Genuine Windows Pilot Expanding

More customers than expected have chosen to validate their copy of Windows as genuine under Microsoft’s Genuine Windows antipiracy pilot program, and the validation process has created few problems, according to Microsoft. Consequently, Microsoft is expanding the pilot to cover additional downloads and languages and offering additional enticements to get users to participate. If the expanded pilot runs smoothly, Microsoft will likely move the program from pilot to production, meaning that only users of genuine copies of Windows will have access to services such as Microsoft’s Web Download Center.

Initial Results

For the Genuine Windows pilot program, which started in Sept. 2004, users are asked to download and run an ActiveX control that validates that their copy of Windows is genuine before they download certain software applications, such as Windows Media players. Users of Windows XP who activated their software during installation, or whose software was activated with a legitimate license key, generally find validation with the ActiveX control to be automatic.