Microsoft WGA says: "Prove your innocence" Microsoft introduces âindeterminateâ status to Windows Genuine Advantage Windows Networking Strategies Newsletter By Dave Kearns, Network World, 12/13/06 A couple of months ago we told you about the new incarnation of Windows Genuine Advantage (see âMicrosoft aims to keep software piracy at bay with 'time bombs',â) which would gradually disable Windows Vista installations as long as Microsoft thought the copies were not âgenuine.â As expected, there was a bit of an outcry especially as the WGA used with Windows XP had been such a disaster that Microsoft was actually the target of class-action lawsuits seeking relief from the draconian desktop shutdowns it imposed on wrongly accused counterfeit versions of the operating system. So Microsoft has made some changes in the now-shipping Vista version of WGA. Instead of simply declaring counterfeit all copies of Vista that Microsoft canât prove beyond a shadow of a doubt are legitimate, Redmond has added a third option: âdonât know.â As far as I can tell, this doesnât change anything in the operation of the program, it simply changes the way customers will react to being notified that their copy is not considered âgenuine.â Should the âdonât knowâ (or, in Microsoftâs words, âindeterminateâ) flag pop up, users will be directed to download tools that can further analyze their installation in an effort to determine whether or not they have a legitimate copy. Never mind that receipt you have from the vendor â or the purchase order you executed for a couple of hundred copies. Itâs a lot like the current police vernacular of âa person of interest.â It used to be we had innocent parties and suspects but evidently being labeled a âsuspectâ was too strong so now some folks are called a âperson of interestâ. Since 90%-plus of those turn into suspects, what real difference is there? Newspaper stories talk about them as if they were suspects â even you think of them as suspects, donât you? Continued So when Microsoft tells you your operating system is âindeterminateâ itâs really saying âyouâre no longer innocent until proven guilty, you now have to prove your innocence to us.â So if this change doesnât really help you, since thereâll be just as many false positives (only some will be false âmaybesâ), why the change? David Lazar, director of the WGA program let the cat out of the bag when he told InformationWeek: â[We want to make] the messaging and the self-help options so clear and simple that users will not need telephone support." Microsoft much prefers that you spend time and effort with its so-called âself-helpâ tools and not use its resources to solve the problem caused by its faulty software!
WGA don't stop pirates, WGA only makes using windows harder for normal users. Pirates just uses copies with cracked system and don't have to worry about anything like that, but normal users need to do a lot of steps to be able to use it like intended.