The eagerly-awaited Windows 7 is still a three months away from hitting store shelves and already hax0rs have managed to activate its most expensive SKU (Ultimate). The cracking of Windows 7 Ultimate was possible due to the leak of an OEM DVD from Lenovo which contained a master key that can be used to activate the OS on PCs from multiple vendors.

By using the master key a number of people have managed to activate the operating system while offline, like OEMs would, so Microsoft can now kick off damage control to try and limit the potential of this crack. The Redmond company is betting big on Windows 7 so it can't really afford to let this early 'incident' leave the door wide open for pirating its new OS. Sure, it can't stop the phenomenon but it can try to dim it down.