We’re a few days late in reporting this, I know, but in the spirit of “better late than never”:

Microsoft, after not originally planning to do so, is releasing a new Service Pack for Windows XP Professional (32-bit) after all, dubbed “SP2c,” evidently acknowledging that a high percentage of its userbase has thus far been unable and/or unwilling to upgrade to the heavily-touted Vista.

But, wait! Before you go rushing off to your nearest mirror to download this latest patch, you should know this: SP2c exists for one reason and one reason only. That reason is, it will merely increase the number of registration keys that will check with Product Activation.

That’s all, friends. No security patches, no bugfixes, no nothing else.

Apparently, if you can believe this, Microsoft has had to deactivate so many XP registration keys (the 25-digit code you need to enter every time you install XP) due to piracy issues that they are actually running out of valid keys. This despite the fact that there are something on the order of 8.08*10³⁸ possible combinations of regkeys! (To put that number in perspective: There are “only” an estimated 5*10²² stars in the known universe. Clearly, there aren’t that many computers running Windows XP!)

Although it is somewhat gratifying for the anti-Microsoft crowd to see them admit, however indirectly, that more people are sticking with XP than are upgrading to Vista (with its decidedly pocketbook-unfriendly pricing, low software compatibility, and Draconian EULA)… the fact remains that this is an ultimately useless “upgrade” that does nothing but underscore how woefully ineffective their anti-piracy methods have become.

To paraphrase a famous line from Star Wars: “The more you tighten your grip, Microsoft, the more users will slip through your fingers…”

(EDIT: I messed up. The number of possible 25-character keys comprised of the letters A-Z and digits 0-9, which I originally had at 2.12*10⁵⁰, is really 8.08*10³⁸. I screwed the math up by rendering the exponential as 25³⁶ rather than the correct 36²⁵. Still, that’s a helluva lot more codes than there are computers capable of running XP in the known universe… and if MS has had to deactivate so many keys that they’re running low on this number, it doesn’t speak much for their anti-piracy measures, does it?)

If you liked that, try...

1. Microsoft: Vista will be deployed quickly!
2. MS Allowing Vista-to-XP Downgrade (Home Users Need Not Apply)
3. Google Pack Adds StarOffice
4. Mac OS X Leopard Debuts Tomorrow
5. Microsoft Spreads FUD About… Windows XP?!

2 Comments »

1. 
   Migo
   August 17, 2007 at 12:32 pm

   2.12*10⁵⁰?! For you kids playing at home that’s 2.12 sexdecillion keys, if I’m not mistaken.

   To give you an idea of how much that is, exactly, if you traveled that many angstrom (0.0000001mm) you would be able to travel from the Sun to Pluto roughly 28,736,635,391,664,848,352,607,462,360,899 times.

   [Reply]

2. 
   Firlefanz
   August 17, 2007 at 12:45 pm

   Thanks, Devin. It’s good to know I won’t need this at all, and would rather not install it, considering what it does.

   [Reply]

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