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Hackers 'unlock' Windows XP

Nothing's sacred...

By Lynne Hardy

Published: 31 October 2001 08:55 GMT

Hackers around the globe are exchanging tips over the internet on how to 'unlock' Windows XP software for copying.

Just five days after the over-hyped billion-dollar launch, hackers - who specialise in cracking software for pirating - admitted to pirating the XP software and that copies were already available for instalment on home PCs on the day of the launch.

The software - hailed by Microsoft as the greatest thing since the launch of Windows 95 - includes a new digital rights scheme preventing unauthorised copying, but Duncan Reid, Microsoft's licensing manager, is said to have admitted that Microsoft had never claimed it would deter hackers.

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