[Coda]

For the record -- I'm only saying this as a description of the facts of the case, not that I agree with it. I think this is ridiculous, and I think Microsoft needs to give up trying to make money off of desktop Windows. Apple did that years ago, Mac OS X upgrades haven't cost money in a long time, and the OS X installers only have a hardware identification check to make sure the computer you're installing it on is known to be compatible. Apple makes their money off of hardware instead of the operating system.

Let Microsoft do the same. Let Genuine Windows be a system integrity check rather than a licensing permission check. Have them make their money off of services and application software instead of operating systems. They're already starting down that path, but they're still desperately clinging to that old business model.