If Microsoft Made Cars With WGA — November 2, 2007
Note: My attempt here is to show the negative impact of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program on users. I do not hate Microsoft. I love most of their products.
I despise Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Even cooperates are uncomfortable with the extra burden. In my opinion WGA is an annoyance to users. The simplest update or hot-fix available on the Microsoft website requires a validation.
There have been numerous gigs on “what if Microsoft made …” – the most circulated being a notable urban legend with a comment made by General Motors in response to the Bill Gates’ COMDEX address where he compared the auto industry to the computer industry. This post is about what if Microsoft made automobiles with WGA.
- You need to validate your vehicle with WGA after purchasing.
- Without validation, you may only drive for 300km. After the 300km limit the vehicle will immobilize. The vehicle will start again, but you may only drive for 10mins. You have to start again to drive it for another 10mins and so on.
- You will be prompted to validate every time you start the vehicle until validation.
- After a successful validation a new dashboard indicator appears. This tells you that your vehicle is a genuine product.
- The dashboard indicator blinks every time a new update is received to tell you that your genuine vehicle received an update.
- These updates may occasionally restart the vehicle to apply themselves regardless of the speed or other critical aspects of your drive.
- You need to re-validate if you decide to change tires, lubricants, filters, wipers, or battery water.
- You have to buy all those components from Microsoft or otherwise your vehicle is considered non-genuine. However if you decide to upgrade to a high performance component (ex: high-performance air filter) the validation process might think you are cheating. You need to call and convince customer support that this is the same you that bought the vehicle from them.
- If by any chance the revalidation process fails, the vehicle will run for 10mins and immobilize. This time, certain functionalities will be disabled.
- Engine modifications are strictly prohibited. If you install/replace any engine part, a convincing call to the customer support division is a must. Chances are that you may have to buy a new license and re-validate it to drive your already purchased vehicle.
- If the validation process has a bug or an error in the program, then the vehicle will refuse to start until Microsoft fix the error and you perform a revalidation manually.