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"I have no idea what criteria Windows uses to determine what my "likely" programs are"

From wiki:
"The prefetcher works by watching what code and data is accessed during the boot process (including reads of the NTFS Master File Table), and recording a trace file of this activity. Future boots can then use the information recorded in this trace file to load code and data in a more optimal fashion. The boot prefetcher will continue to watch for such activity until 30 seconds after the user's shell has started, or until 60 seconds after all services have finished initializing, or until 120 seconds after the system has booted, whichever elapses first."

Prefetch was part of XP. Its been expanded into Superfetch in Vista and 7. Its basically a more refined version, taking into account time of day and system use trends. For example, if antivirus scans run at 2am, superfetch loads applications back into memory later on before typical use starts at 8am so the user opens Office quickly. This is done at very low I/O. Theres actually been a lot written about it, but I would start with http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc162480.aspx

My 8 year old computer ran xp just fine... celeron 1.1 with 512 ram

Vista wants that as a minimum, if that's just for the os how are you going to use it for anything else?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/system-requirements.aspx

Here's the press release:

"Microsoft recognizes that customers care most about real-world interoperability in the marketplace, so the company is committed to continuing to engage the IT community to achieve that goal when it comes to document format standards. It will work with the Interoperability Executive Customer Council and other customers to identify the areas where document format interoperability matters most, and then collaborate with other vendors to achieve interoperability between their implementations of the formats that customers are using today."

They knew precisely what interoperability would require in this case, they promised it, then they pretty much perfectly dodged any practical interoperability while keeping to the letter of the spec.

Probably not what you were looking for exactly, but here you go, from MSDN, a bug report regarding fork() in the posix subsystem, that proves it is part of the subsystem:

"A POSIX-based program may leak Private Bytes and Non Paged Pool Bytes if the parent process uses the fork() function."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252193

-------
Here's an article describing how fork() under posix for windows is actually implemented using copy-on-write:

"In POSIX, there is a fork() instruction that basically creates two copies of the same program."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103858

----
Here's the part where they announce the support of pThreads and sync functions:

"With the release of SFU 3.5, this development environment now includes support for POSIX threads (Pthreads) and the POSIX semaphore functions."
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb463209.aspx

-----
All of these were found by going to Microsoft's technet found at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx, and using the hard to guess search terms "posix fork", these were in the first 10 results.

Probably not what you were looking for exactly, but here you go, from MSDN, a bug report regarding fork() in the posix subsystem, that proves it is part of the subsystem:

"A POSIX-based program may leak Private Bytes and Non Paged Pool Bytes if the parent process uses the fork() function."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252193

-------
Here's an article describing how fork() under posix for windows is actually implemented using copy-on-write:

"In POSIX, there is a fork() instruction that basically creates two copies of the same program."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103858

----
Here's the part where they announce the support of pThreads and sync functions:

"With the release of SFU 3.5, this development environment now includes support for POSIX threads (Pthreads) and the POSIX semaphore functions."
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb463209.aspx

-----
All of these were found by going to Microsoft's technet found at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx, and using the hard to guess search terms "posix fork", these were in the first 10 results.

Probably not what you were looking for exactly, but here you go, from MSDN, a bug report regarding fork() in the posix subsystem, that proves it is part of the subsystem:

"A POSIX-based program may leak Private Bytes and Non Paged Pool Bytes if the parent process uses the fork() function."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252193

-------
Here's an article describing how fork() under posix for windows is actually implemented using copy-on-write:

"In POSIX, there is a fork() instruction that basically creates two copies of the same program."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103858

----
Here's the part where they announce the support of pThreads and sync functions:

"With the release of SFU 3.5, this development environment now includes support for POSIX threads (Pthreads) and the POSIX semaphore functions."
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb463209.aspx

-----
All of these were found by going to Microsoft's technet found at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx, and using the hard to guess search terms "posix fork", these were in the first 10 results.

Probably not what you were looking for exactly, but here you go, from MSDN, a bug report regarding fork() in the posix subsystem, that proves it is part of the subsystem:

"A POSIX-based program may leak Private Bytes and Non Paged Pool Bytes if the parent process uses the fork() function."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252193

-------
Here's an article describing how fork() under posix for windows is actually implemented using copy-on-write:

"In POSIX, there is a fork() instruction that basically creates two copies of the same program."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103858

----
Here's the part where they announce the support of pThreads and sync functions:

"With the release of SFU 3.5, this development environment now includes support for POSIX threads (Pthreads) and the POSIX semaphore functions."
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb463209.aspx

-----
All of these were found by going to Microsoft's technet found at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx, and using the hard to guess search terms "posix fork", these were in the first 10 results.

