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Longhorn Preview
prostoalex writes "News.com has up a preview of Microsoft's current build of Longhorn operating system, from Jim Allchin, Microsoft group vice president. The timing is not coincidental with Apple's Tiger release, as Allchin pointed out some advantages that Microsoft had over Apple's OS: 'High on the list of features are security enhancements, improved desktop searching and organizing, and better methods for laptops to roam from one network to another.'" Update: 04/15 21:24 GMT by Z : Thomashawk wrote in to provide links to less formal looks at the Allchin preview, one at his site, and one at Evan William's site.
High on the list of features are security enhancements
...
Ok, so, to bring Longhorn anywhere near the fundamental security that Mac OS X already intrinsically has?
To say nothing of the irony of this statement..."security enhancements"? Over what? Microsoft's previous already-dismal general track record in this area?
improved desktop searching and organizing
Which Apple is already shipping in Tiger, and even Paul Thurrott acknowledges as "exceedingly cool"?
Perhaps this line from the article says it all on this topic:
"In both look and form, the search mechanism is similar to the Spotlight feature in Apple Computer's Mac OS X Tiger, which goes on sale later this month."
and better methods for laptops to roam from one network to another.
...that I can already seamlessly do with Mac OS X's automatic detection of saved wireless network settings, rolling prioritized detection of available network interfaces, and quick switching of locations?
And it goes on like this, mostly as justifications for how Longhorn is really different from Tiger. (No. Really.) The most relevant excerpt is likely "[Longhorn] bears plenty of similarities to Tiger [...]"
Except that one is, you know, shipping this month.
To say nothing of the full-fledged UNIX and X11 environment I have with Mac OS X.
*Yawn*
By the time Longhorn ships, according to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, PCs will have 4GHz to 6GHz processors, more than 2GB of memory, at least a terabyte of storage, and graphics accelerators three times more powerful than those offered by ATI and Nvidia today. He says that Longhorn is designed to take advantage of all this muscle, and nowhere is that more evident than in the rich, three-dimensional interface known as Aero.
Points to ponder:
1. People don't even want to move to SP2, do you think people will buy all this muscle for Longhorn?
2. What exactly is a 3D interface? Would we need to wear 3D goggles to use it?
3. Longhorn is built around three major advances--a new graphics and presentation engine known as Avalon, a new communications architecture known as Indigo, and a new file system known as WinFS that borrows from Microsoft's relational database technology. Avalon and Indigo are catchy names, but are we going to have loads of compatibility issues?
4. How much MORE is Longhorn going to cost? Is it going to be subscription based?
5. How many software patents are MS going to secure for this?
Iran captures three CIA agents
"High on the list of features are security enhancements, improved desktop searching and organizing, and better methods for laptops to roam from one network to another."
:-)
And you'll see all this and more when it's released in 2007.
Honest.
The fact that Microsoft has had to work hard to try and catch up to OSX's level of security is a Longhorn advantage? Wonder if they made it yet....
Made me laugh: "...document icons are no longer a hint of the type of file, but rather a small picture of the file itself." Now there's a security enhancement. The user will have no clue as to what it will do when they double-click the icon...(not that they ever worried about it anyway).
"As with Windows XP Service Pack 2, security remains at the forefront of Microsoft's development efforts." Right. And it's been proven, after 5 years, how rock solid XP security is...
So, anyone want to bet on how many "critical" system compromising security issues will be found before Longhorn SP1 comes out?
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
High on the list of features are security enhancements Generally speaking, it is much easier to "enhance" security of something which is not all that secure to begin with, so in itself it could hardly be touted as an advantage compared to other OSes.
"You mortals are so obtuse." -Q
'High on the list of features are security enhancements.
'Enhancements'? How can you 'enhance' no security to start with? 0 +0 = 0.
Heh, personally I couldnt care if MS releases longhorn in 2007, I would like to see a windows version that isnt half assed up. Id like to (for once) not worry so much about security too much. Id be willing to wait a few months/a year or two for MS to really make LH as good as they can.
