Slashdot Mirror


Black Screens For Unauthorized Copies of Windows

arcticstoat writes "In a bid to deter people from using pirate versions of Windows XP, Microsoft is now updating its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool to introduce a few uncomfortable niggles for users of pirated versions of Windows. These include replacing the desktop wallpaper with a black screen every 60 minutes, although you can still replace it with your wallpaper of choice in the intervening period. As well as this, copies of Windows deemed to not be genuine will also have a translucent watermark above the system tray, which Microsoft calls a 'persistent desktop notification.'"

4 of 762 comments (clear)

  1. Re:*Innocent Whistling* by Urd.Yggdrasil · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yes I read your post, and boo hoo for you, but the vast majority of people who pirate windows don't do it because they can't find their cd key. I was only made the last reply based on the overwhelming frequency with which everyone that pirates software uses that same argument. "Oh I'm just making a copy, I'm not stealing anything." The people that work at Microsoft don't write software because they enjoy socialist software ideals, they do it to make money.

  2. Re:Notifications by bitrex · · Score: 0, Troll

    That fucked up bitch never wrote a word that contained a "lesson" other than her pissed offness at the Bolsheviks and their abortion of a regime that looted her father's drugstore. Rand's slapdick followers like Alan Greenspan have been pulling her LF capitalism philosophy for decades now and have led us into the best financial crisis since the 1930s.

  3. Re:Notifications by Sj0 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'll have to look into that then. If that's the case, then Valve will be back on my good list.

    I'm just pissed off because I lost an entire Half-life+expansions pack because of that idiotic code business.

    --
    It's been a long time.
  4. Re:Notifications by Sj0 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Because if you use a word marketing people understand, maybe they'll realise how stupid what they're doing is.

    --
    It's been a long time.