Microsoft Corp. today is expected to go live with a program requiring customers to validate that they are running legitimate copies of the Windows operating system before they can use Microsoft’s download services.
The Windows Genuine Advantage 1.0 program ensures that customers using Windows Update, Microsoft Update for Windows and the Microsoft Download Center run a program that checks that their Windows operating system is genuine before they can download updates or new content from those services, said David Lazar, director of Genuine Windows for Microsoft.
Until today, the program has been voluntary.

For valid copies of Windows, no big deal, now that they’ve eliminated that nasty requirement of manually typing in the product key. For invalid copies, it will still allow security patches to be downloaded, which is good news for the rest of us who fear being infected by unpatched pirate copies running wild on the net!