Five days ago DailyTech reported that Pirates have cracked Microsoft Windows Vista The operating system has not been fully cracked, but flaws in the activation system have already been exposed to keep users happy until the inevitable happens...

The hackers spoofed Microsoft's Key Management Service (KMS) server which allows corporations with 25 or more networked computers to activate Vista installations. Thus, activating copies of Vista without any communication with Microsoft, not bad eh? Luckily, for Microsoft, there's a catch. A valid KMS product key is still required and the activation is only valid for 180 days. So users of the cracked copies will have 180 days until a final, complete, crack appears.

At least Vista is hanging on in there. We all know how long it took to crack XP, and then there were corporate versions of XP which requred no activation, just a valid registration key.

Microsoft have issued the following statement:
We are actively monitoring these types of piracy and counterfeit situations, and will take action on any Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK) keys that have been reported as stolen or abused. Microsoft will continue to make investments under the Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) and is committed to engineering world-class anti-counterfeiting technologies in order to make piracy harder and protect customers and channel partners from the various risks associated with counterfeit software"