Volume Activation Demystified

When the Volume Activation team invited me to come interview them, I jumped at the chance. There are lots of myths and misconceptions around activation, and I wanted them to explain them to me.
In this video, I sat down with Ram, a Director in the Volume Activation group, who explained the different methods of activation, and the why and how activation happens.
Some of the questions we cover:

  
1. What is product activation and why should we care?
  
2. Is activation something new for Microsoft? Does it imply that MSFT does not trust its customers?
  
3. Tell us about the process of activating Windows? What is the story with getting Windows activation going?
  
4. Do we take any functionality way if Windows not activated? 
  
5. There are two methods of activation. How do I decide which one to pursue (KMS or MAK)?
  
6. Where people can go to find more information in detail about volume activation?

Here are a few more resources that the team asked me to pass along:
You can also download this volume activation guide (decide which way to activate with: KMS or MAK). Only have a few mins? Watch this volume activation demo. Craving new information? Learn from the challenges of other IT Pros and check out our latest “Top 5 Product Key Activation Challenges IT Pros Encountered and Solved” and “Customizing Windows Business Edition” white papers.

 

Or you can learn all you need to know about volume activation at www.technet.com/volumeactivation/. Use this library with step-by-step guides & white papers, videos 10 languages (RU, GER, IT, KO, JP, PORTG, CH, FR, SP, TW). Participate in active discussions on Windows Vista Activation Forum, address your concerns and share ideas to help us improve your product experience. Come back to this library for upcoming Windows 7 volume activation tutorials and demos