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I think a good example of this is how many security problems have been found in IIS in recent years. For example, go to the MS Security Bulletin site and look up bulletins for IIS 6.0 compared to IIS 5.0 -- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx.

There are only two "Important" bulletins for IIS 6, while IIS 5 has almost 30 bulletins over the same inital time period. It is amazing how far IIS has come since that nightmare that was IIS 4.

Microsoft had little experience in talking to toymakers and others about how to transfer an onscreen experience to real objects.

I think Microsoft is just in denial about past humiliations, as usual.

iPhone owners share the dubious distinction of owning a computer they aren't legally allowed to program.

Where in any contract agreed to by iPhone users does it state that you're not legally allowed to write software for it? ("Write software for it" is different from "unlock it" - and I don't even know whether that is forbidden; the DMCA explicitly exempts phone unlocking (see PDF pages 1, 5, and 6).

With the advent of cellphones, especially locked ones, we are seeing a new trend in computers. Rather than expanding the functionality of computers, they seek to limit it, in order to serve the greed of Corporate America. A device which formerly could be repurposed for any task the owner thought fit is now restricted to performing only the functions which make the manufacturer money. Consumer benefit beyond the original purpose of the device is explicitly and legally forbidden.

"Locked" in what sense? I suspect most cellphones sold in the US are locked to the carrier they were sold to work with, but there are SDKs for Symbian, Windows Mobile, and what I assume is the successor to the Palm OS. "Locked to a carrier" is not the same as "locked shut so that you can't run third-party apps"; even the iPhone has third-party apps, Apple's lack of assistance to developers of them nonwithstanding.

I've heard from people they feel it's easier to do a lot more things in DirectX than OpenGL. It's all opinion, of course.

While I strongly prefer OpenGL over DirectX, on some points you just can't deny that it's easier with DirectX, being a more extensive library. Sound and multi-media along with 3d and more in "one package". It also has functions for stuff which is complex to implement, ready to be used (for example the Precomputed Radiance Transfer API).

Another reason is that it's easier to verify that you're getting hardware accelerated features, and features that work (ATI has, in my experience, rather spotty OpenGL support). OpenGL 3 will fix the hardware detection issues, and hopefully make it easier to make good OpenGL drivers.

Again, I really like OpenGL, and OpenGL 3 looks very nice indeed, but if you're going for an xbox+pc game, I'd say it's almost a no-brainer to go with DirectX.

in a pinch you could daisy chain PCs with it for an impromptu 400mb/s lan.

That works in Mac OS X, *nix, FreeBSD, and XP but Vista does not support it.

Windows handles multiple cores much better than Linux... Must be because of the poor scheduler in Linux.

I can imagine a cluster of Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, though!! :D

For more information: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/enterprise/clustering.mspx

And from Excel 2007, it's 16,384 columns by 1,048,576 rows.

Excel 2007 supports 16,384 columns by 1,048,576 rows.

Really? How do you get that?

Microsoft says that Excel 2002 (XP) has only 64K rows.

meaningful according to whom? and desktop users couldn't care less about 'hard coded nice levels' if it means their 3d games and/or X apps work better: yes, I know this is anathema to the linux developers where only super perfect code supposedly should go in, however if this supposedly super perfect code doesn't meet desktop users' needs as well as hacks, well, I'd all be for giving desktop users as many hacks as they want/need (as long as this could be changed via either a pluggable architecture or a difference in make config).

That OS already exists. Seriously. If you want to cut corners and throw shit in willy-nilly, you should probably just use Windows.

The current kernel developers, and more importantly Linus, are more concerned about stability and performance on servers. There's no point bitching about it: they're the ones doing the actual coding. If it really bothers you so much, you're free to quit bitching and fork the kernel.

I had a $50 POS Thinkpad that I used to take with me to the library, leaving my new laptop at home. Since I didn't give a crap whether or not someone stole my Thinkpad, I decided to have a little bit of fun with it. First, I wrote my phone number on a white label, which I stuck inside the battery case. Criminals are stupid.

Then I edited my Windows registry so that when the computer was booted up, a 'warning' message would appear from the Department of Homeland Security. Second screen was a reminder that this was a Top Secret computer, and they could go to jail for ten years if this computer didn't belong to them.

The only reason I even bothered to put my phone number inside the battery case was so that the police would know who to call when the idjit thief got scared and ditched the computer.

(This is why I don't have a husband. I'm too much of a computer geek.)

