For some of you who don’t know, Windows Vista will have new antipiracy technology that locks people out their PCs if the operating system isn’t activated within 30 days after installation.

Those who install Vista themselves, for example on existing PCs, will have a 30-day period to activate the operating system and validate with Microsoft that they have a legitimate license. During those 30 days, you get warning messages, it counts down. During the last three days the messages will appear very frequently.

If ignored, after 30 days Vista will display four options. The first will allow the user to activate online, the second is to run in reduced functionality mode, the third is to enter a product key and the fourth displays instructions to activate by phone

If you continue to use Vista until the last hour of the 30th day, you’ll eventually be forced to work in “reduced functional mode”. The start menu and desktop icons disappear, and you will be logged out after 60 minutes.

Technorati Tags: windows, vista, microsoft, piracy, antipiracy, clock

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