- Teja
Wow! I sure need that, since my OSX installs are all so virus-prone!
has info as well
But this part made me go whaaaa?:
Oh, no, thank you very much. First, I don't want those system resources wasted trying to figure out what the icon should look like every time I update or save the file, let along when I move stuff into and out of the folder. Individual icons for items? Sure! But why are we wasting all the extra time that could be used making the OS faster.
And I loved this part:
Oh, for joy. It's not enough just to find what I want, but I need to sort it by things like "date" and "creator" and "file type". Oh, wait - Spotlight will do that too!
The whole presentation sounds a lot like "Hm - another product is coming out now, we need to have a good reason for people to delay. Institute standard plan #2: Convince people that our stuff will be better 'When it's done', so don't buy that other stuff now!"
The question is, with Longhorn at least a year out, will it work any better this time?
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I sure hope that users have fast CPU's and a butt-load of memory. With the new icon "feature" that gives a mini preview of each document in a folder, I can only imagine how long simple navigation will take. And I thought viewing My Pictures in thumbnail mode was slow.
It's the same story Microsoft has told for years.. "Yeah, those other guys might have some cool shit, but the stuff we're working on is WAY better. Don't buy their stuff, wait for our new thing to come out. It'll be available Real Soon Now."
Apple will be releasing Mac OS X Ocelot by the time Longhorn hits the market.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
pointed out some advantages that Microsoft had over Apple's OS
I've lost count of the number of articles, comparisons, and reviews of Longhorn I've come across in the last two years that tout some *advantage* over another OS (usually OS X).
What possible relevance does that have to me (or anyone else) right now considering no one will be able to buy copy for the next two years, if then? Meanwhile in the last two years OS X has served me very well, certainly better than a nonexistent OS could have.
At this point, continuing to sing Longhorn's praises to the consumer is about as logical as advertising the fact that Duke Nukem Forever will support the ability to fire 10 guns at once. If software companies never deliver the product, the feature set it has couldn't really be more irrelevant.
We'll see OSX on an intel platform by then... but then again, prolly not. Been discussed before, but wouldn't it sweet to see side-by-side comparisons, on the same hardware, etc, of MacOS and Windows?
So as a fanboy with nothing to do on a friday afternoon with no class I must take issue with the whole easier to roam from network to network thing... As a student at a private California university (not ucsc as per my name), we have different wifi networks all over the place. I'm using a PBg4 with airport express and mac os 10.3.8. Whenever and wherever I open up my laptop, it automatically connects me to the best (or predetermined) network available, and it usually takes 5 seconds. The only time i've had to open up my Network connection system prefence is when i failed to realize that my airport express base was unplugged!
Allchin pointed out some advantages that Microsoft had over Apple's OS:
-features are security enhancements
OS X, unix-based since 10.0: Got it already!
-improved desktop searching and organizing
Spotlight... got it!
better methods for laptops to roam from one network to another
Location Manager... Got it since OS 8!!
SOOOOO good!
I think they mean -1 + 1 = 0 .
PimpMyMazda.com - Crazy mods to a 2002 Mazda Protege DX.
How many people trashed tis article over at osnews and are now over here trashing it again?
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
"document icons are no longer a hint of the type of file, but rather a small picture of the file itself"
Wang was doing this circa 1991 on AT-class hardware.
I didn't think it was all that cool at the time and I don't think it's a particularly good idea now.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Now I'll admit I'm a happy windows user. I have Knoppix and Ubuntu close by but for the most part I use windows...because it works for me. I does what I want it to do and does it at an acceptable level. I for one am both excited and disappointed about Longhorn here's why:
:-( ...maybe that's just me). I enjoy the concept of steaming video to any window and think that eliminating the difference between web and desktop apps is great. I didn't like what they pulled with WinFS but if it means the final product is better, than I say fine by me.
Longhorn is a big update for Microsoft, they're planning big changes, many of them multimedia. I like the 3D enviroment and Avalon graphics (Though I still want animated program icons
"designed to take advantage of all this muscle"
Y'know, like "to fuck with", "to shag" etc?
I never can tell with MS, after all they have redefined the meaning of so many words and terms; innovation, secure, reliable, scalable etc etc.