Here's a Microsoft link explaining how to make a logon warning script.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/resources/qanda/jan05/hey0117.mspx

And information about putting a DOD related warning banner.

http://www.antionline.com/archive/index.php/t-233933.html

This is a highly twisted version of reality. The "undefined field" you mention is the authorization-data field in Kerberos tickets. That field is designed to contain application specific data such as groups and information about the user and that is precisely what MS used it for. No foul there. The structure they put in the authorization-data field is called the Privileged Attribute Certificate (PAC). The problem was that MS stated that the PAC was proprietary and that no one could implement it. I'm not sure which court breif you're talking about but I'm pretty sure the "big falling out" was over the IP claim on data in the Kerberos tickets wrt the PAC. MS reversed it's position. Information on the PAC is freely available on their website:

    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302203.aspx

Personally I feel strongly that companies should be required to make more information available about interprocess communication used in applications that have a significant market share (e.g. MS office files, AD directory replication semantics, workstation management RPCs, etc). However, I also find it very frustrating to see people misrepresenting the truth. The truth is in your favor so by mis-represeting it you're only hurting yourselves.

You mean the doc that came as a self-extracting archive that presented an EULA that looked suspiciously like an NDA? A license that was eventually dropped after much screaming from the rest of the computing world in the direction of Seattle?

No, I mean this:

    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302203.aspx

When it was first released they tried to claim no one could implement it. But that was knocked down to an un-naturally long copyright statement and a copyright statement only covers the content of the document / page. They could try to claim otherwise (e.g. like SCO tried with errno.h) but copyright has no impact on implementing what is described (sort of like how you can study GPL code and implement it elsewhere - you just can't copy and paste anything).

The document you're talking about was the CIFS spec wrapped in a Windows help file. That was just a feeble attempt to quell protesters asking for protocol documentation but that document's content had been available for many years so the overall effect was that they just annoyed the hell out of everyone by taking an existing document and sticking an EULA in it. That whole escapade was doomed to backfire. It was quite amusing really.

One of the funniest things the search above turned up is this presentation where M$ makes the case for Software as a Service in late 2005. 30% of SMB are likely to consider "Private web areas with advanced tools for collaboration amongst employees and business partners." I've got bad news for them - Google's work anywhere, someone else does all the work system is far more attractive. Thank you, James Murfin, for an entertaining read.

According to mp3licensing.com, the rates are assessed per copy of the codec and decoder. It looks like it would cost about $3-4 per copy. The OS doesn't factor into it.

dvdcca.org is not so forthcoming about the cost of their licenses, though the FAQ on that page specifically discusses Linux: "The DVD Copy Control Association would welcomes [sic] applications for the legal use of CSS from all manufacturers. In fact, Sigma Designs (www.sigmadesigns.com) is now marketing a DVD player for Linux under its license to manufacture products using CSS." I glanced quickly at the sigmadesigns page, but all I saw was hardware.

The fees for Windows Media aren't very high, especially in comparison to MP3. They look to run about $0.25 per copy.

Even if we're talking about another $25 per computer for licensing fees, I'd be happy to pay that to have legal software. Unlike some other people here, I wouldn't be buying an OEM Linux computer to avoid the so-called "Microsoft tax." Once you factor in the fact that the OEM won't be collecting additional fees for including trialware, and you add in some money for licensing, my guess is you'll end up with a price not that different from a machine that comes with Window. My interest is in having OEMs provide machines with pre-installed Linux that works flawlessly when they arrive and for which support is available on the same terms as Windows machines. Despite my initial hopes that Dell would be providing that experience with its Ubuntu machines, that doesn't appear to be the reality.

Seems like your memory needs a little work. In case you doubt the other posters who told you so, here it is straight from the horses mouth:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/bridgman02april15.mspx

I have performed countless XP installations over the years, and I am dead sure you are wrong. Maybe you installed vlc or something, but Windows Media Player most definitely doesn't come with an mpeg2 decoder.

You were expecting a technical explanation of the stealth update from a Microsoft employee?

Why?

Please read the following web page:
Plugins
"If you are running Windows XP, you can enhance your DVD playback experience by purchasing a DVD decoder pack."

I know that you're joking, but the sad thing is that it's no joke. Windows 95 would hang after 49.7 days of continuous operation. What really gets me is that the bug was discovered 4 years after the OS was released. (Note the date on the KB article.) Apparently no one, including Microsoft, thought an uptime of less than two months was abnormal.

More analysis is here. BTW, Microsoft says your computer may hang. I suspect rather that it will hang.

Before we all rejoice, consider that (a) Microsoft can, and will appeal, delaying any verdict by another three years (b) the fines amount to about one month of net profits, (c) Microsoft is building a new franchise strategy based on software patents that makes this ruling irrelevant. I predict MSFT's share price will wobble and then climb as this sinks in.

