said there was a supervisor there--but I couldn't speak to him. She would relay what he said. (Yeah, right, Microsoft.) The "supervisor" told me I should type the "0" key on the phone when I got the first voicemail prompt, which would connect me back to a human operator. I said I didn't believe that would work (since I had tried typing the number already, when it insisted I read it). She laughed and said the "supervisor" had told her to tell me that, and she hung up on me. At least my stalling tactic worked--she stayed on the line until the machine rebooted so I could confirm it wasn't useless key.
I have lived through Microsoft's reactivation hell, personally. It's not FUD.