Windows 7 activation cracked via OEM licensing exploit, 85 days ahead of general release (updated)

Screenshot of Windows 7 activated

Image credit: user “arabmed” on mydigitallife.info forums

The flawless track record of anti-piracy schemes continues to shine as today Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage just failed every paying Windows 7 customer and customers to be. An advantage I’m sure all those people who pre-ordered Windows 7 sees very clearly now. Cue the Microsoft A-Team.

Thinking of simpler times, it looks like things haven’t changed all that much since Windows XP.

P.S.: I am not be posting links to how this is done and I’d encourage commenter not to either. It’s too complicated at the moment. Just kidding 😉

Update: Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage team claims they are able to and will be blacklisting the leaked OEM master key. Users who have used this “hack” are warned their Windows will become deactivated.

Yesterday we were alerted to reports of a leak of a special product key issued to an OEM partner of ours. The key is for use with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM product that is meant to be pre-installed by the OEM on new PCs to be shipped later this year. As such, the use of this key requires having a PC from the manufacturer it was issued to. We’ve worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It’s important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key.

Windows 7 already includes an improved ability to detect hacks, also known as activation exploits, and alert customers who are using a pirated copy. There is a hack that is said to enable, when paired with the leaked key, a system to install and use a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Both the hack and the key are indications that a copy of Windows may not be genuine. The Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as this one, and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them.

Whilst I acknowledge their noble efforts to prevent piracy for the time being, I can’t help imagining another OEM master key will eventually be leaked that they can’t block because PCs sold would have used it. What will happen then?

92 insightful thoughts

  1. Piracy isn’t good but paying $100 for a copy of Windows is STILL outrageously priced. After all, not every one lives their life in the desktop. I live mine in the cloud. Perhaps Ubuntu will do for me 😀

  2. I do agree that Windows is too expensive on the retail side, but there are so many LEGAL ways to get Windows for practically nothing, so I don’t see the point of pirating it… not when $350 will get you a TechNet subscription with licensed downloads of practically EVERY Microsoft product (for “non-production” use, which is fine for pretty much every consumer and test-lab business use).

    Not to mention OEM copies are easily acquired for a lot less than their retail counterparts.

  3. @GoodThings2Life: sorry, but using a TechNet-license as a normal consumer is completely illegal. TechNet subscriptions are for testing purposes only. Non-production means you can’t use it for anything but testing.

  4. Serves them right for what they did to the shell/Explorer.

    Raymond Chen often blogs about some shell features that don’t exist in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

  5. I think cracks is a bad thing. I totally agree with. Microsoft is trying so hard to get Windows 7 together and we are cracking it so that we can use it. I don’t think that’s fair!

  6. So, what’s the point of this? “LOL, WGA fails again”? “MS should just drop WGA”?

  7. “I do agree that Windows is too expensive on the retail side, but there are so many LEGAL ways to get Windows for practically nothing, so I don’t see the point of pirating it… not when $350 will get you a TechNet subscription with licensed downloads of practically EVERY Microsoft product (for “non-production” use, which is fine for pretty much every consumer and test-lab business use).”

    Apart from what Vincent mentioned.. That’s $350 a year. So if Windows is what you’re interested in, and Windows gets updated every 3 years, going the technet route means you’re paying $1050 for a Windows license.

  8. @Fred: It’s the most recent demonstration of how useless WGA is at actually preventing piracy.

  9. The Microsoft organization work hard to give us a reliable product.
    We have to pay the right price for their job.
    The correct price is $100.00 but unacceptable $300.00.
    If Microsoft strategy remains to sell their product for $100.00 everybody accept to pay that sum for a genuine product than a pirate.

  10. Regardless of wether that’s true and which other factors that satement is blatantly ignoring, it’s a point I’ve seen made on thousands of websites thousands of times before, and this adds nothing to those claims. I might as well get my Microsoft related news from slashdot, now.

  11. @Fred: I don’t have a monopoly over Microsoft news 🙂 In fact, I encourage everyone to read as many websites as they can to get all the news from every possible angle.