Deleted
i really love the default setup for Mac OS X, and while I understand XP can be made to look like just about anything, i truly hope they get some better design people in there by the time Longhorn is actually released.
sure it's petty... but to those who have to look at it all day, it's important.
From the makers of "Free ,as in costs money" we have "advatage, as in Same thing later". ..
I have to ask which dictionary they are using
Seriously i know marketing people are usualy full of crap , but normaly they try to avoid silly statments that are near out and out lies
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Well, if by Linux you mean DEs like KDE. I already have this feature, but I don't use it because I prefer the detailed list. It does make browsing through pictures easier.
I'm still trying to figure out what innovation we're seeing here. So far it just looks like a collection of eye candy taken from OSX and KDE. As for security? They should go require one root account and regular user accounts. They have enough time to let other software companies know the details so if their software won't function properly they can fix it.
I mean if they want to simply copy features left and right, then I don't really care so much. But they shouldn't act like these are important innovations.
The most important of which is compatibility. Windows will run on an endless combination of different vendor's processors, motherboards, etc etc. Windows has the whole PC thing going for it. With Tiger you are locked into Apple hardware.
now before you dismiss this as a simple scoff, I am (attempting) to make a valid point here. What is the number one reason people stay away from Mac? I submit that it is price. Not price of the OS Tiger, but price of "The Comptuer" you have to buy. Imagine the ability to have something as solid, feature rich, and protected as Tiger, that you can run on a relatively powerful system you made from parts you bought off of newegg for $600. Personally, I believe that's worth waiting for.
Basically what I'm saying, I guess, is if Longhorn can be ALMOST as good as Tiger it will be:
1. A vast vast VAST improvement over the windows we currently have
and 2. Will be more appealing due to the cost factor.
I don't use it now, but I'd run OSX in a heartbeat if I could do it on a PC.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
If there was a clearly better OS out there then why are people still using windows?
Lack of education about alternatives and Microsoft FUD.
That would be just two reasons. I haven't even started with the predatory monopolistic practices.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Because just because something is technologically better doesn't mean that it's (a) easier to use, and (b) marketed more.
In the case of OSX part of the problem is that it is for only one platform and that platform is expensive compared to the cheap internet computers you can buy at Wal-Mart. As such Joe L-User only has real experience with the basics of Windows and they know that it "looks pretty" and "does what they need it to do", once you add in the fact that they hear that "Linux is hard to use" and you have word of mouth working against other OSes.
Long story short, Linux is always going to have problems getting major wide spread appeal as long entry level computers come loaded with Windows - if they were pre-loaded and pre-configured to run Linux in a desktop environment then odds are the word-of-mouth appeal of Linux would start to change and more people would start using it.
However, in the mean time people want "pretty" desktops that they can use to send baby pictures to Gramma with, and the hardware companies want Microsoft to come out with bloated OSes so that people have to upgrade their computer every two years.
I think you missed the point. There isn't really an issue with Microsoft copying the feature from elsewhere... it's the fact that they are claiming that they are breaking new ground by doing it.
Made me laugh: "...document icons are no longer a hint of the type of file, but rather a small picture of the file itself." Now there's a security enhancement.
I think that files with viruses in them show a little icon of you reintsalling the OS, as a portent of the future you might have by opening it. So I guess that's security related. By default it ships with an icon of Balmer doing the installation unless you have a USB camera hooked up, then it automatically detects an install and takes a snap while you're in hour two for best effect!
Who says Microsoft cant innovate.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
OS X has image thumbnail icons as well, although the feature can be turned off. (When you're working with 12,000-pixel-wide panoramic images, thumbnails just aren't that helpful.)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Allchin said that Longhorn also goes further than Tiger when it comes to what one can do with search results, saying it offers new ways to organize and view the information.
"We got both kinds of search views. We sort by date OR time!"
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I mean who needs these features in a typical office enviroment not to mention mom and pop user. The only real power users out there today are the Gamers and they aren't going to be happy to give up cycles just to have some cool 3D in their OS.
Could it be that MS has finally pushed to far and bet too much?
Are we going to be FORCED to use this OS by some self serving argument that it will "MAKE AMERICA SAFER, and whiten teeth"tm ?
