Microsoft Office Validation: another measure against piracy
Microsoft has recently released another tool that validates whether Microsoft Office installed on users’ computers is genuine or pirated.
It is understandable that Microsoft Corporation is trying to fight piracy and it is their right to do so.
On the other hand what implications does it have on normal users and administrators?
Microsoft has published a small FAQ about MS Office validation.
There is a number of conclusions that can be made from this document.
Only Office XP and newer are required for validation. This may have small impact on organisations that use Windows 2000 or older in their environment (It is well known that even Office 97 has sufficient features for most users, so there are many organisations that use old versions and dont plan to upgrade)
Users holding individual licenses for each copy of Microsoft Office are required to validate. This makes life harder for administrators as they would have to install ActiveX component in Microsoft Internet explorer on all machines with Office. People using Firefox or Opera will have another trouble as these browsers do not support ActiveX. Well, at least Microsoft offers validator as a plugin. For Opera validation should be performed using a small application that is downloadable from Microsoft. Running such an application may require changes to firewall rules on client computers.
The good news is that Volume Licenses do not require validation. So large companies should not be affected so much.
Alcides Magule Says:
May 16th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
I think Microsoft should have invented this validation tool on the next Windows and Office. It was a surprise for many administrators and for those who thought their Windows were genuine. Imagine how many people think their PC’s have been infected! What about those who sell Computers everyday!? Where are they getting money to buy licenses and pay for the Internet just to activate Windows or Office?
Maybe you should make your Products Cheapper.
admin Says:
May 22nd, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Hi there,
please remember that WindowsNetworking.com is in no way associated with Microsoft. Over here, our team of publishers and authors are actually trying to make your life easier, by helping to resolve issues you have.
I am not sure that I understand you correctly in your comment. You mean that a lot of people got software free of charge and then found that it wasnt original? Did they get papers with this software?
Mae Says:
May 23rd, 2006 at 8:43 am
I think most people are just plain sick and tired of Microsoft’s monopoly on the operating system’s that require validation AND the way M$ has set up their OS disks that allow only 3 installations and then we have to go buy another disk/key.
Systems go down, viruses are picked up, and sometimes installed programs cause a system to just not work right. There are times when a format is required and after 3 such installations, the disk key’s are useless. Then we have to pay out another $100 give or take, for another disk/key. For most of us, $100 is a lot of money.
People are so fed up with M$’s greed that anyone who even looks like they are affilated with M$ are likely to take a lashing because of the frustration and the extra money that must be paid if a person wants their computer’s to work with XP, etc.
My answer to the problem is my company is slowly but surely converting over to Red Hat.
Thanks.
admin Says:
May 24th, 2006 at 7:23 am
>Mae
Your criticism has reasonable foundation.
It is true that sometimes Windows can be difficult to manage. However, a big number of issues in Windows is due to the fact that many people who claim that they know Windows in reality dont know much and end up having stupid problems.
If properly configured with proper restrictions and rights assigned Windows will serve for quite a while.
Corrie Hovens Says:
May 25th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Continue looking for alteratives
Opensource is alright but just a little plain
Tim Macking Says:
June 6th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Just because you CAN use an Opensource solution doesn’t mean that you should. MS Office is the standard. Deviating from the standard in a corporate atmosphere spells more trouble than the average IT manager wants to assume resoponsibility for. Imagine telling 140 users that they can use Open Office instead of Word and Excel. That would be joyous…NOT.
Tim Macking MCSE, MCDBA, CCNA Visiting…
blackfish Says:
June 12th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Pirating is an issue. Microsoft should be concerned. However this validation thing is obtrusive to admins. Microsoft has not done a good job of improving it’s image in this regard. Microsoft software has become a ‘pain in the arse’ to use and it is unfortunate, but if they continue to make their wares tough to use, expensive and offer poor to non existant customer support, then we as administrators must make a business decision to seek out alternatives.
Windows Networking Admin Says:
June 15th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
>Tim Macking
I agree with you 100%. It is too difficult to retrain users, especially because there is no real benefit of moving to open source in existing organisation. The other problem is that managers don’t really care about software as long as it works. However, Microsoft does not really care either. The proprietary standards of Office documents became so complicated that most MS developers themselves don’t understand them. It has to be fixed and open standards for documents should be facilitated.
>blackfish
What can I say…
We as admins should do our best so our users are happy!