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Microsoft Fixing Windows 8 Flaws, But Leaving Them In Windows 7
mask.of.sanity sends this news from El Reg:
"Microsoft has left Windows 7 exposed by only applying security upgrades to its newest operating systems. Researchers found the gaps after they scanned 900 Windows libraries using a custom diffing tool and uncovered a variety of security functions that were updated in Windows 8 but not in 7. They said the shortcoming could lead to the discovery of zero day vulnerabilities. The missing safe functions were part of Microsoft's dedicated libraries intsafe.h and strsafe.h that help developers combat various attacks. [Video, slides.]"
Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
The bugs exist for a reason. If it's not broken now why buy the new version?
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Windows Sustained Engineering is a different org across the street with different funding and goals, and they don't automatically fix all of the bugs the Windows feature teams fix. There's a triage process for deciding whether bugs are important enough to fix in downlevel releases.
"People are aware that Windows has bad security but they are underestimating the problem because they are thinking about third parties. What about security against Microsoft? Every non-free program is a 'just trust me program'. 'Trust me, we're a big corporation. Big corporations would never mistreat anybody, would we?' Of course they would! They do all the time, that's what they are known for. So basically you mustn't trust a non free programme."
"There are three kinds: those that spy on the user, those that restrict the user, and back doors. Windows has all three. Microsoft can install software changes without asking permission. Flash Player has malicious features, as do most mobile phones."
"Digital handcuffs are the most common malicious features. They restrict what you can do with the data in your own computer. Apple certainly has the digital handcuffs that are the tightest in history. The i-things, well, people found two spy features and Apple says it removed them and there might be more""
From:
Richard Stallman: 'Apple has tightest digital handcuffs in history'
www.newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2012/12/05/richard-stallman-interview/
Dear Microsoft,
Dear gods, please catch a ride on the clue train. Businesses don't want Windows 8 - the retraining necessary is just too costly, and all the cool features involving touch are useless for the cube farm drones.
So just stop your stupid shit, realize the Windows 7 is your nex XP, make sure that Windows 9 undoes a lot of the silly bullshit, and maybe you won't completely jump the shark.
Um also while I (fail to) have your attention - the Ribbon is still stupid. Stop wasting my screen real estate and go back to proper menus. // yeah I know it's a pipe dream, but I needed to rant and rage.
The Digital Sorceress
This is just an extension of the kind of coerced upgrade Microsoft's attempted before. With Vista and then with Win7, when they didn't take off on their own MS tried to force the issue by making the latest versions of IE and DirectX and such only available for Vista/7, not XP. This is the same thing: "Upgrade to Win8 or take the heat for running a vulnerable OS.". Thing is, it'll backfire the same way the "no latest DirectX on XP" did. Win7's such a large base that developers can't afford to write code that won't run on it, so they won't be able to use the new Win8-only safe functions. Which means applications will remain vulnerable on Win8, just like on Win7 where they also run.
I don't want to hear this. I just finished the migration from XP to Win7.
Do not want to go through that again for another 6 years.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The interesting question is: should an OS vendor be able to sell a later generation of OS as "more secure" than a previous one as a feature to induce users to migrate to it, (clearly Microsoft's position on Win 8.1 vs Win 7 ) or does it have a responsibility to make all released product as reasonably secure as it can based on what it knows to and define features as capabilities, performance, etc outside of security?
I think it's fair for Microsoft to tout improvements like more secure kernel design or other elements that are core architectural advantages of a new OS (which cannot reasonably be replicated in earlier versions) but limiting fixes to common libraries, present in old and new OS, which have been found to be insecure, that could be patched for minimal effort in the old OS, to create an artificial distinction between old and new is not a security feature difference, it's a churlish forcing function. Win 8.1 is not better on security than Win 7 if the part of that difference depends on selectively responding to vulnerabilities.
Ironically, toward the end of it's life, XP got better support than Vista, because a Vista was a short-lived, poorly received follow-on that was quickly succeeded by Win 7. I'll predict that 3 years from now, after Win Next (9.0 or what ever) has been shipping for a while, the install base of Win 7 will still be far higher than that of Win 8.x and support (Microsoft and 3rd party drivers/apps) will be much better for Win 7 than it will be for Win 8.x. No doubt Microsoft will say it's most secure OS at that time will be Win 9.x but if it stopped providing critical patches to the second most popular OS way back in 2014, there's going to be trouble. (Anybody want to bet Microsoft at some point will be providing patches to vulnerabilities in Win 7 that they DON'T bother to do for Win 8.x because no one will care about "Vista-Next" anymore?)
