And you thought your day was bad...
Jun. 14th, 2006 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lordshipmayhemSome days it just does not pay to be Microsoft.
First, as of yesterday they'd reached a new 8-year low in their stock price. At one time they'd used stock options as a way of rewarding staff, but any issued over that period of time are likely underwater and therefore not useful.
Second, they're having a little (hah!) problem with their new Vista operating system ("OS"), with Beta testers saying that they've never seen a previous Windows version this buggy this late in the testing process. Complaints are also being registered that the OS is "too large, slow and memory hungry". Matches what I've heard about the insane hardware upgrades they're recommending - basically any computer you've purchased prior to now is too underpowered to run their new OS.
Third, there's a report, about how the new Vista isn't protecting as securely against rootkits as it might, as there are "legitimate" programs that use "rootkit techniques". They're using a less secure anti-rootkit technology in the 32-bit version (your computer and mine are both 32-bit). When the 64-bit version comes out, it WILL be more secure, as they'll be using two tools that are stronger than the current choice.
Contradicting Microsoft's repeated statements to the press, Trend Micro, an antivirus vendor, says that Open Source software is inherently more secure than proprietary software.
And they're in hot water over their corporate practices. Again. This time, it's Microsoft Genuine Advantage, which checks your system to see if you are running legitimate, licenced Microsoft software and not pirated versions. If you've had your system fixed at a professional shop, you might find your computer on the list of those running "pirated" OS's because of a touch of laziness on the part of the guys who fixed it.
Finally, they announced that this month's patches for both XP and Office would be the most of this year, with a high proportion of critical patches. Combine that with the discovery of "unfixable" security flaws in 98, 98SE and ME-tan (effectively "end of life"ing all of them), it has definitely not been a happy week to be either a Microsoft employee or user.
First, as of yesterday they'd reached a new 8-year low in their stock price. At one time they'd used stock options as a way of rewarding staff, but any issued over that period of time are likely underwater and therefore not useful.
Second, they're having a little (hah!) problem with their new Vista operating system ("OS"), with Beta testers saying that they've never seen a previous Windows version this buggy this late in the testing process. Complaints are also being registered that the OS is "too large, slow and memory hungry". Matches what I've heard about the insane hardware upgrades they're recommending - basically any computer you've purchased prior to now is too underpowered to run their new OS.
Third, there's a report, about how the new Vista isn't protecting as securely against rootkits as it might, as there are "legitimate" programs that use "rootkit techniques". They're using a less secure anti-rootkit technology in the 32-bit version (your computer and mine are both 32-bit). When the 64-bit version comes out, it WILL be more secure, as they'll be using two tools that are stronger than the current choice.
Contradicting Microsoft's repeated statements to the press, Trend Micro, an antivirus vendor, says that Open Source software is inherently more secure than proprietary software.
And they're in hot water over their corporate practices. Again. This time, it's Microsoft Genuine Advantage, which checks your system to see if you are running legitimate, licenced Microsoft software and not pirated versions. If you've had your system fixed at a professional shop, you might find your computer on the list of those running "pirated" OS's because of a touch of laziness on the part of the guys who fixed it.
Finally, they announced that this month's patches for both XP and Office would be the most of this year, with a high proportion of critical patches. Combine that with the discovery of "unfixable" security flaws in 98, 98SE and ME-tan (effectively "end of life"ing all of them), it has definitely not been a happy week to be either a Microsoft employee or user.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-15 12:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-15 04:32 pm (UTC)You see, the first problem is that there are TWO users in the typical home installation: Ordinary User and Mr. Root. Only Root can install programs, because only Root has the "create/change/delete" rights in the directory where applications reside. Ordinary User can see those files and load them, but he/she/it cannot create them. This means that any program that wants to install itself is going to have to get you to provide the Root password, unless it can somehow burst through a security hole and gain Root privileges.
The second problem for virus writers is that so little of the applications are tied into the basic operating kernel, unlike Windows which has tied Internet Explorer and Office in an effort to lock you into their applications. That lack of tie-in is why browsers in Linux aren't passing through malware like Internet Explorer does, for example.
The third problem lies in a concept called "monoculture", borrowed from biology studies. Windows is a monoculture: it doesn't matter what install you're talking about, it includes a number of identical programs - IE, Outlook Express, etc. This includes servers for some bizarre reason (WTF a server needs an e-mail client for, I don't know). With Linux, you install what you need and want, not what some "comrade programmer" at a certain Redmond software firm decides that you want and need. You don't even have to install a Graphical User Interface (the point-and-clicky part of the operating system) if the situation doesn't require it. If someone finds a security hole in one Linux program, you've got maybe five or six other ones to use instead. If one Linux program is too complicated, you can find a simpler one - or vice versa.
And the Open Source community itself is quite quick to land on any reported security flaws that would grant the ordinary user Root access. Typically, Microsoft takes months to patch holes, popular Open Source projects like FireFox and OpenOffice.org take a few days if not hours. You typically hear of an Open Source security hole in the popular press a few days after the project's maintainers have finished testing and releasing the cure.
That doesn't mean that they haven't created viruses: the anti-virus companies have developed over 200 of them, all "laboratory curiosities" because (a) the security hole has been plugged and people who keep their systems up to date are immune and (b) there's no real way to pass the virus along - my e-mail client is K-mail, others are using such programs as Thunderbird, Evolution, Althea, Balsa, Mutt or Mahogany. Behind the scenes they work differently, which makes it tough to program a single script to take over whatever e-mail client you're using. (I've got two installed, KMail and Evolution, but if your script chooses Evolution the message ain't going nowhere - I don't have that client configured for any e-mail account.)
That doesn't mean that Linux is immune to viruses, just very, very resistant. I don't have anti-virus programs running because they're right now only able to detect Windows viruses coming through a mailserver - and I'm not running a mailserver.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-15 06:07 pm (UTC)Hmm, me thinks that once I finish my Hd cleanup/out I'll be playing with a new OS. ^_^ Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-15 06:20 pm (UTC)If you're really interested in it, I have to recommend Linux for Dummies. Excellent walkthrough.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-15 06:50 pm (UTC)