FYI, there's a deliberate 0.4 second delay in the start menu display.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216445

I wonder why then CygWin people invested several years into implementing it? Why Strawberry Perl does it's own way? Why whole internet filled with threads "how to fork() in Windows"?

Or probably it's only you who needs to RTFM before posting? Quote:

One of the largest areas of difference is in the process model. UNIX has fork; Win32 does not.

[...]

This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

He tests odf text only and it seems to make it look like it works fairly well, though he does point out the errors that should be fixable by MS. Of course he may be picking and choosing things to test just as he is not even bothering to pick even one spreadsheet to test since his job is still basically PR as you mentioned. Make it look like they are doing something and be able to claim interoperability without actually having any.

It installs on double click, not on insert. This fixes even that. Yay auto-update. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

1) Use XP recovery disks
2) Use Linux box to go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en
3) Download SP3 and burn to a cd.
4) Install SP3 on laptop from CD

It was seriously that hard? I typed in one google and found it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389

First link.

I had this problem. At the time microsoft was offering to mail out FREE cd's with sp2 on them AND some vendors antivirus and firewall.

In fact a quick google shows that microsoft will still mail you a sp3 disk for a small fee ($3.99)

https://om2.one.microsoft.com/opa/start.om?StoreID=CE6E3AFC-6B25-4F99-8913-3E3453AD966D&LocaleCode=en-us&NewTrans=1

So you can install whatever windows your computer came with, not hook it up to the internet, use that cd to install sp3. Then plug in your internet.

Easy as pie.

If your recovery disks simply restore an image to the hard-drive, just install into a virtual machine, then download the the redistributable version of Windows XP SP3, then make an image of that and restore at your leisure.

In fact, try that even otherwise. Simply install to a Virtual Machine without internet access, then get the redistributable SP3 using your safe Linux distribution, then create a slipstreamed ISO inside your Virtual Machine and burn it in your Linux distribution if you can't have passthrough enabled in the virtual machine.

Never tried this myself (I use a Linux distro), but can't see why it shouldn't work, and it should be safe.

Try deleting the keys under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider (be sure you know all of your stored passwords first). Look at method 3 in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290684.

So much so that Microsoft even used KDE on homepage of Virtual PC!

It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:

• Linus Torvalds is an anagram of slit anus or VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.
• Richard M. Stallman, spokespervert for the Gaysex's Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of mans cram thrill ad.
• Alan Cox is barely an anagram of anal cox which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.

I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for secondary rim and cord in my arse. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for 'Felch Male' -- a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, 'felching' is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into 'e-male.'

As far as Richard 'Master' Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following: 'I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance,' he says. 'It's about being able to question conventional wisdom,' he asserts. 'I believe in love, but not monogamy,' he says plainly.

And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

Speaking about 'flaming,' who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

'I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

Is this why you were touching your penis in the cinema, Jon? And letting the other boys touch it too?

We should also point out that Jon Katz refers to himself as 'Slashdot's resident Gasbag.' Is there any more doubt? For those fortunate few who aren't aware of the list of homosexual terminology found inside the Linux 'Sauce Code,' a 'Gasbag' is a pervert who gains sexual gratification from having a thin straw inserted into his urethra (or to use the common parlance, 'piss-pipe'), then his homosexual lover blows firmly down the straw to inflate his scrotum. This is, of course, when he's not busy violating the dignity and copyright of posters to Slashdot by gathering

It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:

• Linus Torvalds is an anagram of slit anus or VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.
• Richard M. Stallman, spokespervert for the Gaysex's Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of mans cram thrill ad.
• Alan Cox is barely an anagram of anal cox which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.

I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for secondary rim and cord in my arse. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for 'Felch Male' -- a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, 'felching' is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into 'e-male.'

As far as Richard 'Master' Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following: 'I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance,' he says. 'It's about being able to question conventional wisdom,' he asserts. 'I believe in love, but not monogamy,' he says plainly.

And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

Speaking about 'flaming,' who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

'I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

Is this why you were touching your penis in the cinema, Jon? And letting the other boys touch it too?

