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Windows Vista = Dead On Arrival

I love it - viruses for vaporware!

Why did it take so long?

Wow...that didn't take long...

Viruses Infections Spyware Trojans Adware

One confirmed, 4 to go...

This is too funny. I bet the virus writers will be more timely than MS! Vista will have more virses on the day it debuts than OS X will have in its 5-6 years on the market.

This doesn't argue against security through obscurity. These people know that there will be a great many copies of Vista sold and they're gearing up. In a few months there will be more copies of Vista out there than there are Mac users.

Umm, try one year BEFORE it's on the market!

Wow. So if you're Microsoft, do you just give up? I guess not, because the lemmings still buy it.

While the MDN take is funny, it's also a sad, and (hopefully) deliberate misstatement. theloniousMac points out, at least partly correctly, that in a year there will be many more copies of Windows Vista than there are of OSX.

However, this is still a clear portrayal of the security level of Windows. It is inherently a flawed system, and even if they start over they won't be able to catch up with the benefits of a UNIX core anytime soon.

Please append the MDN take to acknowledge that the statement is misleading. It is more relevant to point out how quickly Windows was hacked again, than to try and argue the security through obscurity myth. (I'm really beginning to lose my faith in MDN....)

mw: under, as in "don't you understand?"

All right, so really, what's the big deal with viruses? I've got an XP machine for work--I'm on the internet constantly, with just an Airport Extreme between the machine and the world. I've got Norton installed, I've got Microsoft's free adware installed. I've got both of those things plus the software updater scheduled to check for updates every day.

I have not gotten a single virus, nor a single piece of adware.

Not to defend M$ all that strongly, but really, it doesn't seem all that hard to keep yourself protected on a PC.

"Wininsider reports that the shell might be dropped from the release of Vista"

Unlikely; MS is incapable of dropping anything from any of their products. Besides, if Vista is built in the MS tradition, dropping the shell will break all rest of the OS (a fitting payback from the days of tangling Explorer into the OS).

MS has no choice but to ship the OS as-is. Let the infections begin.

"Most security experts had not expected to see a Windows Vista virus so soon"

Experts = naive fools. Is anyone really surprised? FWIW I think it's both hilarious and tragic that viruses are in the waiting for a vaporware OS. "Trustworthy Computing"? Trust only that MS's approach to security is a joke.

hairbo,

I'm on the internet regularly with Mac OS X and nothing extra installed, only the built-in firewall turned on. I also have not gotten a single virus, nor a single piece of adware.

The fact daily updates are necessary are testament to Window's insecurity. Name one other consumer product where people have to be so vigilant in order to keep things safe and secure. Even highly theft-prone cars don't need such regular updates! It's amazing that such user-intensive care is OK with Windows, but would be absolutely unacceptable anywhere else.

Quote:
(I'm really beginning to lose my faith in MDN....)

MDN has always been very biased with little attempt to be fair to windows. I lost my faith in their objectivity almost as soon as I started checking the site regularly. They are a great source for news but the "MDN take" and the opinions are often naive to point of being useless.

This story about Vista being infected is bad enough. I don't see why MDN has to make it seem even worse. This is not the first time I've seen MDN make vaguely truthful or completely misleading statements or titles in the interest of pumping up OS X and deflating MS. I think its sad because OS X naturally beats MS in most things and their constant bias degrades that point more than it helps it.

MDN, please let OS X and the news stories speak for themselves. Add commentary and backstory but only if it is true and fair.

Looks like Bill just got a swift kick in the monads!

I use Win2000 Service pack 4 at work. I don’t get viruses or adware either. Mainly, this is because I am behind a corporate firewall and I run two adware prevention programs, as well as MacAfee anti-virus software.

So what’s the problem with that? I perform data analysis on about 2 million records per day using an MSIE client application. Each and every time I access a record my virus software has to scan it. This adds a couple milliseconds to each operation, which adds up to an hour or so of wasted time every day. Why does it have to be this way? Because not only is Windows basically insecure at the user level, but due to its administrative design flaws my IT department can’t figure out how to disable it solely on the internal network when using MSIE. Windows is crap.

Jay —

You're missing the point. It's so much fun to bash M$ and all their woes! MDN is also entertainment so not everything should be taken too seriously.

I'm savoring every blunder M$ makes and enjoying watching their slow demise! Die M$, die!!!

"Hackers are already working on viruses for Microsoft's upcoming Vista platform,..."

No surprise here.

"theloniousMac points out, at least partly correctly, that in a year there will be many more copies of Windows Vista than there are of OSX."

Step,
This may not necessarily be true. Many, many corporations haven't even upgraded from Windows2000 to WindowsXP, because they finally got it working well enough that they saw no reason to switch. Case in point: Zeke, who just posted

"I use Win2000 Service pack 4 at work."

[Zeke, I'd be grateful if you could give us some insight as to why your workplace hasn't upgraded to WinXP]

Corporations in particular will take a wait-and-see attitude, especially if they have concerns that their entire IT infrastructure might grind to a halt due to the new OS breaking existing applications. And Microsoft will have a hard time convincing them that Vista is so much better than their current systems that they will feel compelled to switch, particularly with announced features being shed like dandruff in order to get the OS out the door.

Ever watch documentaries of penguins about to go out to sea? Hundreds and hundreds will gather at the edge of the Antarctic ice pack, but no matter how hungry they are, they will not enter the water voluntarily for fear of leopard seals, fierce predators with a taste for penguins. They actually start pushing and jostling those in front until some poor unfortunates fall in. If they bob to the surface pissed but unharmed, the others will follow.

