[Show all top banners]

Captain Haddock
Replies to this thread:

More by Captain Haddock
What people are reading
Subscribers
:: Subscribe
Back to: Kurakani General Refresh page to view new replies
 Vista: No need to rush
[VIEWED 4651 TIMES]
SAVE! for ease of future access.
Posted on 01-30-07 1:43 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Experts: Don't buy Vista for the security

By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: January 30, 2007, 4:00 AM PST
Last modified: January 30, 2007, 9:25 AM PST


Windows Vista is a leap forward in terms of security, but few people who know the operating system say the advances are enough to justify an upgrade.

Microsoft officially launched Vista for consumers Tuesday. The software giant promotes the new operating system as the most secure version of Windows yet. It's a drum Microsoft has been beating for some time.

"Safety and security is the overriding feature that most people will want to have Windows Vista for," Jim Allchin, Microsoft's outgoing Windows chief, told CNET News.com a year ago. "Even if they are not into home entertainment or in any of the specialty areas, they are just going to feel safer and more secure by using it."

Now that Vista is finally here, pundits praise the security work Microsoft has done. However, most say that is no reason to dump a functioning PC running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and shell out $200 to upgrade to Vista.

"As long as XP users keep their updates current, there's generally no compelling reason to buy into the hype and purchase Vista right away," said David Milman, chief executive of Rescuecom, a computer repair and support company. "We suggest people wait until buying a new machine to get Vista, for economic and practical reasons."

As in the past, Microsoft faces itself as its toughest competitor. SP2 for Windows XP, which was released in August 2004, marked a significant and much-needed boost in PC security. Since then, Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 7 and the Windows Defender antispyware tool for XP. As a result, the older Windows version is simply good enough for many users.

"Upgrading to Vista is pretty expensive, not only the new software but often new hardware as well," said Gartner analyst John Pescatore. "If you put IE 7 on a Windows XP SP2 PC, along with the usual third-party firewall, antiviral and antispyware tools, you can have a perfectly secure PC if you keep up with the patches."

Vista is the first client version of Windows built with security in mind, according to Microsoft. That means it should have fewer coding errors that might be exploited in attacks. Vista also includes several techniques and features designed to make it harder to attack computers running Vista and easier to thwart attacks if they do happen.

"Vista is light-years ahead of XP from a built-in security perspective," said Pete Lindstrom, a Burton Group analyst. "But the market will decide whether it is important. Note that there haven't really been significant problems with the operating system lately, and our memories are short."

If most consumers think like Brian Lambert, a student at Southern Illinois University, it doesn't bode well for Microsoft. "The added security alone is not worth the money when comparing Vista with Windows XP SP2," said Lambert, a member of CNET News.com's Vista Views panel.

But Chris Swenson, an NPD Group analyst, thinks that many consumers will prefer Vista's built-in security features over adding defenses to their XP machine.

"A lot of customers will prefer to either buy a new machine with Vista or upgrade a recently acquired XP machine with Vista in order to get at this added layer of protection," Swenson said.

If you are in the market for a new Windows PC because your old computer is outdated or otherwise failing on you, Vista is your best bet, all experts agree. That's even if you're considering buying a Mac, said David Litchfield, a noted security bug hunter.

"If you're looking to buy a new computer, the security features built into Vista tip the balance in its favor over other options such as Mac OS X," Litchfield said. "We've moved beyond the days of lots of bugs and worms. Recent history shows that Microsoft can get it right, as they did with XP SP2. With Vista, they will again demonstrate that."

Litchfield and other security researchers are impressed with the work Microsoft has done on Vista, in particular because the operating system has gone through the company's Security Development Lifecycle, a process designed to prevent flaws and vet code before it ships. Also, Microsoft challenged hackers to break Vista before its release.

"To be clear, XP SP2 was a massive leap for Windows security. But XP SP2 was not the systemic, top-to-bottom, scrub-everything experience that Vista is," said Dan Kaminsky, an independent security researcher. "XP SP2 secured the surface. Vista security goes much deeper. It's a far bigger leap."

