Microsoft axes Office Genuine Advantage program

Microsoft has quietly axed the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) program, no longer requiring that Office users validate their software prior to downloading add-ins or templates. According to Microsoft's knowledge base article, the OGA "has been retired" though no reason for its demise is given. Meanwhile, the Office Notifier plus Microsoft's two OGA browser plugins – Internet Explorer's OGA ActiveX control and Firefox's OGA plugin – have also been dropped.

However, while the move does make downloading extra content for Office more straightforward, it's not a sign of Microsoft taking its eye off general Office privacy. The Office activation process is still in force, as is the more general Windows validation.

[via ZDNet]