I have at least a dozen WIN98SE boxes all running (home & work, combined), and most are on the Internet regularly.
So it's you that's responsible for all the spam, then. It would be very interesting to analyse your network traffic, and see how much of it is actually intended!
C.
There's one difference between Bush and Hitler - Hitler was elected! - Kurt Vonnegut
We know that Apple is not the problem because an application should never be able to invoke a BSOD, no matter how poorly written.
There are many other well-known applications that will BSOD Vista. Locally stored.RA files have a 50:50 chance of knocking it off its' perch, for example. This appears to be a "security" function of the DRM measures, which are particularly badly written (unlike the rest of Vista, which is just poor).
Don't worry kids. You'll still be able to play your games on XP, for a short while.
If "Windows" is the answer, you're asking the wrong question!
Yes they are - the boss deciding this policy is fundamentally stupid. If he worked for me he'd have 1 month notice to realign his attitude or it's goodbye. Anyone stupid enough to reduce the availability of a commercial website by making it browser specific doesn't deserve a job in the IT industry (unless he's downgraded to Janitor!).
As a maintainer of a Top 10 website (it's the only British one listed in the Netcraft Top 10), I can tell you that Internet Explorer accounts for less than 50% of our visits right now and has IE use has visibly declined in the last year. Indeed "other" Operating Systems now account for over 45% of our site visits. We will not be using proprietary codecs in future for our on-line programme services.
Will I be able to have Debian perfectly handle [all] my basic multimedia requirements well by default?
Don't be silly. Debian is predominantly American distro, and they're scared sh*tless of the DMCA. Most multimedia codecs contravene that Act, and also contravene the Debian "purity" doctrines!
If you want a distro with pre-installed, comprehensive multimedia capabilities, you'll have to look at Mint Linux or PCLinuxOS.
Remember that Vista has been in development for what, 8 years?
You are joking! Vista was a eight month rush job cobbled together out of the old XP code. All the clever stuff was abandoned when all the real programmers left the company. Vista is an abysmal mess, compromised for "ease of use" and worthless DRM, fundamentally insecure, and badly unstable.
"Customers are already switching from Apache/Linux to IIS6/Windows"
When virtually all of the world's major websites run anything other than their products, Microsoft are reaching the point of desperation. Anyone running large websites knows that IIS is simply unfit for purpose.
If he's trying to clear his name, he's doing a bad job of it.
He's not trying to "clear his name" at all. There was a program broadcast last week on the UK Channel 4 called "The Great Global Warming Swindle", which completely debunked the "climate change" nonsense promulgated by the press and a few clueless bandwagon-jumping pseudo-scientists.
It also pointed out that much current research will not receive funding unless it includes the phrase "as affected by global warming". This has been my experience too...
To get as much bad data into their database as we can.
Don't worry - the UK "Government" bought their software from Microsoft, so it won't work! This was just after Blair was bought a £3m house by Bill Gates (his new best friend).
The only real losers out of this are the UK taxpayers. They'll just be paying for yet another "Government" IT project that doesn't work, just like their Health Service IT project and all the other expensive failures.
In short, we are all professionals and we should be capable of ensuring that our defs are up to date.
Nonsense. If you were really professional, you wouldn't be running anything that requires "anti-virus" software at all!
We are professionals, and migrated our entire corporate IT infrastructure away from Gatesware and all the "security" rubbish over 5 years ago. Number of servers? 210. Number of desktop machines? 38000. Number of security related issues in the last 5 years? Zero!
The next iteration of Windows will just be more of the same old rubbish: broken code heaped upon stolen code. It will still have the underlying junk with more pretty effects bolted on.
It's neither. It's just Windows Vista itself. The audio codec is run through all sorts of nasty DRM subroutines - so you're basically fucked. Your computer simply isn't fast enough to "run" Vista. Delete "Vista" and install an operating system instead of a silly, expensive, bug-ridden computer game.
I thought he played with some code, made a mess out of it, bought someone else's code, then licensed yet another third party to replace his original attempt at coding?
