Perhaps you've heard of the so-called Vista "Frankenbuild" that's been making the rounds for a few weeks: it's a build of the OS that splices in code from one of the release candidates into the final version of Vista, in order to bypass the built-in product activation. Well, Microsoft, a slow-moving beast in its own right, has finally released an update for Vista which will force the FrankenPCs to undergo a validation check. The systems will be given 30 days to pass the check, after which time they'll be forced into a reduced functionality mode. "These systems will fail that check because we have blocked the Release Candidate keys for systems not authorized to use them. In other words, the wrong key is being used. The systems will then be flagged as non-genuine systems," said a post on the company's Windows Genuine Advantage Blog.

For more information:
- see the Windows Genuine Advantage Blog entry