Hm, it seems the "validation" process gathers more information than that other article implied, and I don't like the idea of a unique "cookie" being placed on my system.
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/faq.aspx
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...icrosoft26.html
Quote:
The genuine validation process will collect information about your system, such as Windows product key, PC manufacturer, and operating system version, to determine if Windows is genuine. This process does not collect or send any information that can be used to identify you or contact you. The complete list of information collected in the validation process is shown below:
* OEM product key
* PC Manufacturer
* OS version
* PID/SID
* BIOS info (make, version, date)
* BIOS MD5 Checksum
* User Locale (language setting for displaying Windows)
* System Local (language version of the operating system)
|
I didn't mind activation so much because it only happened when installing, but this is almost like activating Windows with every update.
This is sneaky too because typically an OEM copy of Windows (for example) is supposed to be tied to the system it's installed on. If you build a new system you're not supposed to move your Windows to the new system, you're supposed to buy a new copy.
Activation already combats this but this will let them monitor and enforce that a little further.
And of course the true pirates will get around it in no time, so the only people who this really hurts is the average customer
