TechWeb sat down with Microsoft and found out just how Vista will impact the enthusiast:

TechWeb: What happens if someone adds a hardware upgrade to their PC (like a new graphic card, or a faster processor); does that count as one transfer? If it does, what happens if they do a second upgrade, which is seen by the PC as requiring revalidation. Does this mean they're over the limit and have to purchase a new Vista license?

Microsoft: The hardware tolerance of product activation for Windows Vista has been improved and is more flexible than that for Windows XP. We believe these improvements will better accommodate the needs of our PC enthusiast customers.

When hardware components are changed, Microsoft's product activation process compares information derived from the initial validation, which includes the hardware configuration of the device, against the changes that have been made. This process uses an algorithm to help assess whether the software is installed on the same device. Validation will fail if the software detects a substantially different hardware configuration.

At that point, the customer is able to use the one reassignment for the new device. If, after using its one reassignment right, a customer again exceeds the tolerance for updated components, the customer can purchase an additional license or seek remediation through Microsoft's support services.

Microsoft cares a great deal for its PC enthusiast customers. In fact, the hardware tolerance of product activation for Windows Vista has been improved and is more flexible than that for Windows XP. We believe these improvements will better accommodate the needs of our PC enthusiast customers.