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Is There a Future for PGP?

Posted by Cliff on from the deciphering-the-marketingspeak dept.

Thom Dyson asks: "So it looks like McAfee is walking away from PGP. At least that's how I interpret their marketing speak. I've been told PGP doesn't work on XP, does that hold true for the Open Source version as well?"

2 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. It does work on Win XP by DiSKiLLeR · · Score: 4, Informative

    PGP 7.0.3 for Windows 2000 does run on XP.

    Well, kind of. Okay, so it gets very confused with fast user switching (it uses services which i think don't understand the concept of multiple users logged in simultaneously) so apart from the various errors that come up when you log in, yeah, it works. (Come to think of it, if it doesn't understand multiple users it certainly won't run on W2k Adv. Server with terminal services then...)

    You can right click on files and do encrypt. pgpkeys and pgptools work fine.

    Outlook 2002 (Office XP) plugin support is different. Yeah, it works. But not really well at all. The icons seem corrupt in outlook too. You need to enable an option to auto decrypt mail. Then when you open an email PGP tries to decrypt it automatically. (the reason you must do this is that the decrypt button on the toolbar doesn't work *shrug*). Sending encrypted mail on Outlook 2002 works fine too.

    I've been doing this for about a month now, with no ill effect.

    So yeah, PGP 7.0.3 works on WinXP. It would be nice if it supported XP properly.

    D.

    --
    You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
  2. Use Free (libre) Crypto by Deagol · · Score: 4, Informative
    I ditched PGP once GnuPG came out. Ever since McAfee bought PGP (or Zimmerman sold out, take your pick), I've been weary of the product.

    Most hardcore cypherpunks seems to still use PGP 2.6.x! (If USENET sigs/keys are any indication)

    In any case, check out pgpi.com for different versions of PGP, many of which are actively developed. Also, search for "Cyber-KnightsTemplar PGP". I only used this version when I was a dedicated Windows user.

    Now, I use GnuPG for mail/file crypto, and loopback crypto for filesystems (/pub/linux/kernel/people/hvr at your favorite mirror). I run Windows and Linux under VMWare, using the "undoable" drive type, hosted on a blowfish-encrypted loopback volume, which leaves no physical evidence on my machine of activities in the VM). I also dabble in Ouguess for my stego "needs".

    While my practices in paranoia are fun, I don't take them too seriously. However, I like the idea of being able to Ascroft-Proof(tm) my machine if I wish. :-)

    --
    Method of processing duck feet