  12. Devcon, I’d love to know what scientific method you used to come up with that number.

  13. Anyway, it’s weird seeing people elsewhere boast about how “awesome” this is. The internet is weird.

  14. @ Fred
    “Apart from what Vincent mentioned.. That’s $350 a year. So if Windows is what you’re interested in, and Windows gets updated every 3 years, going the technet route means you’re paying $1050 for a Windows license.”

    Wait for it…. wait for it…… NO Fred, that’s not what happens.

    You pay $350 for one years subscription, which by the way is the “renewal fee” meaning you never let your technet sub expire. It’s around $500AU for a first sign up cost.

    Anyway, my point is, once you pay for that 1 years worth, your keys last until you use all 10 activations.
    So you only need to pay for 1 years, and can keep using the keys for the next 3 years with the one off cost….

  15. such a crapOS anyway (just look at it).. only a nub would waste there time exploiting it.

    “Serves them right for what they did to the shell/Explorer”

    lol damn right.. or crap taskbar/ crap startmenu..crap visual style.. its just a shitty noob mess.. seems MS can’t do feck right without fudging up something else.. include new features, but lets break and change what worked before with broken shit.

    “failed every paying Windows 7 customer and customers ”

    I think those customers failed themselves for buying such junk.

  16. IMHO, the point is that every anti-piracy measure is going to be cracked sooner or later. Even applications that require hardware to work have been cracked.

  17. LMFAO @ shi7e – the dude’s obviously a “prefectionist.”

    “…only a nub would waste there time exploiting it”

    C’mon man, if you’re going to troll, at least try to use proper grammar. Poor grammar makes it very difficult to consider that your opinion has been expressed by anything resembling an educated authority – and what actually happens is that you come off sounding more like a moron. Now I know that using the word “there” is a bit tricky since it can be used as an adverb, pronoun, or adjective, but unfortunately, you have failed at getting it to work as any of those types. The word “their” is the personal pronoun you were actually seeking.

    For your next assignment, please try to create a sentence that correctly uses the contraction “they’re” (and don’t even get me started on the “lose” versus “loose” debate).

    Now, move along back to your cave Linus, there’s nothing else for you to see here.

  18. This proves this much:

    If someone really wanted to pirate it, they will. There’s not much you can do to stop them. And we can call it “calculated loss”.

    This is like car locks or whatever you put to safeguard your car. If someone truly wanted to steal it, they will and there’s no stopping it. But they still exists and they are useful to prevent in some way some thefts.

  19. Se7en – Oh look at its a grammer nazi… 7zzz 7zzz go crawl back to that shite pile of an OS you’re using, vis7a is it?. Obviously you’re a grammer nitpicking twonk. As for being a perfectionist… actually no its just wanting a usable OS that hasn’t been broken by piss poor implementations and weak features.. better third party developers and free shell enhancements that do a better job of bringing enhanced functionality to the OS than the shitty job MS have done again, only they’ve broken the good things. And is it so hard to cleanup a default visual style so that it doesn’t look like some unfinished turd pile.

  20. trurth to be told this is the only ms related news that has a web slice(that i know of)

  21. @shi7e: I know you don’t care, but nobody around here gives a flying f*ck about what you have to say. Like I said, I know you don’t care but I thought I’d just reaffirm that for you anyway. As for your grammar, yes; it is difficult to take you seriously when you type like that. Go try getting a job with a resume full of that sh*t you seem so proud of typing and see how far that gets you. Are you *honestly* going to call a recruiter a, “grammar nazi” for not considering you simply because of your poor grammar? Oh, feeble-minded one. I hope, for your sake, that you’re simply being young and dumb… because, if you’re not young, well… then let’s just say, “dumb” is an understatement. Hell, at the rate you’re going, we have no reason to believe you even know how to use Windows in the first place! “Look, maw! This taskbar ain’t workin’ right! I’m clickin’ the mouse but it ain’t doin’ nothin’ but tryin’ to bite me! Winders 7 SUCKS!”

