Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Brings 36 New Features To Windows 7
Barence writes "Microsoft has unveiled a slew of new features that will appear in the Release Candidate of Windows 7 that didn't make an appearance in the beta. 'We've been quite busy for the past two months or so working through all the feedback we've received on Windows 7,' explains Steven Sinofsky, lead engineer for Windows 7 in his blog. A majority of these features are user interface tweaks, but they should add up to a much smoother Windows 7 experience." In separate news, Technologizer reports on Microsoft's contingency plan, should things not go well in EU antitrust, to slip Win7 to January.
.. how many of them are actually useful?
Do you D?
Let me know when security is one of those features.
I want to hear about 1 feature being removed...
DRM
Let us know when that's been ripped from the OS, and maybe, just maybe, Microsoft might have a winner. Until then, it's just Vista SP2.
Microsoft announces 36 security patches for zero-day vulnerabilities.
When you beta-test a product, shouldn't you test the complete product?
Anyone who uses VPN knows the pain of accessing network shares. You go to the server you want, wait while Windows loads all the contents of the folder, click on a folder, wait until Windows loads all the contents of that folder, and so on.
It would be nice if it could let you select an item as it appears in the list, instead of having to wait for the whole folder to be enumerated. It would also be nice if it didn't lock up Explorer when the network is slow.
Beta is a test phase before rolling your RC and then retail. You don't add features that late in the game, you fix bugs. You fork features into the next release, service pack etc.
Don't go rushing out to be the first in your neighbourhood to own a copy based on this tripe... Best to wait and see how many of these are anti-features :)
This post was made in complete sincere seriousity; as such any attempts to derive humour are doomed to instant failure.
Fixed it for ya!
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
There goes Windows 7 being the first Windows OS to use less resources than it's predecessor. On the plus side you can now enjoy it's use with the added benefit of your desktop performing random 360 spins to prevent boredom.
Oh, in OS X (at least Tiger), I hate this "needy" state of constantly jumping up and down like a student wanting to give an answer. It's usually an app wanting just to be clicked on like it needs attention with absolutely no reason for it. I know way too much of Vista also tends to be needy out of the box pestering you with bullshit. After a few flashes, why don't they just silently invert the colors on the icon or rectangle (or give it a halo or something) on the task bar so that it sits there quietly, STFU, stays still, and lets you get to it in your own time?
I think the whole, big Windows 7 push is to get Silverlight installed on computers.
But hell, 36 specific features more in an overloaded interface does not improve ease of use for most customers.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I want to play my blu-rays, thank you.
its been a long time since I did Win32, but I remember when they changed it so applications couldn't "steal" focus from another application if the focused application hadn't seen mouse or keyword activity in X seconds (X configurable through the registry). The number of times the taskbar window flashed was also a configurable registry setting... somehow, though, applications like Outlook could ALWAYS steal focus. I always wondered what API call they used to do that, because I could never find it, and I scoured MSDN.
Now it looks like even their own apps can't steal focus? Good, that used to annoy the shit out of me.
36 new features in windows 7:
1.More!
2.New!
3.7!
4.Personalize!
5.Stuff!
6.Things!
7.Easy!
8.Faster!
9.Oh Yeah!
10.An even worse network stack!
11.No Crash! *Cross Fingers*
12.Vista?
13.Improved!
14.Progressive!
15.Compatible!
16.The Newest!
17.More!
18.7!
19.Personalize!
20.Stuff!
21.Needy Windows!
22.Alt+Tab!
23.Screen Savers!
24.Customizationalizeable!
25.Safe! *Cross Fingers*
26.Improving Performance Through Data! (an actual quote!)
27.Keyboard Shortcuts! (Previously not available since Windows 95)
28.7!
29.Even a 4 year old is doing it you idiot!
30.Saves Time!
31.Reduced Confusion with Drag/Drop!
32.More!
boy, I can't wait!
she was the daughter of a wealthy florentine pogen read em and weep was her adjustable slogan
This is the daily Microsoft article on Slash Dot... But there's no negative spin! I'm dissapointed, all they had to do was stick in an 'only' and you've changed a positive story into a negative.
This is most troubling!
Why did I read that headline as if the word features were in quotes?
I read through this list the other day and the only thing that I thought was:
Still nothing more than a Service Pack.
Seriously, #1 concerns Alt-Tab, ffs. #2 is a shortcut key. #3 is about taskbar windows flashes. #4 is about a shortcut to Open With. #5 is an adjustment to the size of icons. #6 is something to do with thumbnails. #7 is about showing "newly installed programs" in a different way. #8 is about the maximum number of items shown by default in a list. #9 is about file associations. #10 is a GUI change to seperate two types of things.
#11 is about a new gesture. #12 is allowing multi-touch devices to perform... well.. multitouch. #13 is the same. #14 is about text selection. #15 is a GUI change to the way networks are displayed. #16 is about making UAC even more annoying with a tiny (probably one-line) fix. #17 is allowing a machine to be locked without a screensaver specified (woopie-do!). #18 is a GUI change to the way power schemes are displayed. #19 is some tweaks to the way themes are displayed. #20 is an ACTUAL FIX to do with playing Internet radio (because such a task REALLY taxes a modern computer).
#21 is about adding long-established things like SEEKING and playing certain MOV files to media player. #22 is a UI change to "Now Playing" in media player. #23 is a GUI change to the way Media Player shows files that are corrupt/unplayable. #24 is about resuming from sleep properly while playing an audio CD. #25 is about cutting out dialog-overload when you plug in an MP3 player. #26 is about moving some settings/menus around. #27 is a GUI change to "JumpList". #28 is an internal change to the API for providing extra device driver functionality automatically. #29 is about plugging headphones in. #30 is a change to Windows Logo Testing to stop sound drivers being so crap.
#31 is GUI changes to explorer. #32 is the REMOVAL of an ability to drag/drop files into Libraries. #33 is about looking like XP when you see My Computer. #34 is about FAT32 still being supported as a filesystem. #35 is a GUI change. #36 says they actually profiled the users and their OS and "improved Start Menu opening times".
There is still *nothing* on that list worth the price of Windows 7. There is also nothing on that list that a single person with access to the source code couldn't do in a handful of days, except possibly the last one. You are seriously trying to tell me that out of the many thousands of people who tested the Beta, these were the only real problems that they encountered that MS has bothered to fix for the RC? That's the *most* affecting stuff that they needed to fix and shout about on a blog post? You're telling me that all the feedback from testers was about minor GUI changes, shortcut keys and unlikely/rare/pathetic hardware scenarios (like multitouch input devices and resuming a playing Audio CD from sleep?).
And MS wonder why people laugh at them.
As a mac owner, I read this list with some surprise. Since nearly all these features have been in mac osx for years I had assumed, incorrectly, that equally polished analogs of them were Already in XP or vista. e.g. things like eye-catching but not annoying bouncing icons that need your attention, usefully short hot lists of recent files, something like expose' for an application switcher...
even linux has had these.
Well redmond has really started the copiers.
by the way, if you find the mac jumping icons insufficiently subtle, then you will find they are much less intrusive when you move the dock to side of the screen and set it to smallish icons using magnification.
"Let me know when security is one of those features." - by Huntr (951770) on Friday February 27, @10:08AM (#27011787)
As far as security features you mentioned? Microsoft has PULLED 1 very good one (more in how efficient it can be, as it is in older OS by MS like Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003), & totally removed another - read on:
Thus, I have a question to ask...