You may feel I'm being a bit anti Microsoft here but they really have gambled a bit, as have the hardware companies or are they looking for this to create more demand (quick answer OF COURSE), and they are going to create an OS that 99% of us do not need.
What I want is an OS thats fast and doesn't get in the way of me working with graphics, fiddlin with creating movies, playing music or blowing things up in Unreal. Longhorn?, don't thinks so, not from what I've been reading.
Its like the OS IS the experience and everything your doing and that high powered machine you bought to do it on be dambed cause we know you want your 3D interface!!
Microsoft needs to hire about 200 Russian coders, stick em on an island with nothing but PII 450's and 20GB of total hard drive space and tell them they get paid when Longhorn runs on their machines!!
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
Believe it or not, people educated about the alternatives *still* use XP.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
What do you replace the default shell with?
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I mentioned that Longhorn would show a "preview" as the document icon to a family member who is less than computer savvy and she thought it was the greatest idea ever. She really did say "that's why windows is great..they're always improving the way things work." When I told her the mac had this for ages, she shrugged and said 'I never used a mac.'
People like my sister-in-law are the perfect audience for microsoft...she doesn't know anything different from windows at all, thinks that everything they do was their own original creation, and after cleaning her machine of netsky and some random spyware programs, shrugs again and asks if she lost anything. Doesn't care, isn't curious, does what she's told. The worst thing is that she's totally comfortable with this state of affairs because she figures that's the way things are, that's the way it'll be.
Aaarrrgghh!!
Believe it or not, people educated about the alternatives *still* use XP.
My commments were not intended to be exclusive, but there is a body of evidence in the form of user polls that indicates that Microsoft users are largely unaware of any alternatives to IE. Given that users will not explore alternatives beyond a simple browser, it makes my case a bit more strong that they will also not investigate alternative OSs.
Simply put, most folks will not venture out beyond the OS that came pre-installed in their first computer. That leads into a discussion on predatory pricing and strong-arm monopolistic practices by Microsoft.
Care to argue against court transcripts?
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Lemme get this straight.
Microsoft: "We don't have Longhorn ready yet, but Tiger, that OS from that other company, is shipping in 14 days if you want a 99% approximation of our OS that will ship in two years."
Apple: "Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger': Even Microsoft Says It's Good."
Isn't Rule Number One of advertising never to mention the "leading brand" by name? Sheesh, you'd think M$ would have learned by now.
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
From TFA:
For example, a PC with Longhorn might show all the music files together, whether they are on the local PC or another machine on the network.
I'm surprised, this already works on my WinXP machine. The application is named iTunes.
Oh wait...
Did you see the /. post from an Apple dev a few days ago, saying that putting the windowing interface in 64 bit actually slows it down due to longer pointers, and doesn't have any benefit? The claim was that, if they created 64 bit versions of the interface code, they would then have had to tell their developers not to use them. In the meantime, all of the proc-intensive tasks that would benefit from 64 bit are already using it, and the proc is designed such that using whichever is appropriate doesn't impose a performance penalty ...
I guess my real question is, do you know something I don't (most people do), or are you just "hoping Tiger is finally a fully 64 bit version" because 64 is twice as much?
First, even without a default shell, you can use either a hacked uxtheme.dll (free) or StyleXP (not so free) to replace the theme. Head over to customize.org to witness what you can *really* do with XP.
Second, explorer.exe isn't bad, but litestep is even better - makes it a lot more fun to use. google "litestep xp" to see what I mean.
Third, I don't personally enjoy using the start bar, so I use a freeware program I found someplace on the net to hide it (still accessable with the Windows button) and use a dock like yzdock. YzDock is free, quick, and fairly bug-free, but is no longer in development (as it was shut down by Apple). So much more convenient to group togther ten or so commonly-used programs, a restart/shutdown button, clock, mail checker, and weather report into an aesthetically-pleasing package. The result? No icons on desktop. Interesting theme that replaces the Tonka Truck default. Using Litestep makes your comp that much faster. Add in the other advantages of XP (more games, apps, cheaper hardware over Apple, wider peripheral support than Linux) and in my opinion you've got a winner.
