Not really emulation related, but intertesting none the less. I’m personally still using Windows XP so this doesn’t apply to me, but for anyone interested in upgrading to Vista SP1 whenever its released, you had better make sure you’re version of Vista is legit:

With the launch of SP1 Microsoft promised to put an end to two popular hacks used by pirates to allow a non-genuine install of Windows Vista to function in the same way as a genuine install.  Testing that I’ve carried out in the lab today suggests that Microsoft has been true to its word.

The two most common hacks used were the OEM BIOS hack and the grace timer hack (of which there were two flavors which were widespread).

Testing both these methods of circumventing Windows activation and Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has shown me that SP1 effectively ignores both these hacks.  Systems that previously were shown to be genuine prior to the installation of SP1 then require activation – and if the system isn’t activated it is marked at non-genuine and enters the nag state.

Pirates trying to apply these hacks to new installations of Vista which include SP1 will find that neither method works.

I’m certain that when SP1 hits the Windows Update servers that there are going to be a lot of people out there surprised to find that their systems aren’t as genuine as they thought they were.  This will no doubt put a few more bucks into Microsoft’s coffers.

Will this put an end to the counterfeiting of Vista?  Some I’ve spoken to in the underground community say it will, while others are confident that new circumvention methods will be discovered. More info at this ZTNET article.

Of course, there were always the notions going around that Vista itself would never beable to bypass the WGA, or whatever, and it was h4×0r3d, so dont be surprised if someone finds away around the ‘new’ M$ scheme.