Microsoft has responded to our story about the Microsoft Activation Centre downtime on Saturday 7th (AEST) which left some users unable to fully use their Windows XP or Office XP installations.
The official response, sent via Microsoft's PR agency in Australia, states:
"On Friday June 6, 2003 (Pacific Standard Time), maintenance was performed on Microsoft's product activation system. By 11:15 pm, June 6 (Pacific Standard Time), the maintenance was completed and Internet and telephone activation transactions recommenced.
For approximately three hours during this time, customers, regardless of geography, were unable to activate Microsoft Windows XP and Office XP via the Internet and telephone. This disruption to service occurred between 1:00 pm and 4:15 pm Saturday Sydney time. Customers were given the option to leave their name and phone number to be called back by a customer representative or they were given a time to call Microsoft again."
There's a possibility that we were grossly mistaken, but this is, in our opinion, false on many counts.
From our own tests, the downtime lasted from at least 12:20pm until 5:05pm (AEST). At no time were we prompted to leave a name and number. At no time were we directed to a customer service rep without having to enter their activation codes in first. Each failed activation phone call lasted an average of four minutes.
In fact, it was only after half an hour of downtime that we were put through to a rep (based in the States) who was the first to confirm that the Activation Centre was dead, and would be that way for a further 'four to five hours'.