New IT Term of the day

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Product Activation

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An anti-piracy technology built into all Microsoft Office XP, Windows XP and Visio 2002 products. Product Activation requires that the user verify a product key that was used to install the product. This ensures that the software has not been used on more computers than is intended by the software's license. Users can activate their software via the Internet or telephone. Once the user has contacted Microsoft, an installation ID number is issued that will complete the activation.

According to Microsoft, the user has 50 grace launches before a product must be activated. After the 50 launches, the product will go into a reduced-functionality mode if is has not been activated. With reduced functionality, documents cannot be edited and new ones cannot be created until the product has been activated by contacting Microsoft.