Microsoft Kinect Spy System
THIS ARTICLE IS BEING SCRUBBED FROM THE NET. THE SITE IT WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED TO YANKED THE PLUG ON THEIR WHOLE SITE!!! COPY/PASTE THIS ARTICLE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO DISCUSSION FORUMS, BLOGS, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND ARCHIVE AND MIRROR THIS DOCUMENT SO IT DOES NOT VANISH FOREVER!
"So you just got the Kinect/Xbox360 gaming system and you're having fun, hanging out in your underwear, plopped down in your favorite lounge chair, and playing games with your buddies. Yeah, it's great to have a microphone and camera in your game system so you can "Kinect" to your pals while you play, but did you read that Terms of Service Agreement that came with your Kinect thingy? No? Here, let me point out an important part of that service agreement.
If you accept the agreement, you "expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft, our partners, or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the Service; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public."
Did you catch that? Here, let me print the important part in really big letters.
"If you accept the agreement, you expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications⦠on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public."
OK, is that clear enough for ya? When you use the Kinect system, you agree to allow Microsoft (and any branch of law enforcement or government they care to share information with) to use your Kinect system to spy on you. Maybe run that facial recognition software to check you out, listen to your conversations, and keep track of who you are communicating with.
I know this is probably old news to some, but I thought I would mention it because it pertains to almost all of these home game systems that are interactive. You have to remember, the camera and microphone contained in your game system have the ability to be hacked by anyone the game company gives that ability to, and that includes government snoops and law enforcement agents.
Hey, it's MICROSOFT. What did you expect?
And the same concerns apply to all interactive game systems. Just something to think about if you're having a "Naked Wii party" or doing something illegal while you're gaming with your buddies. Or maybe you say something suspicious and it triggers the DHS software to start tracking your every word. Hey, this is not paranoia. It's spelled out for you, right there in that Service Agreement. Read it! Here's one more part of the agreement you should be aware of.
"You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Service."
Did you catch it that time? YOU SHOULD NOT EXPECT ANY LEVEL OF PRIVACY concerning your voice chat and video features on your Kinect box."
###
"Listen up, you ignorant sheep. Your government is spending more money than ever to spy on its own citizens. That's YOU, my friend. And if you're one of these people who say, "Well I ain't ever done nothing wrong so why should I worry about it?' - you are dead wrong. Our civil liberties are being taken away faster than you can spit. The NSA is working away on its new "First Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center' to keep track of every last one of us. This thing will be the size of 17 football stadiums. One million square feet, all to be fille
And now I know that migrating to Windows 7 would have been pointless anyway. (Plus I saved the direct expense and the 2 - 3 days lost productivity looking up how to undo the user interface damage.)
So basically what happened is that as part of developing 8 and 8.1, Microsoft improved the security model in various places. This is done in every major OS release from every vendor. You wanted the latest and greatest? Then upgrade.
It's not as if there are unpatched vulnerabilities that are being left in there. But neither the submitted or other commenteds so far seem to understand that.
Sure, fine, lock major DirectX versions to Windows versions. Fine, lock major Office versions.
Sure, let's remove the common windowing system and change things around with no rhyme or reason.
Sure, remove useful features and never replace them.
BUT SECURITY? Hell naw. That is where it just goes from annoying to evil.
I thought even Microsoft were better than this. Seems they have fallen much farther than ever before.
Still prefer them over Google right now. Google are ruining their services harder than Microsoft are, by far.
That Google Maps update is seriously amateur. It is atrocious.
Slower, uglier, less intuitive, clicking misfires at times and ZOOMS IN to areas, they added that ass smooth-stop crap to it, which if you try to stop manually, usually causes the click misfire to zoom, that stupid images view in satellite, coming out of street view always goes back to map view, street view itself is hilariously bad, what the hell did they do to it, it used to be the best feature, now it is the WORST. Not to mention it still shows my childhood in it.
Poor poor game Google. Now even Microsoft are better than you.
At least Bing Maps is reasonably up to date. I only see my teen years in that.
I wonder how much they are going to ruin Gmail with this new update that is coming within the year.
I swear, I should seriously just drop Gmail. It has gotten slower over the years and now this update is going to ruin it even further all because tablet-shit age of websites.
Why are companies so terrible?
Why do they keep ruining things?
Why do they need to fix things that aren't broken?
Microsoft in particular could make so much more money and all while being reasonably Good.
