Windows Genuine Advantage Outage

A failure of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation servers caused approximately 12,000 Windows customers to be told incorrectly that they were running a non-genuine copy of Windows, and it downgraded key Windows Vista features, such as the Aero graphical interface, for affected customers. Although the outage displayed some operational naivete on Microsoft’s part, Microsoft refused to call the failure an outage or acknowledge that customers losing access to Genuine Windows features of Vista experienced any reduced functionality. Consequently, the outage calls into question Microsoft’s broader ambitions to offer software as a service for critical business functions.

What Happened?

Microsoft originally instituted the WGA program in Sept. 2004 as a voluntary pilot program to cut down on software piracy. It requires users to demonstrate that they have a genuine copy of Windows before they can download certain software from Microsoft Web sites. The program is now worldwide and mandatory and has been expanded in scope to cover most downloads (except patches for security vulnerabilities, which are still available without validation). WGA can also control access to certain OS Vista features, such as the Aero user interface.