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The 20 Worst Windows Features of All Time

From Windows 95's Active Desktop to Vista's UAC, a loving tribute to the tools, technologies, and applets that drive us absolutely bonkers.

9. Windows Genuine Advantage

Is Microsoft entitled to fight pirates? Absolutely. But Windows Genuine Advantage, which makes you do a piracy check before downloading software from Microsoft.com, and displays nag notes if it thinks your copy of Windows is stolen, leaves millions of Microsoft customers caught in the crossfire. The first version with the nagging "feature" got installed with security updates and was famous for mistaking legit copies of Windows for stolen ones. To this day, trying to download software from Microsoft in Firefox is a miserable experience. And to add insult to inconvenience, Microsoft's marketing for WGA says it's all being done to help customers verify that their software isn't counterfeit. Thanks, guys.
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