Perfectly Clear requires RGB-formatted images in either 8 or 16-bit color depth. Microsoft's plans to stop people pirating the next version of Windows have suffered a setback.Īny image file that Photoshop or Lightroom can open and convert to this format may be used in Perfectly Clear. A German computer magazine has found weaknesses in the piracy protection system built into Windows XP.

The weaknesses could mean that in up to 90% of cases users can circumvent the copy protection system. But Microsoft said that the protection system would be much stronger and harder to defeat when the final version of XP is released later this year. Component count In a bid to combat piracy Microsoft is introducing a product activation system into the XP versions of its software. Activating a product involves contacting Microsoft for an identification number that is then combined with the serial numbers of the components inside your computer to create a unique identifier. It would be possible to 'activate' nearly 90 percent of home-user machines without Microsoft knowing anything about it Mike Hartmann, Tec Channel Big changes to the hardware in a machine could mean that users have to contact Microsoft for a new identification number to re-activate their software.