'Machines running genuine Windows 7 software with no activation exploits will see nothing,' promised Williams. Since then, the company's anti-piracy software updates have been less aggressive.Īccording to Williams, the WAT update sniffs out more than 70 'activation exploits,' Microsoft's term for what others call 'cracks' that sidestep the product activation process, or use stolen keys to illegally activate counterfeit copies of Windows 7.Īfter the update has been installed, PCs running cracked copies will begin displaying a black background and the usual gamut of nagging notifications that mark the operating system as bogus. Several users sued Microsoft over that behavior the lawsuit was officially dismissed just last week.
That's counter to the practice Microsoft used in 2006, when it force fed Windows XP customers a WGA update by labeling it as a high-priority security update.