We should also point out that Jon Katz refers to himself as 'Slashdot's resident Gasbag.' Is there any more doubt? For those fortunate few who aren't aware of the list of homosexual terminology found inside the Linux 'Sauce Code,' a 'Gasbag' is a pervert who gains sexual gratification from having a thin straw inserted into his urethra (or to use the common parlance, 'piss-pipe'), then his homosexual lover blows firmly down the straw to inflate his scrotum. This is, of course, when he's not busy violating the dignity and copyright of posters to Slashdot by gathering

It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:

• Linus Torvalds is an anagram of slit anus or VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.
• Richard M. Stallman, spokespervert for the Gaysex's Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of mans cram thrill ad.
• Alan Cox is barely an anagram of anal cox which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.

I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for secondary rim and cord in my arse. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for 'Felch Male' -- a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, 'felching' is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into 'e-male.'

As far as Richard 'Master' Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following: 'I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance,' he says. 'It's about being able to question conventional wisdom,' he asserts. 'I believe in love, but not monogamy,' he says plainly.

And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

Speaking about 'flaming,' who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

'I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

Is this why you were touching your penis in the cinema, Jon? And letting the other boys touch it too?

We should also point out that Jon Katz refers to himself as 'Slashdot's resident Gasbag.' Is there any more doubt? For those fortunate few who aren't aware of the list of homosexual terminology found inside the Linux 'Sauce Code,' a 'Gasbag' is a pervert who gains sexual gratification from having a thin straw inserted into his urethra (or to use the common parlance, 'piss-pipe'), then his homosexual lover blows firmly down the straw to inflate his scrotum. This is, of course, when he's not busy violating the dignity and copyright of posters to Slashdot by gathering

How about Windows Mobile?

How about 1. the fact that you need the paid (not Express) version of Visual Studio to target Windows Mobile, and 2. networks that lock their phones so that you can't run any app that isn't signed with a Mobile2Market certificate?

How about Windows Mobile?

How about 1. the fact that you need the paid (not Express) version of Visual Studio to target Windows Mobile, and 2. networks that lock their phones so that you can't run any app that isn't signed with a Mobile2Market certificate?

1. Microsoft have the Home Use program, where employees of corporates that use Office (on a volume license) can get a free license to use Office at home. No money is being saved, sorry.

2. There are limitations to ODT. Certain things don't quite map (for example, the documentation states 'comments about a group of words becomes a single point'). It does generaly work though.

Maybe if those other platforms you mentioned had sdks and documentation nearly as nice. I've developed for blackberry, and for android, and it's a crapshoot.

How about Windows Mobile?

Well, its for their future version of Office, Office 2010 will be MS's version of EMACS!

Microsoft already has their own version of Emacs (well, sort of - there are some familiar bits there for sure): IntelliPad (scroll down there to see some screenshots). It's scriptable using IronPython, and it picks up MGrammar syntax definitions for automatic syntax highlighting.

The idea is to have a powerful yet lightweight (yes, I understand this part isn't very Emacs'ish), highly configurable editor for Oslo DSLs.

Well, its for their future version of Office, Office 2010 will be MS's version of EMACS!

Microsoft already has their own version of Emacs (well, sort of - there are some familiar bits there for sure): IntelliPad (scroll down there to see some screenshots). It's scriptable using IronPython, and it picks up MGrammar syntax definitions for automatic syntax highlighting.

The idea is to have a powerful yet lightweight (yes, I understand this part isn't very Emacs'ish), highly configurable editor for Oslo DSLs.

Whole swaths of public records stand at risk, tied to a format that's both obsolete and undocumented.

The legacy binary formats have been documented for a while as well.

http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/OfficeBinaryFormats.mspx

I prefer the ???x ones; easier to search and typically smaller due to being automatically zipped.

As for obsolete? They're not a bad design considering the low-end of hardware people would have had around 1996-1997 and needed to support forward compatibility from even older formats then. And it's arguably a feature for interoperability that they didn't get any breaking changes for a decade.

You could do a lot in Word 97. I remember trying to use WordPerfect to write a screenplay around that time, and their code scheme simply couldn't scale to a couple hundred pages with dozens of style changes per page. When I converted to .doc and Word, the file was about 20% the size and performance had to be 10x faster.

Yes, it was on a 80 MHz computer, but heck, some people were stuck with 80 MHz computers back then.