    You’re just a troll with an axe to grind and no one cares. If you don’t like 7, then you sure as hell didn’t like Vista… and if that’s the case, then why haven’t you just been using something else this whole time to be done with it? I mean, for as BAD as you seem to think Windows is, you’re beyond the point of reasonable coherency and somewhere in the realm of annoyingly pessimistic… even for your own good. Anyway, please spare us all your drama-filled prattle when you reply to me with one of your half-assed, dim-witted, “retorts,” alright? Thanks.

    Yeah, yeah… we know, we know: Windows, this… pile of dog turd, that. Broken features, this… die, Microsoft, that… *yawn*

    [email protected]

  22. I love the “Windows is to expensive” arguments. Compared to what? Linux? In order to legally run OSX, you have to legally own a Mac.

    Let’s see…spend $600 and build a quad core PC with 8 gigs of ram, and then spend $200 or $250 on Windows, or spend a grand and get a Mac with OSX? Tough decision there… lol

  23. By the way, cracked means it has been permanently broken. There are 2 1/2 months until RTM…the crack will be blocked.

    Activation has been bypassed for now though.

  24. @blackroseMD1: I don’t think this counts as a crack, it’s just using the OEM system in an illegal way. I don’t see how Microsoft would be able to block this, without blocking all the genuine systems that use the same technique.

  25. WGA isn’t the problem its OEM maker keys. I find it rather stupid that OEMs put stickers on machine that has key they never used! Hopefully Microsoft blocks this and Lenovo takes beating serves them right. Microsoft and OEM makers could easily solve this by using individual keys, but they don’t because they are fat headed and lazy. I mean if customer is too damn stupid to enter simple 16 character key he is damn too stupid let go in internet first place.

  26. The coolest thing is that it’s not an exploit as such. It’s the behaivor Windows allows since Vista. I mean, it was highly predictable since Microsoft hadn’t added any major changes to Windows 7 OEM activation scheme. They, of course, will block and block these activators again and again, and new activators will appear and appear. But think about firmware-method, when you change your BIOS with SLIC and activate any PC as an OEM one. This method wasn’t broached by Microsoft for 3 years at all: they simply can’t do anything with it in the context of the current OEM scheme. Yes, Vista’s activation wasn’t broken, all these methods are no more than workarounds. However Microsoft haven’t done anything to liquidate those workarounds in Windows 7. Why? I don’t know.

  27. What a lot of people don’t consider about “exploits” like this is that fixing them isn’t always in the best interest of the software manufacturer. By and large, people who pirate software on an individual basis don’t matter to software producers. Why? The short answer is that those people aren’t their customers. If someone is pirating Windows, it’s for one of 2 reasons, either they can’t afford it, or are flat-out unwilling to purchase it. Either way, if that person was prevented from pirating, they would still not buy the software, so the actual loss to the manufacturer is $0.

    In addition to that, allowing some level of piracy is actually great for software producers because it 1) Generates buzz about the product (like it has here) and 2) gets people to USE the software personally, which encourages them to recommend the software to employers, etc.. (a la the MS Higher education licensing).

    For a company like Microsoft, the individual that pirates isn’t a concern, but the businesses that do are. It makes sense: Make your product permeate the market in any way you can.

  28. Sorry for an ignorant question.
    Couldn’t MS just block this particular key? No OEM systems are out on the market.

  29. Honestly, I do this so that I never have to call Microsoft. I buy, but do not ever use that key 😉

  30. Will: Bingo. I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I remember the point where I went from essentially a kid pirating Windows, to an adult with a job who grew a conscience and can appreciate the value I get from software I use. I am a prime candidate in support of what you said. Now, while that doesn’t account for EVERY scenario and there are certainly people who just want something for free, even if they would be willing to pay for it otherwise, I think the majority of Windows piracy is encapsulated under the umbrella of what you said.

