I've just read
Orig's article about MS's new "algorithm" for Corp keys and some of the other scarey stuff they might activate in SP1 Final. I don't know if anyone else agrees, but this news seems unnecessarily alarmist. Let's take the major themes:
"Microsoft is in the works of completely rewriting the algorithm for the way Windows XP Corporate keys are generated"
Translation: MS will tweak PIDGEN.DLL yet again. They did this ad infinitum in the last few iterations of XP beta.
"The new algorithm feature has been switched off in SP1 upgrades"
Translation: PIDGEN.DLL won't get replaced in upgrade mode. So this means the old PIDGEN.DLL will still work after SP1 and therefore pre-SP1 Corp keys can still be made to work.
"Windows also checks for the DLL files version numbers and if they don?t match, errors will be created during install"
Translation: Fine, so you'll replace PIDGEN.DLL and any other requisite files after install.
"Microsoft is also planning to warn those with corporate editions of Windows XP to not let the CD-keys slip into the mainstream"
Translation: So business as usual. Given what a Corp key is worth in the warez world, you can guarantee that at least one new-style Corp key will leak from China, India or possibly Redmond itself. It always does, and we'll have it within a week of RTW (Release To World).
"Another rumor that is running rounds at Redmond is that Microsoft may actually include a type of ?Phone home? feature in the corporate versions of Windows XP only"
Translation: B.S.
"a feature that makes sure the Corporate edition of Windows XP is not installed on more computers than it?s contract is made out for"
Translation: But since we aren't the licence holders anyway, we don't give a rat's arse about that side of things.
My guess is that MS will change the PID generation algorithm as a direct response to the Blue List Keygen. If it weren't for that innovation, they would just blacklist the old FCKGW- key. If the worst comes to the worst, we'll run a late SP1 beta for a bit. But most likely, any PID changes in SP1 Final will be quickly worked around. When a new Corp key emerges, all this angst will be quickly forgotten.
Epyx