Microsoft's XP: Hardware changes a turnoff
By Joe Wilcox
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
June 27, 2001, 4:00 a.m. PT
video

Microsoft answers XP-upgrade questions
Shawn Sanford, product manager, Microsoft
Microsoft may have discovered the ultimate turnoff.

The company's new product-activation technology, which locks Office XP or
Windows XP to a particular PC hardware configuration, can deactivate
unexpectedly, rendering the software useless until a code number is
obtained from Microsoft. The feature could present the biggest headache
to people that frequently upgrade or change components on their PCs.

Already, the activation technology, introduced to thwart piracy and
promote software subscriptions, is controversial with some users of the
new Office software package.

"I have been completely against Windows Product Activation from the
second Microsoft announced they would implement it in Windows XP and
Office XP," said Bryan Jagielski, an Office user and software engineer
from Dallas. "Microsoft has every right to combat piracy, but they should
do so without invading my privacy."

Microsoft introduced product-activation technology with an update to
Office 2000 but made it standard fare with Office XP, released in late
May. It will also be standard with Windows XP, the new version of the
operating system set to launch Oct. 25.

In the case of Office XP, people can open the software programs 50 times
before activating the product by phone or over the Internet. The process
"locks" the software to the user's specific PC configuration.

In testing versions of Windows XP, the product must be activated within
14 days by using an included activation wizard to connect to Microsoft
online, "locking" Windows XP to the existing hardware configuration.

If Windows XP is not activated within 14 days, it stops working and
directs users to the Internet to automatically activate the software. To
reactivate the software in the case of reinstallation or due to too many
hardware configuration changes, a 44-key code must be obtained from
Microsoft by telephone.

The deactivation feature works similarly in countries such as Australia
and New Zealand, where Microsoft offers Office XP for sale on an annual
subscription basis. The activation technology turns off the software
unless the subscriber pays for another year's use.

Don't go changing
Office XP and Windows XP are capable of deactivating if the user makes
radical changes to a computer's hardware configuration, which could trick
the software into thinking it has been moved to another system.

"When you activate, what it does is lock the software to the
hardware--takes the signature of the hardware," explained Guernsey
Research analyst Chris LeTocq. "The technology is designed to detect
changes in the configuration. Should the hardware fingerprint change, the
activation technology may think you're running the software on another
machine."

The potential for problems is greatest on desktops whenever consumers or
businesses upgrade components, but it can also affect notebooks, where
software could be rendered virtually useless on the road if the owner
made substantial hardware changes.

Tom Bailey, Microsoft's lead product for Office, acknowledged this
scenario can happen.

"In order for the activation to take, it identifies a wide variety of
components in your system," he explained. "If a certain number of
components change over time--for example, you get a new video card, add
memory, this, that or the other thing to that PC--it will ask you to
reactivate."

But Bailey emphasized, "The number of things required to have to go
through that process we think is very small--certainly a small subset of
your readers."

Once the software detects a hardware discrepancy it can't reconcile, the
consumer or business must reactivate the software using the original
installation CD. This requires calling Microsoft to get a one-time,
44-key code reactivating the software. In the case of Office XP, the
software enters a reduced functionality mode where people cannot create
or save files until reactivation.

Gartner analyst Michael Silver faulted the reactivation procedure for
being too sudden. Unlike initial activation, where the user has a fair
number of warnings before beginning the process, the reactivation
procedure can come suddenly. For someone on the road with a notebook,
software could be rendered useless until that person returns to the
office.

"It shouldn't just deactivate and slip away," Silver said. "It should
deactivate the way it activates, with a certain number of changes. It's
like driving in your car and a fuel gauge light that goes on after you're
empty."

Activate me
Microsoft's activation technology in many ways is largely misunderstood.
While people must activate Office XP and Windows XP, contrary to popular
belief, Microsoft does not force them to disclose personal information.
Product registration is not compulsory with activation.

But problems with RealNetworks' RealPlayer and other software products
collecting personal information, coupled with Microsoft's strong-arm
tactics revealed during its antitrust trial, have made some people leery
of providing information to software makers.

"Would my computers contact Microsoft and alert them to the fact that I
was doing something that was perfectly legal in the previous version?"
asked Brian Norton, an Office user from Arlington, Va. "Would they try to
do anything about it? This concerns me greatly.

"My concern with this type of activation technology is that what I do
with software that I purchase from Microsoft is none of their business,"
Norton said. "Microsoft has a grand vision of software as a service. To
achieve this, consumer confidence in authentication services has to come
around. Right now, it has not, and with good reason."

In the case of Office XP, people can install the software on two
computers, such as a desktop PC and a laptop. But the second installation
requires a phone call to obtain the 44-key unlock code. The process is
similar to that used in other countries where Office XP is offered,
optionally, on a subscription basis. Microsoft earlier this year put on
hold its Office XP subscription program for the United States.

Suspicious minds
But Dallas Office user Jagielski is concerned that Microsoft could use
the activation technology to police subscriptions. The company is
increasingly pushing subscription plans as part of the Microsoft.Net
software-as-a-service strategy and other initiatives.

"If Microsoft moves Windows XP to a subscription-based platform for
consumers, this, combined with (product activation), can give Microsoft
the capability of remotely shutting down your computer as easy as the
electric company can shut off your electricity," Jagielski said. "If you
don't pay your bill, you can't use your computer."

Filon Agathagelidis, a medical student from Thessaloniki, Greece,
believes Microsoft has legitimate reason for using activation technology.

"The way I see this is that Microsoft is trying to establish a balance
between piracy and legitimately purchased copies of Microsoft software,"
he said. "It's common sense that piracy is something that they don't want
because they simply lose money."

Paul Kunino Lynch, an Office user and journalist from Sydney, Australia,
said he has lived with the activation technology since Office 2000, even
transferring the program to a new machine without serious reactivation
hardship. But he believes the technology and other issues will create
problems for Microsoft as the Windows XP launch approaches.

"I am entirely confident that in the months up to XP's release and for
some time thereafter, we will see a great campaign of gossip and lies
about harm users will suffer from the new product," he said.


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