Get the Windows Genuine (Dis) Advantage !!

Sometime last month (July 2006) I was shocked when I logged into my Windows XP Pro. The reason for the shock being that a banner was being displayed in the corner of the login screen stating that the copy of windows I had been using was not genuine. It was shocking at first because Microsoft had been running a spyware kind of tool called the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) to detect if I had valid license for the Windows running on my box.

I had my PC assembled from an unknown PC vendor who had installed Windows XP and lots of other interesting software (ofcourse pirated). I know most of the software running on my PC was pirated. Of course I was not comfortable with this and so I had consciously started moving away from windows and had started using linux for most of my computing needs.

I was not really that interested in using windows. My machine was a dual boot which had Ubuntu installed as a second OS and it sufficed all my computing needs. The primary reason I still was using windows was because my wife was not comfortable with linux and was more used to Windows GUI. She liked the yahoo messenger, mines, solitaire and IE in windows. I did try to arrange for all that in Ubuntu, but she still wasn’t convinced. Also I used windows for all my Gaming needs (linux has a long way to go in terms of serious gaming).

Since I was using windows, I did buy a genuine copy of Norton Anti-virus as I did not want to take the risk of using a pirated edition which doesn’t give me updates for an year.

Coming back to WGA, I was worried because my wife browses the internet using windows and I thought it wasn’t safe. Also, I was furious over microsoft as they had not got my consent before running a validation check. This I feel qualifies WGA and Windows XP as a spyware.

But I am wondering if Microsoft is going to benefit from the WGA initiative (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/apr06/04-24GenuineSoftware.mspx), because I feel the reason for windows’s popularity is because of millions of pirated users who have been spreading the word of its user-friendlyness. Also microsoft is breaking the trust of people who thought windows was safe.

Anyways cracks were released immediately to counter the WGA initiative from microsoft. The following links should help you disable/uninstall WGA from your windows box.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/28/microsoft_genuine_ad.html
http://home19.inet.tele.dk/jys05000/use-automatic-updates-to-get-updates.htm
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/04/workarounds-to-disable-non-genuine.html

Though the above links tell you how to remove WGA and stop being bugged by microsoft, its still unfair to use a pirated software. Of course its hard to let go any nice piece of software which cost you a lot, but letting it go or using a genuine copy of it gives me the peace of mind.

I have anyways ordered for an Genuine Windows XP Home Edition for myself. I would be installing this over the weekend. Wow!! which means I can go ahead and try IE7 and other windows software which required a valid windows license.