Kaminsky was among about two dozen hackers asked by Microsoft to try to hack Vista. The exercise took about eight months, and Microsoft paid attention to the feedback, he said. "They did what we asked," Kaminsky said. "The security community spent years bashing Microsoft, and (Microsoft) deserved to get bashed. But they listened."

Robert McLaws, a blogger who writes about Microsoft, is particularly gung-ho about Vista. He recommends that everyone buy a copy as soon as possible. "Security is the No. 1 feature in Vista, and everyone with a computer in the house should go out and buy it," he said.

All the praise aside, Vista isn't flawless. In fact, Microsoft has issued security patches for the operating system even before its final release.

"To think there won't be vulnerabilities and there won't be exploits is inappropriate," said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "At best, we should see the number of them decline and the time in between them increase."

No software is without flaws, and Microsoft will be the last to deny that.

"While we greatly improved the security of Windows Vista and we believe it is the best system available, I have always been clear that the system is neither fool-proof nor unbreakable; no software I have seen from anyone is," Allchin wrote on a Microsoft corporate blog last week.

Some critics, however, say Microsoft has reserved too many of the security features for the high-end editions of Vista. The operating system comes in five different versions (with a sixth, "Starter" edition designed for developing countries), but only Windows Vista Ultimate--the most expensive one--includes the maximum level of protection.

Even more, Vista comes to market in an era in which criminals are taking to the Net and looking for profits by breaking into the PCs of unsuspecting Web surfers. Vista is their next target.

"I don't want people to expect that their computer is never going to be compromised because of Vista; that's simply not the case," McLaws said. "The nature of maliciousness on the Internet is changing rapidly. It used to be that nerdy kids were trying to outdo other nerdy kids. Now it is criminals."

###############################
Key Vista security features:

User Account Control: Runs a Vista PC with fewer user privileges, which dictate how software can interact with the PC. UAC asks for permission to lift security barriers whenever software requires it.

Protected Mode for IE 7: Prevents silent installation of malicious software by Web sites by stopping the Web browser from writing data anywhere except in a temporary folder without first seeking permission. IE 7 is also available for Windows XP, but the protected mode is not.

Address Space Layout Randomization: Loads key system files in different memory locations each time the PC starts, making it harder for malicious code to run.

Windows Defender: Detects and removes spyware. Also available for Windows XP.

Windows Firewall: Blocks attacks from the Net and includes limited outbound protection. Also in XP, but improved in Vista.

BitLocker: Encryption for hard drives. Only in Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate.
 
Posted on 01-30-07 1:44 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 
 
Posted on 01-30-07 2:52 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

lovely read, ol chap.

Thanks.
 
Posted on 01-30-07 2:54 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

The software giant promotes the new operating system(vista) as the most secure version of Windows yet.

Microsoft said the same thing when it launched windows XP.


Jun Jogi aaye pani , kaanai chireko.

Jun Operating system use gare pani hack bhaihalne:p
 
Posted on 01-30-07 2:56 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Prem Charo I notice that you're trying very hard to be funny. You might want to take some lessons first. You just need some more practice.
 
Posted on 01-30-07 3:20 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Interesting article, indeed! I think it is very true that there is no necessity to rush on upgrading.

I read an article in BBC sometime ago which said about a conference. Bill Gates was presenting something while all the attendees were using Mac! Can Vista change that? I don't know, but despite Microsoft's significant changes in Vista, I think it is more of trying to give the feel of Mac in XP (besides the new security features in Vista).

I use Mac sometimes, but personally, I feel much comfortable using Windows.

Well, I am going to "upgrade" my laptop soon to Vista, but I really don't want to dump XP Media Center it already has. Looks like I will have to use both of the concurrently. :)
 
Posted on 01-30-07 3:29 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

.

काठमान्डौमा एक्स्स पि भिस्ता ओरिजिनल सिडि नै ९९ रुपियां मा छ्याप छ्याप्ति पाइन्छ। जे प्रोग्राम पनि आजकाल माक्रोसफ्ट हेडअफिसमा भन्दा छिटो कोदारि र बार्हबिसे ल्हासा बजारमा निस्कन्छ।
 
Posted on 01-30-07 3:36 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

hahaha tyo ta ho 99 ni pardaina. ajkal ta 60 mai aaucha with hard cover re hehehehehe
 
Posted on 01-30-07 3:46 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Sandhurst , Been a while - hope all is well.

