14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista and holography go hand in hand. While Windows XP was sent barefoot into the world in terms of the implementation of preemptive anti-piracy measures, with Windows Vista, Microsoft has managed to change its tune. First off, Vista will be transitioned to Reduced Functionality Mode as soon as the Windows Genuine Advantage detects a non-genuine copy. The same is not the case with Windows XP. Users of counterfeit copies of XP that have failed WGA validation could still use the pirated operating system. The same is not valid for Windows Vista. Pirated Vista copies detected by the WGA would lose all of the main functionality of the operating system, making the platform virtually unusable.
Nick White, Microsoft Product Manager confirmed in mid June the existence of photographies integrated into the Windows Vista DVD hologram design as an anti-piracy method. The technology that permits the integration of images into the Vista DVD hologram is referred to as edge-to-edge holography. Alex Kochis, Senior Product Manager for Windows Genuine Advantage revealed that both Windows Vista and the 2007 office System both feature the technology.
"Major software products such as Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office will come on CDs and DVDs with an exclusive technology known as edge-to-edge holography. But products sold through OEMs or through the volume licensing channel may come on different media or have different Certificates of Authenticity (COAs)," Kochis stated.
"The technology is called edge-to-edge holography and consists of a variety of objects embedded into the holograms integrated into product media, designed to help prove legitimacy of products consumers may purchase from various sources. Our story on the three men depicted in a microscopic photo on the Windows Vista DVD is an example of this technology. If you've not visited the How To Tell site, I think you'll find it entertaining as well as eye-opening: entertaining because of what some people try to pass off as legitimate MS products, and eye-opening because other pirates have produced some extremely sophisticated fakes," White revealed.