Just days after Microsoft released the Windows Vista code to manufacturing, the operating system was leaked to the Web. The final version of the Redmond, Wash. developer's Office 2007 has also been posted to the Internet.

Pirated copies of Windows Vista RTM (release to manufacturing) have been spreading on Web sites, peer-to-peer networks, and through the Usenet community. One site, TheHotfix.net, alerted its members that the Vista RTM could be downloaded from BitTorrent download sites.

According to reports on message forums, pre-RTM product registration keys do not work for the newest version of Vista. But pirates were confident that "cracks" would be forthcoming that would activate the OS. "It will be easy to authenticate," claimed someone identified as "Jordan M" on a HotFix.net thread.

Office 2007's final code, meanwhile, also was leaked. In the case of the productivity suite, however, pirates have already circulated work-arounds they claim will activate the bundle using product keys Microsoft distributed with the beta and release candidate builds.

Microsoft's new authentication scheme for Vista, which ups the ante from the Windows XP era's Windows Genuine Advantage tool, will render the operating system inoperative if it suspects a product key is bogus. Office 2007, meanwhile, will use a less robust anti-piracy scheme based on WGA.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Vista RTM and Office 2007 leaks.