Developer(s) | Microsoft |
---|---|
Stable release | |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
Platform | Microsoft Windows : Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007. [1] Mac OS X : Office X, Office 2004, Office 2008 |
Type | Software validation |
License | Proprietary software |
Website | www |
Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) was a program by Microsoft, similar to Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), which required users of the Microsoft Office software to validate their copy of Microsoft Office to download non-critical updates and other downloads such as addons and samples. [2]
This is different from Microsoft Product Activation in that activation is required to use the software and is enforced at the software level, whereas validation permits users to download files and updates from the Microsoft web site and is Internet-based. Validation rejects those product keys that have either been leaked widely or those key-generated to pass through activation but not validation.
Starting October 27, 2006, users of Office Update were required to validate the legitimacy of their Office software in order to download files and updates. [3]
On April 15, 2008, Microsoft released Office Genuine Advantage Notifications to Windows Server Update Services as KB949810. [4]
On December 17, 2010, Microsoft retired Office Genuine Advantage. [5] The Office Genuine Advantage article on Microsoft support website was updated to reflect this. [2]
Microsoft Office, MS Office, or simply Office, is an office suite and family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. The first version of the Office suite, announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988 at COMDEX, contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint — all three of which remain core products in Office — and over time Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, Object Linking and Embedding data integration and Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand.
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Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users.
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