Text 12527, 122 rader
Skriven 2006-08-12 19:22:30 av Thees Peereboom (1:379/45)
  Kommentar till text 12494 av /m (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Another WGA failure
===============================
From: "Thees Peereboom" <theesp@barkto.com>

Mike,

Some 10 years ago, when the OS wars were still open, I got very impressed with
a story from an OS/2 enthusiastic, an independent software developer, who tried
to collaborate with IBM. His story was, more or less, that IBM was very, very
willing to help with everything, but apparently unable to fullfill. 'It's
always the same', he said. 'You need something from IBM and it takes weeks and
weeks. After those weeks and lots of telephone calls, finally some floppies
with handwritten labels are received in an unmarked envelope with an
handwritten addresslabel. If you, very much to the contrary, need something
from Microsoft, you can be sure that you will receive, overnight, delivered by
a courier, shrinkwrapped software, including manuals and necessary licenses.
That is exactly the reason why MSFT will win the OS Wars.'

Reading your referal below, it becomes painfully obvious that MSFT today is the
IBM of 10 years ago.

- Thees Peereboom

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 01:05:10 +0200, /m <mike@barkto.com> wrote:

>
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=110&tag=nl.e539
>
> ===
> I just experienced a Windows Genuine Advantage failure. Only itƒ Ös not a
> false positive, like the horror stories Iƒ Öve been hearing for nearly two
> months now. No, this one was a false negative. The whole story says a
> lot about how Microsoft is approaching the WGA issue.
>
> A few weeks ago, I spoke to some of the folks on the WGA team and asked
> them to send me a pirated version of Windows XP.  According to
> Microsoft, 80 percent of the 60 million people who have been nabbed by
> the WGA validation tool are running versions of Windows with stolen or
> pirated volume license keys. These versions of Windows are supposed to
> be available only to corporate customers and only as upgrades. Unlike
> retail versions, they donƒ Öt require activation, which makes them an
> ideal target of pirates and bootleggers.
>
> According to Microsoft, many of the people who end up with these
> ƒ œnon-genuineƒ � copies of Windows are themselves victims. The unauthorized
> OS might have been installed by a repair shop, or they might have
> purchased what they thought was a legitimate copy of Windows from an
> unscrupulous reseller. I wanted to install a pirated copy so I could
> experience exactly what these customers go through and report the
> results to you. I still canƒ Öt quite believe how difficult itƒ Ös been.
> Hereƒ Ös the story so far.
>
> On July 18, Microsoft's WGA team promised to send me a disk with a
> product key from their blocked list. It was supposed to arrive via
> overnight service, but it was never sent. After several follow-up
> messages, I was assured on July 26 I would have something by the end of
> that week. The package finally arrived the next week, on August 1. It
> contained a CD-R with a handwritten label that read ƒ œWindows XP SP2 ƒ “
> VLK,ƒ � and a 25-character product key on a small slip of paper.
>
> Over the weekend, I hoisted the Jolly Roger, cleared a partition on a
> test machine, slid the CD into the drive, and prepared to join the ranks
> of Windows pirates. Unfortunately, the product key that Microsoft had
> sent me didnƒ Öt work. Instead of a smooth installation, I got an error
> message: "The Product ID which you entered is invalid. Please try
> again." I fired off a request for assistance to my contacts at
> Microsoft. Nearly 72 hours later, I still havenƒ Öt received a response
> other than a note that confirms my message was forwarded to the correct
> person.
>
> No problem, I thought. Iƒ Öll just do what any red-blooded pirate would do
> and Google for a working product key. It took me about 15 minutes to
> find a web page containing five volume license keys that had reportedly
> been posted on September 9 2004. Surely if I can find a leaked VL key on
> a search engine, Microsoft can too, right? If these keys have been
> floating around the Internet for two years, surely theyƒ Öve been tagged
> as stolen by Microsoft, and Iƒ Öll get a WGA failure that I can show the
> world.
>
> I restarted the installation using the VL media Microsoft had supplied
> me and entered one of the bootleg keys I found. It worked. After
> installation completed, I set up an Internet connection and downloaded a
> slew of updates, including the WGA Validation tool and the WGA
> Notifications utility. I then restarted, fully expecting to see a series
> of stern messages telling me Iƒ Öd been busted.
>
> Only thatƒ Ös not how it worked out.
>
> My bootleg key worked perfectly. I went back to Windows Update and
> downloaded a series of Optional Updates and drivers that are only
> available to Genuine Windows users. I went over to the Internet Explorer
> homepage and downloaded the latest beta of IE7, passing a validation
> test twice ƒ “ once on the download and again on the installation. And
> five minutes ago I went over to the Windows Defender page ƒ “ this is
> another free utility thatƒ Ös only available to Genuine Windows users ƒ “
> and the validation check waved me right through.
>
> Thatƒ Ös where I stand right now. The folks who are running the WGA
> program are having troubles getting the little stuff right, like putting
> a CD in the mail and proofreading the product key they sent with it.
> They havenƒ Öt managed to identify a stolen product key thatƒ Ös been
> floating around the Internet for nearly two years. I'm reluctantly
> running a pirated version of Windows and can't get caught no matter how
> hard I try.
>
> But these same people want us to believe that the WGA software theyƒ Öve
> developed is nearly foolproof. They claim that all but ƒ œa fraction of a
> percentƒ � of those 60 million people whoƒ Öve been denied access to
> Microsoft updates and downloads are guilty, guilty, guilty.
> ===
>
>
> Microsoft is starting to look like the gang that couldn't shoot
> straight.
>
>  /m



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