The release of Windows 7 "Update for Microsoft Windows (KB971033)" will change the current activation and anti-piracy behavior of Windows 7 by triggering automatic "phone home" operations over the Internet to Microsoft servers, typically for now at intervals of around 90 days.
The purpose? To verify that you're not running a pirated copy of Windows, and to take various actions changing the behavior of your PC if the WAT system believes that you are not now properly authenticated and "genuine" -- even if up to that point in time it had been declaring you to be A-OK.
Note that I'm not talking about the one-time activation that you (or your PC manufacturer) performs on new Windows systems to authenticate them to Microsoft initially. I'm talking a procedure that would "check-in" your system with Microsoft at quarterly intervals, and that could take actions to significantly change your "user experience" whenever the authentication regime declares you to have fallen from grace.
These automatic queries will repeatedly -- apparently for as long as Windows is installed -- validate your Windows 7 system against Microsoft's latest database of pirated system signatures (currently including more than 70 activation exploits known to Microsoft).
If your system matches -- again even if up to that time (which could be months or even years since you obtained the system) it had been declared to be genuine -- then your system will be "downgraded" to "non-genuine" status until you take steps to obtain what Microsoft considers to be an authentic, validated, Windows 7 license. In some cases you might be able to get this for free if you can convince Microsoft that you were the victim of a scam -- but you'll have to show them proof. Otherwise, you'll need to pull out your wallet.
I'm told that the KB971033 update is scheduled to deploy to the manual downloading "Genuine Microsoft Software" site on February 16, and start pushing out automatically through the Windows Update environment on February 23. Update: This blog posting originally listed the KB number without the leading 9, since that was the way it was provided to me verbally and confirmed at that time by Microsoft. They have now notified me that Update for Microsoft Windows (KB971033) is the actual designation.
The update will reportedly be tagged simply as an "Important" update. This means that if you use the Windows Update system, the update will be installed to your Windows 7 PC based on whatever settings you currently have engaged for that level of update -- it will not otherwise ask for specific permission to proceed with installation.
If your Windows Update settings are such that you manually install updates, you can choose to decline this particular update and you can also uninstall it later after installation -- without any negative effects per se. But don't assume that this will always "turn back the clock" in terms of the update's effects. More on this below.
Also, reportedly if the 90-day interval WAT piracy checking system "calls" are unable to connect to the Microsoft servers (or even if they are manually blocked from connecting, e.g. by firewall policies) there will reportedly be no ill effects.
However -- and this is very important -- if the update is installed and the authentication system then (after connecting with the associated Microsoft authentication servers at any point) decides that your system is not genuine, the "downgrading" that occurs will not be reversible by uninstalling the update afterward.
The WAT authentication system also includes various other features, such as the ability to automatically replace authentication/license related code on PCs if it decides that the official code has been tampered with (Microsoft rather euphemistically calls this procedure "self heal").
more at
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000681.html
