geek ('gēk), noun. 1. Obsessive Computer User: somebody who enjoys or takes pride in using computers or other technology, often to what others consider an excessive degree 2. Someone with greater than normal computer skills.
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Why are there so many people down on Vista? Especially media people? I am so tired of hearing Vista failure! Vista disaster! Vista sux!
I think every one of these people have a very short memory. I have been doing computer support for over 15 years, most of it supporting end users at the consumer level and enterprise level. My first enterprise/corporate task was to upgrade Windows 3.1 computers to Windows 95 for “Outlook” email. I have deployed Windows 2000 and Windows XP as major projects to help corporations standardize their hardware and software platforms. I know the ins-and-outs of the operating systems pretty well.
There are some basic truths to be had. It doesn’t matter how well an OS is designed, tested, and maintained, the user will find a way to break it. The user will always find something doesn’t work (OS compatibility) no matter how much time is spent making sure that compatibility issues are worked out. Lastly, you will not be able to satisfy everyone.
In case you haven’t noticed, Google and Microsoft are facing off in a lot more categories than search. Google has been making strides in offering online applications, often free and ad-supported. While Microsoft has traditionally been a retail, shrink wrap software company. With every product that Google announces in perpetual beta, they seem to be encroaching more on Microsoft’s turf. Now Microsoft may finally be pushing back.
Google has had some moderate success with applications like gmail, Picasa, Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Talk, and their Google Pack. Microsoft’s Live has been widely viewed as the answer to Google’s web application threat. Today Microsoft announced Windows Live Suite. A bundle of beta web applications in one convenient download and with a common installer:
This suite of software includes e-mail (Windows Live Mail), photo sharing (Windows Live Photo Gallery), a great publishing tool that lets you post directly to your blog (Windows Live Writer), parental controls (Windows Live OneCare Family Safety), a new version of Windows Live Messenger (8.5), and more.
An astute Windows user was intrigued by the holographic image on the face of the Windows Vista Business DVD and decided to take a much closer look, discovering in the margin a microscopic photograph of three men. Just who they could be? The user posted a blog entry mentioning the discovery, which was noticed by a few others in the community and has prompted a number of people to contact us in Windows to find out just exactly what is going on.
The real story is interesting, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed to learn that it is not the result of a deliberate attempt to deceive. The photo displays members of the team who worked on the Windows Vista DVD hologram design. Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Team designed a counterfeit-resistant digital “watermark” for the non-encoded surface of Windows Vista DVDs. The photo in question is only one of multiple images contained in the hologram design, all of whose inclusion serves to make it more difficult to replicate a Windows Vista DVD. The other images are of old master works of art that are in the public domain. These images are part of numerous other security measures that have been designed into our media, packaging and certificates of authenticity. Hence, even though this image has been reproduced on the Web, there are many other features providing further security.
That’s the URL for the soon to be announced Windows Live Folders beta. What’s are Live Folders? According to Microsoft, “Password-protected online file storage. Always available where you need it.”
User will be able to access up to 500 megabytes of free storage (50 mb max per file), with either IE or FireFox, using a Windows Live account. There are three options for allowing access to these folders: private, shared, and public. The 500mb limit is rumored to be changed to unlimited after the beta.
Looks like Microsoft beat Google out of the gate this time! (Google’s gdrive project is similar).
Dino Dai Zovi, the New York-based security researcher who took home $10,000 in a highly-publicized MacBook Pro hijack on April 20, has stated in an interview that he thinks Vista is more secure than OSX.
From your research on both platforms, is there a winner between Mac OS X 10.4 and Vista on security?
I have found the code quality, at least in terms of security, to be much better overall in Vista than Mac OS X 10.4. It is obvious from observing affected components in security patches that Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) has resulted in fewer vulnerabilities in newly-written code. I hope that more software vendors follow their lead in developing proactive software security development methodologies.
Respected security researcher Joanna Rutkowska promises to reveal new rootkit techniques for Vista, and ways to defeat it’s BitLocker drive encryption. On her blog she notes there will be a training session for “legitimate companies” during the Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, in late July.
As the training will be focused on Windows platform and Vista x64 specifically, we will also present some new kernel attacks against latest Vista x64 builds. These attacks, of course, work on the fly and do not require system reboot and are not afraid of the TPM/Bitlocker protection. (Although they could also be used to bypass Vista DRM protection, this subject will not be discussed during the training)
Back in January, I posted a preview of Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, a product that should send shivers of delight down the spine of any home computing enthusiast. Windows Home Server, or WHS, is the product we’ve been waiting for quite a long time, and then some: In addition to the expected digital media sharing features, WHS also offers a pervasive platform for full-home PC backups, hot-add expandable storage, and remote access. And best of all, it will be made available both as a standalone software package (which you can install on any PC or server) and as a bundle with specially-made home server hardware.
WHS is expected in late 2006, but since my initial preview, Microsoft has made a number of improvements to this product. First, the company released Beta 2 (see my screenshot galleries), the first beta version of WHS to ship to users outside of Microsoft. WHS Beta 2 offered a decent look at the features I’d described back in my preview, so I didn’t provide an overview of that version. But since then, most recently, Microsoft has shipped another beta release. Dubbed the April 2007 CTP (Community Technology Preview), this WHS release offers dramatic improvements and a near-feature-complete look at this evolving product. The April CTP also comes on the heels of news that Microsoft has shipped a software development kit (SDK) that will allow enterprising third party developers to ship WHS software add-ons that will extend this product in exciting ways. Taken together, we now have a much better idea of how WHS is shaping up.
Ultimate Windows Vista Celebration Sweepstakes winners from 25 states each receive 20 new computers equipped with educational software.
Thousands of students in 34 schools across the nation will have the opportunity to explore the new Windows Vista™ operating system for the very first time as new computers and software come rolling into their schools. Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of its Ultimate Windows Vista Celebration Sweepstakes; each will receive $25,000 toward a computer lab “makeover” that includes a choice of 20 laptops or desktops equipped with Windows Vista Ultimate.
Announcement
In case you haven’t noticed, Google and Microsoft are facing off in a lot more categories than search. Google has been making strides in offering online applications, often free and ad-supported. While Microsoft has traditionally been a retail, shrink wrap software company. With every product that Google announces in perpetual beta, they seem to be encroaching more on Microsoft’s turf. Now Microsoft may finally be pushing back.
Back in January, I posted a preview of Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, a product that should send shivers of delight down the spine of any home computing enthusiast. Windows Home Server, or WHS, is the product we’ve been waiting for quite a long time, and then some: In addition to the expected digital media sharing features, WHS also offers a pervasive platform for full-home PC backups, hot-add expandable storage, and remote access. And best of all, it will be made available both as a standalone software package (which you can install on any PC or server) and as a bundle with specially-made home server hardware.
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Windows XP will stop being available on new PCs from the end of January 2008.