Do ANY of you folks have an answer, a GOOD SOLID TECHNICAL answer, as to WHY these cripplings have been implemented in VISTA, Server 2008, & most likely their
descendant, in Windows 7:
----
1.) The removal of being able to use 0 as a blocking IP address in a HOSTS file
(vs. 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1, which are bigger, slower on load into the local DNS Cache (as well as slower flushes via ipconfig /flushdns) & also occupy more RAM once loaded, for NO GOOD REASON - 0 blocks as well as the other 2 do, & is smaller + faster!)
In this case, this happened on 12/09/2008 Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" updates, it wasn't LIKE that before then!
E.G.-> Here, using 0 as my blocking IP address in a FULLY normalized (meaning no repeated entries) HOSTS file with nearly 650,000 bad sites blocked in it, I get a 14++mb sized HOSTS file... using 0.0.0.0 it shoots up to 18++mb in size (& even worse using 127.0.0.1, to around the tune of 24++mb in size)... Here? This is SENSELESS bloat creation as the result!
&
2.) The removal of IP Port Filtering GUI controls for it via Local Network Connections properties "ADVANCED" section
(This is up there w/ when MS removed the GUI checkbox after NT 4.0 for IP Forwarding, only, this time, the difference is (and, it's a PAIN) is that it is NOT a single 1 line entry to hack via regedit.exe, but FAR MORE COMPLEX to do by hand)... Port Filtering is a USEFUL & POWERFUL security (& to a degree, speed also) enhancing feature!
Afaik, on THIS case (vs. #1 above)? It has always been that way in VISTA &/or Windows Server 2008... & not just the result of a Patch Tuesday modification.
----
I posted on Mr. Sinofsky's (?) blog -> http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/25/feedback-and-engineering-windows-7.aspx
AND, I have YET to get a SOLID TECHNICAL ANSWER on those things going on in VISTA, Server 2008, & probably Windows 7 as well, that justify doing so...
(They're things I'd really LIKE to get an answer to, as to WHY Microsoft has done the 2 things in my list above, to the above noted versions of Windows)
Sorry Microsoft - I really like your OS & softwares, but this time? Well - Both of those being done? EXTREMELY STUPID!
APK
P.S.=> Does ANYONE know why these STUPID things were done to the latest/greatest versions of Windows? I don't...
Otherwise, consider this "ammo" you 'anti-microsoft/anti-Windows' *NIX fans here can use, because @ this point? I wouldn't blame you IF you did... & hopefully??
It helps FORCE MS to undo them... because, I will be COMPLETELY FORTHRIGHT about this much: They're 2 reasons I won't upgrade beyond Windows Server 2003... apk
I'd vote for another "feature" to be removed even before DRM: activation. Granted, Activation is DRM but it's specific to Windows registration.
Why?
Activation has not deterred "piracy" (arrr!) in the least; if you visit any torrent site you will see many torrents of "activation cracked" Windows XP and Vista. When I reinstall Windows XP or Vista and need to install updates for testing client projects, I need to activate Windows; This requires a 20-minute call to the Activation hotline each time. This is even with the MSDN version, which allows for 10 concurrent installs on separate workstations (PER subscription - I have three subscriptions, which allows me 30 seats). I should never, ever have to call in to activate Windows for a distribution which is intended to be frequently reinstalled.
Every time I have to call Microsoft about anything, or any time they ever call me, I rip the rep a new one about the activation scheme. I refer them to the torrent sites and pointedly ask them why I should be penalized with this activation scheme when I paid literally THOUSANDS for Microsoft Windows while non-paying ("pirate") users don't encounter any inconvenience at all. I ask them why I should buy genuine Windows when the counterfeit is actually SUPERIOR to the "genuine" product.
I also drop the L-word every time they call me; it is a five-letter word which has Microsoft shaking in their boots. I inform them that Windows only hangs around for Quickbooks, Adobe's creative suite, and for Windows development projects, and that our servers and the workstations for day-to-day productivity run Linux. It's a better solution which requires less downtime (er, "scheduled maintenance windows" in Microsoft-speak - redefining "downtime" is how they boast less downtime in their marketing drivel), requires less resources, and maintenance can be fully automated - and administered remotely via a command line shell. In fact, I have scripts running in nagios to automatically correct many minor faults and warning conditions should they occur.
The reps are usually apologetic but does upper management have ANY clue?
We sell systems with Windows preinstalled - many to the DoD however I flatly refuse to become a Windows OEM. I'd rather pay $10 to $15 more to continue buying from the distributors I'm buying from because the OEM agreement is 100% one-sided. Why should I give Microsoft permission to enter my office at-will? They won't find license violations - they'd probably claim 'patent infringement' however since I run the F/OSS distros I don't have RedHat or Novell covering my back.
My mail server is currently scalix (probably going to switch to Openxchange soon since Scalix has stagnated with Xandros' buying them out - I needed a single support incident but they sell them only in blocks of five - forget Scalix! I dug in and fixed the problem myself, although it probably cost me more time than it was worth).
Microsoft really needs to consider long-term impact of how "anti-piracy" features devalue their products compared to the counterfeit options. and how IT personnel recommendations are going to affect adaptation of their future offerings. Hell, as it is Vista was as close to stillborn as a monopoly OS can get. People buy it only because Worst Buy, Circuit City, etc. did not offer a choice. I've had quite a few customers call me and ask if I can still get Windows XP (Yup! Sure can, and because I didn't ever sign the OEM agreement I can legally purchase OEM Windows and resell it without hardware, per first sale doctrine) and I've UP-graded (not downgraded) them from Vista to XP.
Having said that, I'm ordering a new notebook - either a Dell E6500 or M4400 (the Precision is tempting because of the workstation chipset and I'll still get decent runtime with the power slice!) and it's going to come with Vista Ultimate + Windows XP down^H^H^H^Hupgrade rights. It's more than enough to run Vista well (It should run even better than my desktop workstation runs Vista) but 300GB of the drive will be L
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Options to remove things some of us don't use. I.e. in XP Msn messanger removal needs to modifiy C:\windows\inf\sysoc.inf Removal of Outlook Express, Or how about Removal of Internet Exploder? Oh wait, That wont happen any time soon. How about fixing Exploder so it wont lock up as much?
"Blue Screen of Death" now "Azure Notice of Discomfort" in preparation for new cloud computing initiatives.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Let me know when DRM* can be removed from other operating systems/media players and not have the manufacturer get their ass handed to them in court.
* Such as the DRM on DVDs, BluRays, iTunes format....
Nuff said.
Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
Apparently quicktime will be supported natively.... So that's about 4 fewer processes running on the standard install (quicktime agent/quicktime update/"quicktime install safari and set as default browser for my friends and family who are conditioned to press "yes" to remove dialog boxes - agent")
yay MS, this is years overdue :D
Although every OS X does have advantages over the last version, Apple does stretch things a bit when they say "200 new features" in the latest OS X. There are maybe a dozen really cool new features while they others are tweaking the way OS X did something.