The problem is that you have to pay for XP, which makes it more expensive than Linux, but it ultimately costs less than a comparable OS X box (hardware is cheaper, software is roughly the same). It also takes some time to set this up, but once you've done it a few times, it takes probably 10-15 minutes after a fresh install.
So no, this post and the parent is *not* a troll - I'm simply expressing an opinion. Microsoft has monopolistic tendencies, yes, but in terms of ease of use, I think that they release pretty good products. Viruses and malware? Comes with being the most popular OS - if everybody had Macs, the situation would be reversed.
Anyway, that's the joy of being in a free market; I get to pick the OS that I want to use, and others can use Linux or OS X if they feel that those products are better.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
It's the Type-R obsession back to harass us all again. People, apparently including the parent to your post, have this silly notion that everything has to be "fully 64-bit" even when it serves no damn purpose (and even when it slows things down!).
64-bit is not a panacea. 64-bit is useful where it is useful, but that's not everywhere. Just like you don't ride around in a U-Haul truck around 365 days a year because it has a lot of room, you don't need 64-bit support in, say, TextEdit or the window manager.
What are you going to do with 64-bit addressing in a simple text editor or the window manager? Nothing. Nothing at all.
I drive a Jeep. It's got four wheel drive. I'm not going around complaining about how all the roads immediately around me are paved -- they don't diminish my ability to use my four-wheel drive when appropriate. So it is with 64-bit processors. Not everything needs to be optimized for them. Some applications won't see any benefit, and some may even see a performance decrease (kind of like how tooling around town in 4Lo just because you can will leave you without a drivetrain).
Do anyone really want a 64-bit version of TextEdit just so you can say your OS is completely 64-bit optimized? Give me a break.
I also saw Allchin's roadshow. The icons scale on the fly, like desktop icons in Mac OS X. You can work a slider to bump them up to a fairly large size.
Breakfast served all day!
If you like Cygwin -- you may also enjoy Microsoft Windows Services for Unix. In my opinion, it's much closer to Unix than Cygwin. It uses BSD code and some GPL (it includes GCC and friends.) It's not as usable as a default install of Cygwin is, but there's some precompiled software availbale for it. Programs in/compiled with SFU run in an actual kernel-level POSIX subsystem called Interix, instead of Cygwin's Unix-like layer that runs under Win32. Unix permissions are emulated (I believe) and programs don't have .exe on the end. GCC is supported, and in general (as someone who is used to using BSD/Linux) is much cleaner and nicer than Cygwin.
I'd guess that more programs would compile unmodified in SFU compared to Cygwin (assuming you're using GCC), but I have no evidence/experience to back this up.While it's pretty obvious that Allchin would tout the features of Longhorn, but the real importance of Allchin giving an interview right now, after Tiger's announcement, and then basically spending half the interview comparing Longhorn favourably to Tiger lies in exactly that: Tiger. I have no idea just how insecure OSX and Apple make Microsoft feel, but, given that it is usually suicide to mention a competitor in an interview, and the timimng make me think that Microsoft is beginning to feel afraid that they might lose one or two marketshare percent yet another OS apart from Linux.
And that sadly, is really what has defined Microsoft from the very days of Billy G being clever enough to license the OS to IBM across Microsoft's threats against Apple's Basic back in the 80s to the Netscape killing in the 90s. Microsoft has always and always will exist mostly as a company that defines itself by its competition. The last time Microsoft really was innovative was in the early to mid 90s with WinNT and Win95, and even those were made to compete with Mac OS7 and Unix respectively.
Microsoft, facing a lack of competitors, always almost stalls and starts comming up with insane batshit like Software Assurance.
Note the before OSX Tiger and after OSX Tiger screenshots of Longhorn and how much Microsoft has done to copy Tigers featureset. It's actually sad.
Thankfully, Microsoft also did this with WinXP (the Luna scheme) to counter OSX 10.0, and it did nothing to stop OSX adoption. I doubt, seeing that Longhorn won't be here until next year, that it will hinder the adoption of OSX Tiger in any way.
No Kool-Aid but a nice medium bodied chardonnay before dinner accompanied by a nice fruity pinot with the chicken.
