Microsoft Makes Office Validation Mandatory

It's official. Starting October 27 2006, Microsoft has made Office validation mandatory in order to gain access to Office Online templates for the Office 2007 Microsoft Office System applications. Although Office Genuine Advantage, the sister of windows Genuine Advantage has been around since April 2006, Microsoft has delayed mandatory validation of legitimacy since yesterday. This move marks another milestone in the Redmond Company's antipiracy initiative by introducing piracy checks for the second Microsoft product. Forthcoming products from Microsoft such as Vista will integrate the Software Protection Platform to counteract piracy.

"Vista's Software Protection Platform wasn't ready at the time we needed to make a decision about anti-piracy in Office 2007's development," said Ashim Jaidka, director of the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) program. As a result, the technology in the Office Genuine Advantage is based on that implemented in Windows Genuine Advantage. "It's a variant of that, and an extension of WGA."

Office customers running counterfeit copies of Office acquired as legitimate fall under the incidence of Microsoft's Genuine Office Complimentary Offer provided they can fill out a counterfeit report, deliver proof of purchase and send in their counterfeit CDs to the Redmond Company. Otherwise, the payment of a license fee will be required. Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 will come with a price tag of $359, while the Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 will cost $269 and the Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 $139.