    To those of you who think Windows is overpriced, why do you think so? Personally, I’ve yet to see any of you bitching about it say anything even remotely approachable or valid. It just goes to show that you don’t understand the value of an operating system and the support that goes along with it. You’re taking for granted that you can just go download an ISO, circumnavigate activation, and be on your happy way surfing the web, downloading and listening to music, playing games, running applications, etc.. Personally, I’m glad to pay the price that Windows costs! It’s extremely valuable software to me and I use it for a whole slew of things from all the basics to more advanced stuff like recording/editing/mixing music. I’ve tried other operating systems and they just didn’t cut it for me. Sure, maybe an application I needed exists TODAY that didn’t exist back when I tried the other OS, but it doesn’t even matter at this point. It’s not worth my time to go learn a new OS when I’m so satisfied with Windows at this point and more than happy to pay for the product.

    If Linux works for you, great! If OSX works for you, great! If some other obscure OS works for you, more power to you! But don’t try to convince me – a completely happy, intelligent and advanced Windows user – that the OS I use is somehow inferior or not worth its price tag. Nothing could be further from the truth for me. If *you* think it’s overpriced, then go use something else! Oh, but what REALLY makes me laugh is the number of people who say they’re happy with what they use, but then they turn around and bitch about Windows costing too much. Uhhhh, why are you even worried about it if you’re happy with what you’ve got? Stick with what you’ve got and everyone’s happy! You save yourself a brain aneurysm and you spare us your frivolous diatribes! lol.

    -Stephen

  31. @shi7e: The most important part in what I wrote was the very first sentence. That’s all I really wanted to make sure you realized. lol. I mean, because I’m soooo sure that people will read what I write, then read what you write and clearly see that *I* am the, “nub.” hahahahaha. Now *that’s* rich! Anyway, go have fun in your deluded little world where t’s are 7’s (but not all of them) and Windows is… well, whatever you seem to think it is. And just in case you’ve already forgotten again; first sentence in my previous reply, shi7e! That’s all you need to concern yourself with!

  32. Well I’m glad that win7 has been cracked cause it’s too damn expensive!
    Why should I be throwing my money at some OS? What for? To be honest and conscience buyer? Give me a break, microsoft will throw that money anyway on some gigantic useless project.
    I’ll better put some crack in my bios and keep my money 🙂

  33. @Mack: Nobody is forcing you to use Windows 7. If you don’t think the update is worth the money then don’t use it. Pretty simple really.

  34. yup very simple.. if they can’t deliver a properly finished product that ain’t broken by sloppy retard design carried on from the vista retardation in just about every possible area..ranging from the taskbar/startmenu/taskmanager/control panels/explorer/exploder/visual style theming/ etc etc etc so so many areas… then they definitely don’t deserve getting paid for it, and even more so they don’t deserve the market share provided by noob pirates using such junk.

  35. @Mack – There’s no accounting for class, is there? lol. Maybe when you grow up and start to learn the process of what and how much money it takes to create a product like Windows; the blood, sweat, and tears put into the development of such a product, etc., you’ll understand. Until then, have at cracking Windows so you can keep on spending money on comic books and candy.

    @shi7e – I’ve yet to see you actually give any specifics as to what you personally find to be problematic with 7 that isn’t some crap rehash from some anti-Microsoft moron. If there’s anything worse than a, “noob pirate,” it’s the whiney baby who keeps aimlessly crying about a product they supposedly want nothing to do with in the first place; i.e., you. Until you’re in the business of competing with Microsoft, your opinion of their marketshare status is moot – as is seemingly every other opinion of yours. Let’s see *YOU* do something better.

    Better yet, why not recommend a better product and give us your personal comparison about why said product’s start menu is better than 7’s, why the taskbar functionality is better than 7’s, how the shell in general is SO MUCH better than 7’s. Why not start there? Maybe then, someone here will actually take what you have to say with anything more than a hearty laugh of pity.

    -Stephen

  36. Stephen shaddup and go back to your noob ux blog.. obviously not getting enough visitors eh.. And if you think I’m going to waste my time answering your questions you poor nub! It makes me laugh just how stupid you come across in your lack of understanding about any of this with your stupid clueless remarks.

