Microsoft will unveil Oct. 4 a new software protection platform and accompanying technologies that it plans to incorporate into a variety of products, starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn, in hopes of combating piracy.
The new technologies will be included in all of Vista versions, and over time every Microsoft product will use the platform to some extent, Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft’s Genuine Software Initiative, told eWEEK.
The hope inside Microsoft is that these new technologies will make it harder for people to pirate Windows Vista and help ensure that its channel partners have a level-playing field.
“Today, with such an easy way to copy and counterfeit Windows XP, those channel partners don’t really have a level playing field to sell legitimate copies of the software. We are very optimistic that this will make a dent in Vista piracy and counterfeiting,” she said.
Among the new activation technologies that will be found in Vista and Longhorn Server is Volume Activation 2.0., which represents a big change for how those enterprise volume customers activate their software, Thomas Lindeman, senior product manager for Microsoft’s Software Protection Platform, told eWEEK.
“With Windows XP, the volume-licensing keys could easily be stolen and leaked as they are in clear text and in the registry on everyone’s computer. Customers told us that we needed to help them protect that key, so now the keys are going to be encrypted and kept in a trusted store,” he said.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: Microsoft Tools to Combat Vista Piracy
