Microsoft Ends This Decades-Old Offline Activation Method For Windows

Microsoft has officially retired the traditional phone-based activation system for Windows (and MS Office) that served as a ...
Hit Points on MSN

Microsoft forces online accounts for all Windows installs effectively ending offline use

A recorded voice on Microsoft's activation hotline delivers a stark message: "Support for product activation has moved online ...
TechSpot

It's now possible to activate Windows XP offline, algorithm gets cracked

Bottom line: It is now possible to activate a new installation of Windows XP, despite the fact that Microsoft no longer operates its online activation servers. Windows XP has long since been left in ...
HotHardware

Windows XP Activation Algorithm Is Finally Cracked After Two Decades, Why It Matters

Windows XP is the operating system that just won't die. After its 2001 release, XP would go on to sell more than 400 million copies. Microsoft tried to end support for the OS several times over the ...
The Verge

Somebody cracked Windows XP activation for offline use

The famed OS may be dead to Microsoft, but it lives on in our hearts (and in a bunch of computers in Armenia). The famed OS may be dead to Microsoft, but it lives on in our hearts (and in a bunch of ...
Ars Technica

Green hills forever: Windows XP activation algorithm cracked after 21 years

It has never been too hard for someone with the right amount of time, desperation, or flexible scruples to get around Windows XP’s activation scheme. And yet XP activation, the actual encrypted ...