Not quite - he copied and stole code. He broke it, got some financing from his Father to hire someone to fix his breakages. He stole more code, got lucky with the IBM deal, and persisted in stealing code into the '90s. By this time, his company was rich enough that they didn't need to steal code any more - they just bought the companies that owned what they wanted!
It's not like nVidia hasn't had plenty of time to develop drivers for Vista.
They've had less than nine months to get the drivers sorted. Contrary to the nonsense promulgated by MS, the Vista "operating system" has actually been thrown together in less than a year. They spent five years going down various blind alleys, and have eventually released a skin for XP with additional "security" nag boxes and broken compatability for both old software and old drivers.
If you really believe that Windows Defender eliminates the need for antivirus and anti-malware applications, you're in for a horrible shock. We connected a "Vista Ultimate" box to the 'net, and it lasted 23 minutes before it was totally trashed. The "firewall" doesn't work, Windows Defender is useless, and there are endless ports open by default to the outside world.
Why do you think Dell are shipping all that "anti-virus" software pre-installed on their machines. It's because they want to minimise the "first day service" calls.
It's a real disaster, and hopefully will signal the demise of Microsoft.
You've entirely missed the point - "free" in this instance is as in "freedom". Closed-source, proprietary operating systems and software can hide their inefficiencies and bad coding. In the FOSS world, you can't get away with sloppy programming - everything's in the open for all to see. This makes for better code.
A fully patched Ubuntu with the additions provided by easyubuntu is more than a match for any Microsoft product on any platform. Ubuntu is about 6 years ahead of any Windows at present, and subsequent iterations will extend that lead further.
What's FUD about it? Everything in the article is factually accurate - the issues caused by DRM interference in output ARE significant to anyone trying to use Vista for almost anything!
Some of the conclusions are a little fanciful: "the longest suicide note" is a bit of hyperbole, but the writer is exaggerating for effect. The DRM issue will probably kill Microsoft (and maybe OSX) for the home user. Prospective Vista users will not be happy that the "operating system" is deliberately broken to prevent them using it as they wish.
These poor decisions at the top of Microsoft will eventually lead to Vista and its successors being largely irrelevant to the vast majority of users. Microsoft products are too expensive for 90% of the planet to even consider using, and now that they're really broken, there's no incentive to pirate them either!
A really beneficial virus would just low-level format the victim's hard drive after a few reboots - allowing it to propagate to other Windows "using" idiots before completely trashing the host system. The Windows "user" would then be compelled to PAY for a replacement version of Windows, and would have endless grief with device drivers and re-installing all their software. This would focus their minds VERY effectively, cost Windows "users" a LOT of money, and persuade them that a flawed, closed source, expensive "operating system" isn't the way to go....
1. Windows IIS has 77% non-Windows. Windows is rapidly becoming irrelevant in business and web serving arenas (mostly outside the USA).
2. It doesn't matter how "computer literate" any Windows "administrator" is: unless that computer is physically disconnected from the outside world, ANYONE can gain access with the highest level of priveledge and have entirely unrestrained access to the entire contents of the machine.
3. The "unmonitored" Windows desktops just worsen the situation: open access to ANY Windows-based machine is trivial as long as it's connected to the outside world. You don't even need to pay for expensive expploits, though they'll help!
ANY company that uses Windows (of ANY variety) doesn't value their data, is incompetent and should therefore be avoided. Windows has NEVER been suitable for business, and now that there are truly viable alternatives, there's no reason to pay Gates anything.
There IS a harddrive wiping XP virus. It's a bit like the old CIH virus that altered BIOS setiings as well. It's out there - but I don't know the activation date.....
Slashdot of all places should know the difference! A hacker writes code - he/she "hacks" - I "hack". The guys breaking into other peoples' computers are "Crackers" - as in breaking something.
Slashdot Mirror
I have at least a dozen WIN98SE boxes all running (home & work, combined), and most are on the Internet regularly.
So it's you that's responsible for all the spam, then. It would be very interesting to analyse your network traffic, and see how much of it is actually intended!
C.
There's one difference between Bush and Hitler - Hitler was elected! - Kurt Vonnegut
We know that Apple is not the problem because an application should never be able to invoke a BSOD, no matter how poorly written.
