Microsoft is dropping a controversial antipiracy scheme in Windows Vista, replacing a “reduced functionality” mode with a guilt trip. The change is part of the SP1 update to the operating system, which also includes several security enhancements.
In the original version of Vista, Microsoft included an authentication scheme, Windows Genuine Advantage, which would largely disable the software if it appeared to be counterfeit. With SP1, Microsoft merely will make using a counterfeit copy annoying, corporate vice president Mike Sievert announced Tuesday.
In an article on Microsoft’s PressPass site, Sievert said, “Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine. They won’t lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action.”
Authentic Copies Shut Down
Sievert said Microsoft dropped reduced-functionality mode in response to user feedback and that the status-message approach, which will be part of Windows Server 2008, is an effective way to combat piracy. “Customers want to know the status of their systems, and how to take action if it turns out they were victimized,” he said.
Copies of Vista still require activation, Sievert said, and the system will continue to check activation status periodically. “What is changing with SP1 is the nature of the experience for those systems that are never activated or that fail validation,” he said.
Reduced-functionality turned out to be a big problem because users with legitimate copies of Vista found the OS shutting itself down. For instance, one user reported that an online game called MapleStory caused Vista to identify itself as counterfeit. “If using software you haven’t paid for is ‘theft,’ as Microsoft likes to say, then is preventing someone from…