TomTheGeek

All the geeky stuff that gets me hot.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Vista must be re-activated every 180 days, even for Enterprise users

Man I just can't believe it. I work for a government organization and they are finally distributing Vista for us to start testing. Looking though the installation instructions I found this gem:
After activation, the system will require reactivation every 180 days (or 210 days after a new 30 day grace period). Reactivation requires no action by the SA, but the system must be on, connected to the network, and able to reach the KMS hosts. Reactivation generally should not be an issue for desktops, but may be an issue for laptops that are not often brought into the office. If a system does enter RFM because the 210 days have expired without reactivation, it is still possible to reactivate it manually.

Just f'ing great. This is the first OS from MS that I'm not that excited about installing.

posted by TomTheGeek at 2:11 PM

3 Comments:

  • I'm new to your blog and, as a fellow geek, I'm interested in what you have to say but the following line was very disturbing:
    "This is the first OS....that I'm not that excited about installing."
    Are you for real? I'm not excited about installing any M$ product. Especially in the first few months of release. Not on a computer I actually want to use anyway!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:31 PM CDT  

  • I'm excited to see a new OS, even from Microsoft because the OS is what controls my interaction with the computer. Each time I see a new OS I'm hoping it will blow me away with a new interface or features that can make my life better.

    This time I'm not that excited because it's mostly only an interface change. Trying new stuff, even from Microsoft, is one of the best things about this job. If I was still working in Windows 3.1 I would have quit working with computers long agao.

    By Blogger TomTheGeek, at 11:31 AM CDT  

  • 180 re-activation is for KMS-deployed clients only. MAK-deployments (the default option) activate just like retail versions do, but with many activations allowed for a single key. KMS is approriate for deployments where the workstations are periodically reformatted or disk imaging is used on a regular basis, while MAK is appropriate for smaller shops that don't use imaging and the like.

    By Blogger Rick Damiani, at 2:17 AM CDT  

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