Microsoft admits XP phones home every day
Found on The Inquirer on Wednesday, 07 June 2006
Software giant Microsoft has admitted that it talks to the computers of punters signed up for its Genuine Advantage programme every day.
Windows XP apparently calls Vole central on a daily basis for no reason which is remotely useful to the user.
A spokesVole told the Associated Press that the reason it does this is in case the software malfunctions and started delivering false results.
Windows Genuine Advantage program boss David Lazar said that the software calling home was just a safety switch and no one needed to worry about it.
He said that the company would tweak the program soon so that it only phones up Microsoft every two weeks.
According to other news, it seems to be in beta because "the company was worried that it might have an unforeseen emergency that would require the program to terminate quickly". Besides collecting information (like manufacturer, language and locale), it checks every 90 days if your Windows is pirated; if so, it bombs you with notifications and you cannot download noncritical updates anymore. Sounds like it's not really that much of a "Genuine Advantage" for the user.