As with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Longhorn Server will both feature newly revamped versions of what we've come to know as Windows Product Activation (WPA). After installation, users will have 30 days to "activate" Windows, by which Microsoft means that users will have to provide a product key to fully unlock the OS. If a user fails to supply a valid key in that timeframe, Windows Vista will respond with a new set of options:
Reduced Functionality Mode: this allows minimal use of the OS until it is validated. Microsoft has not disclosed full technical details, but they have indicated that the web browser (presumably IE) will work for about an hour before interrupting the session and forcing you to log off. Additional limitations are described below.
Buy a key online: hop online, buy a new key, and you're done.
Phone in for activation: instructions on how to activate over the phone rather than the Internet.
Enter your key: Oops, it was under the coffee table book the whole time.
Notably, Microsoft is adamant that these technologies "cannot and will not turn off your computer."
Reduced functionality mode will also disable Aero, the new Windows Vista interface, and any "Premium" or "Ultimate" features of the OS will be completely locked down. Additionally, users will only be able to obtain security updates marked as "critical." Other downloads and updates will not be available.
This anti-piracy mode will also disable other installed applications such as Office, making it impossible for a user to edit documents. Users can view documents by using the web browser, but Microsoft has essentially designed the system to prevent "read/write" access. The general approach is quite clear: reduce the computer to a web browsing station and make it inconvenient to be a pirate. Microsoft has not taken the extra step and simply disabled the computer entirely, apparently in an effort to court users trapped by counterfeiters. It also has ostensible public relations benefits stemming back to the days of the WGA phone-home scandal.
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