They sorta half did that with the application store, but it is so obtuse it is barely worth it.
They need to step their game up. Hard.
Pay the upgrade or you deal with the "other" costs.
Apple is pushing the envelope: Free OS updates. Works on their hardware back 4-5 years.
My suspicion is MS, likewise, must get into the hardware business & become vertical.
These are mostly new functions added for Windows 8, they don't exist in the Windows 7 SDK.
If you wrote your programs to use them, they wouldn't work on 7, only 8, which everyone seems to hate.
If MS added them to a patch for 7, there would then be 2 fragmented versions of Windows 7, so if a customer calls you asking if your software works on Windows 7, you would have to ask if they have installed KB######, and they would say 'I don't know.', or they might lie and say yes, or no, and you'll have to walk them through checking installed Windows updates...
Sorry Microsoft, people use your product for two reasons: 1) it's well entrenched 2) it's easy to use and familiar. If you want them to switch from win 7 to win 8, you have to do it by ruining the usability of win 7, not its security.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
I'm just amazed that no matter how horrible Microsoft handles their Windows dominance, there is literally no competitor ready to pick up the slack. Open Source is largely a joke when it comes to most businesses, and Apple seems more interested in the hipster and grandma crowd than actual networks. Where is the competition? It's like Microsoft has managed to reach a natural position of "too big to fail." Is it just because the young startups are more interested in creating the next Cloud Service (tm) or Flappy Birds? Is it a funding issue, where you can't get VC support on something that won't show a massive return in under a year? What's the deal?
Windows 8 would be fine without that new UI.
Enterprise users are on 7 and moving to 8 now when windows 9 maybe hear next year and some have just moved to windows 7?
While you get 3rd party tools to make windows 8 like windows 7 in Enterprise useing them can be iffy.
### Stay Thirsty My Friends ###
Microsoft Kinect Spy System
THIS ARTICLE IS BEING SCRUBBED FROM THE NET. THE SITE IT WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED TO YANKED THE PLUG ON THEIR WHOLE SITE!!! COPY/PASTE THIS ARTICLE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO DISCUSSION FORUMS, BLOGS, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND ARCHIVE AND MIRROR THIS DOCUMENT SO IT DOES NOT VANISH FOREVER!
"So you just got the Kinect/Xbox360 gaming system and you're having fun, hanging out in your underwear, plopped down in your favorite lounge chair, and playing games with your buddies. Yeah, it's great to have a microphone and camera in your game system so you can "Kinect" to your pals while you play, but did you read that Terms of Service Agreement that came with your Kinect thingy? No? Here, let me point out an important part of that service agreement.
If you accept the agreement, you "expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft, our partners, or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the Service; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public."
Did you catch that? Here, let me print the important part in really big letters.
"If you accept the agreement, you expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications⦠on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public."
OK, is that clear enough for ya? When you use the Kinect system, you agree to allow Microsoft (and any branch of law enforcement or government they care to share information with) to use your Kinect system to spy on you. Maybe run that facial recognition software to check you out, listen to your conversations, and keep track of who you are communicating with.
I know this is probably old news to some, but I thought I would mention it because it pertains to almost all of these home game systems that are interactive. You have to remember, the camera and microphone contained in your game system have the ability to be hacked by anyone the game company gives that ability to, and that includes government snoops and law enforcement agents.
Hey, it's MICROSOFT. What did you expect?
And the same concerns apply to all interactive game systems. Just something to think about if you're having a "Naked Wii party" or doing something illegal while you're gaming with your buddies. Or maybe you say something suspicious and it triggers the DHS software to start tracking your every word. Hey, this is not paranoia. It's spelled out for you, right there in that Service Agreement. Read it! Here's one more part of the agreement you should be aware of.
"You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Service."
Did you catch it that time? YOU SHOULD NOT EXPECT ANY LEVEL OF PRIVACY concerning your voice chat and video features on your Kinect box."
###
"Listen up, you ignorant sheep. Your government is spending more money than ever to spy on its own citizens. That's YOU, my friend. And if you're one of these people who say, "Well I ain't ever done nothing wrong so why should I worry about it?' - you are dead wrong. Our civil liberties are being taken away faster than you can spit. The NSA is working away on its new "First Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center' to keep track of every last one of us. This thing will be the size of 17 football stadiums. On
From a post to the The Register:
NumptyScrub :
The fact that these extra functions are aimed at developers, and as far as I can tell are intended to provide bounds checked variables (e.g. protected against buffer overflow shenanigans) could be cause for some concern. It does not count as a fix of existing broken functionality though, so I don't see how it would qualify as MS ''ending support'' for Win7 if they chose not to add these extras to all existing OSs of theirs.