  37. @Shi7e: If you have no interest in Windows, there’s a simple solution: Don’t run it. OS fanboyism is asinine. Making a religious war out of a computing product is ridiculous. Why is seemingly nobody capable of using the OS they like and leaving it at that? I use AIX at work, and Linux and Windows at home. Each has their uses, and championing any one system as the perfect solution for everybody for all purposes is stupid.

    In addition, I doubt that you, Mr. “Shi7e”, have any actual knowledge of operating system internals. Maybe I’m wrong, but when you type like a total idiot, guess what people assume you are?

  38. Also, calling Stephen a “noob” and saying “how stupid he comes across” when he just wrote an intelligent and well-thought-out post, in contrast to your moronic drivel, makes me crack up.

  39. well-thought-out post? gimme a break.. that guy hasn’t got a clue.. Windows is its own worst enemy , I’m not going to waste my time explaining in detail.. if you don’t get why and how Win7 is just plain crap or broken in many areas, and offers near to nothing of real improvement then fine, you’re not even on the same level of understanding.

  40. It offers a significantly more polished UI and some under-the-hood fixes/optimizations. For many people, that’s good enough. Vista was a “features release,” but a lot of people, including myself, found it to be initially problematic in a lot of areas. 7 takes Vista’s features and refines them into a far more usable system.

  41. @Fred @Vincent @GoodThings2Life @Insomniac: The Technet subscriptions are $350 for the first year only. It is $250 a year after that. They let you generate more than one key if you so wish to. Each key is valid to activate up to 10 independent machines at the same time. They are considered retail keys as far as WGA and support is concerned. Last but not least no one really cares what people use them for. I have a subscription and I do use them mostly for testing as it sure as heck beats cracking the keys or calling up MS trying to explain why it was reactivated 10 times that week (I’ve been there). I will be getting a Windows 7 Ultimate key on August 6th via Technet to use on a production basis if I want to and since I split the cost with a friend he will too (we pay half each). So the actual cost btw is $850 USD. If you get a coupon you can bring it down to $750 (alot of $100 off first year coupons) and even further to $600 if you manage to find one of the $99 first year coupons. I will get a properly licensed copy of Windows 7 Ultimate when I can afford it and after it’s public release on October 22nd. I will try to encourage my friend to do the same but he can get whatever edition he wants.

  42. Wow, i wonder how old shi7e is.

    I use LInux, Windows and Mac OSx to do all my media work.
    Sadly i use linux because Autodesk only makes autodesk smoke, inferno, etc…. on linux.
    I use mac osx as my notebook and do all my video rendering and 3d renderings.
    I use custom windows pc desktop for gaming and pair up with my mac to do some mental ray satalite.

  43. shi7e is definitely just an attention-seeking troll. Stephen, you made some great points that I think many people tend to forget. Just don’t waste your time on people like shi7e (ignorant scum who enjoy talking shit and causing drama for ‘fun’ or because they truly are idiots).

  44. Thanks, Rhys and Daniel. =)

    @Shi7e: Aww, poor shi7e! No one takes you seriously. =( FFS, man! Why not speak with a bit of self-dignity, you know? If you don’t respect *yourself* enough to present an intelligent interface on your behalf (via how you write and what you say), then you sure as hell shouldn’t expect anyone else to respect you or what you have to say! The world just doesn’t work the way you seem to think it does. If you want people to think you know what you’re talking about, then, “I’m not going to waste my time explaining myself” just isn’t going to cut it.

    If you have anything constructive to offer, then, we’ll talk. Otherwise, I’ll just close your figurative bedroom door and leave you in there to scream and cry and whine your little heart out until you’re ready to come out and act like a big boy with some self-respect. I couldn’t care less if you respect *me* or not; it’s your lack of respect for *yourself* and your low standards that have me baffled. You make *yourself* look bad, man. Nothing I or anyone else here could say is going to make you look as bad as how you make yourself look and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.

