*Source: ComputerWorld (
http://www.computerworld.com/action/...c=hm_ts_head)*
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August 27, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The 19-hour blackout (
http://www.computerworld.com/action/...leId=9032 798) of the Microsoft Corp. servers that identify copies of Windows XP and Vista as legitimate or counterfeit shows that serious flaws exist in the process and raises questions about the reliability of Microsoft's services, analysts said today.
From about 8 p.m. EDT Friday to 3 p.m. Saturday, a still-unspecified "server-side issue" with the system that validates Windows XP and Vista erroneously fingered users as pirates, preventing them from downloading most software from the Microsoft Web site, and in the case of Vista, disabling several features, including the operating system's Aero graphical user interface. Windows users lit up the company's support forums (
http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/...1004&SiteID=25) with more than 450 messages, some of which were collected in threads have been viewed by as many as 45,000 people.
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