Software Protection Platform
Vista includes an enhanced set of anti-copying technologies, based on Windows XP's Windows Genuine Advantage, called Software Protection Platform (SPP). In the initial release of Windows Vista (without Service Pack 1), a major component of this was a reduced-functionality mode, which is entered when it is detected that the user has "failed product activation" or that their copy is "identified as counterfeit or non-genuine." The technology was described in a Microsoft white paper as follows:
| “ | The default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. After one hour, the system will log the user out without warning. | ” |
This was criticised for being overly draconian, especially given an imperfect false-positive record on behalf of SPP's predecessor, and at least one temporary validation server outage which reportedly flagged many legitimate copies of Vista and XP as "Non-Genuine" when Windows Update would "check in" and fail the "validation" challenge.
SPP was significantly altered in Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Instead of the reduced functionality mode, an installation of Vista left unactivated for 30 days presents the user with a nag screen prompting them to activate the operating system when they log in, changes the desktop to a solid black colour every hour, and periodically warns the user about software counterfeiting with notification balloons. In addition, updates classified as optional are not available to unactivated copies of Vista. Microsoft maintains a technical bulletin providing further details on product activation for Vista.
Read more about this topic: Criticism Of Windows Vista
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