Windows Activation Technologies is the new name Microsoft’s anti-piracy features in both Windows 7 and Windows Vista.It is basically a new name for the same concept that was introduced in Windows XP under the name of Windows Genuine Advantage. The name change was necessary because of the fundamental differences between the technology used in Windows Vista and Windows 7 from that used in Windows XP according to Joe Williams, general manager, Worldwide Genuine Windows at Microsoft. Microsoft would continue to inform customers if the software product they are using is “genuine and licensed and help them do something about it if it’s not”.
Windows 7 advances the customer’s experience of product activation and validation from that experienced in Windows Vista by displaying “more informative notifications messages” to enable the customer to “more easily complete the tasks they need to”. Williams mentions the example of product activation in Windows Vista which displayed a box that would remind the customer that the operating system was not activated. The customer was given the choice to activate or to activate later which was grayed out for the first 15 seconds. Customers criticized the 15 second delay and the missing information about why it was important to activate the operating system. Microsoft changed that dialog in Windows 7 the following way:
When customers choose to activate later they will see a dialog box highlighting how activation helps them identify if their copy of Windows is genuine and be allowed to proceed immediately without a 15-second delay
Advances have not been only made in the end user market but also on enterprise level:
We also spent time thinking about how we could make activation and validation easier for enterprises. For example, we think IT professionals will appreciate support in Windows 7 for virtualized images and volume activation technologies. When Windows Vista was being developed, virtualization was primarily a server scenario, but today many companies have it in their production environment on both the server and the client. We listened and adapted our management tool for organizations by making them more easily available. When customers see and use the tools we’re providing to support Windows Vista and Windows 7 deployments, we think they will be impressed.
You can read the full interview with Joe Williams at Microsoft’s PressPass site.