It's very simple - you pay about USD$8 to distribute a print server, or you are violating MS's patents and liable to be sued.

The largest monopolist in history has faced down the largest economy in history, and won. It was the delay that mattered; during those six years, software patents have changed the rules. Patents trump anti-trust law (a cartel deal that would result in 20 years jail for the execs that signed it becomes legal when a single patent is added to the mix). Microsoft is using this to trump whatever the EU does.

We are very close to seeing the FOSS world split into two, one half owned by Microsoft and acting as a franchisee, and the other half operating in increasing 'illegality'. The only real competition to Microsoft's global monopoly in one of the most vital of industries is the FOSS economy, and it's the patent threat that the EU should have been looking at, not the out-of-date issue of documentation and bundling.

Please consider joining the global fight against software patents - join the FFII, start a national chapter, and get involved. Only the community is able to defend itself against Microsoft, our politicians and courts are totally out-manoevered.

Unless the driver is one of those specific kinds of drivers that can run entirely in user space, you can't use drivers you compiled yourself because they are not digitally signed. Workarounds are to 1. press F8 every time you start Windows Vista or 2. pay $499 per year for a VeriSign code signing certificate and sign your code.

Total, unadulterated FUD. You can easily generate your own certificate (for free), add yourself as a trusted signer, and then self-sign your drivers.

See also: kernel-mode code signing walkthrough.

Be prepared for changes to the contents of user-mode memory at any time; another user-mode thread in the same process might change it. Drivers must not use user-mode buffers as temporary storage, or expect the results of double fetches to yield the same results the second time.

This video is very disturbing. Anyone care to comment?

The tool can be downloaded from MS homepage here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/NewSid.mspx

MS does actually try to help customers.

linky

Here is where I found this. Very interesting

Q: Some people are saying that WGA is spyware. Is this true?
A:

Broadly speaking, spyware is deceptive software that is installed on a user's computer without the user's consent and has some malicious purpose. WGA is installed with the consent of the user and seeks only to notify the user if a proper license is not in place. If the user declines the EULA, WGA Notifications will not be installed on user's machine. Once installed, WGA Notifications becomes a permanent part of Windows XP software, and therefore cannot be uninstalled. However, users can disable non-genuine reminders by changing WGA Notifications setting in the system tray icon. WGA is not spyware.

So by definition, this was updated using spyware provided courtesy of Micro$oft. I'll bet Windows Defender didn't catch this one :D

Why are you pretty sure this is permitted in the EULA? You realize this EULA would have been created by a multi-billion dollar corporation. I am "pretty sure" they have a legal staff that would not allow such a clause to be introduced in any EULA.

Nowhere in the EULA suggests MS may disregard the Windows Update settings, and in fact the EULA states in 7.a:
"You may switch off these features or not use them.", where Windows Update is clearly listed as the first entry in the list of features.

If the user turns the feature off, the user's choice must be respected.
If a level of service (one being to automatically download, but not automatically install) is chosen, the user's choice legally must be respected.

If you read the EULA, I am quite sure you will find nothing permitting Microsoft the right to disregard user choices. If you were to find such a clause, it would be very difficult to find a judge who would find it to be legally binding.

Here's a URL for the Vista Home Basic edition of Windows: http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Ultimate_English_36d0fe99-75e4-4875-8153-889cf5105718.pdf

From microsofts own webiste.
List of know applications that service pack 2 broke
Untest updates are always bad for business.

OL Toolbar 1.13.2 AOL 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.aol.com/ The Information Bar blocks access to the tool's edit boxes.
PhotoShop CS 8.0 Adobe 64-bit (NX) http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html Program installs, but will not start.
BlackICE 3.6 crj Internet Security Systems 64-bit (NX) http://www.iss.net/ When you use this program, you may receive a Stop error that causes the program to quit.
BootSkin All Stardock 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.stardock.com/ When you restart your computer during the Windows XP SP2 Setup program, a Stop error occurs. For more information, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5Bln%5D;873159.
Command Antivirus 4.9 Authentium 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.authentium.com/ This program does not start.
Encyclopedia Britannica 2000 Deluxe 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.britannica.com/ Java rendering does not function after you install this program.
eTrust EZ Armor 1 Computer Associates 64-bit (NX) http://www.ca.com/ The EZ Firewall part of this program generates a Stop error during installation.
Freedom Force 1 Electronic Arts 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.ea.com/ When you start the program, a message appears that points you to the following EA Web site: http://techsupport.ea.com./
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (German) 4.5 and 5.0 Kaspersky Labs 64-bit (NX) http://www.kaspersky.com/ Real-Time scanning does not work in version 4.5 or 5.0. The vendor's Web site has available product updates that are designed to address this issue.
Live Motion 1 Adobe 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.adobe.com/ This program displays various errors that prevent typical operation.
MapSend DirectRoute 1.0 Magellan 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.magellangps.com/ When you start the program, a message appears that points you to the following Web site: http://www.magellangps.com/en/support.
MPEGcraft DVD All Canopus 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) When you try to save an MPEG file, you receive a "Failed to Edit" error, and the file cannot be saved.
NBA LIVE 2000 1 Electronic Arts 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.ea.com/ This program does not start in certain systems.
NOD32 for Microsoft Windows 2.000.11 Eset 64-bit (NX) http://www.eset.com/ When this program is started on an AMD64-based computer, all network connectivity is lost. To resolve this issue, upgrade to NOD32 version 2.12.2 or higher.
Norman Personal Firewall 1.4 Norman 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.norman.com/ Norman Personal Firewall Assistant will not start.
Norman Personal Firewall 1.4 Norman 64-bit (NX) After this program installs and restarts, the desktop does not load correctly
Norton AntiVirus 2003 Symantec 32-bit and 64-bit (NX) http://www.symantec.com/ At system startup, Scheduled Tasks in Norton AntiVir