I guess MS just has to keep up with the PR about Windows 7 and the constant "don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain" releases to make the public forget about Vista.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Here's my most frequently bitched about UI complaint:
18. Faster access to High Performance power plan
Clicking on the battery flout from the taskbar notification area offers two different power plans: Balanced and Power saver. Windows 7 laptops are configured by default to use the Balanced plan since this setting best balances a good experience while promoting more environmentally friendly power use. However, some customers tell us they want to be able to quickly toggle between Balanced and High Performance (yet another power plan). Weâ(TM)ve taken a change to now show the latter in the flyout menu when it is enabled under the Power Options Control Panel.
This has been perhaps my biggest complaint (which goes to show you something) about Win7 beta on my laptop (Acer Aspire 6930). It takes 2 clicks to switch from high performance or power saver to balanced. But to switch from high performance to power saver or vice-versa takes 5. For no good reason. It involves clicking the taskbar icon, opening a window for "more power options", clicking "show additional plans" despite ample room to show the third plan, clicking the selection button, then closing the window. 5 clicks vs 2, because we can't handle a third power choice? I'm glad someone is awake over there.
And here's probably my second most bitched about UI complaint:
33. Reviving familiar entry points
Mando writes, âoeIn Win7 the Win+E shortcut opens an explorer window but the path is âoeLibrariesâ instead (which isnâ(TM)t where I want to go most of the time). Is there a way to configure the target folder of âoeWin+Eâ or is there an alternate shortcut that will get me to the âoeComputerâ path like it did in Vista?â RC reverts the behavior and now the shortcut will launch the âoeComputerâ Explorer. Also, we changed the link in Start Menu -> Username to match the Vista behavior.
And bonus, here's my most bitched about hardware support complaint, which I mentioned in another slashdot thread a couple days ago:
29. Improving the headphone experience
Customers informed us that sometimes their audio streams did not properly move from the default speakers to their headphones. The fix required an update to the algorithm we use to detect new devices. In RC the transition works more reliably.
Most of the rest of the stuff sounds pretty good too. I'll admit I've been a bit skeptical about this whole pinning things on taskbar which is now also the quicklaunch at the same time type deal. Mostly because I'm used to all my quicklaunch apps being on the left and not having to hunt between open apps to launch a new one. But that win-# shortcut sounds like it will justify the whole deal for me, so I will withdraw my complaint on it pending testing of that feature.
Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!
Except Windows (combined with its apps; I mean the overall system, not just the kernel) is like a woman who literally is asking for it, walking around with a sign that says, "please rape me, I'll even help you do it."
It's actually a good analogy. Imagine if a woman acted like Windows. Her behavior would be so outrageous that even the most compassionate person, would say, "Well, she was asking for it." If you don't think she deserved it, then you haven't anthropomorphized Windows' behavior correctly.
Or maybe a better way to put it, if you still can't think of it as "asking for rape," is to say, "ok, it's not rape." It's consensual. A woman walks around naked, except with a sign on that says, "I'll fuck or suck anyone or anything. Nothing is too degrading for me. Your feeble imagination as a wanna-be depraved pervert cannot even begin to cope with my desire to do things that I don't actually desire. Use me. I am not a person." That's Windows for you.
I have TFA open right now.
1. Windows Flip (ALT + TAB) with Aero Peek
Meh... it doesn't sound like a killer feature to me.
2. Windows Logo + keyboard shortcut
OK, I really don't understan this one. hasn't [alt]+ the shortcut worked before? Seems they had this way back in win95, didn't they?
3. Needy State "Needy window" is the internal term we use for a window that requires your attention
Doesn't seem like much to me. YMMV I guess.
4. Taskbar "Open With"
OK, maybe I need more coffee, but I see apps, not documents, in the taskbar.
5. Taskbar scaling
Meh
6. Anchoring taskbar thumbnails
Meh
7. Newly installed programs we don't even allow programs to pin themselves to the taskbar when they are installed. This is a task expressly reserved for the customer
They're finally starting to catch up with Linux here I guess
8. Jump List length
A lot of these seem to be features we should have had ten years ago.
9. Increased pinning flexibility with Jump List
10. Desktop icon and gadget view options
Touch
the next four have to do with touch screens. As the MegaTouch games you see in bars all run Linux, it looks like Windows may be catching up here as well.
15. Internet access feedback The new network experience from the taskbar's notification area makes it much easier to find and connect to networks
I haven't had a home network for quite a while, but I've never had trouble connecting to my work's network.
16. User Account Control
17. Locking a machine without a screensaver
18. Faster access to High Performance power plan
I guess that may help notebook users
19. Custom theme improvements
Bleh
20-27 Windows Media Player
I hate Windows media player. I use WinAamp in windows, XMMS in Linux.
28. Enriching the Device Stage ecosystem
Market-speak for "we're still behind Linux in this but we're trying".
29. Improving the headphone experience
Bug fix
30. Increased audio reliability
Bug fix
The rest have to do with Windows Explorere. Sorry, Microsoft, this isn't enough to make me want to drop a couple hundred dollars for.
Free Martian Whores!
I am surprised that these are listed as *new* features, I must admit the last windows I used was W95, so I have lost track of what windows can do. But what is listed as *new* is pretty standard on other operating systems I have used.
Why do you say that? I can think of multiple ways to address that issue.
And you don't even address the issue of someone NOT having any of those programs that depend upon the insecure configuration.
#1. Virtual machines for insecure apps.
#2. Load the insecure .dll's only if necessary for an insecure program and then put a notice on the desktop which cannot be removed.
The idea is to move towards a more secure system. Not to keep making excuses.
Its 1993 versions behind Windows 2000, which itself is pretty old. Better stick with what you have!
...because they have never *officially* announced a release date. Clue deficit again.
This is great, but I still don't see ISO mounting, which (as far as I know) has been asked for repeatedly by power users everywhere, and is one of (if not *the*) top request on Connect.
Here's a thought, why not instead of filtering out content Windows cannot deal with just support playback of the format?! These formats are not exactly on the fringe here. The way it's being dealt with is as surprising as the fact they are not supported.
Fear is the mind killer.
It's quite obvious, with Aero and all the other non-sense, the Flight Sim team has been folded into Win7.
Thanks MS. Take the one cool thing you had a lock on, and destroy it. I was keeping my boot camp partition around for FS11. At least I can have my 25g back. Effers.
Seriously, this is a little suspicious. That's at least 36 features that weren't beta tested. I ran the beta for a few weeks, and thought it was pretty solid; was actually considering adopting Windows 7 (having decided to skip Vista). Now I'm worried. More worried, I mean. If these are new features and not just last minute fixes, at least some of them won't be usable until the first service pack, if past history is any indication.
Oh well, it's not like XP is suddenly going to stop working.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Activation isn't all bad. My only beef with it is that it limits the functionality of the computer. If it just threw up a nag dialog every so often I think that would be enough. Obviously it does not stop piracy, but it was never designed to. It does, however, help people who have unknowingly had pirated software installed; I try to think of it more along the lines of consumer protection. I mean seriously, have you actually seen the isos and cracks? Many of them are legit, but a few package some kind of malware into the installation. Of course there have been problems with false positives, but nothing is perfect. I think if they got rid of the "reduced functionality" nonsense and just had a nag dialog everything would be fine.
1 - Warner Bros DRM
2 - Disney DRM
3 - Sony BMG DRM
4 - Universal Music DRM
5 - Stronger Warner Bros DRM
6 - More Powerful Disney DRM
7 - Catch-All Sony BMG DRM
8 - No shit Universal Music DRM
9 - You aint seen nothing yet DRM
10 - All your computer belong to us DRM
why, but these are fantastic features !
