This is a user action that you're faulting Microsoft for
No, these are Microsofts design flaws that you are faulting the user for. Sudo was invented in 1980. That Microsoft doesn't have an equivilant for it by now is pathetic. And no, "run as" does not come remotely close.
If you want to sell a copy of MS Windows, whether you're a big box store, the guy on the corner, or Dell, you have to committ to selling a fully patched box at the time it walks out the door.
You're still putting the responsiblity for the defects of the *manufacturer* on the shoulders of the *reseller*. How about forcing Microsoft to roll patches into XP install cd's that go out to Best Buy, and into the OEM copies that Dell and HP get instead.
And then we'd be hearing instead, "The biggest problem with MacOS/Linux is that Apple/Linus gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable."
No. We wouldn't. Because Mac OS X and Linux ALREADY ARE STABLE AND STAY STABLE. You have to work to make either of those insecure, compared to Windows where it comes insecure and you have to do a lot of work and maintenance to fix it.
The biggest problem with Windows is that Microsoft gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable.
No, you idiot, the problem is that there is simply no excuse for Windows not to BE STABLE OUT OF THE BOX. Mac OS X and most Linux distributions have been able to do this for years. Take a Mac or Debian box from 2001, slap it on the net completely unpatched, and you'll still be completely safe from viruses and worms. Putting the blame on the user, when it's the inherent design flaws in Windows that are at fault, just lets Microsoft off the hook.
Name me a single consumer product that takes as much work to make it "safe" unpon installing, or needs constant maintenance after that. You wont find one.
"So about a year ago..." We're in the computer field here, folks. Have I complained about things that took place with Windows ME? Yeah, I have. But I also acknowledge that what's out today can be a lot different from what was available a year ago.
So what? You buy a Sony Vaio today (the PC in the article), what does it come with? Windows XP. What did a Viao come with a year ago? Windows XP. And unless Sony started rolling patches into their OEM installs, a Viao today will have the exact same vunerabilities that a Vaio would have had a year ago. Nothing has changed.
Certainly if I were writing an article about what was wrong with something, I'd check to make sure I was reviewing a recent edition. SP2, while not the ultimate solution to everyone's problems, is a darn sight better than what the author is writing about.
But you can be compromized before you even download the first patch, much less SP2, which is a 266 meg download.
've had several Macs, and loved them all -- but yeah, guess what? They were several times more expensive than the beige-box PCs I'd put together from my local shop
No shit, Sherlock. Apple is an OEM, and as such, you'll always be able to own commodity parts for a lot less. But the *same thing* is true for any OEM - you'll be able to build your own PC for a lot less money than getting a Dell or HP.
But windows is not that bad, not the best, but not as bad as the article paints it.
Yes it is that bad. Viruses and the Internet weren't invented with the release of Windows XP. That you can do a fresh install of XP and be infected before you even download the first patch is completely inexcusable.
While the article attempts to make light of it, the fact remains that being the dominant player attracts the most Malware, Virii, spyware etc...
Having piss poor security is what attracts malware, virii, etc.
I don't usually defend MSFT, but when you're a target that big, everybody is gunning for you--the spammers, the spyware pimps, the skript kiddies, the crackers, and the phishers. If there were that many Macs, I'm sure they'd not enjoy their false sense of safty.
"It's not our fault that the Pinto blows up in low speed collisions. It's not a design defect, if BMW and Honda had our kind of marketshare, their cars would blow up just as often" --Made Up Ford exec, 1978
If you're going to run Windows the simple fact of life you're going to have to get used to is this: high maintenance.
Windows viruses and the intenet weren't invented at the time of the release of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. It is completely inexcusable that a Windows machine ban be compromized on the intenet before you even finish downloading the first patch. There's also no excuse for not rolling in patches to newly pressed XP disks and have them automatically installed when you're reinstalling the OS.
Don't log-in as Administrator ever
A big pain in the ass as there is no equivilant for sudo in Windows. And no, "run as" does not cut it, especially in a multi-user environment. You'd either have to have one administrator account that every admin uses, a security risk, or have a regular and administrator account for every admin, another security risk.
Macs are easily knocked over two if you're running services like SSH. A dictionary attack is trivial.
Not over a network it's not. Mac's and linux come secure out of the box. You have to go around turning services on to change that - services that aren't on by default. You can take a Mac or Debian computer from 2001, leave it totally unpatched, and be just fine, as opposed to Windows, which you recommend downloading virus updates for twice a day.
If there were that many Macs, I'm sure they'd not enjoy their false sense of safty.