So, if you completly basterdize it with free 3rd party abilities, it's worth a damn.
great.
"Viruses and malware? Comes with being the most popular OS - if everybody had Macs, the situation would be reversed."
Myth.
You may have the same amount of people trying, but that doesn't mean you have the same number of success.
The virus writer that writes a good spreading virus for OSX would get huge points in the community. so people are trying to get into it.
There are several site that have in depth articles on why your statement is false. I suggest you read them.
"Anyway, that's the joy of being in a free market; I get to pick the OS that I want to use, and others can use Linux or OS X if they feel that those products are better."
you choice of companies to support lies to manipulate the 'free market'. Just a thought.
and you should not have been modded a troll. That annoies me as well, even if I disagree with the poster.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"So what does Longhorn's search do that Spotlight doesn't?"
Ship more than a year from now. : )
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I read a copy of MacWorld the other day...
That magazine was filled with so much FUD it was sick.
90% of the magazine was filled with ridiculous comparisons between PC & Mac. For instance, their retarded article comparing the Mac Mini to a Dell. The Mac is $499, and the Dell they used was $450. The first thing they did was discount the fact that the Dell came with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I think they took off about $93 for that. So really, they were were comparing a $500 computer to a $350 computer (less actually, the keyboard, mouse and monitor were going to cost more than $93 for the Mac Mini) and they of course went on to find that the Mac was a better computer.
I'm not saying that the Mac Mini isn't a good deal, or that it is not competitive. But, their method of comparison was so horribly skewed it was sick. But if I was a real 'Mac-ie' I wouldn't have looked at the logic, I would have just thought 'Macs are better, and now they are CHEAPER!'
Then of course I came to the 'games' section of the magazine. Oh my freakin' lord. What a load of crap they were spewing there. When they were saying that the Mac was the BEST gaming platform (It has Doom 3!!!) I knew they were completely off their rocker.
My wife (the Mac-ie in the family) didn't understand why I was yelling "this is a load of SHIT!" when I threw the magazine. She just wanted to look at the selection of iPod accessories they were highlighting...
No reason to lie.
"but in terms of ease of use, I think that they release pretty good products"
What makes you say that? It seems to me that you had to replace the entire UI to get something satisfactory.
Use what you like. If that's XP, great! Knock yourself out. But you haven't defended your contention that Microsoft makes easy-to-use products. By your argument, you have to go experiment with a bunch of third party hacks to get the OS to not suck.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Yes :-). Look here's why I think that people use windows. It's because the average user is misinformed and has no reason to change that. There's nothing they care about that linux can do that windows can't that makes it worth the switch. They don't use Macs because the industry strongly encourages them not to. There are too many hardware vendors out there who don't have mac to gain a large market share. All I'm saying is that if nobody steps up to the plate and truly gives the masses a reason to switch to their platform they aren't going to no matter how much the technology gurus (who are very small in number) tell them to.
With Linux or BSD you can run pretty much any server you want, use any desktop/WM you want, program in any language (with some exceptions), it costs nothing and the source is freely available, and one can modify anything. With XP you can customize the UI. That is not an advantage.
So, why do you like it more?
There are several site that have in depth articles on why your statement is false. I suggest you read them.
I suggest you link to them.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what is there that prevents a blackhat from writing a trojan for OS X? I'm not talking about something that spreads automatically via a remote exploit or even a local exploit, but an honest-to-God old-fashioned trojan. Promise the user free porn, or cool mouse cursors or a free stock ticker or something, and people will install it. What prevents it from giving them the free porn or weather forecast or whatever, *and* turning their machine into a spam relay?
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Apple's OSX releases are named after sleek, powerfull, and exotic jungle cats. Microsoft's new OS is name after, well....a cow. Hmmm. I think that says a lot.
I was yelling "this is a load of SHIT!" when I threw the magazine.
Dude, you should invest in some anger management classes. Or maybe spend a relaxing weekend debugging your registry and flushing your system of spyware.
-- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
So it can't just install itself from a user visiting a site, or clicking "OK." They would need to visit the site, have the pop up come up, then type in their password when it says "ADCrazy is trying to install BlahBlahBlah. Type in your Administrator password to continue."