Uhh, but Office 2007 has exactly the same shortcuts as Office 2003. Here is a list for Word: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290938

And here is a list of the changes between the 2 versions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926809/ I count a total of 6 items on the list. In fact MS added Keytips for better keyboard navigation of UI: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/13/480568.aspx

Uhh, but Office 2007 has exactly the same shortcuts as Office 2003. Here is a list for Word: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290938

And here is a list of the changes between the 2 versions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926809/ I count a total of 6 items on the list. In fact MS added Keytips for better keyboard navigation of UI: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/13/480568.aspx

From: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=953195

"File formats

* OpenDocument Format (ODF) support

SP2 lets you open, edit, and save documents in version 1.1 of the ODF for Word (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/FX100649251033.aspx) , for Excel (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/FX100646951033.aspx) , and for PowerPoint (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/FX100648951033.aspx) . Users of these Office programs can now open, edit, and save files in the OpenDocument Text (*.odt), OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods), and OpenDocument Presentations (*.odp) formats."

-S

I've looked at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=953195 as well as the technical details but didn't see anything mentioned.

It has nothing to do with hisecws.inf. That security template was finally removed in Vista because it caused too much customer pain. Microsoft's guidance is available here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc677002.aspx. The FDCC is here: http://fdcc.nist.gov/

Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

I saw that story's headline, but didn't have time to RTFA. However, it is my understanding that Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional are still in their extended support phase, which means they do get security patches. (See #3 in Microsoft's lifecycle policy FAQ.

Am I wrong?

Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

I saw that story's headline, but didn't have time to RTFA. However, it is my understanding that Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional are still in their extended support phase, which means they do get security patches. (See #3 in Microsoft's lifecycle policy FAQ.

Am I wrong?

Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

I saw that story's headline, but didn't have time to RTFA. However, it is my understanding that Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional are still in their extended support phase, which means they do get security patches. (See #3 in Microsoft's lifecycle policy FAQ.

Am I wrong?

Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

I saw that story's headline, but didn't have time to RTFA. However, it is my understanding that Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional are still in their extended support phase, which means they do get security patches. (See #3 in Microsoft's lifecycle policy FAQ.

Am I wrong?

let's see, Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

Extended support for Windows 2000 doesn't end unitl July of 2010. The patch that fixes the exploit on Win2k is here if interested.

As for NT, the long term support ended over 5 years ago.

let's see, Windows on hospital equipment recently got Conficker because Microsoft no longer provided security patches for Windows 2000 and NT.

Uh, no. The MS08-067 patch that addresses conficker was released for Windows 2000 at the same time as all the other OSes, with the exception of NT. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

IE7 and 8 do not natively support xhtml, they treat the document as SGML and apply SGML rules to it. This means that namespaces, MathML, etc. cannot be supported by that browser

IE doesn't treat the document as SGML, it treats it as HTML tag soup with all its quirks (e.g. it parses <i><b></i></b>), and "with extensions". Among those extensions is XML-like namespace processing. So, yes, proper MathML (and SVG) can actually be implemented as a plugin for IE8.

It will not fail on invalid content as an xml parser should.

Does any browser on the market today fail on invalid XHTML? (by "fail" I mean refusing to parse the page and render it)

I just did a fresh install of XP SP1 (adding SP2 & 3 myself) on a system last night and I have run Windows update several times. Once I was current, IE8 did show up as a critical update, but with it's own install routine (just like IE7 did). I was asked in the first dialog if I wanted to help improve IE8 by sending data back to MS. On this opening dialog of the install routine was a "Do Not Install" button. The next page of the dialog was the click through license, which I also could have rejected. After rebooting the system my default browser was still FF, not the new IE8. Once I ran IE8 there was a first run wizard and the third page of that was "Choose Your Settings" and IF I selected "Express Settings" there was a list of things that would be done, one of those was make IE8 my default browser, another was something called "Smart Filter". This option was not selected by default, neither was the "Custom Settings" option. I chose the custom settings and one of those was to change my default browser. Again, NOTHING was selected by default, there was no "click through", I had to make a choice in order to proceed. Did they want to be my default, yes, but the options were not forced on me, preselected or concealed in a sneaky manner, it was all spelled out in plain simple language. The only way to get your browser switched against your will is to ignore the short list of things that will be done in the "Express Settings" option.

Just to make sure I was remembering correctly I ran Windows Update on another system this morning, and got the same exact experience. I also note there is a small download to block IE8 from being installed, it is at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=21687628-5806-4ba6-9e4e-8e224ec6dd8c.

I'll continue to use FF as my browser, but I know my phone will start ringing soon and I want to be ready for questions from my non-geek friends, so I'll take the new browser on my personal system and see what the new features are. As for the headline of this article, it does not match up with my two experiences in the last 24 hours. Maybe I'll set up another XP box and let the browser get pushed to me via automatic updates, but I bet the install routine is the same...

