Some days just getting a straight answer is hard enough. ArsTechnica went to talk to Microsoft about Vista's activation policy and got a slightly different story than the one I reported here before.
A Microsoft spokesperson told Ars Technica that "the hardware tolerance of product activation for Windows Vista has been improved and is more flexible than that for Windows XP," indicating that re-activations caused by minor changes to a PC should be less common. "We believe these improvements will better accommodate the needs of our PC enthusiast customers," the spokesperson said.
Microsoft told Ars Technica that SPP monitors the system and measures changes against the original hardware configuration of the PC in an attempt to determine if the software has been moved to a new device. SPP uses an undisclosed algorithm to to track changes, and it remains unclear how the algorithm assesses different hardware changes. The spokesperson reiterated the company's view that Vista's hardware tolerance is more flexible than before. As to the issue of multiple re-activations, Microsoft is standing behind the language of its licenses.
... For those reading between the lines, Microsoft's response is telling. The option of seeking remediation through Microsoft support is a good sign that the company has left a giant safety net in place, much as they did with Windows XP.
What's most frustrating is that Microsoft could clear up all of this bewilderment by simply having one of their people step up to the plate and speak out on their own. I suspect the reason this hasn't happened is because they're trying to see just how well this new policy plays out once it's actually live, instead of making a full commitment to something they can't support.
I suspect the only way we're going to find out what the real deal is is by waiting for the final release to drop, and then torture-testing the thing on our own. But if they have, indeed, relaxed the activation thresholds enough that people can swap motherboards without being forced to shell out for a whole new license, that's worthwhile.
... similar concerns over hardware upgrades surfaced before Windows XP launched. The reality since that launch has been far less dramatic than many commentators predicted. In our extensive experience with re-activations caused by hardware changes, the outcome experienced most often amounts to this: we had to use Microsoft's automated phone system to retrieve a new activation code. No money changed hands. On average, the calls took less than five minutes.
In the entire time I've been working with XP, I've run afoul of PA exactly twice, and both times it was because I did something unbelievably stupid. (I know that other people have not had the same track record, but I can only speak for myself -- and some of the things other people do with their PCs are definitely at least as stupid as anything I've done.)
[This spokesperson for Microsoft, by the way, has gone completely unnamed.]
Leave a comment