Following Vista’s appearance on pirate sites just a few days after it was released to manufacturing, Microsoft has issued a statement imploring eager “customers” to avoid installing a cracked version of Vista on their PCs.

The statement reads as follows:

“Microsoft is happy that customers are eager to begin using Windows Vista; however, the copies available for download are not final code and users should avoid unauthorised copies which could be incomplete or tampered.

“This unauthorised download relies on the use of pre-RTM activation keys that will be blocked using Microsoft�s Software Protection Platform.  Consequently, these downloads will be of limited value.”

The cracked versions come with a product key that allows the operating system to be installed on their computer. However an activation patch must also be installed to override the Microsoft activation  process.

It will be interesting to see whether the crackers will be able to get around Microsoft’s Software Protection Platform, which is designed to not only activate genuine Microsoft products, but also to validate them.

In theory, users of non-genuine Windows Vista software will be notified if their copy of Windows Vista is determined to be non-genuine with the appearance of a persistent statement in the lower right hand corner of their desktop space that reads, �This copy of Windows is not genuine.�

Our advice is not to install the cracked version of Vista on your PC. Not only is it illegal, but in likelihood the cracked version of Vista is likely to be a real pain in the backside.

Related:

Entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 8:35 pm under Microsoft, Technology, Vista.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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