Open the door to genuine Windows

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Mani Shankar heard from his friend that a new software patch was available on Microsoft's website, aimed at enhancing the gaming experience on Windows XP.

A hardcore gaming fan, Shankar lost no time in launching the Windows update option on the Internet Explorer of his PC. Within seconds he got a message from the Microsoft website: ""Product key used to install Microsoft Windows may not be valid."

A few frantic calls to his friends, Shankar realised that the operating system on his PC was a pirated version.

Shankar is not the only one to face such a situation, there are lot of home PC users and small and medium enterprises who buy assembled PCs, which are usually loaded with pirated operating systems.

So how does one verify the genuineness of an operating system? Realising the growing menace of piracy, Microsoft has launched a 'Genuine Windows - How to Tell' campaign.

Largely targeted at users of Windows XP and its Office suite, the company is trying to ensure that personal computers sold by vendors have a certificate of authentication' (COA) stamped on them.

This means that the Windows XP loaded is a genuine copy-righted operating system (OS). Further, users also get an edge-to-edge hologram CD, certifying to the real thing. Users, buying computers, can check the chassis of the PC and verify that the COA is stamped on it.

The COA, however, does not always mean that you are getting the genuine thing. As Rishi Srivastav, business group lead - Windows Client in Microsoft India, points out, "There are vendors who stamp the COA but the operating system loaded is not genuine."

Srivastava, who is spear-heading the campaign in India, has his work cut out: small and medium enterprises and home users still prefer to use a cheaper pirated version of the operating system.

But are PC users really bothered about owing a genuine system? Srivastava says, "People are basically honest and want to use the genuine thing, and most time they have no clue that they are being shortchanged."

He is, however, quick to point out that the campaign is merely educative in nature and not meant to propagate or force Windows on to customers.

"This campaign is to educate customers rather than trying to convert them into users of Windows," he said.

The Microsoft website tells the customer that genuine Windows is better than non-genuine Windows because "by using only genuine Microsoft software, you can be confident that you will enjoy the reliability, faster access to updates and the overall richer Windows experiences that you expect from Microsoft. In addition, Microsoft reserves some software and services exclusively for customers who use genuine Windows."

Customers can authenticate the software that the vendor has loaded on to their computers by running a validation check at www.microsoft.com/genuine. The facility is, however, yet to be launched in India.

The `How to Tell' campaign launched in India in December last year will run through this month after which the company proposes a second campaign beginning April.

The Genuine Advantage

The Microsoft Genuine Advantage programme, which is still in the pilot stage in the US, has sparked off some protests there, especially among the open source community.

The WGA certification is expected to become mandatory for all non-critical Windows updates starting in the second half of 2005. Customers must run a program that verifies their Windows licence, or they will not have access to Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Centre.

The main fear is whether this would create interoperability issues, especially with regard to open source applications software running on Windows or running Windows programs in non-Windows environments.

The genuine validation process collects information about the user's your system, such as Windows product key, PC manufacturer, and operating system version, to determine if Windows is genuine.

MS assures that this process does not collect or send any information that can be used to identify the user to contact him or her.

Shrivastava says that when this programme would be launched in India, there would be an extensive education campaign running along with it.

He also said that critical updates - which are identified as those being essential for running the systems - would be available to everyone irrespective of whether they were using genuine software or not.

Non-critical updates would be available only to those whose products has been verified as genuine.

For instance in the US, some products on offer are - free Photo Story 3 for Windows, Winter Fun Pack 2004 for Windows XP and discounts on MSN Games, SharePoint Web Hosting, List Builder Newsletter Management, and so on.