Tom's Hardware reports that a retired Microsoft engineer has detailed the story behind the famous leaked FCKGW Windows XP key. The key became a well-known part of Windows XP's early history, and the engineer's account adds new context to that tale.
According to the engineer, the copy protection used for validation relied on 10MB of encrypted Microsoft Bob. Microsoft Bob was an early consumer-oriented interface from the company, and its inclusion in the activation system is a striking detail in the story.
The account highlights an unusual chapter in Microsoft's approach to copy protection, showing how the company used a little-remembered product as part of the validation process for one of its most widely used operating systems.