You're wrong. It wouldn't matter if Apple had 100% marketshare, they still wouldn't have but a fraction of the security problems that Microsoft does. What you MS appologists need to realize, is that Microsoft is a "Features" company. By that I mean that Microsoft is just like a balding salesman in a home appliance store. He'll try to convince you that you really need to buy the 2004 model, rather than the 2002. The 2004 really isn't any better, but it's got all these "Features". Coming up with new "Features" is their highest priority, to give their customers a reason to upgrade in 2006 and so on. If these features make for poor security or just suck ass**, that's okay, because it gives you more billets in your list of "Features".
As the other AC pointed out, you've got it backwards, as the Geforce 3 ruled the roost at the time. ATI did have a lead over the Geforce 2 - at the highest resolutions and at 32 bit color. For about three weeks, until nVidia released new drivers and regained the lead. The only time ATI has had a notable performance lead was with the 9700/9800 family. NVidia had faster cards before that and with the 6800 family they have faster cards now.
Yes they did. However, there is a difference between signing legislation sight unseen (stupid) and authoring/pushing it in the first place. I'll take stupidity over malicious behavior any day.
Do you think for one minute gun control laws keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Nope. They only keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, while the criminals keep their guns.
Blah blah blah. How much does smuggled cocaine cost? How much do you think the price of guns would go up if they were actually banned, UK style, and had to be smuggled into the country? Considering that most criminals are poor - it's one reason why they're criminals in the first place - it would be a lot harder for them to get a gun, much less a good gun. Not to mention the fact that contrary to what you gun nuts seem to think, a gun is not a magical talisman, and going for it is a good way to get yourself shot first.
My dad and I were ordered to pull over for a search when we we driving from North Dakota up through Winnipeg to go fishing. I think they have the place surrounded by cameras not to catch smugglers or terrorists, but to fine the employees if they so much as hint at a smile.
Anyway, they poked around our vehicle for a good couple of hours. And it's all because I had the nerve to say "eh?" back to the girl in the booth, when she said "oh, are you going fishing, eh?" when she saw the canoe on the top of my dad's SUV. At least I didn't say "no doot aboot it", or else they probably would have ordered up a round of cavity searches.
If I were Iran or North Korea, I would be loving Canada right now.
Why's that? Bush himself can't do dick about either country right now. Korea has nukes already, and we don't have the troop strength to invade either country right now.
but with great benefit to countries like Canada.
What benefit is that? Canada, like most sensible democracies that keep their noses out of other people's business, doesn't suffer from international terrorism.
I'm hardly a ST fan, but man, that series blew everything else out of the water. It had everything people here have been clamoring about: deep (very deep) character development, HUGE plot arc
As another poster said, try B5. JMS had the whole arcs planned out from the beginning. The last few seasons of DS9 seemed to fall into the same hole that the Spider-Man clone debacle that Marvel had a few years back. For those of you who didn't read Spider-Man at the time, the reader's digest version basically went like this:
Five years ago, Marvel time, somebody made a clone of Spider-Man. Said clone was dumped down a chimney, and thought to be destroyed. However, the clone shows up all of a sudden, wearing a different costume, and sales go up. The editors decided they had a good thing on their hands, and dragged out the story AS LONG AS THEY COULD. This, combined with the fact that you had to buy 4 books a month to keep up with the story, killed sales, made the whole clone deal a legendary bad story, and drove the charachter into the ground into such an extent that it's still recovering today.
The same situation seemed to happen on DS9. Berman seemed to think he had a good thing with the Dominion and he did - so he drug the same basic arc out 2 seasons past its prime. They would have a big battle on the show about every three weeks, but nothing would change, nothing would be resolved. And the charachter relations more and more seemed to resemble a soap opera (Odo and Kira, anyone?).
DS9 sucked the first two seasons, got its footing in season 3, and seasons 4 and 5 rocked. But after that the show returned to suckiness, unfortunatly. As I was discussion with another poster, they should hire JMS of B5 fame and Joss Weadon of Buffy, two guys who know how to do plots, story arcs and charachters.
Can you imagine if JMS and Joss Whedon ever teamed up?
Heh...have JMS come up with the major plot points, sudden 90 degree right turns in the show (B5 succeeding from Earth, anyone?), and have Whedon round it out with holy-fuck-that's-cool stuff, like the bad guys from "Hush", and write lots of the dialog. But of course, Fox would cancel it after the 4th episode.
Ever watch Dr. Who? It was a show all about time travel, and in 25 years it managed to never be as lame as Star Trek's time travel. Probably because they didn't have to come up with soem lame excuse as to why the charachters were in 14th century France, but it helped that the creators actually spent time on plot and charachterizations.
