Pirated Vista Copies Will Run in Reduced Functionality Mode
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by Mike Zazaian October 4, 2006 - 12:31pm, 6 Comments
Dubbed Reduced Functionality Mode,
the new feature will be an extension of Microsoft’s existing Windows Product Activation software. Vista’s users will be given 30 days to activate
their version of Vista, either activating online or calling Microsoft by phone. If at the end of the 30 days the product hasn’t been activated, Vista will only function in Reduced Functionality Mode.
And while Microsoft has taken steps to limit piracy with its Windows Genuine interface, Microsoft’s Reduced Functionality Mode is a measure unlike any they’ve taken. While un-activated versions of Windows XP would simply annoy users with constant reminders to activate, Reduced Functionality Mode will make Vista all but unusable once the thirty-day activation window is eclipsed. Microsoft described the dynamics of Reduced Functionality Mode in a recent press release:
By choosing
Access your computer with reduced functionality,the default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked. After one hour, the system will log the user out without warning. It will not shut down the machine, and the user can log back in. Note: This is different from the Windows XP RFM experience, which limits screen resolution, colors, sounds and other features.
In addition Microsoft has said that Reduced Functionality Mode will disable the use of Aero, Vista’s sleek, glassy interface. Copies of Vista in the Premium or Ultimate trim level will see even further lock-down, with features such as ReadyBoost performance enhancements and Windows Defender antispyware detection being shut off completely.
And while the goal of the new feature is to lock software pirates and counterfeiters out of Vista, there’s no guarantee that users with genuine copies of the OS won’t be inconvenienced as well Microsoft stated in the same release:
Customers will be able to easily determine the status of their Windows Vista installations. In the System Properties panel of the Windows Vista Control Panel, Windows Vista will display the genuine status of the installed copy of Windows Vista. From there, and from any screen notifying users of a failed validation, a user will be able to obtain more information on why the copy of Windows is not genuine, as well as resources for getting a genuine copy.
Note that Microsoft phrases the above as why the copy of Windows is not genuine, rather than whether. By not giving the benefit of the doubt to consumers a number of harmless Vista users could encounter the Reduced Functionality at the fault of Microsoft, not themselves. And while Microsoft insists that most customers should never be affected by having a non-genuine installation,
it’s certain that some quantity of harmless Vista owners will be wrongly shut out of the OS by overly aggressive anti-piracy measures.
The most absurd part of the whole charade is that Microsoft knowingly benefits from the circulation of pirated Windows copies. By extending its installed user base through piracy, Microsoft also broadens the appeal of software designed specifically for Vista, ultimately strengthening both software sales and overall Windows dominance. The fact that they’re taking such rigorous anti-piracy measures seems hypocritical, as the new features seem more like an overall inconvenience rather than a block on piracy.
It remains to be seen exactly how Reduced Functionality Mode will affect Vista, but if nothing else the feature is indicative of why Vista’s release has been delayed almost three years. It seems as though Microsoft could produce a stronger final Vista product if the development team spent more time increasing system performance or resolving bugs rather than implementing bizarre security measures such as this.
Microsoft has said that it will likely extend the properties of Reduced Functionality Mode into other next-gen software suites, naming Office 2007 as a likely candidate. Both Windows Vista and Office 2007 are due out at the beginning of next year, hitting shelves on January 30th, 2007.
[via ZDnet]
One of the laptops at a business I was called to had a preinstalled Windows XP supplied by IBM on a Thinkpad computer. The user was able to produce his original Certificate of Authenticity on request - in other words, there was no doubt that this copy was legitimate.
Now, if he used the laptop as supplied, with WGA running - absolutely no problem. The problem came when he plugged in a USB WiFi adapter to access the corporate network. Suddenly WGA started screaming that the copy of XP on the laptop was illegitimate, and that he needed to buy a new license. We called Microsoft, they could see no reason why the license code wouldn’t work. In the end they gave us another code - that didn’t work either.
Now, this was XP and I was able to remove the WGA so that he could continue to use the machine. He can even get live updates, by plugging the machine’s onboard CAT5 port into the corporate network. But to this day, it will NOT accept that the laptop plus the WiFi USB stick is legitimate.
Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista would have rendered his PC unusable even though the OS was legitimate, the hardware was legitimate and the setup was nothing out of the usual. Microsoft’s eventual response was to advise us to buy a different manufacturers USB WiFi adapter, even though the one we’d bought was on the approved list. They had no comment as to why we needed to spend even more money to correct a problem that should not exist.
People are also catching on to the inherent difficulty in viruses that don’t trigger security alerts by attacking the main components of the OS, but instead trigger the higher priority anti-piracy checks by attacking the authentication system. I predict within a few months Microsoft will be losing a battle against virus writers who will turn RFM against them and against their customers.
Microsoft are going to have to change things around VERY quickly if they are going to survive this. Massive lawsuits and media tales about crashed Vista systems entrusted to do vital jobs could see the company go down in flames.
Whisperwolf
TRoubleshooting there registration system is gonna cause very major problems
simon
I was messing around with this for a while in RC2. I didn’t have my key written down so I didn’t enter one when I installed it. Vista doesn’t have a driver built in for my ethernet card (GRRR), and I was too lazy to install the driver. It eventually locked me out, and I needed to get my key from my gmail account.You can guess how happy that made me…
The Mallegonian