    -Stephen

  45. windows must know dat hackers in rest of d world are far more developed than der technicians
    dey will find some other way
    if dey want 2 sell it must atleast reasonable
    like in India average price is 9000 – 16000 rs
    in such a amount a pc is priced in india
    dey have 2 keep products reasonable 2 reduce piracy
    or noalternative

  46. It is so simple: if you can pay for it, do it; if not, “crack” it. Period. Windows 7 it is a great SO (Premiun and higher) but it so expensive. I’m from Argentina and the current price of this SO (in local currency) are so, so, high, even that sh*t called Windows Starter Edition. I think that some MS people drink vodka and then put/fix they prices. There is not another explanation. Regards.

    (if you have some problem reading my english, call to my lawer…)

  47. @Fred

    It’s a blog, not a news site. What if it leans one way or another? That is the choice of the poster. Blogs post about opinions, if you don’t like opinions – don’t visit blogs!

  48. Well, Long Zheng, I have to say that I feel nothing is going to happen, even if this key is blacklisted. Almost everyone who has used it is alerted already by their naturals means of communicating this data, and being that Vista SP2 still activates with slic emulation. I do not see this hurting anyone, besides perhaps the OEMs and Microsoft etc. It’s not going to hurt any of the “hackers” or “crackers”. They will, as you stated, just grab a new key when it is available. Which, with rearms, is more than close enough to today’s date.

    I do think it is funny they call it an activation crack though. Their is no cracking or ‘hacking’ involved. It is merely the knowledge of adding a SLIC table to your bios or emulating one through grub. This is not a crack or hack, merely a bypass using existing, legitimate, operations. At least that is my view on it. Until they change their activation method from SLIC, it’s going to have 0 effect, especially on people with BIOS Modifications. Look at Vista, hasn’t changed even now at SP2…

  49. hey MS need as many clueless fanboy noobs using and promoting vistaSP2 ½ err 7… as possible 😛 just look at Stephen a classic MS fanboy noob with his head in the gutter…seems to think anyone with an issue with MS products or prices is Linux/OSX user.

    “I think that some MS people drink vodka and then put/fix they prices.”

    Maybe they drink all the time..and hope the marketing team will shift this dead turkey for xmas… I dunno how anyone sober or a company MS size could spent this many years on an OS, and do such a sloppy job even with help to point out the flaws like aerotaskforce.com and heck knows how much beta feedback.. .. I mean wtf do they do all day? look for things to break and change without doing anything to actually make things better? do they even know how to make something better? its really no better than XP at all, aswel as its still working shell extensions to improve things. And the win7 Explorer shell altogether really is just crippled noob rubbish. Knowing MS though, they’ll pat themselves on the back for that.

  50. Bla Bla Bla… With every new version of Windows I see the same rants, likely from the same users.
    If you don’t like it why do you use it,
    and if you don’t use it why are you here ?
    It is just sad how many people have no life.
    Spend you money on another bag of dope, and take a nap.
    Your bla bla is old and repetitive, maybe you could find a site to bit CH about something to someone that might give a flying ….
    But thats just my opinion, and it is only worth a little more than yours.

  51. Microsoft actually did a very good job on Windows 7. I am not a Microsoft fanboy and I myself like both Linux and Macs as well. Yes. I’ll admit that there are things that can be improved but I’m sure they have a list a mile long to take care of. The prioritized and dealt with the deal breakers.

  52. I don’t believe Microsoft sees WGA as a “catch-all.” Instead, I think that they hope that it will present at least enough trouble for some of those that would otherwise pirate it so that they will just give up and buy a copy. I mean, they have to know that people will pirate even with WGA, and that getting ahead of the crackers would be impossible with the current scheme they are using.