Prem Charo - Yes, I guess it doesn't help that there are so many people after them :)

Slackdemic - I am looking forward to Leopard (- http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/index.html ). I have used Vista and think it's not bad but I am not blown away either because I have also used some of the much-touted features on Tiger.

Sayami, KatNepal - If you are based in Nepal then I guess that's fine but if you are not, then upgrades can become a problem when you use pirated versions of the OS.
 
Posted on 01-30-07 3:54 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

ya Nepal ma ta khasai problem chhaina aile ta but i'm thinking if such piracy laws on software is applied strictly then nepal ko IT ma ke ke hulchal huntheyo hola. small IT business or training center chalayera baseka haru ko ke huntheyo hola?????
Juz thinking hahahaha
 
Posted on 01-30-07 4:04 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Kat Nepal -

Firstly, an international legal framework does not exist for that type of copyright enforcement and so it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. What they might look into is applying a local pricing model so that the Rs 100 you pay ends up going to Microsoft Nepal or Microsoft South Asia instead of the guy installing pirated versions. I don't think they care enough at this point because the revenue stream is too weak from third-world markets but I do think a time is bound to come when software licensing at the enterprise level will get stricter.

If you look at the US, most big software vendors go after the big fry when it comes to license enforcement - companies with a bottom line who can pay. NASCOM in India has also floated the idea of the local pricing model I mentioned above. The key here is not to go after individual users, because it becomes too expensive to do so, but rather after businesses who can afford to pay. There is no need to get everyone under the net.

My 2 cents.
 
Posted on 01-30-07 5:23 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

sounds very much interesting
 
Posted on 02-06-07 2:54 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

Bill Gates on the Daily Show - enjoy!

(two-part video)
########################




 
Posted on 02-06-07 2:56 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

And then this "Bill Gates has crashed" error message for leaving too early :P

###################


 
Posted on 02-06-07 4:05 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
Login in to Rate this Post:     0       ?    
 

"Does that f12 button do something to someone's computer?"

"What is your pet's name?"

Hilarious! Enjoyed it. :) Thanks, Captain!
 


Please Log in! to be able to reply! If you don't have a login, please register here.

YOU CAN ALSO



IN ORDER TO POST!




Within last 60 days
Recommended Popular Threads Controvertial Threads
What are your first memories of when Nepal Television Began?
निगुरो थाहा छ ??
Basnet or Basnyat ??
Sajha has turned into MAGATs nest
NRN card pros and cons?
Will MAGA really start shooting people?
मन भित्र को पत्रै पत्र!
Top 10 Anti-vaxxers Who Got Owned by COVID
काेराेना सङ्क्रमणबाट बच्न Immunity बढाउन के के खाने ?How to increase immunity against COVID - 19?
TPS Work Permit/How long your took?
Breathe in. Breathe out.
3 most corrupt politicians in the world
चितवनको होस्टलमा १३ वर्षीया शालिन पोखरेल झुण्डिएको अवस्था - बलात्कार पछि हत्याको शंका - होस्टेलहरु असुरक्षित
शीर्षक जे पनि हुन सक्छ।
Disinformation for profit - scammers cash in on conspiracy theories
someone please tell me TPS is here to stay :(
Nepali doctors future black or white usa ?
Doctors dying suddenly or unexpectedly since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines
BREAKING: THE LEFT HAS LOST THE SUPREME COURT!
Another Song Playing In My Mind
Nas and The Bokas: Coming to a Night Club near you
NOTE: The opinions here represent the opinions of the individual posters, and not of Sajha.com. It is not possible for sajha.com to monitor all the postings, since sajha.com merely seeks to provide a cyber location for discussing ideas and concerns related to Nepal and the Nepalis. Please send an email to admin@sajha.com using a valid email address if you want any posting to be considered for deletion. Your request will be handled on a one to one basis. Sajha.com is a service please don't abuse it. - Thanks.

Sajha.com Privacy Policy

Like us in Facebook!

↑ Back to Top
free counters