Redmond is patching Windows 8 but NOT Windows 7, say security bods
I hope Windows users will see how greedy Microsoft is and stop using it!
Windows sucks on many levels, so move on to good OS like what MAC uses or a Linux OS!
Well, it is relatively cheap to do things like this during development of a new major version but relatively expensive to do a security update or hotfix, so they need proof there is actually an exploitable bug, though they will often review surrounding code and do additional fixes when developing security updates.
These are mostly new functions added for Windows 8, they don't exist in the Windows 7 SDK.
If you wrote your programs to use them, they wouldn't work on 7, only 8, which everyone seems to hate.
If MS added them to a patch for 7,
written from scratch,
there would then be 2 fragmented versions of Windows 7
and wouldn't be done.
And that is why windows 7 would be shunned.
Every time I hear what this company is doing or not doing next, I have to take a shit.
If not, that is what you get for using out of date software. Get your wallet out and climb on board the upgrade train, or accept the situation and be happy.
Sarcasm aside, who honestly expects a company to support non-products ? I dont.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I say de-support all OSes but Windows Server 2012r2 and Windows 8.1 x64!
Force all users to buy the latest OS and use it! I am sure the shareholders will LOVE that card trick.
Your Average Joe
Debian had a REDUCED ENTROPY random number generator for TWO YEARS
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/05/random_number_b.html
All these claims of openness and MANY EYES, is PURE BULLSHIT.
These features are HIGH SECURITY IMPACTING, HBI (High Business impact) yet open source FAILED for TWO YEARS.
Linux is NOT the answer.
all you crotchety nerds should stop whining. Windows 8 and 2012 are here and are the future. If you can't sell it to your business, you're doing it wrong. But hey, keep your old OSes. There will be more jobs for me. Dear Microsoft, please keep innovating and providing a solid platform for those of us that actually see what your products can do.
Sometimes, Microsoft REALLY disappoints me: & I'm one of their BIGGEST fanboys out there + possibly certainly here as well on this forums - they're turning into the Roman Empire near its decline (then again, so is the USA)... I suppose it's really the nature of man himself & greed.
I say that, since we all KNOW it doesn't have to be that way... but, there's how it OUGHT to be, & then there's the way it really is.... especially due to the TRUE "root of all evil" the big crap table, the stockmarket - since when all that matters becomes money in the end for a company (& it should be about QUALITY PRODUCT, or the money goes "bye bye" eventually when folks wise up to that fact happening when it's not), it's over, or near to it, & you're on the way down.
APK
P.S.=> Where's it all come from? The "top" of their mgt. chain & boards of directors, like anything else does in a stratified organization... I wish "King Billy" would come back in there & "clean house", I really do - beneath him, MS could essentially do no wrong & was batting a 1000 constantly imo @ least (for the most part, most of the time) - that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I just hope they do a GREAT JOB on Windows 9, bringing back the desktop interface we all used for decades last seen in Windows 7, & concentrate on shoring up their code vs. security issues + of course, optimizations for speed/performance too & STEERING CLEAR OF "CLOUDIFYING" IT & THEIR OFFICE SUITES... & per my subject-line? I don't *think* that's going to happen, @ least not on ALL counts I just noted... makes me sad, like it does anything in life - especially when I see GREAT THINGS start to go bad!
... apk
You do realize that with paying customers you can't just crank out a patch overnight and hope it doesn't affect any other piece of software. Of course when a Linux patch breaks something all you have is neckbeards sending you nasty emails. Microsoft is open to lawsuits and contract issues.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
No, they should not consider Windows 7 a "downlevel" release. I just bought a NEW computer with Windows 7 on it for a relative, and had to pay a premium to get W7 instead of W8. I don't need a repeat of the XP debacle! Windows 7 is the MAIN operating system from Microsoft today, Windows 8 is only a trial balloon. Since I did pay for W7 I expect FULL support for its lifetime not some half assed job designed to force people to upgrade prematurely.
The advice from the computer repair shop my relative used this very week was to get W7 and avoid W8. This is not just some disgruntled people avoiding W8, it is very much mainstream.