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itprovistaie/thread/de13bafa-7cc6-41f3-bcb3-f9f927440e1d/ http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1215303&threshold=-1&commentsort=4&mode=flat&cid=27755193/ http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general/browse_thread/thread/226df49cb034fa32/8500c7bb6da6e8cb?lnk=raot/

"Before a patch can bve installed on medical equipment, the hardware vendor has to validate the patch"

What are the technological and legal issues in relation to computerized medical equipment. How does one go about validating a patch. Who is responsible when something goes wrong. At least one hospitable has had equipment rebooting during surgery. How do you test the patch, apply patch, scrub up and attend operation, wait for BSOD and click on restore ?

Ghosting is a still a problem, because LCD motion is sample-and-hold rather than CRTs' impulse response. The problem was reduced with the recently released ViewSonic VX2265wm and Samsung 2233rz, but only for games capable of running at 120Hz.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/TempRate.mspx

The ViewSonic VX2265wm is the only LCD I consider acceptable for gaming, and it's still inferior to a good CRT.

I found the hashes online but not from MSDN:

File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_rc_x86_dvd_349010.iso
Date Posted (UTC): 4/30/2009 6:00:41 AM
SHA1: 7D1F486CA569EFFFFB719CFB48355BB7BF499712
ISO/CRC: E8A1C394

File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_rc_x64_dvd_347803.iso
Date Posted (UTC): 4/30/2009 6:00:41 AM
SHA1: FC867FE1AB2E0A9796F9E4D155B44EA6998F4874
ISO/CRC: 58FB2BE0

Since I have no access to MSDN, can someone please verify if the SHA1 hashes are indeed correct? If you have MSDN account, enter here.

"Well, NT didn't work to begin with, that was the problem" - by Chasmyr (1261462) on Thursday April 30, @06:45PM (#27780347)

NT worked fine to begin with, especially with the equipment certified for it by MS, in its day 1993-1996: This is certain!

(Hardware Compatibility Lists, anyone? WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) testing as well...)

NT 4.0 onwards, thru 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, & soon Windows 7 all/each of them, have their own HCL!

(& possibly NT 3.5-3.51 may even have one also, per this possible evidence thereof, here in the next url below, & this quote from it, from the year 1996:

----

http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/abuse/askdrbob-jan96.html

"If a machine is on the HCL for NT 3.5, that doesn't imply that the machine will run later versions of NT."

----

Now, for NT 3.51?

IIRC, I downloaded it from MS' old FTP site ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-docs/hcl/

(& it had a lot of equipment on it that was proven to work with it (especially NT 3.1-3.51, because they were new & had Win9x competition too))...

See here, for all the lists of Microsoft OS that have an HCL -> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx

NT 4.0's there, alongside even older Win9.x series... & leads to this example thereof -> https://winqual.microsoft.com/download/hcl/NT40xHCL.txt

APK

P.S.=> In other words, there are literal LISTS of tons of devices that "NT Worked with", though you said it did not work (it could be very stable & was Orange Book C2 Secure level granted secure as well)...

So!

That "all said & aside"?

I must ask you a question:

Had YOU ever used Windows NT 3.1-4.0, yourself, & especially back in the days it came out circa 1993-1996? apk

"Well, NT didn't work to begin with, that was the problem" - by Chasmyr (1261462) on Thursday April 30, @06:45PM (#27780347)

NT worked fine to begin with, especially with the equipment certified for it by MS, in its day 1993-1996: This is certain!

(Hardware Compatibility Lists, anyone? WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) testing as well...)

NT 4.0 onwards, thru 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, & soon Windows 7 all/each of them, have their own HCL!

(& possibly NT 3.5-3.51 may even have one also, per this possible evidence thereof, here in the next url below, & this quote from it, from the year 1996:

----

http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/abuse/askdrbob-jan96.html

"If a machine is on the HCL for NT 3.5, that doesn't imply that the machine will run later versions of NT."

----

Now, for NT 3.51?

IIRC, I downloaded it from MS' old FTP site ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-docs/hcl/

(& it had a lot of equipment on it that was proven to work with it (especially NT 3.1-3.51, because they were new & had Win9x competition too))...

See here, for all the lists of Microsoft OS that have an HCL -> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx

NT 4.0's there, alongside even older Win9.x series... & leads to this example thereof -> https://winqual.microsoft.com/download/hcl/NT40xHCL.txt

APK

P.S.=> In other words, there are literal LISTS of tons of devices that "NT Worked with", though you said it did not work (it could be very stable & was Orange Book C2 Secure level granted secure as well)...

