Microsoft Herds Windows 7 Users to Online Activation Portal, Ending Last Offline Option

Microsoft has herded Windows users into an online-only activation portal, effectively killing the last vestige of offline activation—just don’t call them, they’ll just tell you to log in.

Microsoft has discontinued phone activation for Windows and Office, replacing it with mandatory online activation via a Microsoft account.

The Microsoft Product Activation Portal requires a Microsoft account, even for legacy systems like Windows 7 and Office 2010.

Browser compatibility issues were noted: Firefox on iPhone initially failed to retrieve confirmation IDs, but Safari on a laptop worked.