In July 2005, Microsoft launched WGA Validation, which asked users to make sure their copy of Windows was genuine when using Windows Update, Microsoft Update and the Download Center. The first phase of the WGA Notifications pilot was launched in Norway and Sweden in November 2005. In February 2006, five additional countries were added, and the program was further expanded in April 2006. On May 30, Microsoft expanded the pilot to all major markets in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. WGA Notifications is software that is distributed through Automatic Updates and Windows Update that reminds users who fail validation that they are not running genuine Windows, and directs them to resources to learn more about the benefits of using genuine Windows software.

Today, Microsoft released an updated WGA Notifications package. With this update, the pilot phase of WGA Notifications is complete, and the program will continue with a phased roll-out to Windows XP users worldwide. All English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese users of Windows XP running Automatic Updates will soon be offered an updated package with a new version of WGA Notifications. The updated package includes some notable changes to the software based on customer feedback from the previous version.

• No daily configuration check
  In the pilot phase, a PC that had installed WGA Notifications checked a server-side configuration setting upon each login, to determine if WGA Notifications should run or not. This configuration file check has been removed in the updated WGA Notifications package released today. It is important to note that WGA Validation still periodically checks to determine whether the version of Windows is genuine.
• Clearer EULA and instructions to opt-in.
  The End User License Agreement (EULA) has been replaced with a standard, General Availability EULA that more clearly explains the purpose of the software and details about WGA Notifications. For customers who choose not to install the updated package, and wish to remove an installed previous version, Microsoft has made available a set of instructions for removing previous versions of WGA Notifications from their PCs.