Windows 8 will reportedly have a new verification process for new PCs and according to Digitimes, via unnamed sources, it's causing problems for PC makers. The story says that Windows 8 will use OEM Activation 3.0 (OA 3.0) and as a result PC manufacturers are reportedly saying it will take longer to install the OS into PCs and therefore cost them money.
Windows 7 and older versions of Microsoft's operating system use a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) label that is normally slapped on notebook PCs and included on new desktops PCs as part of the packaging. Users type in the number on the COA label when they use a new PC for the first time to activate Windows.
Windows 8, on the other hand, will install the activation key inside the OS's UEFI firmware (Digitimes incorrectly says it's being placed inside a PC's BIOS). This means that PC makers will have to take more time and give every new PC with Windows 8 more individual attention than Windows 7 PCs, where a PC makers could simply stick on the COA label.
There's also concern that employees will need more training in order to get use to the new Windows 8 activation procedures. All of this means that PC makers could have to spend more in order to get Windows 8 installed on each PC.
If all of this is true, that could also mean that PCs with Windows 8 could cost more compared to new PCs with Windows 7. That could spell trouble for Microsoft in the long run unless they can come up with a way to make installing Windows 8 cheaper for the PC makers..
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