Read radical news here
who is STUPID enough to mod something that is valid for EVERY product & service since the dawn of trade on this planet ?
keep your fanboyism locked up your butt. use your logic and reason while spending mod points.
Read radical news here
too bad i spent all my points 2 days ago
Read radical news here
I'm calling this one as a VERY early patch after release. Give it...a month or two, I say, and someone will find some exploit somewhere to automatically pin something to the taskbar as part of the installation.
Seems like it'd be far too easy. I don't know why, but it just feels like it.
Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
I make no apologies for this post ('though obviously AC :)
Man: You sit here, dear. ...DRM DRM DRM egg and DRM; DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM baked beans DRM DRM DRM... ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and DRM.
Wife: All right.
Man: Morning!
Microsoft: Morning!
Man: Well, what've you got?
Microsoft: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and DRM; egg bacon and DRM; egg bacon sausage and DRM; DRM bacon sausage and DRM; DRM egg DRM DRM bacon and DRM; DRM sausage DRM DRM bacon DRM tomato and DRM;
Vikings: DRM DRM DRM DRM...
Microsoft:
Vikings: DRM! Lovely DRM! Lovely DRM!
Microsoft:
Wife: Have you got anything without DRM?
Microsoft: Well, there's DRM egg sausage and DRM, that's not got much DRM in it.
Wife: I don't want ANY DRM!
Man: Why can't she have egg bacon DRM and sausage?
Wife: THAT'S got DRM in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much DRM in it as DRM egg sausage and DRM, has it?
Vikings: DRM DRM DRM DRM... (Crescendo through next few lines...)
Wife: Could you do the egg bacon DRM and sausage without the DRM then?
Microsoft: Urgghh!
Wife: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I don't like DRM!
Vikings: Lovely DRM! Wonderful DRM!
Microsoft: Shut up!
Vikings: Lovely DRM! Wonderful DRM!
Microsoft: Shut up! (Vikings stop) Bloody Vikings! You can't have egg bacon DRM and sausage without the DRM.
Wife: I don't like DRM!
Man: Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your DRM. I love it. I'm having DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM beaked beans DRM DRM DRM and DRM!
Vikings: DRM DRM DRM DRM. Lovely DRM! Wonderful DRM!
Microsoft: Shut up!! Baked beans are off.
Man: Well could I have her DRM instead of the baked beans then?
Microsoft: You mean DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM DRM... (but it is too late and the Vikings drown her words)
Vikings: (Singing elaborately...) DRM DRM DRM DRM. Lovely DRM! Wonderful DRM! DRM D-R-R-R-M DRM D-R-R-R-R-M DRM. Lovely DRM! Lovely DRM! Lovely DRM! Lovely DRM! Lovely DRM! DRM DRM DRM DRM!
Whoa, dude, TL;DR
I agree with your sentiment, but my priority would be performance. The problem is this:
You cant demonstrate performance or security to mainstream journalists.
If it doesn't make a decent spot on prime time TV, or a nice headline for the BBC or CNN tech section, its not worth doing.
Microsoft are a multi-billion dollar company. They are selling to the mass mass market. That means getting the word out through the mainstream dumbed down media.
The reason that MSFT prioritise UI features is the same reason politicians prioritise new power stations over energy efficiency. When you play the PR game, the only features or actions that matter are the ones you can point at.
Sad but true.
This requires a 20-minute call to the Activation hotline each time.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but when I have to activate a new copy of Windows I choose Do this over the internet and it's done in ~10 seconds.
Are you referring to something that I don't know about?
You have 650,000 entries in your hosts file? Holy shit.
Windows is a basic platform to run a whole bunch of very popular software. It doesn't do "hard" things, like advanced networking. Instead, buy a beige box, throw Linux/BSD on it, and use it as your firewall and gateway.
This is an awesome write up, props to the poster of the article!
These aren't new "features", they're tweaks to existing features.
Don't take life so seriously. No one makes it out alive.
Make the basics work reliably first, then add bells and whistles to it. If the engine doesn't run reliably, I couldn't care less that the power windows and doorlocks work!
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Sorry, you are not as smart as you think you are. I work at a University and have been around the students enough to know that if using an unlicensed copy of Windows was any easier, they would all be doing it.
All the activation stuff has to do is be somewhat inconvenient and it will keep a large number of users from "sharing" Windows.
As far as most students are concerned if it is easy it must be OK to do it. These days most of America is driven by ethics of convenience. As the old saying says "Locks help keep honest people honest, they don't stop criminals."
What I don't get is how can they call these "new" features when most of them have been in Linux for a while.
If you run Ubuntu Ibex, you'll be just doing a lot of "ho hum" ing at the list.
What happened to Microsoft's "innovation?" Seriously, we've been hearing that Linux is looking at tail lights and playing catchup, but from what I can see, Linux is ahead of Microsoft.
The *only* thing that Windows has its monopoly stranglehold. As an Ubuntu user, I can't see a single thing that "Windows" has to offer. Sure, there are some applications that are popular, but without them, Windows is nothing.
If the IT industry has the balls to break the Office software monopoly, Microsoft will go the way of Wang, DEC, and Pr1me. If Intuit starts supporting Linux with TurboTax and QuickBooks, and Adobe joins in, all the better.
I just bought a laptop with a blu-ray drive and installed ubuntu on it. I too would like to be able to use it, but I would not sacrifice the security, stability and freedom for it.
Including DRM in an OS is not the way to deal with blu-ray, teaching sony/RIAA/MPAA that DRM is bad for everyone is the way to do it. I shudder to think of when you finally get a new medium (crystal, cube, block, etc) for storing data and there is no way to use it with OpenSource software.
Not only does DRM remove our fair-use rights, but it also impedes development of software and hardware since eventually many of these formats get taken as "standard" and they cripple open systems.
"You have 650,000 entries in your hosts file? Holy shit." - by abigor (540274) on Friday February 27, @11:36AM (#27013067)
Yes, & it's the result of nearly 12++ yrs. of 'labor' on my part... an old trick, that MS imported from the BSD IP stack, that still works for a VERY important useful networking concept for security - LAYERED security!
E.G.-> @ first, it was for blocking adbanners only, for speed - later though, when the 'online malware invasion' began (imo, circa 2004 onwards) via infected adbanners, malicious site script & such?
I.E.-> It was time to start BLOCKING OUT bogus sites & adbanners of that nature... &, I'm NOT the only 1 doing it - FAR from it!
(Even SpyBot "Search & Destroy", a reputable & noted antispyware, does so)...
ALSO - even folks like SECURITYFOCUS' own Oliver Day agree, that it MAY BE TIME TO RETURN TO THE USE OF "KILLFILES", see here -> http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/491
HOSTS files? They work!
It's really that I just do NOT like seeing MS make a move that contributes to a LESS EFFICIENT method of using them, in the case of HOSTS files.
I mean - The way they do it/allow it, still allows for 0.0.0.0 (better than 127.0.0.1 in size, but, also in NOT having ANY processing done on such requests, where the "loopback adapter" 127.0.0.1 address? Afaik, it DOES do SOME work there, needlessly using CPU cycles imo doing so & other things like RAM + I/O) - 0.0.0.0 is the superior one, but 0 beats it on in-memory efficiency, & LOAD TIME into the local DNS cache.
