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From the News Desk
Wednesday, 5. December 2007
Microsoft Kills Vista ‘Kill Switch’ in Service Pack1
Microsoft has announced to withdraw kill switch, an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.
The kill switch worked by forcing users of Vista to validate their copies when a software update was needed. If the copy could not be validated the kill switch would block all but the most basic features needed to run a computer.
Microsoft characterized its decision as part of an effort to bolster its anti-piracy enforcement by disabling two types exploits used to bypass the Vista activation process.
The company attributed the 5 percent growth of Windows desktop OEM revenue in the past quarter to declining piracy and noted that the piracy rate for Windows Vista is less than half of Windows XP.
Under its new strategy Microsoft will continue check validation of Vista, but instead of hobbling suspected pirated versions, users will now get pop up messages notifying them about the status of the software along with information about how to make the software legal.
"Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies," Microsoft vice president Mike Sievert, said in a statement. "They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action."
Microsoft's elimination of the so-called Vista "kill switch" also looks a lot like a retreat, particularly in light of the difficulties the company has experienced telling legitimate customers from illegitimate ones. Back in August, Microsoft erroneously forced 12,000 Vista customers into reduced functionality mode when its servers began rejecting activation attempts as a result of human error.
Kill Switch was introduced in 2006 as a voluntary option, but became mandatory with the release of Vista, and had problems from the day it was introduced. Mr Sievert added: "It's worth re-emphasising that our fundamental strategy has not changed.
Microsoft said it had pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 "illegal and improper" online software auctions.
The new system will come into effect with the release of the wide-ranging Vista update in the first quarter of 2008, Microsoft said.
The kill switch worked by forcing users of Vista to validate their copies when a software update was needed. If the copy could not be validated the kill switch would block all but the most basic features needed to run a computer.
Microsoft characterized its decision as part of an effort to bolster its anti-piracy enforcement by disabling two types exploits used to bypass the Vista activation process.
The company attributed the 5 percent growth of Windows desktop OEM revenue in the past quarter to declining piracy and noted that the piracy rate for Windows Vista is less than half of Windows XP.
Under its new strategy Microsoft will continue check validation of Vista, but instead of hobbling suspected pirated versions, users will now get pop up messages notifying them about the status of the software along with information about how to make the software legal.
"Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies," Microsoft vice president Mike Sievert, said in a statement. "They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action."
Microsoft's elimination of the so-called Vista "kill switch" also looks a lot like a retreat, particularly in light of the difficulties the company has experienced telling legitimate customers from illegitimate ones. Back in August, Microsoft erroneously forced 12,000 Vista customers into reduced functionality mode when its servers began rejecting activation attempts as a result of human error.
Kill Switch was introduced in 2006 as a voluntary option, but became mandatory with the release of Vista, and had problems from the day it was introduced. Mr Sievert added: "It's worth re-emphasising that our fundamental strategy has not changed.
Microsoft said it had pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 "illegal and improper" online software auctions.
The new system will come into effect with the release of the wide-ranging Vista update in the first quarter of 2008, Microsoft said.