Coming from Win7, it still is invariably a downgrade.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Windows 7 is the only operating system I have ever used that has trouble deleting information from the Operating System. I just had to deal with being told that a file / folder didn't exist and couldn't be removed. This kind of issue, even though small, shows the lack of refinement and the false young nature of the Operating System. In contrast Linux is the adult in the Operating System war, I'm not saying that just to blow smoke or be a Linux fan boy, I'm saying that because when I run into issues in Windows, I don't run into them in Linux.
It is widely known that Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 at the same time it ended support for XP.
Microsoft doesn't want another Windows XP, I'll wager they are after a 5 year turn around or perhaps even faster.
$'s.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
There's GOT to be a way we can get people to buy Windows 8!
Would you like to learn how to make one million dollars in 10 minutes?
Click I agree to learn more from our Trusted, Secure, website.
The security hole is the end user.
I am still confounded
Aside from the fact that spreadsheet formulas cannot (easily) be ported to different spreadsheets via csv, there's a very simple supply and demand explanation, client says: "We only use MS office, that's the way we have done business for over a decade, it's what we are set up to handle now, if you can't deliver we will have to find someone who can". - Actually in the "real world" they would probably just laugh their asses off and walk away.
obig car analogy: It's like a mechanic saying I can't work on your Mazda because it's not a Ford.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
"It does seem logical." A paraphrase from the Star Trek reboot of a few years ago. Even Spock can have doubt about logic !
"In order to persuade an attacking enemy from attack, one must remove the reason for attack by giving the enemy what it needs to attack." Paraphrase of a Ninja proverb. :-)
eat shit or die.
Thanks a bunch, Microsoft!
People think Microsoft is a software company that is sometimes evil. That's wrong. Microsoft is an evil company that delivers evil through software. The main purpose is evil.
My opinion, but one shared by many others. When you buy from Microsoft, you are making yourself the target of manipulation. The anti-trust laws are not being observed, and Microsoft has a virtual monopoly.
It seems likely that Microsoft will not treat buyers of Windows 8.1 better than they have treated buyers of Windows 7.
People still use Windows?
Windows 7 and Office 2013 are the buggiest software I have ever used.
I think the only reasons Windows 7 gets any positive reviews are: (a) astroturfers; and (b) people relieved it's slightly better than Vista.
It's been funny reading all the articles by the technical media pontificators bemoaning and wondering why people stick with XP. It's because XP was the best OS Microsoft has ever produced. Everything that has come after has been complete shite.
Is any backporting of the fixes possible by installing the Windows8 fixes in Win7?
I'm with you on that, as I was there thru much of that myself programming professionally since 1994 here (& as a user thru the 80's before it in academia or on the job working during my schooling etc. using IBM mainframe &/or midrange systems from System 34/36/38 onward into the AS400 series along with VAX VMS systems (all the slave terminal type setups/glass house stuff we both apparently used)).
So, yes - It seems that decay in corporations along with their products is just an "unfortunate natural progression" apparently, since history seems to back you & yes, I agree... history & human nature as I alluded to. The bad side of human nature, in greed mostly imo... CEO's & top mgt. + boards of directors BONUSES (which they do NOT merit imo - the workers creating it do).
All they do, is force engineers of ANY KIND to make the product 10% cheaper to make each quarter so they can get those "bonuses" THEY do NOT merit.
APK
P.S.=> Sorry for the late & rather SHORT reply on my part, it's just that I am mega-busy today... gotta "jet"! See ya... apk
Windows 7 is still supported, so doing this now isn't shoddy ethics, it's a breach of contract. If they think that having shorter support periods will drive more sales, then have to start with Windows 9.
I once used Windows 7, I'm ashamed to admit, but I don't recall signing a contract.
In fact, the EULA, I think explicitly states that you assume all liability, and absolve M$ for ever and ever throughout the universe of time and space, from any and all liability on behalf of your heirs, your assignees, etc., as well as yourself, naturally, from any and all claims of harm if you're STUPID ENOUGH to trust ANY of M$ products to work as advertised, and that they are NOT to be used in any situation where someone's life may DEPEND upon the system working as advertised.
I think that speaks volumes, and much louder than their bullshit advertisements about how wonderful and great their crippled crapware is. Ironically, every single thing M$ does, or has done for about a dozen or more years, has been as great a reason as any to switch to a better OS.
The solution is dirt-simple. If you have the resources, (money!) upgrade to Apple's OS X on a Mac. If you DON'T, upgrade to GNU/Linux, which is better, AND free. Windows isn't free, even if it came with the computer you bought, because you're still paying the cost of the licenses, including all the ones they don't end up selling. So when everyone started clamoring for the latest version of Windows (or M$ forced it on OEM's by telling them they wouldn't sell them the old version anymore,) where did the OEM you bought your computer from get the money to pay for all the unsold and unsellable copies of the old one they already bought?