----
"Windows is a basic platform to run a whole bunch of very popular software. It doesn't do "hard" things, like advanced networking." - by abigor (540274) on Friday February 27, @11:36AM (#27013067)
I think you'd be surprised @ how capable Windows Server 2003 is though, & in those very capacities...
Sure, I truly CAN conceded, that some things are HARDER to do in Windows based OS, networking-wise, than Linux (dual homed rigs being one in my experience in the past, but still doable) has that makes it very simple (netconfig - as an example, & I go into it below).
----
"Instead, buy a beige box, throw Linux/BSD on it, and use it as your firewall and gateway." - by abigor (540274) on Friday February 27, @11:36AM (#27013067)
I used to use netconfig & use a slower/older rig as a NAT routing 'firewall' more-or-less, via dual NIC configured rigs (dual homed) to do so... & yes, it worked, but that's what I use LinkSys/CISCO routers for nowadays... good point though, because it IS, doable, + a possible COSTS savings in doing so.
APK
P.S.=> Port Filtering being TOTALLY removed though? Dumb... after all, 1 of the FIRST THINGS I see malwares often do?? DISABLE SOFTWARE FIREWALLS... & this is where that next layer of defense (which works on a DIFF. layer of the driver model for this using a diff. driver than software firewalls do) helps, & it is often called "the poor man's firewall", because IF a malware knocks a software firewall 'offline'? This is in the way... just like how folks have deadbolts, door handle locks, alarms, & chain locks on their doors - a SIMPLE concept that works! apk
I do the same thing - but even when I have to do it manually (if it doesn't work or I have no internet), I choose the automated phone system, and it's done in ~5 minutes.
Why he has to talk to someone in person, I have no idea. The only time I had to do that was when the automated phone system was offline.
this list is showing some of the differances between the beta and the upcomming RC. and targeting things testers have asked for.
sheesh....
-Nex6
That's actually a pretty good idea. Certainly one of the better ones I've heard from an AC.
Please take your mental illness elsewhere, Mr Kowalski.
The activation only takes a few minutes over the phone. The rest of the time is spent complaining to the MS rep...
"Please take your mental illness elsewhere, Mr Kowalski." - by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 27, @12:21PM (#27013783)
Tell that to whomever "modded me up" on my initial post here, to +1 "Interesting" @ this point, ok?
That all "said & aside"??
Care to show us evidence of your PhD in psychiatry, since you seem fit to dispense such 'sound advice'???
(OH, you don't have one, now do you????)
I'm just looking for a SOUND TECHNICAL REASON on why MS would remove the ability to use a more efficient blocking IP address in a HOSTS file in VISTA, Windows Server 2008, & Windows 7... AND, why they pulled the GUI easy method of configuring PORT FILTERING via the LOCAL AREA CONNECTION networking item's interface is all.
So, please - quit wasting our time: It's NOT my fault you're some miserable screwball that has nothing better to do, than to disturb technical conversation with your frothings...
APK
P.S.=> Well, what exactly is "mental illness" in what I wrote then? Of course, I know this fool doesn't have that OR he would have put that into his reply, but, this is good for a laugh... apk
When you were connected to a network / DSL in XP, you had the nice little "two monitors" icon notification in your systray, and you could actually see at a glance if your connectivity had dropped out because the icon used to light up with incoming and outgoing packets.
In Vista, they screwed this up, the icon is still there, but doesn't flash anymore, and has some kind of blue toadstool on top of it ??? Oh, wait, it's supposed to be a globe of the earth, my mistake.
Please please bring back my flashing notification icons, so I don't have to click through 5 screens just to find out I'm not receiving any packets.
Some more changes they need to do
1. Preference option to toggle "pin" and "open with", so that you can choose which operation requires "shift" held.
2. Preference option to toggle between Ribbon and Menu view for application commands. Quit trying to force the damn ribbon down our throats.
3. Bundle Interix with all versions of Windows 7, not just the Power Luser models.
4. If this isn't in there already... mount ISO images directly, like OS X does.
Dude, a piece of advice: Quit the raging and just set up a DNS server with those entries in it.
With all their new features, there's STILL no keyboard shortcut to create a new folder. How is that possible? I don't get it...I really don't.
I have TFA open right now.
What is this so-called TFA you speak of?
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
The call is the result of hitting an abitrary limit on the number of online activations, and waiting on hold during peak hours. The duration of the actual conversation is usually 5 minutes, including ranting about craptivation.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
At most clients when I'm documenting work (network configurations, etc.) and writing scripts I'll be using Linux, and when they see me flip screens (desktop cube) they ask me about the OS and "Is that Vista?" (I run a Vista theme courtesy of Emerald - I don't care what you say about Vista's quality, you have to admit its default theme is pretty) so I give them brief tours of Linux - they're invariably impressed and ask if they can run it on their home systems.
I reinstalled my sister's computer for her a month ago, and while I was looking something up on my computer I did a Ctrl-Alt-Right to flip screens. She though that was really cool and asked if I could put it on her computer. I explained the issues and we talked about the software packages she uses, and finally decided to install XP on 160 GB of her 200 GB drive, and Ubuntu 8.10 on the other 40.
About a week later she IMed me to say she was trying to use her printer on Linux and wanted some help. I googled her model and groaned -- it's a Canon with manufacturer-provided binary-only drivers that require a bunch of manual futzing with config files to make work.
Well, back to XP, I figured. I didn't have time to go do it for her. I did give her the URL I found, though. It had reasonably good step-by-step instructions. I didn't hear back from her.
A week later she IMed me to ask how she can find out which printers work with Linux. I was offering to find time to help her get her printer working, before she went to drop money on one when she interrupted to say that no, she got her printer working just fine. She had just been thinking she might want a better printer, but wanted to make sure she got one that supported Linux.
I was pretty surprised both that she got her printer working (she's not dumb by any means, but she's far from a geek either) and that she appeared to be so committed to Linux. Then last week at a family BBQ she asked me what would be the best way to get rid of Windows and give the rest of the drive to Ubuntu.
And it all started with the rotating desktop cube.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Sounds more like 1296 new bugs heh
You don't even need to go illegal to find a Vista version which requires no activation. Medion laptops are sold with a completely clean version. It's not built for them or anything, as all the drivers are on a separate partition and an included apps/driver disc.
I'm sure many smaller manufacturers have this simple OEM version of Vista.
Call me crazy, but doesn't that violate proper release management? AFAIK:
Alpha - new experimental features
Beta - Testing/Vetting of features for value
RC - features frozen, bug fixes only
There, fixed that for ya....
May I please have a gander at your HOSTS file?
"just set up a DNS server with those entries in it." - by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 27, @12:37PM (#27014013)
First of all: Why run something I do NOT need here? I have no AD network @ home currently, nor do I require the use of a local DNS server here - for how I use the internet @ home, that'd be an illogical WASTE of CPU cycles, memory, & other forms of I/O!
Also - DNS servers have KNOWN vulnerabilities in them is why...
Dan Kaminsky ring a bell?
When I use utilize DNS servers though (&, I do, still even w/ a HOSTS file (of course))? I use the 'best in the business', in OpenDNS...
NOW - IF that's NOT enough, I can produce a lot more data that seconds that as well as pointing out more possibles why reliance on DNS servers is NOT always good medicine, such as the fact that DNS servers can be "poisoned"... for example!