.RA files have a 50:50 chance of knocking it off its' perch, for example. This appears to be a "security" function of the DRM measures, which are particularly badly written (unlike the rest of Vista, which is just poor).
There are many other well-known applications that will BSOD Vista. Locally stored
Don't worry kids. You'll still be able to play your games on XP, for a short while.
If "Windows" is the answer, you're asking the wrong question!
Nobody here is dumb or lazy.
Yes they are - the boss deciding this policy is fundamentally stupid. If he worked for me he'd have 1 month notice to realign his attitude or it's goodbye. Anyone stupid enough to reduce the availability of a commercial website by making it browser specific doesn't deserve a job in the IT industry (unless he's downgraded to Janitor!).
As a maintainer of a Top 10 website (it's the only British one listed in the Netcraft Top 10), I can tell you that Internet Explorer accounts for less than 50% of our visits right now and has IE use has visibly declined in the last year. Indeed "other" Operating Systems now account for over 45% of our site visits. We will not be using proprietary codecs in future for our on-line programme services.
Game Over, Microsoft!
Will I be able to have Debian perfectly handle [all] my basic multimedia requirements well by default?
Don't be silly. Debian is predominantly American distro, and they're scared sh*tless of the DMCA. Most multimedia codecs contravene that Act, and also contravene the Debian "purity" doctrines!
If you want a distro with pre-installed, comprehensive multimedia capabilities, you'll have to look at Mint Linux or PCLinuxOS.
Remember that Vista has been in development for what, 8 years?
You are joking! Vista was a eight month rush job cobbled together out of the old XP code. All the clever stuff was abandoned when all the real programmers left the company. Vista is an abysmal mess, compromised for "ease of use" and worthless DRM, fundamentally insecure, and badly unstable.
"Customers are already switching from Apache/Linux to IIS6/Windows"
When virtually all of the world's major websites run anything other than their products, Microsoft are reaching the point of desperation. Anyone running large websites knows that IIS is simply unfit for purpose.
Game Over, Microsoft
Just say "One Care" in a French accent!
That says it all!
If he's trying to clear his name, he's doing a bad job of it.
He's not trying to "clear his name" at all. There was a program broadcast last week on the UK Channel 4 called "The Great Global Warming Swindle", which completely debunked the "climate change" nonsense promulgated by the press and a few clueless bandwagon-jumping pseudo-scientists.
It also pointed out that much current research will not receive funding unless it includes the phrase "as affected by global warming". This has been my experience too...
To get as much bad data into their database as we can.
Don't worry - the UK "Government" bought their software from Microsoft, so it won't work! This was just after Blair was bought a £3m house by Bill Gates (his new best friend).
The only real losers out of this are the UK taxpayers. They'll just be paying for yet another "Government" IT project that doesn't work, just like their Health Service IT project and all the other expensive failures.
In short, we are all professionals and we should be capable of ensuring that our defs are up to date.
Nonsense. If you were really professional, you wouldn't be running anything that requires "anti-virus" software at all!
We are professionals, and migrated our entire corporate IT infrastructure away from Gatesware and all the "security" rubbish over 5 years ago. Number of servers? 210. Number of desktop machines? 38000. Number of security related issues in the last 5 years? Zero!
Game Over, Microsoft!
Except that every computer has IE installed.
Really? I've never owned any computer with IE installed.
Game Over, Microsoft
The next iteration of Windows will just be more of the same old rubbish: broken code heaped upon
stolen code. It will still have the underlying junk with more pretty effects bolted on.
Remember: there have been more and bloodier wars fought over religion than any other reason.
It's neither. It's just Windows Vista itself. The audio codec is run through all sorts of nasty DRM subroutines - so you're basically fucked. Your computer simply isn't fast enough to "run" Vista. Delete "Vista" and install an operating system instead of a silly, expensive, bug-ridden computer game.
Game Over, Microsoft!
I thought he played with some code, made a mess out of it, bought someone else's code, then licensed yet another third party to replace his original attempt at coding?