I know where I am, click-through EULAs are not valid - you need to able to read them before you purchase the software for them to be binding.

http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/

Almost every company has their EULA and ToS available online on their website. Ignorance isn't a defense in court, all companies know this and so they cover themselves even for those cases where click-through EULAs are not valid. You can view this before installing any Microsoft product in order to ensure you'd abide by the terms before purchasing the software. Even if they happened to not have the EULA online you could call the company through their contact information and I'm sure they'd be happy to supply you with their legal documents.

Not meaning to sound like a M$ enthusiast or anything, as I'm not, but this needed clarified.

Did you see how happy those nerds were? Here they were waiting to get bored out of their skulls with piles of the technical jargon of how to upgrade to MS DOS 5 (It's a HIT and no PC should be without IT!©®*) and instead they were treated to a multi-media presentation complete with a nerd-core soundtrack that straight up rocked the hizzie. *Warning, "it" and all associated words are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, may not be reproduced or read without prior written authorization. If you feel that you have become a victim of "it" piracy, please contact Microsoft Corporation via http://www.microsoft.com/piracy. Before submitting your blood test, please be aware that Microsoft has identified 238 patent violations in the human genome, although we do not intend legal action at this time.

FlexLM is a joke. We used to have node locked licences for a number of compilers and other tools. To FlexLM, node locked meant tied to the hard disk volume ID, which was also present in the licence files in clear text.

The problem was that every so often, someone's computer would get replaced (upgrade/malfunction etc...) and after reinstall, none of the FlexLM locked tools would work. Understandable - FlexLM was 'working', but a major PITA as it would take a couple of days to get licences re-issued from the distributors. Some distributors would also only allow a licence to be reissued once a year, complicating the matter on a number of occasions. At one time, all systems in the company were upgraded/refreshed, meaning almost 400 licences would need re-issuing.

We got bored with re-licensing very quickly, so decided to use volumeid to change the HDD IDs to match licences. After a reboot, FlexLM knew no difference and we could get on with work.

The 'node locked' mode of FlexLM is so utterly retarded. Waste of time.

The confusion is in the fact that you are talking about one situation, and he is talking about another.

Business: Mary Jane in accounting wants to write a letter. It's boring. There is nothing special in the letter, just routine business. She does not want to spend time learning anything, because she is busy. No amount of innovation could make her want to change software.

Actual example: One woman was switched from Microsoft Office to Open Office, and did not notice that anything had changed. She doesn't use any of the fancy features. Her letters are all one page.

Slashdot Readers: Computer programs are partly a hobby. They are interested in trying new things. They have a high tolerance for changes in the way things work. The advance of computer technology is fascinating, and they are very sensibly fascinated.

Actual examples: I have friends who can easily find flaws in even the latest technology. When I examine what they say, I discover they are right. Generally, though, I am busy doing things and don't have much interest in the way things could be, unless it is my own product.

Biggest Issue for both groups: With Microsoft Office, you are a dog on a leash. You must accept whatever Microsoft decides, and sometimes Microsoft is extremely adversarial toward customers.

Actual example: Microsoft recently killed an entire computer language: FoxPro. It is dead. Software's Doctor Death, Bill Gates, said so. No serious explanation, and no conversion path. Just, that's it, the end. A few years ago, FoxPro had 1,500,000 users, I was told by someone at Microsoft. There are billions of lines of FoxPro legacy code. Now FoxPro is dead, and in a few years there won't be any support for it.

