Back to the Full Review

One feature which has brought about a lot of comment concerning Windows XP (and of Office XP, which has been out for a few weeks now) is Microsoft's new Windows Product Activation system. Actually it isn't all that new, as it was used on later copies of Office 2000. It's simply Microsoft's attempt to make sure that every user buys a legitimate copy for every PC on which they want to use Windows XP, rather than using one copy to upgrade every PC in the house or office or borrowing the CD from the office (or from a friend who bought a new PC). Another problem that WPA addresses is the issue of small system builders preloading the operating system without buying copies for each PC.

With this system, you'll be able to use Windows XP as soon as it's installed, but you will have up to 30 days to contact Microsoft to activate the product. This can be done in one of three ways: 

• If you have Internet access, you can activate Windows automatically over that connection. Just connect to your Internet provider and launch the Activation Wizard, then follow the instructions. 

• If you don't have Internet access but do have a supported modem, you can still use the Activation Wizard to connect to Microsoft's server through a toll-free number. 

• If you don't even have a modem, you can do the activation by phone. Run the Activation Wizard, and it will give you a toll-free number to call to speak to an operator. You then read off a (rather lengthy) code number to the operator, who responds with an (equally lengthy) activation code number that you type in. The operator will stay on the line until you see that activation has been completed.

For many users this will be the only time they deal with activation, if at all. (Some new PCs may be pre-activated at the factory; this hasn't yet been determined.) But some people will have to re-activate Windows XP because they have made major changes to their PC configuration; the Product Activation system is designed to detect attempts to copy the installed files onto another system. It does so by monitoring changes in devices within a certain time period, so if you have (for example) a 400 MHz Pentium II system with a 30 Gb hard disk and 128 Mb RAM, and you install a 600 MHz Pentium III processor one month, more RAM the next, a high-performance video card two months later and a bigger hard disk a few months after that you won't have any trouble, but if you make all those changes at once Windows XP might "decide" that it is in a different computer and refuse to run until you re-activate. This needs to be done by phone, but all you'll have to do is call in, read off the code number and enter the new activation code. The same is true if you do want to move your retail copy of Windows XP to a different computer; an OEM copy of Windows (one that came with the PC when you bought it, and has "OEM" in the CD Key code) can only be used legally on the PC with which you got it.

Aside from the inconvenience of having to call in for reactivations (which I expect will only affect a small percentage of PC owners), the big concern many people have about Product Activation is the effect it might have on privacy. There are several reasons why this is not the problem some believe it to be: 

• According to Microsoft, the installation ID code doesn't contain any information about the customer; it only contains the product ID number and a "hash" code, based on the identification of your PC's hardware, that is only used to determine whether or not the installation is being done on the same system. Microsoft says that the hash can't be decoded to see what hardware you have. 

• The Activation Wizard does allow you to enter your name and address for on-line registration, but this is entirely optional. 

• If you activate by phone, the operator will not ask you for your name or address, just that installation ID. And if you're extremely concerned that they might find out who you are, you can activate by phone instead of on line, call them on your own nickel (the Activation Wizard gives a conventional phone number as well as the toll-free number) and dial *67 to block Caller ID. 

• Once activated, Windows XP does not attempt to contact Microsoft's activation center again, unless you have to re-activate.  

– Ed Ellers