Bork!Bork!Bork! Today's Bork comes courtesy of an exhibition dedicated to the UK street artist Banksy and demonstrates that "Limitless" does not always apply to Windows Activation.

A number of Register readers ventured to an [1]exhibition devoted to the artist in London's South Kensington and, among the exhibits, came across some touchscreens inviting further investigation of the artist's work.

[2]

However, the interactive screens are running Windows, and Windows is doing what Windows does best: displaying an awkward message. We suspect it's what the artist, famed for subversive and satirical artwork cropping up in the most unexpected of places, would have wanted.

[3]

Windows complaining about activation can occur if there are licensing issues, or if there has been a hardware change that is enough to send Microsoft's finest into a cycle of despair. Responding to the request of the operating system to dive into the settings to deal with the issue is not something the average visitor will be able to do, and we suspect that the artist themself is likely far too busy creating a graffiti project lampooning the tech giant's obsession with AI to care much about a Microsoft whoopsie.

We asked the organizers of the exhibition what had befallen the screens (surely a hardware change; an exhibition titled "Limitless" by an artist whose works have sold for millions is unlikely to have been limited by the cost of a Windows license.) As yet, we've had no response.

[4]Pizza restaurant signage caught serving raw Windows

[5]Microsoft blanks out BSODs on public displays with new 'Digital Signage mode'

[6]Microsoft suggests temporary registry hack for stricken smart card users

[7]Be careful, 007. It's just had a new coat of paint: Today is D-day for would-be Qs to apply to MI6

That said, we would not put it past the artist to make some Windows borkage part of the exhibition itself. A terse message from Microsoft popping up over some carefully curated screens seems somehow appropriate and could only be improved by a visualization of a developer looking glumly on as Copilot churns out code that might or might not work.

The tech giants' ongoing obsession with all things AI is ripe for satire. The billions being spent on data centers to feed the voracious appetite of the technology means there is plenty of empty wall space available for something suitably scathing. Perhaps the impending pop of a bubble… ®

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[1] https://banksylimitless.com/london/

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aVQFNH_y7R55PK-AJ0ZZqwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVQFNH_y7R55PK-AJ0ZZqwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/pizzaexpress_bork/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/18/windows_bsod_digital_signage_mode/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/23/microsoft_smart_card_registry/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/q_job/

[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/