Bad Windows

"Microsoft has noted that many corporate users want to run XP instead of Vista. They are now simplifying the downgrade process for top OEMs. Currently, all OEMs must call Microsoft whenever a downgrade is done. After the new procedure is put into place, OEMs may submit batches of keys to Microsoft online. According to the Microsoft blog on ZDNet, the 'downgrade software' will still need to be supplied by the end user. The deal is rather perplexing — it does not seem like you can convert the license since the only eligible versions for downgrading is Ultimate and Business. The company has more details available in a pdf document online."

Slasdot 

Five months after its introduction, Microsoft is discontinuing a program that offered some Windows Vista purchasers the ability to buy additional copies of the operating system at a substantial discount.

Since Windows Vista went on sale to consumers at the end of January, U.S. and Canadian buyers of Vista Ultimate have had the option of buying up to two additional copies of Vista–albeit the Home Premium version–for an additional $50 apiece. The company had said it would re-evaluate the "Windows Vista Family Discount" after June 30.

In a posting on the Windows Vista Team Blog, Microsoft product manager Nick White said the program would "sunset" as of 11:59 p.m. PDT on June 30.

"Around the time of the Windows Vista launch, we announced the Windows Vista Family Discount program to further persuade families to become early adopters of Windows Vista," White wrote. "We've been pleased with the response to the program, which has enabled thousands of multicomputer families to upgrade more than one PC in their home to Windows Vista."

Read more at ZDNet 

"Apparently Microsoft still hasn't learned that counting vendor acknowledged vulnerabilities isn't a good way to establish the security of an OS. As an analysis of Microsoft's claims on Full Disclosure shows, we see that the methodology used was badly flawed. A bug in Firefox (not to mention emacs), counts as a flaw for Linux, while IE bugs get ignored on Vista's chart. Then we see that vulnerabilities aren't vulnerabilities when they're security-challenged features such as Vista's Teredo. Also, there's far too little consideration given to severity, given that it stoops to counting even extra access restrictions on a file in OSX to have something to show. In short, the original Microsoft analysis was good PR and poor research."

Slashdot 

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to increase by 11 per cent this year spurred by uptake in emerging markets rather than the launch of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, according to research.

PC sales are projected to total 257.1 million units in 2007, an 11.1 per cent growth on from 2006 shipments of 231.5million units,

But the study by analyst Gartner says that first half sales show Microsoft’s Vista operating system has not proved a factor in driving new PC sales.

Manufacturers are focusing instead on emerging markets where 55 per cent of the growth is being propelled by new PC use, not replacement purchases.

Gartner expects emerging markets to contribute some 128 million new PC sales during the next two years, consisting of 77 million desk-based systems and 51 million mobile PCs. This will equate to around a quarter of all PC units expected to be shipped globally in 2007 and 2008.

The release of Microsoft Windows Vista operating system at the end of January has, so far, failed to stimulate the market in the way many hoped,’ said George Shiffler, research director for Gartner’s client platforms markets group.

Read more at vnunet.com 

If you believe Jeff Jones, Microsoft's security strategy director, then Vista is much more secure than XP, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Why, oh why, is anyone paying any attention to this man outside of the walls of Microsoft? His paychecks are signed by Bill Gates, people!

What do you think he's going to say? "Really, when you get right down to it Windows is a fatally flawed operating system that no one in their right mind would ever use for truly secure computing?" He wouldn't just be fired; he'd be carried out by the real Microsoft security: the Microsoft cops.

Or, let's say he said something more politically correct, such as, "Really, Windows, and now Vista, still lag behind both Linux and Mac OS X when it comes to security, but we have gotten better." Much nicer, but still true and he'd still end up fired.

Anyone who believes a word out of Jones' mouth when it comes to Vista security is a fool. You want to find someone who does say nice things about Vista security from time to time that you can believe in? I suggest Larry Seltzer's Cheap Hack blog.

Jones also goes on to explain that in the past he's worked with Unix and the BSDs. He's also willing to admit that security improvements are happening on Linux and Unix, but that Microsoft is doing it better. He then asks, "Am I biased? I do not think so, but let's just all keep assuming I am, because I don't mind. If I make comparisons, I'll lay out my metrics."

Read more at Linux-Watch.com

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is a mighty paradox. On the one hand, it's more robust and feature-rich than any of its predecessors. For the most part, it's also more secure and is immune to many pretty sophisticated takedown attempts. But it's got one nasty Achilles' Heel, which'll enable you to crash the OS in under 10 seconds.

Here's the deal: One of the simplest command sequences you can think of will take Vista down completely. Hold down the Windows key and the letter "E" for 10 seconds or so. After opening up Windows Explorer windows ad infinitum, your system will stop responding.

Read more at InformationWeek 

Stony Stevenson asks, rhetorically, "What do whale-feces researchers, hazmat divers, and employees of Microsoft's Security Response Center have in common? They all made Popular Science magazine's 2007 list of the absolute worst jobs in science." Quoting: "The MSRC ranked near the middle as the sixth-worst job in this year's list.. 'We did rate the Microsoft security researcher as less-bad than the people who prepare the carcasses for dissection in biology laboratories,' Moyer said. Moyer didn't have to think long when asked whether he'd rather have the number 10-ranked whale research job. 'Whale feces or working at Microsoft? I would probably be the whale feces researcher,' he said. 'Salt air and whale flatulence; what could go wrong?'" Here's the Popular Mechanics list all on one page.

Slasdot

Microsoft doesn’t want to share much information with anyone these days. After a government ruling that sided with Google, Microsoft was supposed to provide a beta of Vista SP1 before the end of this year.

We may not be seeing a final version of Vista SP1 until 2008 but the beta should be available before the end of this year so nothing has really changed unless Microsoft chooses not to release the beta.

The US government has told Microsoft that the beta has to be released before the end of this year. The consequences that the company will face if it does not comply were not revealed. The reason this happened is Microsoft has to make some concessions to Google in order to make the built-in search configurable to use third party tools, if you so desire, I don’t.

 Read more at VISTA.BLORGE.com

Everyone knows by now that Vista is slower than Windows XP. In fact, my own testing shows it to be roughly twice as slow on the same hardware (see our upcoming Test Center study for more details). That's because Vista is a far more complex operating system, with many additional features and background services that simply don't exist under XP.

What many users don't know, however, is that this gap widens even further under virtualization. Fire-up Vista under VMware or Virtual PC and you'll find that the delta is more like 3x – i.e. tasks take over three times as long to complete under virtualized Vista as they do under virtualized XP.

Let that preceding statement sink in for a minute. In real world terms it means that applications are taking as much as a 50% greater performance hit from being virtualized than would be expected given the aforementioned 2x delta in a native, non-virtualized comparison. As a veteran IT professional, I would expect to take a hit moving to Vista – just not one that's so out of whack with the established norms.

Read more at InfoWorld