Internet Explorer 7 Loses’s WGA Anti-Piracy Tool
Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP has been released with some minor updates, and missing one major thing: A Windows Genuine Advantage Check. Microsoft has removed the anti-piracy tool, so that users running non-Genuine versions of Windows can still install IE7.
Microsoft decided that it was more important for pirates to have the heightened security of IE7 than to discourage pirates by sticking them with the old software. Many of Microsoft’s software updates require a WGA check so that pirates can’t use them, but the threat of botnets of zombie computers infected because of an insecure IE6 was so serious, Microsoft removed the piracy check. Good for them, and good for everyone, since IE7 is a pretty good upgrade.
While I agree that you were on vacation, it’s best to leave old news behind.
Comment by anonymous | October 13, 2007
it’s a clever way of saving Face. Microsoft realised that lots of users got hooked to Firefox and it’s Tabbed browser. So it had to do it to save it’s market share.
Comment by Sumit | November 29, 2007