Breaking news: Some of Microsoft's WGA servers reportedly went offline last night or early this morning. What's that mean? If your copy of Windows tries to validate itself with Microsoft, it might be marked as unvalidated, or put simply, counterfeit. (Validation occurs during all new Windows XP and Vista installations, as well as during biweekly check-ins with Microsoft on both platforms during normal operation.) While a legion of users are reporting problems, the problem doesn't seem universal: I've tried validating several XP and Vista machines myself with no troubles.

Microsoft's only recognition of the problem has been in an email to a user having trouble, who posted the information here on a Microsoft official forum. Microsoft's suggestion: Try to validate again on Tuesday. Hey, hope you don't need your computer over the next four days...

Failing a WGA check can result in a variety of problems for you. Under XP, WGA is comparably harmless, popping up a little balloon in the bottom right of your screen, warning you that the software may be counterfeit. For Vista, things are considerably worse: The OS can drop into "reduced functionality mode," which severely restricts how the machine works (notably turning off Aero and BitLocker... and only letting you remain logged in for one hour at a time).

I'm pleased that the problem hasn't crippled every Windows machine on the planet, but I'm severely disappointed that Microsoft's draconian, useless software is disabling the PCs of paying customers who rely on them day in and day out. WGA is Big Brother at its worst, and in my increasingly-outraged opinion Microsoft needs to get rid of it (along with activation and other semi-spyware tactics) as soon as possible. My friend Harry McCracken eloquently says he hopes this'll be a "Come to Jesus" moment for Microsoft.

Anyone want to take bets on how long it'll be until the first "Get a Mac/Use Linux" comment appears in this blog? Anyone wonder why people feel so passionately about alternatives these days?

LINK: Windows Genuine Advantage suffers worldwide outage, problems galore 

Related: The Microsoft Office 2007 "Kill Switch"
Why Windows Genuine Advantage Is Bad
Dump Windows Genuine Advantage Callbacks

UPDATE: WGA is back online. If your PC was affected, you'll need to revalidate your machine to get it back to normal.