As I just said to an AC, you seemed to have confused innovation with invention, because hell yes they innovate.
Did they invent the portable music player?
See what I mean? No, they weren't the first to make one, they just made a player that had a capacity hundereds of times greater than the flash players of the time, at a fraction of the size of the desktop-hardrive based players such as the Arcos. That's innovation.
Class is relative. Income is absolute. Average income in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, save for the UAE.
Pfft. You must do advertizing for one of those companies that boasts that their average wage is $x, nevermind the fact that the average employee is not the CEO or the CIO, who get paid ten times as much as the average employee. Case in point: the company I work for said the average Christmas bonus last year would be $780. I talked to people who had been their 8 years (VERY long time in a compnay with high turnover) who didn't get half that.
So, take off the top five percent of the wealthiest people in each of those countries, and you'll have a much better idea of what the "average" person really makes. I have a hunch UAE is going to drop like a stone in the rankings if you do that.
The thing I'm waiting for is for a dual layer dvd-r on the Powerbooks...Apple doesn't even seem to have them in the desktops yet. Hmph. Doesn't matter much if the PB line still has G4's at the time, although it would be nice if Apple would h4xor a point-to-point bus onto the G4's motherboard.
When are they going to get some graphics cards that can do some serious screen resolutions? I've heard all of the 100dpi crap, but leave the decision to the end user as to what display mode to use. Even the crappiest Dell Inspirion 8600 can do 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution and has a graphics card w/ 128 MB of RAM.
So given my experience, I have no idea why you've been modded flamebait
Because it's still far, far easier for a Windows XP box to become compromised with a competent user than it is for linux to become compromised with an incompetent user. A competent person could run Windows update as soon as they are finished installing XP, and still have their box compromised in the time it takes to download and install the updates. An incompetent person generally has to go out of their way to make a linux box secure. Root login through ssh is usually disabled by default, and every distro seems to have learned from the Red Hat wuftpd (proudly providing remote root since 1994!) debacle, and don't have services running all over the place by default.
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This is a user action that you're faulting Microsoft for
No, these are Microsofts design flaws that you are faulting the user for. Sudo was invented in 1980. That Microsoft doesn't have an equivilant for it by now is pathetic. And no, "run as" does not come remotely close.
If you want to sell a copy of MS Windows, whether you're a big box store, the guy on the corner, or Dell, you have to committ to selling a fully patched box at the time it walks out the door.
You're still putting the responsiblity for the defects of the *manufacturer* on the shoulders of the *reseller*. How about forcing Microsoft to roll patches into XP install cd's that go out to Best Buy, and into the OEM copies that Dell and HP get instead.
And then we'd be hearing instead, "The biggest problem with MacOS/Linux is that Apple/Linus gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable."
No. We wouldn't. Because Mac OS X and Linux ALREADY ARE STABLE AND STAY STABLE. You have to work to make either of those insecure, compared to Windows where it comes insecure and you have to do a lot of work and maintenance to fix it.
The biggest problem with Windows is that Microsoft gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable.
No, you idiot, the problem is that there is simply no excuse for Windows not to BE STABLE OUT OF THE BOX. Mac OS X and most Linux distributions have been able to do this for years. Take a Mac or Debian box from 2001, slap it on the net completely unpatched, and you'll still be completely safe from viruses and worms. Putting the blame on the user, when it's the inherent design flaws in Windows that are at fault, just lets Microsoft off the hook.
Name me a single consumer product that takes as much work to make it "safe" unpon installing, or needs constant maintenance after that. You wont find one.
Easy:
"So about a year ago..." We're in the computer field here, folks. Have I complained about things that took place with Windows ME? Yeah, I have. But I also acknowledge that what's out today can be a lot different from what was available a year ago.
So what? You buy a Sony Vaio today (the PC in the article), what does it come with? Windows XP. What did a Viao come with a year ago? Windows XP. And unless Sony started rolling patches into their OEM installs, a Viao today will have the exact same vunerabilities that a Vaio would have had a year ago. Nothing has changed.
Certainly if I were writing an article about what was wrong with something, I'd check to make sure I was reviewing a recent edition. SP2, while not the ultimate solution to everyone's problems, is a darn sight better than what the author is writing about.
But you can be compromized before you even download the first patch, much less SP2, which is a 266 meg download.
've had several Macs, and loved them all -- but yeah, guess what? They were several times more expensive than the beige-box PCs I'd put together from my local shop
No shit, Sherlock. Apple is an OEM, and as such, you'll always be able to own commodity parts for a lot less. But the *same thing* is true for any OEM - you'll be able to build your own PC for a lot less money than getting a Dell or HP.
