14 DAY TRIAL // The latest move made by Microsoft on the anti-piracy front for the latest iteration of the Windows client is about to send over 70 cracks the way of the dodo bird. On February 11th, the Redmond company announced the release of an upcoming Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7, designed to purge the operating system from more than 70 known illegal activation hacks. According to Joe Williams, general manager, Genuine Windows, the refresh is set up to detect more than 70 known and potentially dangerous activation exploits and to inform end users that they are using a pirated copy of Windows 7.
As per the official schedule revealed by the software giant, today, February 16th, is the first day when the Windows Activation Technology Update for Windows 7 will be available online via the Microsoft genuine website. On February 17th, the refresh will also be offered as a standalone download through the Microsoft Download Center. By the end of this month, the Windows Activation Technology Update for Windows 7 will also be pushed automatically to all users of Windows Vista’s successor via Windows Update.
Williams explained that not only will the update be able to tell whether certain copies of Windows 7 are pirated or not, and trigger the non-Genuine experience for those that are, but it will continue to be a part of ongoing anti-piracy checks. Essentially, the Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7 will phone home to Microsoft every 90 days. The periodic validations are designed so that the technology stays up to date with the latest Windows 7 crack signatures in order to detect and disable them. “When tampering, disabling, or missing licensing files are discovered, the WAT Update runs a check and repair weekly to ensure that the licensing files are properly repaired,” Williams stated.
The promise from Microsoft is that customers running genuine copies of Windows 7 have nothing to worry about, and that they won’t feel a difference in how the platform operates. However, there are those that fail to see eye-to-eye with the Redmond company, including Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility, co-founder and moderator of NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad.
Weinstein pointed the finger at Microsoft in the past, when the company’s Windows Genuine Advantage software was also phoning home from Windows XP. “Microsoft most definitely has a valid interest in fighting the piracy of their products. It's a serious problem, with negative ramifications for Microsoft and its users. But in my opinion, Microsoft is about to embark on a dramatic escalation of anti-piracy efforts that many consumers are likely to consider to be a serious and unwanted intrusion at the very least,” Weinstein stated.