(&, if my DNS server doesn't have an address I need in it, URL resolved-wise to its IP address?? I'm NOT going to be able to get to said website, w/ out a HOSTS file 'hardcoding' of the URL-to-IP equation for that website to do it for me)
Fact is?
That brings up a point that is another benefit of HOSTS files usage - using a HOSTS file hardcode to a website via entering its URL-to-IP address equation in it for said site CAN substantially speed up access to that site, by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE!
(E.G.-> Ping a website, you usually see 30-60ms return times from DNS servers... it's yet ANOTHER flexible use of them, this time not for security, but rather for superior performance!)
NOW - By contrast/way of comparison?
Determining a site from a LOCAL HOSTS FILE? 0ms return of URL-to-IP address resolutions will show, & via the same ping test I noted others to try above...
30-60 fold increases in speed manifest & evidence themselves, thus, right there, that you can realize & SEE the speed gains possible thus!
(DO try this, even if just as an experiment that you can use, to try to see my point here... it's an EASY test!)
HOWEVER, though this usage of HOSTS files SOMETIMES requires maintenance, because RARELY usually? Websites DO change HOSTING PROVIDERS, but MOST let you know they are doing so, ahead of time, to account for this (& it's NO big deal using notepad.exe, ping IF needed, & I have it RIGHT again - trivial, IF you can read english, that is))...
----
"Dude, a piece of advice: Quit the raging" - by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 27, @12:37PM (#27014013)
Secondly: Who's raging? I'm not the one libelling others, I am only responding to those types of folks here, in kind (when in ROME, do as the ROMANS DO, as apparently? It is the ONLY language they understand!)...
Hey - IF anything, I'm getting my usual "entertainment" from putting the "naysayers" (@ least ones w/ no technicals in their b.s. replies that is), in their place, easily... lol!
APK
P.S.=> LASTLY: In fact, read Oliver Day's article I posted from SECURITYFOCUS -> http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/491 in my 1st post (he hit upon MOST everything I extolled years before, here -> http://www.tcmagazine.com/forums/index.php?s=755f63904e378882b75dfdf8b1356087&showtopic=2662 in regards to HOSTS files' role in "layered security", & FAR more)... apk
With an MSDN license, you get one key that is licensed to be installed multiple times. It's a development license basically, for people who are using Windows to develop on, and are frequently reinstalling the OS from scratch, on multiple machines to test with.
/Also has an MSDN subscription, and has gone through this multiple times
After it's been activated once, every time after that you cannot activate online. It forces you to call, and talk to someone. You cannot activate online, or automatically on the phone. You have to talk to a live person (Who speaks broken English), and explain to them why you're using your development license that was meant for multiple installations, multiple times.
It's a huge PITA, and absolutely ridiculous that MS is making people who paid for an MSDN subscription to jump through these hoops.
What Windows really needs, in order to make the UI tolerable, is to have the window manager always respond immediately to the user when s/he requests to move or minimize a window. It's just plain unacceptable that an application displaying an alert dialog cannot be moved/minimized.
Two years.
30,000 programmers.
20,000 managers.
40,000 more people doing god knows what.
And they come up with 36 new features.
That's one new feature for every 2500 employees.
THIS SEEMS A LITTLE ON THE LOW SIDE.
" I rip the rep a new one about the activation scheme."
Ah, so you admit that you are a complete and utter asshole and we should just ignore you. There should be a special slashdot moderation points for that.
The reps are usually apologetic but does upper management have ANY clue?
When someone is looking for a job, do they drop their resume off with a secretary and then discuss all the benefits they'd bring to the company with the secretary? No. Why? Because secretary's are gatekeepers, not decision makers.
I'm not saying that you don't have a good point (you do), you're just bringing it up to the wrong people, not the decision makers. Complaining to helpdesk about policy decisions or business direction is a waste of time. They'll write down whatever you say in a ticket that will never be looked at again. Identify the decision makers and take your case there.
Hey, thought you might be interested in how to turn that off. The hint is here. It's a two line command:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
killall Dock
It's one of the many hidden preferences of OS X.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
When I reinstall Windows XP or Vista and need to install updates for testing client projects, I need to activate Windows; This requires a 20-minute call to the Activation hotline each time.
[...]
Every time I have to call Microsoft about anything, or any time they ever call me, I rip the rep a new one about the activation scheme.
Gee. Maybe if you weren't spending so much time being a dickhead, your activation calls wouldn't take twenty minutes each.
I, too, have activated my share of Windows installs by phone, and it's not very painful at all. There's a few things to remember:
1. It's faster and easier to use the phone keypad than it is to speak the numbers into their voice recognition system. Just start mashing it out in DTMF, and it'll work.
2. If you have to talk to a rep, be polite. Just state why you're installing Windows, that it's the only copy with that key in use as far as you know, and move on. This also works for transferring OEM copies from dead freebie machines onto new machines: Just take down the model and serial number/service tag when you call, and tell them you've replaced the motherboard.
3. The rep doesn't care. They're not paid enough to care. They're only there to fill out a form on a computer screen, and read a string of numbers to you. Bitching at a Microsoft Activation rep about Microsoft Activation is like bitching at the meter reader after a power outage -- you're barking up the wrong tree.
Kid-proof tablet..
And it all started with the rotating desktop cube.
Heh, obligatory:
http://xkcd.com/456/
Car analogies break down.
In the good old MS tradition, they will now slow it down to the point of unusability with crud demanded by the marketing department.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Disclaimer: I have been using Vista for over a year. Despite it's flaws I do like like it. I would love to move to linux full time, but frankly the UI is still just not ready for primetime and I have to many needed apps that only run on Windows (and yes I know about and use wine, but there are still too many gaps).
For all it's faults, I have only one real killer complaint about windows - I want an operating system that defaults to not running as root WITHOUT having to jump through an enormous number of hoops and constant tweaking to get transparent usability!
Granted this is also partly the fault of lazy programmers who consistently refuse to use the file structure and permissions policies that MS has actually put in place. The problem is that it isn't the default config, MS enables these bad practices by not forcing the issue, and I should not have to be the one to tweak things around to get things properly secured.
Linux has always done this well. Apple finally managed to do it pretty well. All the right elements are in place somewhere in Windows, but they've left far too many loopholes available in the interest of "compatibility" for developers to simply be lazy.
Programs should not place user or config files in the Program Files directory... there is no good need.
ALL user and user config files should be in their proper user directory. The kludge of sticking them into a "virtualized" clone directory that is ridiculously buried in hidden folders is asinine.
The default should not be to an administrator account for new users... nor should you ever need such privileges just to run your software.
It's all there. Come on MS... get it together this time around.
See subject-line:
apk4776239@hotmail.com
QUESTION: Which Microsoft Windows based OS do you use? Again, because of this 'debacle' on MS' end (0 vs. 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1)? I need to know WHICH model to send you (for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 (uses 0 as blocking IP), OR, for Windows VISTA/Server 2008/Windows 7 (uses 0.0.0.0 (more efficient than 127.0.0.1 as blocking IP))?
Once I know that? Then, I'll send it back to you in WinRAR "maximum compression" form, which keeps the 14++mb size DOWN (2.3mb approximately) for faster email sends &/or downloads, etc. et al...
(For which you'll need WinRar (because I seal the file via RAR files' integrity features is why, not compatible w/ other compression tools), & you can "have @ it").