    @alwaysRight: When shi7e states “I think those customers failed themselves for buying such junk” and “go crawl back to that shite pile of an OS you’re using, vis7a is it?”, it suggests that he does not use Windows at all. Sure, Windows 7 might not bring that much more to the table than Vista. But then why have people in the IT industry said that it would be better to skip Vista despite the fact that it is a more mature release with SP2 and go straight to Windows 7, even not waiting for a service pack? Sure, Microsoft’s prices are quite a bit unreasonable, but when you are buying a new PC the prices are better anyways, and this is when quite a few regular users upgrade. Linux is a whole other ball game, and I would say that for pricing OSX is going to be about the same considering the initial down-payment you spend on a Mac (not that I don’t like Macs). As far as the UI for Windows 7, perhaps we could see it as simply a better out-of-the-box experience for your average user, because that is what most users are. That isn’t to say, however, that the Windows UI isn’t powerful enough to accommodate power users; there are obviously quite a few out there who agree with this. Finally, please don’t come back at me with “typical Windblows user” because I do use Linux (Gentoo and Ubuntu, actually).

  53. Cracks will be blocked and blocks will be cracked in seconds…

    DRM is not a way to increase sales, that is made with a good final product instead of lot of alphas, like the last… 8 years of windows without a decent release (dont mix decent with popular, marketing does not make good a bad product)

  54. Activation isn’t DRM. It’s licensing. Microsoft wants you to properly license a product so that they (a) know how many people are using it and (b) get payment for their years of hard work. Microsoft works hard on the operating system and it takes them a long time to get a good working product out the door. Now then I never expect a product to be perfect the first time that it comes out and this is due to a limited scope of hardware to test on.

    P.S. – The products have never been alpha grade. I’ve dealt with alpha grade and that was during the Norton beta test back in 2005. The first release crashed over 50% of the testers computers forcing them to reinstall the OS. For those that actually used ghost then they just had to reload the backup image. The quality was more like alpha than beta when we got it. Even then the quality of release to the public was very questionable for the next 3 years due to plenty of performance issues. Microsoft was never that bad.

  55. hm…. so many questions and so many answers… but who’s right? every OS has something we can find easy to use (programs, features, UI, etc. etc.) or some programs(or something else) we want to use just don’t work with that particular OS and we’re forced to use other OS. Why to call windows “shit, crap”…. why to call *nix “not user friendly”…. why…why… it reminds on Shakespeare…. :o))))
    Every OS needs a market and coustumers… but, like someone said, why to pay if don’t want to use it? AND WHY TO COMPLAIN IF YOU’RE NOT USING IT IN A PRO FIELD??!?!?!
    Personaly i prefer Linux OS’s but sometimes i need to edit some photos/videos/audios and then i need Adobe but Adobe does’nt work in Linux so i have to fire up Windows.. So i have Windows on one my old pc(not that old :o)) ) for Adobe and so my wife can listen some music if she/ shen she wants… :o)))….

    And conslusion… My windows isn’t registred, it is installed with famous “fckgw”. that’s because i don’t want to pay licence cos i’m using that windows OS for a couple of hours per month… maybe in couple of years i will pay for windows if i change my job or something else but for now i’ll stick with Linux …

    P.S. 4 yrs ago i’ve worked for one small ISP on Balcan peninsula and they paid for a copy of Win 2003 SMB Server at my advice because they want some kind of colaboration(and e-mail relay server) betwean deparments. And then i found that Windows server architecture is good…

    (sorry for my english :o))) )

  56. well for the first time I have actually pre-ordered an os, I have been running the beta test version and have to say it is so much more stable than vista or xp has been , no blue screens, no lock ups, no major slow downs. I don’t like how long it takes to delete loads of files but overall there is a definite speed increase.

    as for the argument, lets start with linux, its free has only public support unless you pay for something like redhat, its not as user friendly as windows or mac os and doesn’t support lots of hardware. Windows, runs very well, is easy to use and supports 1000s of pieces of hardware in a variety of combinations. Last but not least is mac OSx. It is again easy to use, stable and fast but how many different pieces of hardware do they have to support. If MS only had to support a handful of configurations then their os would blow mac osx out of the water.

    I don’t like MS at all as a company or what it stands for but this time I actually do like their product. There are many things they could have put in like telnet etc but for what purpose? 99.9% of the users would never use it and most that would need it and similar features would be running linux anyway.