The point is that, for penguins on the ice pack, being the first to dive in could be fatal. The risks associated with untried technology could be just as fatal to companies, and they will hang back and let others test the waters first.

well... the wittiest thing said by a Windows users was..

'hyuk hyuk.. there are already more Vista users than OS X users..'

I guess it's not quite accurate..

That is quite sad.

Wow, I wonder how Bill took this news? If they keep dropping vulnerable features, by the time they release Vista they will only have a calculator left.

Viridian wrote:
"The point is that, for penguins on the ice pack, being the first to dive in could be fatal. The risks associated with untried technology could be just as fatal to companies, and they will hang back and let others test the waters first."

reminds me of this quote:
"When skating on thin ice, allow others to take the lead. There is no disgrace in learning from others, particularly when doing so avoids putting yourself in jeopardy."

"Hackers are already working on viruses for Microsoft's upcoming Vista platform," Matt Whipp reports for PC Pro.

heres another quote:
"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen...."
-Darth Sidious

Actually, I wonder if someone will invent an OS X virus and partly "blame" doing so on MDN's malicious "suffer Microsoft Windows" stance on security (in much the same way a kid taunting another kid with "You can't hurt me, you can't hurt me" chants is asking to be smashed in the face...)

Step,
You are misleading in "That in a year there will be many more copies of Windows Vista than there are of OSX." as you state. MS does not even plan on having Vista released to the public "in a year". Please post a retraction for your misleading comments.

The Dude abides.

Soon there will be more Vista viruses than Mac users. Ha!

Put that one in your pipe and smoke it.

WOW!

and they haven´t even released it yet...

V iruses
I nfections
S pyware
T rojans
A dware

----------------------------------------------
life is a sexually transmitted disease that causes death
----------------------------------------------

Excellent!

It's not even released yet and it's already got a virus!!

Nice one Microsoft - your OS and programmers SUCK big time!

Now Petey, don't blame the coders. They don't make the corporate game plan.

If I was Billy I would pull 8 to 10 Billion out of the sofa, buy Apple and rename OS X for X86. Problem solved.

I prefer:

V iruses
I ntrusions
S pyware
T rojans
A dware

This is what they get to deal with, by choice. How perfect!

re: Now Petey, don't blame the coders. They don't make the corporate game plan.

If I was Billy I would pull 8 to 10 Billion out of the sofa, buy Apple and rename OS X for X86. Problem solved.


HEHE!

Excellent idea!

Lets face it - Microsoft are playing catchup big time!

So much for the "security through obscurity" myth. What is Vista's market share today? 0%?

"Security through obscurity"...

Nice in theory, but it doesn't hold water. Are you telling me there is not one angry ex-Apple employee, one Windows fan boy, one malicious nut out there that hasn't thought about writing a Mac virus? Even if it were to prove that the mighty Mac is not invulnerable. Let's face it, if you were a virus writer, the Window cherry has been popped; You think there would be someone willing to crack the zero virus barrier.

As for all the Windows users with no viruses... good for you, it represents responsible computing and personal accountability. You are also the minority.

"targeting viruses for Microsoft's Windows Vista"

Windows IS a virus.

"one angry ex-Apple employee"

Like Jean-Louis Gassee? :o)

"If I was Billy I would pull 8 to 10 Billion out of the sofa, buy Apple and rename OS X for X86. Problem solved."

Not so easy. Last I heard Apple had a market value of around $30 billion and Gates had Microsoft stock worth around $45-50 billion. Selling that much Microsoft stock at once would really depress Microsoft stock.

That being said, it IS the best deal Gates could get for his dollars.

Good point, "Mac4Me". "Viruses" and "Infections" is redundant. Using that version of the acronym just makes us look stupid.

"Not so easy. Last I heard Apple had a market value of around $30 billion and Gates had Microsoft stock worth around $45-50 billion. Selling that much Microsoft stock at once would really depress Microsoft stock."

Bill couldn't sell that much M$ stock and realize the value from it; such a large sale would cause the stock price to plummet. Besides, he'd have to announce it six months in advance.

Now he could try to acquire Apple with a stock trade, but Apple would have to agree to that (ain't gonna happen folks).

As for a hostile takeover, also not likely; Apple has a poison-pill proviso to help prevent such things.


"That being said, it IS the best deal Gates could get for his dollars."

Not really, cause if Gates bought Apple, Apple would cease to be creative; it would die and he'd lose money on his investment.

“"Viruses" and "Infections" is redundant. Using that version of the acronym just makes us look stupid.”

Well, not really, cause one could be infected with something other than a virus. But even if it were redundant, there's always the fact that there is such an impressive number of viruses for Windoze that the only way to adequately convey that fact is to be redundant, and to repeat one's self, and say it over and over again.

Reading the comments on many sites I have been debating whether to go mac or pc. A collegue of mine is a professional and uses both macs and pcs and states that both systems are basically the same, he uses antivirus on both and microsofts defender on the pc, he has had no virusses and no spyware attacks but states that the pc boots faster and is more responsive.
He also states that ms word seems more user friendly on the pc (perhaps because an ms product).On the other hand he states that for a beginner the mac is more pleasing and aesthetically better.
Ive been coming on sites such as this to help me decide.
Well ive blogged on mac pc inc linux and have had feedback from all sides and have decided thus: mac people are a sad minority and always will be .... Welcome to the next mac Killer WINDOWS 95 oops sorry deja vu VISTA

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