@davepl1968 what exactly were us poors meant to do? not use computers?

@adam_s_brookes How'd you get the computer?

@davepl1968 Was it actually hardcoded or was it checksumed or something like that in activation logic client code?

@davepl1968 You mean if I torrent the iso, burn it to a CD, and disconnect from the internet I can have XP back?

@davepl1968 It never made sense to me why that key wasn't immediately blocked. Like never revision of windows just looked for the key and rejected it.

@davepl1968 Yes back when Operating Systems cost an arm and a leg to buy. Now they are forced onto you for free 🤣😂

@davepl1968 You could also call Microsoft support and say you bought a computer from a shop that gave you a windows disc with it and there was no key included. If you described an OEM disc (shiny gold disc with “Genuine Microsoft” on it) a lot of times they’d just give you a new OEM key.

@davepl1968 Sadly, paying for M$ products was one of the most evil things you could passively do. This was the type of moral dilemma that created 'grey hat' hackers.

@davepl1968 I alwasy doubted this as a "mistake". It was a very powerful "price discrimination" marketing tool that grew Windows market share. This growth created a positive feedback loop that made Windows even more prevalent as years went by. Be it a mistake or not.

@davepl1968 @codepo8 the AI slop 😭

@davepl1968 FCKGW IDDQD megahit.. we belong to a different time Now I know how valve team felt on the microchip wave.

@davepl1968 People should have never paid, now look at what it’s become.

@davepl1968 😆 FCK George Washington. They hate Americans.

@davepl1968 In a funny way, this key influenced my career in IT. Being able to build a computer with scrap parts as a kid, flash it with a clean version of Windows - it gave a tangible way to experiment and teach myself my early troubleshooting skills as a young teen. And when I screwed

@davepl1968 And what if I told you that this was done on purpose for market share?

@davepl1968 Wow man, what a story. I used to know it by heart. Got my first xp install disc at a shop called "Virus" in some dark corner of Beirut. The key was written on top with permanent marker in black.

@davepl1968 It was eventually blocked by Service Pack. As in, the service pack checks for that one key, and refused to install. Ironically it didn't check for any other VLKs. So that wouldn't do much in the Internet era of today.

@davepl1968 I remember the old office 2000ish key that was all 2s!

@davepl1968 >"Authenicity" >I made Task Manager btw nerdface emoji >retard

@davepl1968 wow the engineers at microsoft must have been stupid as fuck!

@davepl1968 I'll take XP anyday over the garbage that is 11.

@davepl1968 “This loophole let pirates distribute "pre-activated" ISOs, making XP as easy to "acquire" as a free mixtape.” I bet people at Microsoft still don’t realize this is why XP is so beloved to this day and why nobody likes Windows 11.

@davepl1968 I knew this one by heart 😁... also for Office 95, Windows 98 and Office 97.

@davepl1968 FCKGW is like a rhyme to my 👂s

@davepl1968 So crazy, I always wondered how that came about. The sketchy computer store I worked at used that key for everything.

@davepl1968 I never knew that history. Thank you for that!

@davepl1968 So Dave who leaked it? Was it just the DevilsOwn or was it one of the three “Dell” keys? I remember writing a whole paper (never publicly released) on how the entire process worked on keys and the ONLY keygen that was available and worked was BlueLight Group’s. I based my

@davepl1968 I find it funny that the key written as F*ck Genuine Windows was a leak.

@davepl1968 I still have my own XP key memorized. (Pro SP2 OEM re-install disk)

@davepl1968 I know of many a PC using that key, over the years 😁