I decided to transition my laptop from Windows 8 Pro to Ubuntu Linux. I figured that I would just re-install Windows as a virtual guest under VMware Workstation. Unlike my experiences with prior versions of Windows, I was directed to call Microsoft for further activation and report 9 groupings of 7 digit numbers. This was after supplying my product key. After telling the automated attendant my numbers, I was asked to enter 8 sets of 6 digit numbers. I am sure that the activation process called home and noticed that my hardware hash was significantly different (since I moved to virtual devices). However, I don’t remember not having a grace re-installation in previous product version. It looks like Microsoft is a lot stricter with their activation policy in Windows 8.