Microsoft has issued an update to Windows Vista that's intended to stop a piracy monster.
The software maker said Thursday that the update is aimed at thwarting a technique that was letting some people use pirated versions of the operating system without going through the software's built-in product activation. Microsoft has dubbed the approach "frankenbuild" because it works by combining test versions of Vista with the final code to create a hybrid version.
"Windows Vista will use the new Windows Update client to require only the 'frankenbuild' systems to go through a genuine validation check," Microsoft said on its Windows Genuine Advantage program blog. "These systems will fail that check because we have blocked the (product) keys for systems not authorized to use them."
Although Vista was only released to businesses last month--and won't hit retail shelves until late January--it has been making the rounds on the Internet, and there have been several reported hacks to bypass its built-in security mechanisms.
View: Full Article @ C|Net News
The software maker said Thursday that the update is aimed at thwarting a technique that was letting some people use pirated versions of the operating system without going through the software's built-in product activation. Microsoft has dubbed the approach "frankenbuild" because it works by combining test versions of Vista with the final code to create a hybrid version.
"Windows Vista will use the new Windows Update client to require only the 'frankenbuild' systems to go through a genuine validation check," Microsoft said on its Windows Genuine Advantage program blog. "These systems will fail that check because we have blocked the (product) keys for systems not authorized to use them."
Although Vista was only released to businesses last month--and won't hit retail shelves until late January--it has been making the rounds on the Internet, and there have been several reported hacks to bypass its built-in security mechanisms.
View: Full Article @ C|Net News
Yeah, but what he said was true. MS still has not caught on or done anything about the cracked versions of MCE 2005
Shadow: if I pay for a product or service, I want it to work. In this case, I can't complain about bugs and they are not obligated to fix OS at all, which is really retarded. I do use other OSes, but since Microsoft practicaly has a monopoly on this market, I still need to use Windows from time to time and there is no way I'm paying for it. Sure, if it was cheaper, $50 or so, I would, but $200+ is too much. For $200, I want this system to work almost perfectly, from what I've seen in RTM, I'd call this an alpha or pre-beta release.
Okay, I agree, people should not (don't have a right to) complain if hacked version doesn't work. My version is not cracked, but there are only updates for Defender (which I don't even need), what about bugs still in there from RC1 and RC2? What have they been doing for past month since RTM came out?! They also should implement anti-piracy features, of course, but they have priorities mixed imho, call me crazy, but I think stability, performance and features have WAY higher priority then some antipiracy crap that a regular user won't ever even notice...but they do, since all this activation junk is turning against legit users. People will crack it and those who want cracked version will get it, one way or the other.
Microsoft's war against piracy reminds me of war against marijuana: there is no way to stop it, you can get it absolutely anywhere, yet governments spend millions to address this problem and the effect is oposite: people are annoyed by it. Even more: like with drugs, when people go to dealers and get bad dope (resulting in health problems), here people use badly cracked OS, resulting in worms and stuff will affect their computer and worms will spread. My comparisment is extreme, I know, but if you think about it...
IMO, Microsoft should opensource or in some other way open their OS and release home version for free, selling only Ultimate/Enterprise/Business editions with more software included. By opening, people would improve and adjust OS by their needs (not like now, when OS is based on what some geek think people need), more computers would be patched and communities would be created, resulting in making Windows true nextgen OS, right now it's just an OSX/Linux+Beryl wannabe.
You must thing Vista was done in 3 months...i am sure it has been in development for over 5 years and the cost is probably extremely high. How the hell could it be sold for $50.00? Quickbooks Accounting software sells for over $250.00 and that's nothing compared to a full operating system. Buy a new PC and you will get Vista but quit complaining about the price.
The prices are extremely reasonable if you ask me with Vista Ultimate coming in at $199.00 for an upgrade and Home Premium is $139.99.
Yeh windows vista ultimate = 360usd. Adobe photoshop = 800usd
What a nice comparison
The "frankenbuild" (as they call it) is old news. Everyone's moved on to the other hacks by now.
MS can issue all the updates they want, it won't really affect the "private validation server" hacks.
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