Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), slated for release later this summer, boasts major security improvements and is viewed by industry watchers as a milestone in the company's Trustworthy Computing push. It includes a beefed-up version of Windows Firewall, built-in software which blocks pop-up ads and a consolidated interface which allows users to manage the security settings of all Windows components.
Microsoft group product manager Barry Goffe said in an interview with local IT weekly Computer Times that unlike its predecessor Service Pack 1 (SP1), SP2 can be installed on PCs running both original and bootleg copies of Windows XP. This would mark a significant shift in the company's attitude towards piracy as Microsoft has long maintained counterfeit software harms the entire IT industry, including end users.
Excluding pirated copies could aggravate the damage of worms and other virus outbreaks, which ultimately harms legitimate Windows users, Goffe added.
However, the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker has since clarified that its iron-clad stance towards piracy remains unchanged, and SP2 will be no exception.
"Press reports indicating Windows XP Service Pack 2 will install on pirated or illegal copies of Windows XP are not entirely true," said Dominic Carr, Microsoft Asia-Pacific's senior product manager for Windows.
"Prior to installing, SP2 will check the OS product ID (PID) against a list of known pirated PIDs. If a PID is found to be invalid, SP2 will not install," Carr told CNETAsia.
The move is likely to affect many users in Asia as the region has long been a hotbed for pirated Microsoft programs. While PID verification in SP2 could swing users towards genuine Windows in the short term, software pirates have been notoriously fast to play catch-up with Microsoft.
For example, soon after the firm released SP1, bootleg copies of Windows XP containing the update surfaced in the region. Even Longhorn, the next version of the Windows OS, sneaked into the market two years before its official launch.
Fran Foo of ZDNet Australia contributed to this report.