Secondly, it can't hide in a registry and alter how your other apps work. Sure it can play with some plist files to make some changes, but OS X makes it quite hard for a program to run in such a way as to make it completely invisible to the user and hard to quit.
I'm not the grandparent and I'm not going to link them as it's not really worth either of our time, but there are distinct reasons why being "the biggest" doesn't make you the most vulnerable. Apache and IIS have rather equivalent marketshare, so to speak, yet IIS servers are the ones with bugs, problems, and security flaws.
Finally, outside of web-based trojans, OS X doesn't have the low-level integration of Safari and Mail, meaning that a virus written for those applications don't have nearly full-access to a system with permission to change other files/programs on the computer.
I will say this, though -- Longhorn and, to some degree SP2, will probably be all the evidence you need against this FUD of "the biggest programs have the biggest problems." I fully expect Longhorn to be relatively free from many of the malware problems that plague past Windows OS's, and it will very likely be on an exceedingly large number of computers. What will the argument be then, when one of the OS's with the largest marketshares proves the statement incorrect?
The debate between what is journalism and what is blogging will go on for a long long time. As a journalist, and I have a journalism background, there are basically two kinds of news, hard news and op/ed. With hard news it is important for the journalist to remove him or her self in every way from the story. It's important to avoid personal bias (although some might suggest that in the end this can never truly be perfected). I've written thousands of words of hard news in the past. It is something that is really important and hard news absolutely should be guarded and protected even among bloggers.
Certainly the types of comments that I blogged about the dinner were not hard news, nor did I hold my article out to be hard news. If you wanted hard news, CNET reported on a similar demo with Allchin the day before. I even linked to it in my article.
In terms of op/ed, my blog post is still nothing that even remotely resembled op/ed.
Hunter Thompson broke the mold of journalism when back in the 60s he began to place himself in his stories. He wrote fantastic tales of drug induced frenzies, the Hells Angels, presidential politics and whatever else was on his mind while simultaneously placing every kind of bias and opinion imaginable in his writing.
When people read Thompson did they realize that his biases were in his stories? Of course. Does that mean that Thompson should not have been allowed to print his work? Of course not. In fact, some could argue that much of what Hunter wrote was oftentimes far more pertinent, relevant and important than either hard news or op/ed.
Shortly before his death, Thompson wrote, "Did you see Bush on TV, trying to debate? Jesus, he talked like a donkey with no brains at all. The tide turned early, in Coral Gables, when Bush went belly up less than halfway through his first bout with Kerry, who hammered poor George into jelly. It was pitiful. . . . I almost felt sorry for him, until I heard someone call him "Mister President," and then I felt ashamed."
Was this hard news? No. Op/ed? Not even that. Was this completely biased personal opinion? Whatever it was, Thompson felt that he had something important to say.
Although many at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal might argue that news ought to be either hard news or op/ed and clearly labeled as such, I would suspect that many of these same individuals just might look at the work that Thompson did and somehow be ok with it - and even admire it - even as it clearly was a bastardization of perhaps everything that they were ever taught in journalism school from day one.
And in many ways blogging today is something similar. While the debate rages over whether bloggers are journalists and professionals fret over the lack of even the most basic standards that many bloggers do not appear to posses, bloggers are coming back with perhaps the same type of response Thompson may have given more than a few editors. Only this time the blogger is the one with the control.
While I do not hold myself out to be anywhere near the caliber of Thompson, one of my great all time heroes, I do feel that there is room in the world of journalism for hard news, op/ed and yes, openly biased writing where the blogger places him or her self as a participant in the news itself.
Was I thrilled to be having dinner with Allchin? Of course. I'm a huge Microsoft enthusiast. I have been an advocate of the digital home for many years and I think that Microsoft may represent our best chance possible of making the digital home of the future a reality.
Was I really enthused about Longhorn? Absolutely. From what I saw it was really was amazing. I spend hundreds of hours every year organizing digital media in front of all five of my Windows PCs. The technology that I saw will save me hundreds of hours of work going forward. This is really exciting to me at a personal level.
Could Apple or Linux provide me a similar e