AND, believe it or not? THANK YOU!
I say that, because I have been having various forums' members help "trim it" vs. sites that folks like this year (it had some filesharing servers in it that were blocked for instance, that many others use (though I do NOT agree w/ that practice), & thus, they were pulled), & your testing of it may help contribute to that effort on my part for the gain of others w/ out interfering w/ their websurfing patterns.
I do this, even though it is TRIVIAL to edit them out from your HOSTS file using a text editor, yourself!
( ... & this file comes FULLY internally documented on "all things HOSTS file", tech documentation's RIGHT inside of it @ its outset - so others can learn & gain + know all the little "ins-N-outs" of HOSTS files via technical documentation)
So - read it, before applying it (which is done via overwriting your original HOSTS file, which only has 1 active entry, 127.0.0.1 localhost (mandatory for networks) only, so you know - located in %WinDir%\system32\drivers\etc by default (though it is moveable via the DataBasePath parameter in the TcpIP paramters section therein)).
APK
P.S.=> SOME "FYI" & BACKGROUND ON IT, as to sources used to populate it, & more (for your reference):
The file is composed of nearly EVERY known & reputable HOSTS file in existence that I know of (from the wikipedia HOSTS file list, using files such as mvps.org, my own I built decades back, BISS/BlueTack & other ones as well, + SpyBot "Search & Destroy"'s lists as well!) &, has been FULLY "normalized" (DB term meaning removal of redundant/repeat entries) via a program I wrote in Borland Delphi 7 to do that for me!
(I elected to use Delphi because of its PROVEN strings & math processing speed superiority over MSVC++, per Visual Basic Programmer's Journal issue Oct. 1997 "inside the VB5 compiler engine" issue, where Delphi absolutely TRASHED both VB & VC++ from MS, in both math & strings speeds (which mind you, EVERY program does work in no less) AND, by DOUBLE over MSVC++ even!)
Hey - Nowadays, since this file is so large?
Well - I am GLAD I did choose Delphi 7 to build the normalization app!
Mainly, because the version I wrote in VB to normalize it nearly a FULL day to complete a normalization run - by comparison, this one in Delphi? 3 hours to normalize 650,000++ entries on an AMD Athlon64 X DualCcre 4800+ CPU, & LESS THAN 1 hr. on my NEW Intel Core I7 920... & since the file grows daily?
(I use stopbadware.org & Dancho Danchev ZDNet security researcher's blog to do so, keeping it ABSOLUTELY current vs. known bogus sites & adbanner servers etc.)
Thus? I need that speed.
NOW - unfortunately, sometimes, those other HOSTS files I used to populate mine also have sites blocked SOME may wish to see (like PORNO ones for example), so it MAY require SOME "hand-customizing" for some, because I do block out many of those (LOL, why? I prefer "LIVE ENTERTAINMENT" guys, lol!))... THIS is where I gain via feedback from others like yourself now (plus others that use it), so it is all the better... apk
If it isn't in the beta it isn't being tested. They need to introduce this to the beta before they put it in the release candidate.
And, anyway, from what I understand and my experience with Win7 is that this is just Vista with reduced security and a new taskbar.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
It would take a somewhat of a retard not to notice the needy window in just 3 flashes...
If that person was indeed busy with something else, he'd not bother checking out the friggin' 7 flashes... he'd be annoyed.
FTW!!! Stop the flashing already, I would have tolerated it if it were women...
"she's not dumb by any means, but she's far from a geek either"
Only the hubris of a geek would say such a thing. As if setting up a printer require a Superior intellect.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I don't know about your MSDN subscription, but my MSDN subscription lets me generate some large number of unique keys (I think it's 10).
1-36: security holes
Remember: Security holes in Windows is a feature you paid for.
How come no one has mentioned that these aren't new features~
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
.... you posted the exact same cut and paste to the blog twice, then a third time by linking back here. I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish, but most folks will ignore spammers. This is a shame, because you do raise valid questions.
I read your article on security at this website and that is where I found out how hosts files can help users for speed and security
http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=213148
While reading there I saw the good results people like Thronka are getting for themselves and their customers which was no virus or spyware for more than a year. That was good enough for me. So I tried the cistool tests you noted myself and have not been infected since. That's been for 6 months now. I saw what you state happens on vista regarding the hosts file and you are straight up right. It is a mistake on microsofts part unless there is some other peripheral reason as to why microsoft has elected for inefficiency in a hosts file, though I must agree that removing port filtering was not a good move on ms end. Again thanks for this information and the backing of it from securityfocus too. Keep up the good work apk.
apk does make some extremely valid points in this exchange and should be yelling it to the high heavens as he has and especially straight to microsoft. Perhaps you others ought to sound off there too on this note or others if you are Windows users because now is your chance to get features in you would like to see in Windows 7.
indeed... most sane development teams have a "feature freeze" at some point in their development, preferably before the last beta test cycle begins. If your beta test or focus group or whatever is being used to determine what new features to cobble in at the last minute rather than ironing out bugs and ease of use issues, you can tell it's going to be a rambling wreck when it rolls out the door.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Really? My MSDN subscription provides 10 activations per key, and also provides the ability to request multiple keys...
Bug fixes are not features unless you're talking about Microsoft. Um . . . oh, yeah . . .
"For example, Appleâ(TM)s lossless .M4A or .H263 MPEG-4 content would be shown in a library even though Media Player could not play them."
Why would they tell you "You can't play this on Windows 7" when they obviously recognize the issue why wouldn't they just add the support to playback these files?
This is exactly why I never liked AIM when I was using Windows. Everything in that program blinks, every time someone sends you some text. ICQ would allow you to make paragraphs for different ideas in your message. AIM on the other hand sends a message every time you press enter, which encouraged sentence fragments, or people sending you nothing but an emoticon. I wasted so much time re-reading sentences because I had to click on an AIM window to get it to stop %#@$ing blinking. Most of the time I would quickly alt-tab and then alt-shift-tab but I would still be seething the entire time.
All OS shells should allow you to turn off all types of notifications, or make a whitelist of important criteria for a notification.
That said, on OS X or Linux+Gnome/KDE, I haven't really had many problems with this... I hate the bouncing icon or blinking taskbar panes too, it just doesn't happen very often.
Twinstiq, game news
"A careful balance must be struck between providing information and not irritating the customer." Says it all to me. They're not users, they're all just customers.
Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
Your complaint has some validity to it but isn't really that insightful for a bunch of reasons.
People:
I found the (imo) rather flimsy reasoning behind WHY the PORT FILTERING gui controls were allegedly removed in Windows VISTA, Server 2008, & Windows 7, after consulting with Mr. Mitch Tulloch... here tis:
From Chapter 27 of the Vista Resource Kit that explains the rationale for removing the TCP/IP Filtering UI:
----
"Windows XP Service Pack 2 actually has three different firewalling (or network traffic filtering) technologies that you can separately configure, and which have zero
interaction with each other:
Windows Firewall that was first introduced in Service Pack 2
TCP/IP Filtering, which is accessed from the Options tab of the Advanced
TCP/IP Properties sheet for the network connection
IPsec rules and filters, which you can create using the IPsec Security
Policy Management MMC snap-in
On top of this confusion, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 had a fourth network traffic filtering technology that you could use: the Routing and Remote Access Service
(RRAS), which supported basic firewall and packet filteringthe problem, of course, is that when more than one of these firewalls is configured on a computer, one firewall can block traffic that another allows"
----
Lame reasoning imo!
