Microsoft Kills Its Own Kill Switch

Users with illegitimate copies of Windows Vista will no longer be locked out in the cold when their systems fail validation, thanks to customer complaints.

Locking pirates out of Windows Vista was a no-brainer for Microsoft following the rampant pirating of Windows XP, but it looks like the company hasn’t become quite proficient enough at weeding out pirates from paying customers. Microsoft announced on Monday that it would remove the so-called “kill switch” built into Vista that cripples the operating system in response to suspected piracy, due in part to customer complaints.

The modified Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) system will come into effect with the installation of Vista’s first service pack. Instead of cutting off access to the operating system entirely in response to failed product validation, Windows will now present a persistent message nagging customers to purchase a genuine copy of Vista. This approach is similar to the way Windows XP handles failed validation attempts.

Although Microsoft’s tough validation system for Vista caused some consternation among customers, it also did its job. “While piracy rates are hard to measure precisely, we’re seeing indications from internal metrics, like WGA validation failures, that the Windows Vista piracy rate is less than half that of Windows XP today,” Said Mike Sievert, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows product marketing.

Microsoft has not yet announced a firm date for the release of Vista Service Pack 1, although company bloggers suggest it will arrive sometime in the first quarter of 2008.