  57. “I can’t help imagining another OEM master key will eventually be leaked that they can’t block because PCs sold would have used it”
    as long as oems are not mad or stupid they won’t use a master key , they will only use a key with 3 pc limits

  58. if i were a reverse engineer then i would reverse engineer the xp mode to its bios emulator and kernel loader then change every thing to windows seven from the license activatioon to xp compability(of the program) and change its name to ‘seventy modes’

  59. @Manmohanjit
    “JUL 29TH, 2009 AT 9:52 PM
    I think cracks is a bad thing. I totally agree with. Microsoft is trying so hard to get Windows 7 together and we are cracking it so that we can use it. I don’t think that’s fair!”

    And I don’t think it’s fair that I paid $100+ for Vista and now they’re releasing this so soon after and they want my money all over again.

  60. M$ vs Linux&Unices&Hackers = Cartoon Network’s popular series Pinky And The Brain. and where pinky asks “hey brain what are we going to do tonight?” brain replies “same thing which we do ever and ever again, TAKE OVER THE (IT) World.” hahahaha!
    no wonder when will M$ give up its fight against the so called (nagging freak 2 wiggling fingers) FIGHT AGAINST PIRACY.
    Resistance Is Futile.
    and @nobody’s diabolical vicious EVIL plan of taking over the M$ dominance via reverse engineering? a bigggggg real big lawl, rawlffffffffffff, lawlf luuulfffffff & lawl again, rawlf. sorry nobody didnt mean to hurt you. but did you mind taking a look at M$’s shared source alliance initiative? “THEY GIVE AWAY THE BLOODY DAMNED CODE TO ANY TOM DICK HARRY FOR FREE (conditions apply, FOR FREE AND PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE)”
    duhhhhhh
    sorry for being a party spoiler.
    i love being the pinky in the pinky and brain cartoon series. TOO WHACKY. lawl again, lawlllllllllllllllllllllllll2lawlllllllllllllll just like p2p.
    -hth
    paul
    am i semi anti-M$? or am i semi hardcore pro opensource volunteer? your deciding call.
    p.s. YES they give away M$’s Operating System, Office Products, Embedded Solutions to anybody for free for non commercial use. now you want to have the best w/ piracy when things are there for FREE. LAWLL&LAWL&LAWL&SOME MORE LAWL.

  61. shi7e: You are setting yourself up to get dumped on. If you give some actual reasons why you don’t like Windows, whatever the version, then you will be legitimate. Your whining posts just make you out to be the laughing stock of these posts.

  62. It has long since been done. The same method that works on all service packs of Vista still works on Windows 7. I tested and verified it myself. Passes genuine check using both website and mgadiag.exe standalone.

  63. I find it funny that at least half of the posts on this blog seems like personal arguments of why he/she dislikes this product or does like it. It is a blog and that means its all based on your personal opinion. Like for instance, i was not a fan of Windows Vista (ME2) or now 7. Basically i dislike how power hungry they are on my physical memory. and from a Networking stand point I would not use this for a business. Not sure how or if windows 7 would be supported on a virtual server, have not tried, but i can imagine how much 7 would take up on your servers. This is why i still use XP, never had any issues, its easy to maintain and easy to work with. Eye candy? who needs eye candy. Security is just as tight and the shell is so basic. But these are just my opinions, take em for what it is, and please dont respond to me with something stupid.about trying to make your opinion correct, or trying to disprove my own opinion.

  64. shi7e
    Dude….its true win 7 is kinda more krappy lookin than vista but,here are the features:
    1.Makes full use of battery life an all the hardware u have attached to ur notebook or pc.
    2.Enables the use of better gameplay thanks to DirectX 11
    3.Uses transperency like vista…enables better gaming than XP.
    These are the good uses of 7 I have found 😀

  65. I bought a IBM Lenovo with a legit german Vista buisiness on it, i replaced it with Win 7, same as mentioned above, hope it will stay operational, Bill was the richest guy on earth and windows is bloatware.

Comments are closed.