Today, Microsoft announced the imminent release of a new Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows. This update, which targets Windows 7, is the latest evolutionary step in the technologies that started with Windows Genuine Advantage in 2006.
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What’s noteworthy to me is the degree to which Microsoft is going out of its way to disclose the details of this update and to allow anyone who is skeptical of it to opt out with no negative consequences.
The biggest change in this update is the addition of new code designed to detect common hacks that allow pirated software to circumvent Windows activation. According to Joe Williams, General Manager of Microsoft’s Genuine Windows division, the update “will detect more than 70 known and potentially dangerous activation exploits.†More details:
The Update is designed to run on all editions of Windows 7, although we will distribute first to the Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise editions. It will be available online at
www.microsoft.com/genuine beginning February 16 and on the Microsoft Download Center beginning February 17. Later this month, the update will also be offered through Windows Update as an ‘Important’ update.
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