But windows is not that bad, not the best, but not as bad as the article paints it.
Yes it is that bad. Viruses and the Internet weren't invented with the release of Windows XP. That you can do a fresh install of XP and be infected before you even download the first patch is completely inexcusable.
While the article attempts to make light of it, the fact remains that being the dominant player attracts the most Malware, Virii, spyware etc...
Having piss poor security is what attracts malware, virii, etc.
I don't usually defend MSFT, but when you're a target that big, everybody is gunning for you--the spammers, the spyware pimps, the skript kiddies, the crackers, and the phishers. If there were that many Macs, I'm sure they'd not enjoy their false sense of safty.
"It's not our fault that the Pinto blows up in low speed collisions. It's not a design defect, if BMW and Honda had our kind of marketshare, their cars would blow up just as often" --Made Up Ford exec, 1978
If you're going to run Windows the simple fact of life you're going to have to get used to is this: high maintenance.
Windows viruses and the intenet weren't invented at the time of the release of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. It is completely inexcusable that a Windows machine ban be compromized on the intenet before you even finish downloading the first patch. There's also no excuse for not rolling in patches to newly pressed XP disks and have them automatically installed when you're reinstalling the OS.
Don't log-in as Administrator ever
A big pain in the ass as there is no equivilant for sudo in Windows. And no, "run as" does not cut it, especially in a multi-user environment. You'd either have to have one administrator account that every admin uses, a security risk, or have a regular and administrator account for every admin, another security risk.
Macs are easily knocked over two if you're running services like SSH. A dictionary attack is trivial.
Not over a network it's not. Mac's and linux come secure out of the box. You have to go around turning services on to change that - services that aren't on by default. You can take a Mac or Debian computer from 2001, leave it totally unpatched, and be just fine, as opposed to Windows, which you recommend downloading virus updates for twice a day.
If there were that many Macs, I'm sure they'd not enjoy their false sense of safty.
You're wrong. It wouldn't matter if Apple had 100% marketshare, they still wouldn't have but a fraction of the security problems that Microsoft does. What you MS appologists need to realize, is that Microsoft is a "Features" company. By that I mean that Microsoft is just like a balding salesman in a home appliance store. He'll try to convince you that you really need to buy the 2004 model, rather than the 2002. The 2004 really isn't any better, but it's got all these "Features". Coming up with new "Features" is their highest priority, to give their customers a reason to upgrade in 2006 and so on. If these features make for poor security or just suck ass**, that's okay, because it gives you more billets in your list of "Features".
**
Personalized menu's. 'Nuff said.
As the other AC pointed out, you've got it backwards, as the Geforce 3 ruled the roost at the time. ATI did have a lead over the Geforce 2 - at the highest resolutions and at 32 bit color. For about three weeks, until nVidia released new drivers and regained the lead. The only time ATI has had a notable performance lead was with the 9700/9800 family. NVidia had faster cards before that and with the 6800 family they have faster cards now.
Like the person feeding the crocodile, they will be eaten last.
No, they just don't breed crocs in the first place, and don't have to worry about them. At all.
Yes they did. However, there is a difference between signing legislation sight unseen (stupid) and authoring/pushing it in the first place. I'll take stupidity over malicious behavior any day.
Do you think for one minute gun control laws keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Nope. They only keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, while the criminals keep their guns.
Blah blah blah. How much does smuggled cocaine cost? How much do you think the price of guns would go up if they were actually banned, UK style, and had to be smuggled into the country? Considering that most criminals are poor - it's one reason why they're criminals in the first place - it would be a lot harder for them to get a gun, much less a good gun. Not to mention the fact that contrary to what you gun nuts seem to think, a gun is not a magical talisman, and going for it is a good way to get yourself shot first.
My dad and I were ordered to pull over for a search when we we driving from North Dakota up through Winnipeg to go fishing. I think they have the place surrounded by cameras not to catch smugglers or terrorists, but to fine the employees if they so much as hint at a smile.
Anyway, they poked around our vehicle for a good couple of hours. And it's all because I had the nerve to say "eh?" back to the girl in the booth, when she said "oh, are you going fishing, eh?" when she saw the canoe on the top of my dad's SUV. At least I didn't say "no doot aboot it", or else they probably would have ordered up a round of cavity searches.
If I were Iran or North Korea, I would be loving Canada right now.
Why's that? Bush himself can't do dick about either country right now. Korea has nukes already, and we don't have the troop strength to invade either country right now.
but with great benefit to countries like Canada.
What benefit is that? Canada, like most sensible democracies that keep their noses out of other people's business, doesn't suffer from international terrorism.
