Then it will be so "tightly integrated" with the OS that you can't turn it off or your computer "will not operate properly"!
Well, they'll actually be right on that one, but for the wrong reason. By then there will be so many nasty/clever viruses floating around, they'll probably knock out the whole system before you can get a competitor's product installed:-)
I think bundling AV software with Windows would be a major mistake. Generally, your mom and pop Windows users are going to use what comes with the OS - this is one major reason why IE and Outlook are so popular.
Now think about this: suppose MS did bundle the A/V software with Windows. Look at how often works/viruses/trojans target IE and Outlook, simply because A) most people use them and B) they are always installed on a Windows computer. How many new exploits are going to be written, just as for IE and Outlook, that directly exploit bugs in the MS virus scanner? Such viruses could also be designed to bring others in with them, piggybacking on the exploit that is cracked open by the first virus.
In contrast, think about if they release it as they say they will - as a seperate product. Now there are 3 major antivirus programs, probably with roughly equal market shares, and an exploit for one doesn't work with the others. This makes it much less likely a virus author would target a specific A/V application, and lessens the spread of the virus even if it does happen.
On the whole, bundling A/V software with Windows could conceivably make virus problems *worse*.
It really doesn't matter if the A/V software gets bundled with Windows from the standpoint of increasing protection; hooks into the OS can be placed in either case because the A/V software can always apply small patches to the kernel and drivers. This could give MS an advantage over other A/V products because they have the full source to the OS and can create the hooks.
I tried to go check my Yahoo account this morning and... uhh... DNS is dead. Figured I'd better check Slashdot and sure 'nuff, Akamai has been SLASHDOTTED!!!
Does it feel good to pull down a giant like Akamai? Huh? (Do you feel lucky, PUNK?):-)
Akamai has now come back up a little shakily and sure enough, I have a 100MB Yahoo account, even though I wasn't cramped with 6MB. With this expansion, I will likely not be using Gmail when it goes out of beta unless the UI really is that much better.
Laptops get faster but laptop users don't get any smarter.
That's the problem with laptops. A lot of laptops don't have a "brightness" control, unlike practically all desktops. This is why desktop users are smarter than laptop users.
1) Like you said, F/OSS organizations should file for their own patents that are freely available for all to use. I am unsure how this will be sponsored though since filing for a patent is nontrivially expensive.
2) Support PubPat in looking for prior art for the worse offending patents against free / open source software, and other patents that are harmful to society. A story from Groklaw about PubPat.
3) Try to get patent reform done including disallowing software patents, and have more patent examiners hired with actual experience so they can sniff out bogus claims.
If you're only duplicating your disks every few years then I've got news for you -- a second 24x or faster CD-writer costs under a hundred bucks! And every CD burning program out there supports disk duplication.
Definitely _way_ under $100. I picked up my 52x24x52 CD-RW for $0. And guess how much the 100-CD spindles cost? You guessed it. Free.
It pays to look at local ads, those two deals come up pretty frequently at places like OfficeMax, CompUSA, and Staples.
Personally, though, I'd go for a pseudo-RAID type setup. Just back up all your files to several computers at once, if one fails then you have several complete backups, one of which you can respawn onto the failed machine. And it's more convenient (and faster) to update than CD archives. No possibility of losses either, it's known that doing stuff like raw-copying CDs several times (a la CloneCD) can cause errors. If you MD5-sum everything then you'll catch any kind of error that could be introduced in copying files back and forth.
I know for me I have all my windows maximized so I can just whip my mouse up to the top right (Requires no brain use) and start mashing mouse buttons.
So if the Victorians taught us anything about logic, the choice is to put it on the right.
If the bar is on the right, you can't whip your mouse up to the top right and click to close because the top right would still be in the ad window. Victorian logic must have had some holes in it.
See, the ad companies are going to WANT you to click the ads. To be most prominent, I wouldn't be surprised if they put 4 ads on the screen at once, at every edge. Any mistakes in your cursor movement and... oops, I clicked an ad.
BTW, remember Altavista's free internet service which had ads? They were across the bottom IIRC.
Slashdot Mirror
I think bundling AV software with Windows would be a major mistake. Generally, your mom and pop Windows users are going to use what comes with the OS - this is one major reason why IE and Outlook are so popular.
Now think about this: suppose MS did bundle the A/V software with Windows. Look at how often works/viruses/trojans target IE and Outlook, simply because A) most people use them and B) they are always installed on a Windows computer. How many new exploits are going to be written, just as for IE and Outlook, that directly exploit bugs in the MS virus scanner? Such viruses could also be designed to bring others in with them, piggybacking on the exploit that is cracked open by the first virus.
In contrast, think about if they release it as they say they will - as a seperate product. Now there are 3 major antivirus programs, probably with roughly equal market shares, and an exploit for one doesn't work with the others. This makes it much less likely a virus author would target a specific A/V application, and lessens the spread of the virus even if it does happen.
On the whole, bundling A/V software with Windows could conceivably make virus problems *worse*.
It really doesn't matter if the A/V software gets bundled with Windows from the standpoint of increasing protection; hooks into the OS can be placed in either case because the A/V software can always apply small patches to the kernel and drivers. This could give MS an advantage over other A/V products because they have the full source to the OS and can create the hooks.
I tried to go check my Yahoo account this morning and... uhh... DNS is dead. Figured I'd better check Slashdot and sure 'nuff, Akamai has been SLASHDOTTED!!!
:-)
Does it feel good to pull down a giant like Akamai? Huh? (Do you feel lucky, PUNK?)
Akamai has now come back up a little shakily and sure enough, I have a 100MB Yahoo account, even though I wasn't cramped with 6MB. With this expansion, I will likely not be using Gmail when it goes out of beta unless the UI really is that much better.
No, a gram is a measure of mass. A newton is a measure of weight, which is a force.
A computer that can run Longhorn.
... when you take a you-know-what in the wild outdoors.
4) Profit!
Man, that site must have been running on the tester's machine (a P3-500). Slashdotted at 6 comments.
I managed to get the article, but by the time I had read through it all the site was completely gone.
Either that or the webserver was running ext3... slow as molasses by the test results.
Definitely _way_ under $100. I picked up my 52x24x52 CD-RW for $0. And guess how much the 100-CD spindles cost? You guessed it. Free.
It pays to look at local ads, those two deals come up pretty frequently at places like OfficeMax, CompUSA, and Staples.
Personally, though, I'd go for a pseudo-RAID type setup. Just back up all your files to several computers at once, if one fails then you have several complete backups, one of which you can respawn onto the failed machine. And it's more convenient (and faster) to update than CD archives. No possibility of losses either, it's known that doing stuff like raw-copying CDs several times (a la CloneCD) can cause errors. If you MD5-sum everything then you'll catch any kind of error that could be introduced in copying files back and forth.
A dual-core 4-6GHz CPU and 2G of RAM just for a freakin' OS?!
Oh wait. We're talking about M$ bloatware... nevermind.
See, the ad companies are going to WANT you to click the ads. To be most prominent, I wouldn't be surprised if they put 4 ads on the screen at once, at every edge. Any mistakes in your cursor movement and... oops, I clicked an ad.
BTW, remember Altavista's free internet service which had ads? They were across the bottom IIRC.
If this thing actually goes online I just can't wait till someone hacks it.
It would be great if someone changed all the ads' text to "All your ads are belong to us".
Or if some malicious hacker hacks it and adds a little script... we could be in a "In Soviet Russia, the ads hack you!" situation.