Before its release, Vista earned some wallops for its inclusion of a "kill switch" feature that would cause rebooting in the middle of your work and other nefarious features, if Microsoft deemed you were using pirated software. Microsoft eventually trimmed back the kill switch's awfulness, but a version of it ended up in the final product: If Vista determines your license key isn't genuine, it will immediately drop into a "limited functionality mode" and bombard you with "you're a criminal" messages.

Now the good news: Bowing to consumer pressure, Microsoft is yanking the kill switch from Vista when Service Pack 1 arrives next year, or at least toning it down. Systems deemed counterfeit will still get the pop-up messages, but reduced functionality mode is headed out the door. That's great news: In fact, I've been wrestling with a Vista PC stuck in reduced functionality mode for days... a brand-new PC straight out of the box.

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), the tool Windows uses to determine if software is legitimate, has had a series of setbacks throughout 2006 and 2007.

Rest assured, Microsoft is still clinging to anti-piracy technologies. Vista will still require product activation and periodic validation from the mothership. As Microsoft itself says, "It's worth re-emphasizing that our fundamental strategy has not changed."

LINK: 'Kill switch' dropped from Vista