As was widely reported last week, Microsoft's Windows Client team says that by mid-2005 it plans to start requiring Windows users to "authenticate" that their copy of Windows is genuine before the Windows uрdаtе feature will allow them to download security uрdаtеs.
However, there's quite a bit of misinformation surrounding this program. With the caveat that future plans are subject to change, here is my take on what's actually been said, and what it means:
1) The Windows Genuine Advantage program isn't as new as some "news" sites would have you believe. In fact, this opt-in pilot has been in place for several months -- an infrastructure pilot of the program launched back on September 16 targeted roughly five percent of the content available for download from the Download Center. An expanded pilot was launched in October in five languages.
2) There are no current plans to require users running automatic uрdаtеs to provide proof that their copies of Windows are genuine. During the opt-in period, until required validation is in place, all users (genuine or not) will have access to all security uрdаtеs and fixes via the Microsoft Download Center, Windows Updates and Automatic Updates.
3) Users of browsers other than Internet Explorer are not locked out of the uрdаtе-checking mechanism.
Conspiracy theorists may think otherwise, but I believe the program will reduce the number of potential zombie-bots out there, and for IT pros everywhere, that's a good thing. Frequently asked questions about the program can be found here <
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=2031765>.Enjoy the issue,
Graeme Bennett
Editor, TechNet Flash
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