I say this, because it is TRIVIAL to create exceptions rules in most any software (or hardware based) firewall generally, & to match that in Port Filtering is quite simple also (even easier imo, provided you know what port's involved, & that's what the IANA lists are for, after all).
AND
Once a malware gets inside? One of the FIRST things it does, is disable a software firewall... & with NO OTHER BARRIERS IN THE WAY, such as PORT FILTERING RULES?
You get, what you get (infested systems galore online today).
APK
P.S.=> Mr. Tulloch & I are currently in progress searching for the reasoning behind the removal of 0 as a valid IP blocking address in a HOSTS file, but even HE was unaware of WHY this was done... but, with any luck? We're going to find out - &, I'll let you all know, here, if the thread isn't dead by then... apk
[...] quickbooks ties them firmly to Windows.
Then it says: "Read the rest of this comment..."
But that's the entire comment. /., fix your off by one bugs, please.
Knowing Microsoft, it will probably be 36 bug fixes and one new, useful feature for Windows 7. The new feature is bound to have at least 36 bugs though.
Wow, it's been almost 10 years since I had a subscription to MSDN. Keys under MSDN back in the day were great, you could instlal multiple versions on multiple machines all with the same key, and build test farms and on and on before you headed to production.
Nowadays, that's pretty much how linux works. Want a test farm on RHEL? Just install CENTOS .
--- It is not the things we do which we regret the most, but the things which we don't do.
I realized after I posted it that that line could be taken the wrong way. It's obviously not a matter of intellect, so much as knowledge. I should have written "she's not computer-illiterate by any means, but she's far from a geek either".
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Microsoft has introduced 36 new bugs (at least!) to Windows 7, calling them "features." In that case it's bound to be the most feature-laden OS on planet Earth!
*LOL*
"Can't sleep, must stay up to compile kernel."
I've been there. :)
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Its not a bug, its a feature!!!
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Ghandi
After your huge anti-MS rant this statement is ironic in that you do not seem to be frustrated or inconvenienced by such incidents. Staying up all night to compile a kernel is not high on my list of fun things to do.
I'll take that 15 minutes of hold time and an O/S that doesn't require a bunch of mucking around in config files, or recompiling and patching things, to work. I agree that it's stupid to have to do it in the first place, but put that in perspective!
I have tried to like Linux, really I have, but every time I try to actually get it installed on something, regardless of what the purpose was, I end up at a fucking command shell and spending hours on Google trying to find out why it doesn't just *work*
i'm not about to start a rant [as i usually do] but i'll say this... xp isn't really an interesting OS... leopard or any baby config of linux has much more potential/features... vista didn't change a thing...if you call those add-ons features ..well, that's ur opinion.
...but simply because their product is very poor.
windows 7 will ad touch screen features....wow what an advance...lmao. that's like saying omg wireless electricity! u should research Nikolas TESLA then...
so windows has a big market share...but that's slipping...little by little. not because i hate bill gates...[because honestly the guy has done good things for humanity (hence foundations)]
every time there's a new version there's no changes...same old same old. and as u all may know...u can't see the same thing to the same crwowd for ever...
whether is mac or linux one will end up tackling windows...although; mac has a very specific market [just as linux n windows] linux is user friendly n there r configurations that make things easy for noobs, old ppl, etc.
on top of that i believe that linux is focused n targeted to the young generations which always are upt to accept modern/advance/different things...
remember nobody though that firefox was going to kill explorer...n there's a wave or ppl worldwide making the switch.
i used to like windows until i found aout about linux...once u see the possibilities, you don't want to roll back.
i just use windows when i've no other option, but my main OS for web surfing, emailing, chatting, listening to music, reading and all of the daily tasks, is linux [fedora]
in the end is all about innovation...we r in the 21st century after all...don't u want to fell like u really are part of it? I Do.
"when I first saw this article, I immediately thought "Bloat."" - by A. B3ttik (1344591) on Friday February 27, @10:48AM (#27012387)
On bloat (& more that's adversely affecting the IP Stack)?
Take a read:
Here are 2 security features Microsoft has PULLED (port filtering) &/or crippled (for efficiency in HOSTS files) which shouldn't be (& yet, are.)
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1.) The removal of being able to use 0 as a blocking IP address in a HOSTS file
(vs. 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1, which are bigger, slower on load into the local DNS Cache (as well as slower flushes via ipconfig /flushdns) & also occupy more RAM once loaded, for NO GOOD REASON - 0 blocks as well as the other 2 do, & is smaller + faster!)
In this case, this happened on 12/09/2008 Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" updates, it wasn't LIKE that before then!
E.G.-> Here, using 0 as my blocking IP address in a FULLY normalized (meaning no repeated entries) HOSTS file with nearly 650,000 bad sites blocked in it, I get a 14++mb sized HOSTS file... using 0.0.0.0 it shoots up to 18++mb in size (& even worse using 127.0.0.1, to around the tune of 24++mb in size)...
This is SENSELESS bloat creation as the result!
&
2.) The removal of IP Port Filtering GUI controls for it via Local Network Connections properties "ADVANCED" section
(This is up there w/ when MS removed the GUI checkbox after NT 4.0 for IP Forwarding, only, this time, the difference is (and, it's a PAIN) is that it is NOT a single 1 line entry to hack via regedit.exe, but FAR MORE COMPLEX to do by hand)... Port Filtering is a USEFUL & POWERFUL security (& to a degree, speed also) enhancing feature!
Afaik, on THIS case (vs. #1 above)? It has always been that way in VISTA &/or Windows Server 2008... & not just the result of a Patch Tuesday modification.
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QUESTION: Do ANY of you folks have a GOOD SOLID TECHNICAL answer as to WHY these cripplings have been implemented in VISTA, Server 2008, & most likely their descendant, in Windows 7?
See - I posted on Microsoft/Mr. Sinofsky's (?) blog -> http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/25/feedback-and-engineering-windows-7.aspx
AND, I have YET to get a SOLID TECHNICAL ANSWER on those things going on in VISTA, Server 2008, & probably Windows 7 as well, that justify doing so...
(They're things I'd really LIKE to get an answer to, as to WHY Microsoft has done the 2 things in my list above, to the above noted versions of Windows)
APK
P.S.=> I found the rather flimsy reasoning behind WHY the PORT FILTERING gui controls were allegedly removed in Windows VISTA, Server 2008, & Windows 7, after consulting with Mr. Mitch Tulloch ( http://www.windowsnetworking.com/Mitch_Tulloch/ )
From Chapter 27 of the Vista Resource Kit that explains the rationale for removing the TCP/IP Filtering UI:
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"Windows XP Service Pack 2 actually has three different firewalling (or network traffic filtering) technologies that you can separately configure, and which have zero
interaction with each other:
Windows Firewall that was first introduced in Service Pack 2
TCP/IP Filtering, which is accessed from the Options tab of the Advanced
TCP/IP Properties sheet for the network connection
IPsec rules and filters, which you can create using the IPsec Security
Policy Management MMC snap-in
On top of this confusion, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 had a fourth network traffic filtering technology that you could use: the Routing and Remote Access Service(RRAS), which supported basic firewall and packet filteringthe problem, of course, is that when more than one of these firewalls is configured on