Of course not. Is Visio a part of Office, now?

Yes, but Five different levels of crippled to complete? Maybe I've become a minimalist in middle age, but I miss the approach of "Solaris" (or "VMS"), in one size, deal with it.

Actually, the only difference between NT4 Workstation and Server was two registry keys. It made sense from a support standpoint pricing them differently, but it seemed kind of dishonest at the time. It still was a lot easier to keep track of when users asked questions.

MS lets you download the free PDF/XPS plugin (which was originally built into the BETA version until Adobe moaned at them), you can get it here, and it works perfectly well. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4D951911-3E7E-4AE6-B059-A2E79ED87041&displaylang=en

Not really.... here is a video from Microsoft that shows the black screen mode.
http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/public/US/wgavista/Flash.html

The truth is, free-as-in-beer isn't a very compelling reason to chose an office suite - something you'll likely have to live with between nine and five every work day.

MS Office Home 2007, retail boxed, three seat license, is $120 at Amazon.com.

#1 in software sales at Amazon.com. OpenOffice.org on disk is #14 in Windows Office Suite sales at 85 cents plus shipping and handling.

If your employer has a volume licensing deal with Microsoft, MS Office can also be yours for the price of the media, shipping and handling. Home Use Program

and an "XPS" thingie: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4D951911-3E7E-4AE6-B059-A2E79ED87041&displaylang=en

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925582

However, Reduced Functionality Mode is not a hoax. Linked from your article is this - straight from Microsoft. I guarantee this link is worth the visit, despite the Flash.

http://oem.microsoft.com/downloads/public/US/wgavista/Flash.html

Not to defend vista, but lets get the facts strait. It seems that there are 2 modes to the reduced functionality, Basically if you don't activate you get the black screen and are screwed. They will treat pirates the nearly same as they do in XP with updates only. Sigh, I would have hoped for more aggressive blocking. Just to give people a chance to consider the true cost of Vista.

reference
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925582

Ill summarize what you can do:

non-genuine key:
Can use Windows Vista features
Can activate Windows Vista
Can change the product key
Can log on without a time constraint to perform certain activities (no 1 hour restriction)

Can not use certain Windows Vista features such as Aero Glass and the Windows ReadyBoost.
Can not obtain some content from Microsoft Download center.

Out-of-grace period for activation:
Can activate Windows Vista
Can remotely script Windows Vista
Can change the product key
Can log on to Windows Vista for one hour to obtain a new product key or to access data on the local computer.
Can use most of the features that are available in Windows Vista.
Can activate the Windows Vista product key.
Can remotely access a shared network location.
Can remain logged on
Can run Windows Vista in safe mode

Can not play built-in games
Can not use premium features such as Aero Glass, ReadyBoost, and BitLocker.
Can not log on for more than one hour

A reference? Certainly. Ever hear of "vbaProject.bin"?

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/aa982683.aspx

It looks to me like Michael Robertson is pre-empting Microsoft releasing an ajax-based "GUI API" of the same name. This would be consistent with what he has done in the past.
This would also explain why he may have jumped the gun on the release, since releasing a quality product is not the top priority, he is gambling on getting sued again.
If he gets sued and loses (incredibly unlikely, given the precedent), he's got $20 million before he is even in the red.
If he gets sued and wins, he gets even more money.
If he doesn't get sued at all, he looks like a badass to the community, forces Microsoft to do an ajax-OS-like product under a different branding, and may get a lot of traffic from people who don't understand that Microsoft doesn't own the word "Windows"
Essentially a lateral move, but IMO deserving of props.
This is basically the kind of thing that Silverlight is working towards, yes?

Patent Pledge

(This Post is Preview Button Approved!)

See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310105/

First of all, ophcrack only comes with alpha-numeric tables for LM hashes. If you have special characters in your password, you'll have to generate your own table, which takes a very long time, and a lot of hard drive space. Ophcrack does not have the ability to generate Rainbow tables as the article suggest... Second of all, Ophcrack only works well against LM hashes, because with LM hashes, passwords are split into 7 byte halves, then hashed. So you only have to have tables that go up to 7 characters with LM hashes. If you disable LM hashes on your Windows box, and use NTLM hashes, the entire password is hashed, and is not split up. So if you pick a good password, with special characters, that's fairly long, it will be pretty much impossible to crack if your using NTLM only. Even with rainbow tables... The problem is Windows XP (by default) stores passwords as LM and NTLM hashes. So if an attacker can get the LM hashes, they can crack your password easily. You can hack the registry and keep Windows from storing LM hashes. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299656

Funny thing is Microsoft actually wrote an OS in c# ... Singularity