It's rolled up into the price for the new machine. That means, you not only paid for a copy of, let's say 8, you also paid for part of a copy of 7 you never got, a copy of Vista you never got, and so on down the line... unless you think M$ gave them their money back, or they actually managed to sell one machine for every single one of the volume-purchased copy of Windows they already previously paid for... which would be pretty awesome for them, but it seems a touch unlikely. And even if a bigger company could get cost concessions for old, unsold copies, the Dells and HP's of the world, do you think the little Ma' and Pa' computer store that builds its own customer systems could? Don't bet on it. Misrosoft never does anything by playing fair that it can't do cheaper by sneaky, illegal, underhanded backdoor means.
Anyhow, one solution (OS X) is a little more expensive, but has an ever increasingly higher (than a PC with M$ Windows) value/dollar ratio, and the other (GNU/Linux) is free, and will generally run on whatever computer you already have, so it's a win-win, and a no-brainer, as well as several other old, tired cliches I can't think of right now.
Shoot, GNU/Linux will probably run on a toaster, if you're prepared to compile your own kernel.
M$ has done to itself what the US government, an organization that once broke up Standard Oil and spanked Ma' Bell's ass black and blue, didn't have the brains or balls to do. Happily, unlike a dozen years ago, when there was really NO option, NOW there are several. You are now free, finally, to give up your Misrosoft Wrechware, and upgrade to something better.
Apple, (for those who haven't been paying attention,) is GIVING AWAY THEIR NEXT OS-X RELEASE FOR FREE, to all who have a Mac that can run it, which I think means probably every machine running Mavericks, or possibly 10.7 or 10.8 or later, (consult Apple for details, I know it'll run on my MacBook Air, so I never bothered to look deeper). In addition to it's existing awesomeness, the new OS X and iOS will be integrated enough that if you have an iPhone 4 or higher, (I think, 5 definitely) with the newest iOS, and a Mac with Yosemite (OS X 10,) and the phone is somewhere else, like in another room, and someone calls while you're on the computer, you can actually jus
So... how many years, and how many hundreds of billions of dollars would it take for M$ to produce ONE SINGLE PIECE OF SOFTWARE that doesn't crawl with bugs, and isn't riddled with security holes and vulnerabilities?
Just wondering. Ten years? One hundred billion dollars?
Twenty years? Two hundred billion dollars?
Because so far it's been what... 30 years? How many billions have funneled into MS, without their having made a single product that can claim to be secure, or stable?
By the way, for an OPERATING SYSTEM, if the only way they can make it not crash is by managing to convince you not to run 3rd party software on it, is like a car company saying "our cars don't spontaneously explode as long as you don't hit them, or move them out of your drive-way. They're totally safe to sit in, just don't move them anywhere." It's not tenable. For an OPERATING SYSTEM to be useful, you have to be free to use the software you want and/or need to be able to use to complete the tasks for which you bought the machine, and limiting yourself only to the crap M$ pumps out, like Office, etc., is NOT doing anything but perpetuating the problem by providing M$ with revenue streams to add to their war-chest.
One's and Zero's don't generally go bad, so there's no reason why you should have to keep buying the same software over and over again, but M$ depends on your being dumb enough to do just that. Why reward them for harming you? Unless that sort of thing just gets you off...
I wonder how much money they'd have to get to feel comfortable enough to make a single release of software that is as good as it could be if they didn't have a huge incentive to make it with all the holes, errors, failures, etc. built right into it? I guess all of it, because they KNOW as soon as they make one that actually fucking WORKS, they won't sell (to any person who buys it,) another OS ever again.
XP came close enough to that that M$ has had to resort to refusing to update the holes they purposefully left in it when they released it, to pry that old OS from people's cold, dead hands, and it was SHITTY. If they made VISTA FREE, most people STILL would not have taken it, when word got out what dreck it was. Seven was to Vista what XP was to ME, and to XP what XP was to 98.
M$ knows they can't make a good product, because that would invalidate their business model. Why continue to support that?
Simple Reality: It is profitable to release new improved [undocumented bugs] software to buyers.
It is costly to fix software bugs for free, because old buggy products are a an excellent free marketing tool.
HookWare is good for US and always good for companies and greedy.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
I'm a Mac guy, but Apple's license agreement for OSX has the same kind of limitations on liability and fitness for use.
- Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.