Not quite - he copied and stole code. He broke it, got some financing from his Father to hire someone to fix his breakages. He stole more code, got lucky with the IBM deal, and persisted in stealing code into the '90s. By this time, his company was rich enough that they didn't need to steal code any more - they just bought the companies that owned what they wanted!
MS still has stolen code in their products...
It's not like nVidia hasn't had plenty of time to develop drivers for Vista.
They've had less than nine months to get the drivers sorted. Contrary to the nonsense promulgated by MS, the Vista "operating system" has actually been thrown together in less than a year. They spent five years going down various blind alleys, and have eventually released a skin for XP with additional "security" nag boxes and broken compatability for both old software and old drivers.
Game over, Microsoft
If you really believe that Windows Defender eliminates the need for antivirus and anti-malware applications, you're in for a horrible shock. We connected a "Vista Ultimate" box to the 'net, and it lasted 23 minutes before it was totally trashed. The "firewall" doesn't work, Windows Defender is useless, and there are endless ports open by default to the outside world.
Why do you think Dell are shipping all that "anti-virus" software pre-installed on their machines. It's because they want to minimise the "first day service" calls.
It's a real disaster, and hopefully will signal the demise of Microsoft.
You've entirely missed the point - "free" in this instance is as in "freedom". Closed-source, proprietary operating systems and software can hide their inefficiencies and bad coding. In the FOSS world, you can't get away with sloppy programming - everything's in the open for all to see. This makes for better code. A fully patched Ubuntu with the additions provided by easyubuntu is more than a match for any Microsoft product on any platform. Ubuntu is about 6 years ahead of any Windows at present, and subsequent iterations will extend that lead further.
Yes. It kills the RFID tag, but can get it so hot that it burns the carrier. A burnt passport would probably cause some delays at immigration!
What's FUD about it? Everything in the article is factually accurate - the issues caused by DRM interference in output ARE significant to anyone trying to use Vista for almost anything!
Some of the conclusions are a little fanciful: "the longest suicide note" is a bit of hyperbole, but the writer is exaggerating for effect. The DRM issue will probably kill Microsoft (and maybe OSX) for the home user. Prospective Vista users will not be happy that the "operating system" is deliberately broken to prevent them using it as they wish.
These poor decisions at the top of Microsoft will eventually lead to Vista and its successors being largely irrelevant to the vast majority of users. Microsoft products are too expensive for 90% of the planet to even consider using, and now that they're really broken, there's no incentive to pirate them either!
A really beneficial virus would just low-level format the victim's hard drive after a few reboots - allowing it to propagate to other Windows "using" idiots before completely trashing the host system. The Windows "user" would then be compelled to PAY for a replacement version of Windows, and would have endless grief with device drivers and re-installing all their software. This would focus their minds VERY effectively, cost Windows "users" a LOT of money, and persuade them that a flawed, closed source, expensive "operating system" isn't the way to go....
I'll bite back:
1. Windows IIS has 77% non-Windows. Windows is rapidly becoming irrelevant in business and web serving arenas (mostly outside the USA).
2. It doesn't matter how "computer literate" any Windows "administrator" is: unless that computer is physically disconnected from the outside world, ANYONE can gain access with the highest level of priveledge and have entirely unrestrained access to the entire contents of the machine.
3. The "unmonitored" Windows desktops just worsen the situation: open access to ANY Windows-based machine is trivial as long as it's connected to the outside world. You don't even need to pay for expensive expploits, though they'll help!
ANY company that uses Windows (of ANY variety) doesn't value their data, is incompetent and should therefore be avoided. Windows has NEVER been suitable for business, and now that there are truly viable alternatives, there's no reason to pay Gates anything.
Creative application of a photo flashgun is often effective at ridding oneself of tailgaters!
There IS a harddrive wiping XP virus. It's a bit like the old CIH virus that altered BIOS setiings as well. It's out there - but I don't know the activation date.....
Slashdot of all places should know the difference! A hacker writes code - he/she "hacks" - I "hack". The guys breaking into other peoples' computers are "Crackers" - as in breaking something.