Yeah, it doesn't look right, but that's only because you hardly ever see that word.
:)
Shit happens when you use Google as your speelchecker and don't look at the results close enough when you copy and paste.
I'm hardly a ST fan, but man, that series blew everything else out of the water. It had everything people here have been clamoring about: deep (very deep) character development, HUGE plot arc
As another poster said, try B5. JMS had the whole arcs planned out from the beginning. The last few seasons of DS9 seemed to fall into the same hole that the Spider-Man clone debacle that Marvel had a few years back. For those of you who didn't read Spider-Man at the time, the reader's digest version basically went like this:
Five years ago, Marvel time, somebody made a clone of Spider-Man. Said clone was dumped down a chimney, and thought to be destroyed. However, the clone shows up all of a sudden, wearing a different costume, and sales go up. The editors decided they had a good thing on their hands, and dragged out the story AS LONG AS THEY COULD. This, combined with the fact that you had to buy 4 books a month to keep up with the story, killed sales, made the whole clone deal a legendary bad story, and drove the charachter into the ground into such an extent that it's still recovering today.
The same situation seemed to happen on DS9. Berman seemed to think he had a good thing with the Dominion and he did - so he drug the same basic arc out 2 seasons past its prime. They would have a big battle on the show about every three weeks, but nothing would change, nothing would be resolved. And the charachter relations more and more seemed to resemble a soap opera (Odo and Kira, anyone?).
DS9 sucked the first two seasons, got its footing in season 3, and seasons 4 and 5 rocked. But after that the show returned to suckiness, unfortunatly. As I was discussion with another poster, they should hire JMS of B5 fame and Joss Weadon of Buffy, two guys who know how to do plots, story arcs and charachters.
Can you imagine if JMS and Joss Whedon ever teamed up?
Heh...have JMS come up with the major plot points, sudden 90 degree right turns in the show (B5 succeeding from Earth, anyone?), and have Whedon round it out with holy-fuck-that's-cool stuff, like the bad guys from "Hush", and write lots of the dialog. But of course, Fox would cancel it after the 4th episode.
Time travel pretty much sucks.
Ever watch Dr. Who? It was a show all about time travel, and in 25 years it managed to never be as lame as Star Trek's time travel. Probably because they didn't have to come up with soem lame excuse as to why the charachters were in 14th century France, but it helped that the creators actually spent time on plot and charachterizations.
As I just said to an AC, you seemed to have confused innovation with invention, because hell yes they innovate.
Did they invent the portable music player?
See what I mean? No, they weren't the first to make one, they just made a player that had a capacity hundereds of times greater than the flash players of the time, at a fraction of the size of the desktop-hardrive based players such as the Arcos. That's innovation.
You seemed to have confused innovation with invention. Go learn the difference, then come back and talk to us.
One simply cannot construct believable English dialog between two tough-guy bounty hunters who call each other "Spike" and "Jet"
Must not be a Buffy fan, eh?
Class is relative. Income is absolute. Average income in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, save for the UAE.
Pfft. You must do advertizing for one of those companies that boasts that their average wage is $x, nevermind the fact that the average employee is not the CEO or the CIO, who get paid ten times as much as the average employee. Case in point: the company I work for said the average Christmas bonus last year would be $780. I talked to people who had been their 8 years (VERY long time in a compnay with high turnover) who didn't get half that.
So, take off the top five percent of the wealthiest people in each of those countries, and you'll have a much better idea of what the "average" person really makes. I have a hunch UAE is going to drop like a stone in the rankings if you do that.
I wonder if others feel the same way?
The thing I'm waiting for is for a dual layer dvd-r on the Powerbooks...Apple doesn't even seem to have them in the desktops yet. Hmph. Doesn't matter much if the PB line still has G4's at the time, although it would be nice if Apple would h4xor a point-to-point bus onto the G4's motherboard.
Where'd you get that from? From Apple's Powerbook specs page:
- Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1024 x 768 pixels on the built-in display and
- up to 2048 x 1536 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors
And that's for the 12" model. The 17" supports 2560 x 1600.So given my experience, I have no idea why you've been modded flamebait
Because it's still far, far easier for a Windows XP box to become compromised with a competent user than it is for linux to become compromised with an incompetent user. A competent person could run Windows update as soon as they are finished installing XP, and still have their box compromised in the time it takes to download and install the updates. An incompetent person generally has to go out of their way to make a linux box secure. Root login through ssh is usually disabled by default, and every distro seems to have learned from the Red Hat wuftpd (proudly providing remote root since 1994!) debacle, and don't have services running all over the place by default.