So!

That "all said & aside"?

I must ask you a question:

Had YOU ever used Windows NT 3.1-4.0, yourself, & especially back in the days it came out circa 1993-1996? apk

"Well, NT didn't work to begin with, that was the problem" - by Chasmyr (1261462) on Thursday April 30, @06:45PM (#27780347)

NT worked fine to begin with, especially with the equipment certified for it by MS, in its day 1993-1996: This is certain!

(Hardware Compatibility Lists, anyone? WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) testing as well...)

NT 4.0 onwards, thru 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, & soon Windows 7 all/each of them, have their own HCL!

(& possibly NT 3.5-3.51 may even have one also, per this possible evidence thereof, here in the next url below, & this quote from it, from the year 1996:

----

http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/abuse/askdrbob-jan96.html

"If a machine is on the HCL for NT 3.5, that doesn't imply that the machine will run later versions of NT."

----

Now, for NT 3.51?

IIRC, I downloaded it from MS' old FTP site ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-docs/hcl/

(& it had a lot of equipment on it that was proven to work with it (especially NT 3.1-3.51, because they were new & had Win9x competition too))...

See here, for all the lists of Microsoft OS that have an HCL -> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx

NT 4.0's there, alongside even older Win9.x series... & leads to this example thereof -> https://winqual.microsoft.com/download/hcl/NT40xHCL.txt

APK

P.S.=> In other words, there are literal LISTS of tons of devices that "NT Worked with", though you said it did not work (it could be very stable & was Orange Book C2 Secure level granted secure as well)...

So!

That "all said & aside"?

I must ask you a question:

Had YOU ever used Windows NT 3.1-4.0, yourself, & especially back in the days it came out circa 1993-1996? apk

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx?PV=36:350:DVD:en:x64

SHA1: FC867FE1AB2E0A9796F9E4D155B44EA6998F4874

What strategy? Microsoft has always made prerelease versions of its software (betas and release candidates) available for free, with a time limit, which was usually quite generous (not 1 year, granted, half a year used to be more typical, but that isn't an order of magnitude difference). Furthermore, Microsoft makes trial versions of final products with similar time limits; for example, you can get Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 240-day trial. Previously, similar trials were available for Windows 2003, and quite possibly earlier than that (I didn't keep an eye back then). You can also get trial versions of Visual Studio, SQL Server, SharePoint, and so on, with the usual trial period of 180 days. I don't see what's new here, at all.

That's a little surprising, given that Linux is said to be a monolithic OS, not a kernel OS like Minix, and thus should contain lots of stuff that has nothing to do with device drivers or page tables. Are you sure this is not an artifact of by-hand inlining for efficiency? In other systems I've worked on or looked at, the truly "unsafe" stuff is quite small and confined to a few smallish modules -- but either they don't sweat the efficiency of a procedure call, or assume that inlining will make it better (or both).

SPIN says "most" of their code was written in the safe subset of Modula-3. They don't give an explicit line count, so I am guessing that means 49% was unsafe :-). http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/projects/spin/www/

Singularity reports 90% in (safe) Sing#, about half of the unsafe code is the garbage collector. http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=69431

I suspect very much that the number you report is an artifact of working in a language that is by default unsafe; there's no disincentive to sticking little unsafe bits of code here and there, so programmers do, and the result is a large volume of "unsafe" functions where you ought to just have a few unsafe functions that are frequently called. For example, Java "floatToIntBits" is a safe operation, but it has an unsafe implementation (it has a loophole, which can be used in an unsafe way). If you call the method, the calling code is safe, but if you inline it by hand, then it contains an unchecked cast, which is not known to be safe without further examination of the code.

Note that Singularity, SPIN, and Cedar all take a strategic approach to efficiency; by leveraging type safety, they can avoid the costs of a user/kernel context switch and constant rechecking of user inputs. The SPIN guys, long ago, reported great performance results from doing what in Linux would be the equivalent of putting the http server in the kernel. I've worked on Java systems that were designed in much the same way -- rather than invoking "native" code (which can be surprisingly costly, depend on GC and thread details) just drop into the "unsafe" implementation extension.

The actual rules for enforcing safety in language like Modula-3 or Cedar are simple, easy to understand, and not too hard to get right. That's not rocket science. Concurrent parallel realtime garbage collection -- that's rocket science, but if your application demands higher levels of assurance, you either work very hard at verifying and proving the GC, or else you use a less sexy algorithm (e.g., original Baker-style read barriers, or plain old stop-N-copy) and add more memory.