twitter's Journal: WGA Bites M$ Partners.

Microsoft partners are complaining about the difficulty of making Office 2007 work for them because of a combination of "trialware" and WGA. No relief is in sight for them.

Susan Bradley, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist partner in Fresno, Calif., said she'd be wary about installing a volume licensing version of Office on top of a trial version. "With Vista's and Office's new Genuine check stuff, leaving trial bits behind is dangerous," she said. "If you have a trial version of something that is not replaced by the proper version, I guarantee you that you will get your system into a state where one part is not seen a genuine, you will be unable to get Office Genuine offers, and you'll be flagged as a pirate."

Microsoft doesn't plan to make it possible for partners to activate Office trials with volume licensing keys. "We know that volume license keys are the biggest source of software piracy."

Better avoid "trial" software unless you are willing to wipe and reload.