14 DAY TRIAL // Say goodbye to the old, obsolete volume-licensing keys in plain text that allowed for in excess of 1 million Chinese machines to run pirated Windows XP copies via the same volume key. And say goodbye to the volume of Microsoft counterfeit software. These are the promises of Microsoft's new Software Protection Platform introducing Volume Activation 2.0.
"Volume Activation 2.0 will provide system administrators the ability to centrally manage and protect product keys," reads the Microsoft FAQ. "Looking forward, Volume Activation 2.0 will provide the basis for an easy-to-use, comprehensive, integrated activation process that will support both Microsoft's and third-party applications. It is also the starting point for a strong software asset management system that will increasingly offer substantial, measurable benefits to customers."
"With Windows XP, the volume-licensing keys could easily be stolen and leaked as they are in clear text and in the registry on everyone's computer. Customers told us that we needed to help them protect that key, so now the keys are going to be encrypted and kept in a trusted store," stated Thomas Lindeman, senior product manager for Microsoft's Software Protection Platform.
Microsoft's Software Protection Platform will not only be integrated into Windows Vista and Longhorn Server, but also in all the forthcoming products of the Redmond Company, with Office 14, SQL Server and Exchange already in the plans.
In this context, Microsoft has announced the availability of two separate volume-license key services: the volume-license KMS (key-management service) and MAK (Multiple Activation Keys). The first requires validation at least a couple of times per year via a KMS service and is designed for end users, while the MAK variant is designed for enterprise environments and the Redmond Company is also providing a Volume Activation Management tool to ease proxy activation.
"It will talk to 1,000 machines and harvest the hardware identity data from them. That single proxy machine will then talk to Microsoft, get the activation identities back for all the machines, and then shoot this out to those machines and activate them. Customers can also use this method to activate their entire organization," stated Thomas Lindeman, senior product manager for Microsoft's Software Protection Platform.