Slashdot Mirror
Vista Post-SP2 Is the Safest OS On the Planet
pkluss noted Kevin Turner, COO of Microsoft making the proclamation that "Vista today, post-Service Pack 2, which is now in the marketplace, is the safest, most reliable OS we've ever built. It's also the most secure OS on the planet, including Linux and open source and Apple Leopard. It's the safest and most secure OS on the planet today."
No sir, my money IS on Vista.
Yep, go ahead and mod me down. I firmly believe what I just said and I REFUSE to to say something else just to appease the goddamn MS haters here.
B.S. to this article, on 2 issues, as regards security (AND, bloat/inefficiency), & with 2 concrete examples thereof:
----
1.) THE REMOVAL OF THE PORT FILTERING GUI FRONT-END CONTROLS in VISTA &/or Windows 7, for one thing - Port filtering functions perfectly operating simultaneously alongside software firewalls, & IP Security Policies
(All 3 security "filters" for IP here, run FINE together, even w/ a NAT true stateful packet inspecting "firewalling" router, for example)
They do so in a layered security manner, just like door handle locks (firewall), deadbolt locks (port filters), & chain locks (IP Security policies) do...
(I.E.-> Take 1 of those 3 layers down (which is what many malware seek to do, right away)? The others are STILL IN THE WAY, since they all operate via diff. drivers & on DIFF. LEVELS of the IP stack...!)
AND, FOR ANOTHER?
2.) The issue with HOSTS files involves EFFICIENCY more than security though!
See - in removing (after the 12/2009 Patch Tuesday update) 0 as a valid blocking IP address (vs. the larger & slower 0.0.0.0, & worse still the default 127.0.0.1 loopback adapter address)? MS made a blunder on disk, & made things less efficient in HOSTS files, since the filemass is now larger & WILL be slower to read thru, as well as not being able to 'pack' as many entries into a tinier filespace to read them up from.
(Contributing to inefficiency & yes, "bloat", in doing this latter one... I merely note this, because HOSTS files do have a tremendous security benefit as well - blocking out KNOWN BAD SITES, & making THAT less efficient, is rather dumb!)
----
Nuff said...
APK
Microsoft Operating System tester: So. How are things going for you?
Linux Operating System Tester: Well, my five year old managed to get a keylogger visiting 3boobbetty.com, but other then that, not too shabby. You?
Microsoft Operating System Tester: Not a blip on the radar. Smooth sailing. All is well.
Linux Operating System Tester: That's great, man. Awesome. Um...hey, dude. You got that thing plugged into the network?
Microsoft Operating System Tester: What?
Microsoft don't make peripherals. They brand other manufacturers' (usually Logitech) peripherals.
how does the average user determine whether their ... OS is just a load of bloated crap?
Simple, they use Windows.
Want Big Business out of government? Take away the incentive and start by getting government out of big business!
That same $1000 says that more people have downgraded to XP than have EVER used Vista
"It's the safest and most secure OS on the planet today..." as long as you either:
a) have anti-virus, anti-spyware software installed
b) are not using Vista but instead some derivative of linux/bsd.
-- Sex is the antonym of pringles. Once you pop it's time to stop.
Hello my dear friends, I want to use this medium to do an advert about our product being au gold dust and bars. We are a group of local miners from Ghana west Africa, right now we have about 250kilos of gold dust, and we are sourcing for prospective buyers from any part of the globe. We are selling at LME discount. You can contact me on my email id ramsey_kwame at live.com. Then from there, i will send our procedure to you.
It's windows. they don't support the cool keyboards without drivers. Same goes with mice. Get more than two buttons and you need special software. don't forget the new tray icons, desktop shortcuts(cause we all need shortcuts on the desktop to keyboard settings) auto updater that runs as admin and interferes with hibernation mode.
Too be fair MSFT only allowed the problem. other companies made it horrendous.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Hello Mr Ramsey, I am interested in the gold you have for sale. Send me details pls.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Do you have this signature because you often post comments that are stupid and/or wrong? MS doesn't have to support "things" (great word, there, jockstrap) because it's financial suicide for "things" to not develop Windows drivers.
"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand" - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
It's so safe, that no one uses it! It's kind of tough for it to be unsafe when everyone refuses to touch it! That would be like Rosanne Bar being in the high-risk category for STD's.
Well, that kind of missed the point though. MS did a presentation a little while back which pointed out that their biggest competition is pirated copies of Windows (and not by a small margin).
http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bigger_Competitor_than_Apple
The point is that people can say all they want that Vista caused an explosion in Linux installs. But in reality, so very few people have switched to Linux or OSX that it hardly matters. MS said that they were worried about Linux, but its like the Olympics being worried about competition from the Special Olympics.
There's lots of really great, skilled people working on Linux, but no one cares. At least, not in the mainstream.
The software no longer qualifies as useful once it is on a Windows platform.
Yes, they do make peripherals. No, they aren't re-branded.
I doubt it. I just purchased 7 Microsoft wireless keyboards and mice for a client. They were somewhere on the order of $26 each. Every single one had trouble with mice disassociating and needing to be reconnected. I called my sales rep and he said "well--you did purchase the cheapest model" to which I replied "I'll be more clear next time. I want the cheapest model that actually works." He replaced them with the $2-more-expensive-per-unit Logitech keyboards and mice. No issues. Screw Microsoft. They can't even make decent hardware. And God help you if you connected some of their 1st gen wireless keyboards and mice to a linux box. Strange characters would pop up on the screen from time to time. Finally figured out it was reporting back battery levels as keycodes.
There's no place like