A few weeks ago the news hit the streets on LinkedIn discussions that the 1st Microsoft 19770-2 compliant tag was "seen in the wild".

Here are the facts.

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In PCProfile's opinion, from a customer perspective, the information provided by Microsoft supplying only the mandatory tags in Windows 8 is no better than you can extract with existing Discovery Tools.

In fact the data they provide with Windows 8 is less than what is found under any Discovery audit with all tools on the market.

Do not be fooled into thinking that tagging is going to solve your problems, now or in the near future.

There is a whole world of pain yet to be experienced with the 19770-2 tagging approach as it does not come up to expectations.

An insight into the world of pain follows;

Why are there 2 different SWID tags located in 3 folders for ONE installation of Windows 8?

Example Tag 1 is located in 2 separate folders on the PC
Folder 1 C:\ProgramData\
Folder 2 C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.......................

19770-2 swid tag file for Windows 8

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<software_identification_tag xmlns="http://standards.iso.org/iso/19770/-2/2009/schema.xsd">
<entitlement_required_indicator>true</entitlement_required_indicator>
<product_title>Windows 8 Release Preview</product_title>
<product_version>
<name>6.2.8400.0</name>
<numeric>
<major>6</major>
<minor>2</minor>
<build>8400</build>
<review>0</review>
</numeric>
</product_version>
<software_creator>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</software_creator>
<software_licensor>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</software_licensor>
<software_id>
<unique_id>Windows-8-Release-Preview</unique_id>
<tag_creator_regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</tag_creator_regid>
</software_id>
<tag_creator>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</tag_creator>
</software_identification_tag>

Example Tag 2 is located in separate folder to the above 2 tags
Folder 3 C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.......................

19770-2 swid tag file for Windows 8

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<software_identification_tag xmlns="http://standards.iso.org/iso/19770/-2/2009/schema.xsd">
<entitlement_required_indicator>true</entitlement_required_indicator>
<product_title>Windows 8 Release Preview with Media Center</product_title>
<product_version>
<name>6.2.8400.0</name>
<numeric>
<major>6</major>
<minor>2</minor>
<build>8400</build>
<review>0</review>
</numeric>
</product_version>
<software_creator>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</software_creator>
<software_licensor>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</software_licensor>
<software_id>
<unique_id>Windows-8-Release-Preview-with-Media-Center</unique_id>
<tag_creator_regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</tag_creator_regid>
</software_id>
<tag_creator>
<name>Microsoft Corporation</name>
<regid>regid.1991-06.com.microsoft</regid>
</tag_creator>
</software_identification_tag>