Microsoft has admitted that its program for testing
whether a PC is running a genuine copy of Windows or not is now
being automatically distributed to users’ PCs as a test
version.
A number of users have claimed that the Windows Genuine
Advantage (WGA) software has bugs in it and is causing their PC to
inform them that their machine is running counterfeit software,
when it is not.
Microsoft has also been accused of distributing the program by
the back door, as a result of installing the software as a “high
priority” automatic update for Windows.
Test versions of Microsoft software are usually only installed
once the user has signed up for them. Microsoft said that users can
opt out of downloading the WGA Notifications update, and that its
user licence makes it clear that the program is pre-release
software. Most users, however, do not read the fine print of a user
licence before downloading software.
The WGA program is a major plank of Microsoft’s strategy to
clamp down on counterfeit Windows software, so the company is keen
to get as many users as possible to load it. But users have
complained of bugs in WGA since the program made its first
appearance last year. Microsoft maintains that WGA Notifications
has been tested and is ready for use.
Microsoft also says that WGA counterfeit alerts are usually
always activated by counterfeit software being present on users’
machines: sometimes without them knowing it.
The final version of WGA Notifications is expected to be rolled
out worldwide by the end of the year.