Microsoft renames new WGA “Windows Activation Technology”

Any one who runs Windows as an OS for the past few years will be well aware of what Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is. But Microsoft have decided that the name no longer fits the functionality and will be changing it for Windows 7.

The new name we’ll have to get used to is Windows Activation Technology (WAT), which was announced via a Q&A session with Joe Williams, general manager for Worldwide Genuine Windows at Microsoft. One of the questions asked was whether the anti-piracy experience on Windows 7 was similar to Windows Genuine Advantage on Windows XP. He responded by saying:

Fundamentally the goals are the same. The guiding principle is to enable the customer to know when the software they are using is genuine and licensed and help them to do something about it if it’s not. However the technology used in Windows Vista and Windows 7 is fundamentally different from that used with Windows XP. It consists of new code and the latest methods for protecting Windows in ways that can only really be achieved with the components that are built in to both Windows Vista and now Windows 7. For that reason the anti-piracy features in Windows 7 — and future versions of updates of the technology for Windows Vista — will be referred to more accurately as Windows Activation Technologies. We will continue releasing Window Genuine Advantage updates for Windows XP-based systems.

We can therefore expect to see WAT rolled out with Windows 7, but also appear for Windows Vista too. Ultimately, Microsoft want to make it easier to ensure your copy of Windows is genuine and hope that WAT will achieve that goal.