Has Windows 7 been cracked already?

MyDigitalLife reports that a valid, working Windows 7 Ultimate activation key has leaked.

Windows 7 Ultimate has been cracked, and can be permanently activated with OEM style instant offline activation which will pass Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation, before even any Windows 7 is officially released according to Windows 7 release schedule. All hell breaks loose when a Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo been leaked and posted on Chinese forum. The ISO was quickly grabbed to retrieve boot.wim, which was then used to retrieve the OEM-SLP product key and OEM certificate for Windows 7 Ultimate.

Although it may be true, there are plenty of problems with this post – just for starters, Windows 7 doesn’t have “Windows Genuine Advantage.” I also find it very hard to believe that an OEM key, easily retrievable from boot.wim, will validate Windows 7.

I can’t believe that MS made it so easy.

There’s more to this story than we’ve heard. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The key has been quashed. I’m still surprised that ripping of an activation key is as simple as looking at boot.wim, although it looks like the ripped-off key only worked on Lenovo machines.

I just love this sentence in the Microsoft announcement: “Our primary goal is to protect users from becoming unknowing victims, because customers who use pirated software are at greater risk of being exposed to malware as well as identity theft.” Duh. Yeah, sure.

MS-DEFCON 3: Get patched now

With the Black Hat conference in full swing in Las Vegas, and detailed instructions for bypassing Microsoft’s killbit patches posted on the Web, it’s time to get everything patched.

Rub your lucky rabbit’s foot, bend over and kiss your keester, and install all of Microsoft’s outstanding patches. Yes, that includes the killbit patches I’ve been moaning about, and the patches Microsoft released two days ago. Susan Bradley’s Top Story in Windows Secrets Newsletter, released about an hour ago, convinced me that the bad guys are hovering, and a rash of infectious junk is about to hit the fan.

Specifically, you should install Windows Vista Service Pack 2/KB 948645 , the .NET Framework patch, KB 951847 , Office 2007 Service Pack 2 / KB 953195 , Windows XP Service Pack 3, KB 936929 , the old killbit patch KB 960715 , and the two new ones, MS09-034 / KB 972260, and MS09-035 / KB 969706.

If you get repeated notifications to install the killbit patches, check out this workaround.

Microsoft has screwed up the killbit patches so much that you may well break some of your old applications, but the fact that the security holes go all the way into the libraries means there are thousands of newly discovered infectious vectors. The only way you’re going to guard against them is by applying Microsoft’s horrendous updates. You can thank Microsoft’s use of ActiveX for that.

Do me a favor and boycott Internet Explorer, OK? Use Firefox. We’ll both sleep better at night.

We’re at MS-DEFCON 3: Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.

Get all caught up, and stay tuned for more fixes, as a result of disclosures at the conference.

Yes you want Windows 7 on your netbook

I’ve been crowing about running Windows 7 Ultimate on an ASUS 1000H netbook for several months now. I know most of you don’t believe me, but Win7 works almost as fast as XP – and it’s much more capable in many different ways, not the least of which is security.

A site I’ve never heard of, Legit Mobile Reviews, just posted a detailed benchmark comparison of XP and Win7 on an ASUS 1005HA. Their conclusion:

Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system can and will be run on netbooks without a significant performance difference in most areas when compared to Windows XP. Consumers will be able to enjoy the enhancements had since 2002 without fear of turning their netbook into a clunker!

Amen, bro.

If you own a reasonably recent netbook, you’re going to want Windows 7 Home Premium. Count on it.