Picky, picky, picky.

Apart from finding code on fake keys they've changed the name from WGA to a KB number in VISTA, I have a legit copy of Ultimate and the ba***** thing killed my install I bought my copy from MicroDirect about 4 weeks ago. I installed the seriously long updates and my god is it so slow finally SP1 was available and so installed that rebooted. Then WGA came up with product is fake crap after being on the phone with MS for 1hr I got no where, they confirmed the key was legit but didn't understand why it borked.

Until they sort it out at there end I have gone back to XP SP3 might stay with the dam thing that legit and WGA hasn't killed that off.

Microsoft are idiots if they think they can keep ahead of the hackers. Most of the info they get comes from M$ people lol

IETab in Firefox is not using Firefox. It's using IE through Firefox.

Go remove IE from your system then try to use IETab. You might be amazed to discover that it no longer works...

There's only one way to eliminate piracy. MS should finally offer the basic edition as a free download and have users pay online to have the OS expanded depending on their needs. They're just wasting resources.

Andy is right, it's easy to see how piracy does as much to help Microsoft as it does to reduce their revenue.

Anyway, within 24 hours someone will probably have some kind of work-around... when the day comes (and I can't imagine when that will be) that you can no longer patch WGA, it will really be Ubuntu's day. To be fair Windows is a good usable product, but for lots of people not actually enough better or more familiar than Linux to be worth spending on.

For info I have a Windows XP Pro licence that came stuck to the bottom of my Thinkpad before anyone accuses me of being a pirate.

This don't really matter, it will take the xp crackers all but 1-2 weeks after WGA's release to crack it again. My nly problem with it is that i have to find the crack again.

I would venture to assume (perhaps incorrectly?) that a good portion of the "Early adopters" of a new Microsoft Operating system are people who "pirate" a copy. That being said, the more that have it, the more its understood and accepted. If they lock the OS down, and no one "pirates" it. That will only slow down the adoption of the new OS. (cough Vista)

Corporations and new PC's will all have a Lic. so who cares? The cost of securing it, v.s. the few that steal a free ride, just isn't worth it. The free ride only promotes the product!

They would be better off writing off the losses as advertising.

You can get 100% of MS updates with Firefox. Install the IE Tab Add-on and poof.....it just works. I've been doing this for a couple of years now.

Seriously... If MS has faith in Win 7, and wants to raise some short term money... Just offer XP (any flavor excluding server) for $50. Done and done. I am sure they'd raise a decent amount of short term cash, and most using a copy of XP Pro, would probably jump all over it. But really? $150ish for an old OS that isn't going to be properly supported any more? Give me a break. C'mon MS. Amnesty day it! Print yourselves some money with your low, low Marginal Cost of ~$1.50.

Besides, we all know you don't actually want to stop piracy,... It's your number one defence against alternative OS's. If Windows were impossible to pirate, you'd see Linux development capital, and market share for the desktop quadruple plus within 6 months.

We'll have to shut down my auto update on my test computer incase this WGA borks the machine. As we all know DRM has a way of killing off legit users as well as "Try before you buy users".

It's the cash cow for MS right now.

Why are MS killing it's most popular software?

Are they getting incentives from hardware makers? I cannot think of any other reason.

XP is all 99% of people need and want. We are used to it, all software works on it, and it costs MS less every year to support it.

Vista hasn't given me anything, I dual boot with XP and it's XP I keep starting.

Instead of giving it away for people to educate themselves or to expand markets, and so on - they still try to limit the usage, even when they don't plan on earning much $$$ from the XP anymore.

All I understand is that they are trying to make people move from XP. Remember its an OS they are trying to get rid of and have announced that they have stopped supporting.
So why bother create a new WGA? Windows 7 is coming soon and they wanna sell sell SELLLLLLL...
And if they stop the pirate copies they will.

there ya go peeps, xp updates for non M$hite exploder users :-

http://windizupdate.com/

errrrrrrrrm, whats this WGA lark about then ???? lol O_o

What things? Please help us all and make a list. I need to know what I've been missing that I need to get to continue to do what I've been doing with what I don't have.

As a benevolent omnipotent being I still allow it to be hidden and ignored. That's my style, guidance to a better life but no arm twisting, coercion, and no threats.

Oh wait, I need to speak to Balmer again. A god's work is just never done.

You people are stupid!

Now all Microsoft has to do is to monitor this page and see who says what and they will know who the pirate people are!

Fail is the only thing I can say to you....and the stuff above I said :P

I never use Microsoft Update soft or web as its a pain in the arse having to download install like 100 updates restart and then for it to say theres theres 200 more to go ....

http://www.autopatcher.com/ i use that just download all updates off there site and then insatll all at once ;) much simplier

You can do that, but it does prevent you from downloading some things from their site. It's not like they can't be found somewhere else though.

Simple answer to this is to not install the WGA update that microsoft sends you.

Microsoft are retards!