Windows 7 activation nagware outlined

One of the most annoying things in all of computing is the requirement to activate software upon installation, and Microsoft's been a major proponent of activation for about a decade now.

And so it should come as no surprise then that the upcoming Windows 7 will also include an activation scheme, but Microsoft is only just now outlining exactly how the Win7 version of the infamous Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will operate.

Expect few changes. Microsoft notes that the experience is "based largely" on the version of WGA that's part of Windows Vista SP1.

First off, you get 30 days -- as before -- to use the system without consequence if you don't activate Windows 7. After that point, you're out of the "grace period," and real sanctions begin. But the nagging actually starts a mere three days into your installation, as you begin getting "Activate Windows Now" pop-ups during the remainder of the grace period. There are no consequences if you dismiss them during this month, but expect to see this pop-up message regularly (once a day).

By day 27, the pop-up arrives with more urgency, once every four hours, and on day 30, once an hour -- plus a message at startup that tells you time is now up.

If you still don't activate Windows once the 30-day window has closed, the hammer comes down. You get the same pop-up every hour, your background changes to a plain black screen (you can change it to something else, but it reverts to black every hour), and you receive "a persistent desktop notification that Windows is non-genuine, [plus] a non-genuine message that appears when the Control Panel is launched."

No Windows Update downloads marked "optional" will be delivered to a non-activated computer at this point, either.

That's the gist, and it's not wholly unlike what you should be used to now. Note however that things may change between now and the retail release of Windows 7 -- either toward more restrictive or less so -- but I would honestly expect little or nothing to happen.