If new features won’t get you to upgrade to Vista, security enhancements should, according to Windows chief Jim Allchin.
“Microsoft has already touted the bells and whistles it is putting into Windows Vista, the operating system successor to XP that’s due out by the end of the year. There will be flashy new graphics, a spiffed-up user interface and advanced search features. Other changes include improved touch-screen support and a Windows sidebar that can display all kinds of information such as upcoming appointments, just-in e-mail messages and a clock,” Joris Evers reports for CNET News.
Evers reports, “But if none of that strikes your fancy, Vista will still be worth getting, thanks to its better defenses against phishing attacks, spyware and other malicious code, Allchin said. ‘Safety and security is the overriding feature that most people will want to have Windows Vista for,’ the co-president of Microsoft’s platform, products and services division said in an interview with CNET News.com. ‘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.'”
Full article here.
As Allchin is being shuffled off to retirement after countless Windows XP security failures that resulted in the losses of billions of dollars in productivity for Windows sufferers and after having stripped Windows Vista’s feature set of anything even remotely interesting in order to ship Microsoft’s latest malformed Mac derivative after slipping for years, Allchin turns back to the tried and true: spew a bunch of the same old promises and hope the pigeons will flock to line up at midnight once again. CNET doesn’t mention, but we can’t imagine Allchin was able to keep a straight face throughout this interview. On the other hand, Allchin is the same guy who accused Apple of copying Microsoft’s Windows “Longhorn” with Mac OS X, so he could simply be nuts and actually believes his own lunacy; the probability (or someone) is high.
Judging by the responses by Windows sufferers that accompany the CNET article, it’s a good thing for Allchin that he’s being forced out; many people seem to have awakened since that long ago day when Windows XP was released. At CNET at least, many aren’t buying it this time around. Instead, they seem ready to finally give up on waiting and waiting and waiting for nothing and instead are planning on buying the real thing, the one that actually does work as hardly-advertised; they’re buying a Mac instead.
“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And what that means is — and I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way — in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product.” – Steve Jobs (QuickTime, 0:23, 0.9MB)
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I remember the year or two leading up to XP’s release. The big buzzword wasn’t “security,” it was “stability.” And delivered a huge improvement in stability with XP (especially over WinMe). Time will tell if Vista actually delivers noticable differences in security.
MDN MW- “perform” as is will it perform as promised?
As much as I hate to admit. Biz will spend billiongs on Vista despite that it will have as many security issues as XP. Too many consumers don’t know any better, have too many expensive Windows app, and Apple’s lack of advertising will ensure that Vista will be a hit.
Anyway I will continue to enjoy my Macs. So long Jim. Don’t let a virus hit you on the way out.
If there are Windoze users out there that haven’t learned anything over the past few years, and if they decide that Vista is going to be their next great OS, then as Mac users we should LET THEM HAVE IT and wait for the converts. We all know MS sucks here, so repeating it over and over again gets a little boring (except for some).
I’d rather read about Mac news.
If you want a good fight, take the comments to CNET where there are real Wincrap users to argue with
Whatever. My Windows XP is fine. I didn’t use any virus software or firewall for a year while using a cable modem, and when I finally downloaded a copy of Symantec antivirus corporate edition, I found that I had zero viruses. It’s all about whether you use Firefox and Thunderbird (like I do) or whether you use IE and Outlook (like people with viruses do). Of all of my friends who use Windows, none of them have ever had a virus. Them again, all of them are programmers who know better than to use IE and Outlook.
OH HOW CUTE!
Sputnik is back!
Idiot.
Hey, I don’t know why you believe Vista will not be more secure. I went a whole 20 minutes before I caught my first virus, which was a much better record than the 13 minutes it usually takes under XP. I think MicroSoft is finally going to deliver everything I’ve come to expect in an operating system. Vista rules!!
Sheesh, users shouldn’t have to buy a new OS to be more secure. If MS wants people to buy Vista, it should refund the money people spent on XP. Talk about arrogance.
Interesting Nick, but I find it very hard to believe, My landlady just signed up for cable internet and before she could even download Firefox she had a virus and now can’t get back on. She is finally taking my advice and getting a Mac.
Here’s an idea for the Mac creatives, videopodcasting all the best features of OSX. Not sure how it could/would work, but if podcasting is a wave that’s growing, let’s try to catch the crest.
“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste.”
Maybe. But good taste is relative. What is in good taste in one culture could be in very bad taste in another.
On the other hand, I believe that the only problem with Apple is the Mac Cult. I’ve said it before in another thread – when I heard that Apple was ditching MacOS for a Unix-based system I thought it was the best move they ever did and began looking more positively at the platform. But then I made the mistake of visiting Mac user forums such as MDN and realized that in no way, shape or form would I want to be associated with such a virulent and obnoxious user base.
You fanboys may believe that you are going to end up on top of the world. Well, keep on believing. And when the hungry hackers from the former East Bloc, India or China eventually penetrate your beloved OS’s defenses I will be cheering them on and hoping they delete everything on all of your hard drives.
Just keep on doing what you are doing now, fanboys. Just keep up the good work…
Vista’s got a CLOCK!!! A CLOCK!! we’re sunk.
I love parody and satire this article is hysterical, bravo.
Oh wait, you mean this guy is serious? BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
FUDsucker Proxy:
I suppose if you set up a Windows XP compuer with pre-SP2 and stuck it right online, you would probably get hit with a virus that takes advantage of one if the ancient RPC attacks. That is the big catch with Windows viruses – installing old versions of the OS with none of the patches from the last couple of years, then plugging into a network will get you in trouble. In that regard, Mac OS X does in fact offer security through obscurity, since nobody is bothering to run Mac OS 10.2 attacks round the clock (and yes, there have been many critical security updates to Mac OS X since 10.2).
Surely I’m not running the same Windows XP that everyone loves to bash here. I don’t use antivirus or anti-spyware apps, I have a cable connection to the web, I never turn off my PC, and I don’t have any of these virus or stability issues that everyone seems to talk about. No reboots and a single program crashes MAYBE once every 3-5 weeks.
But then again I know how to use Windows. And I always do my day to day work on a regular user account instead of the administrator account.
And yes, I do use IE and Outlook. And I haven’t had a single virus for the 4 years I’ve been using XP. How do I know? I have periodically installed apps such as Adaware and norton AV.
They never find anything.
Besides that, as much as I like my Mac Mini, I can never fully migrate to it. OS X is nice but feels sluggish overall. And Visual Studio does not run on OS X. And I’m a big gamer. And I love C#. And its so much easier to find development resources for Windows than it is for OS X.
I am in the Vista CTP program and have been testing out the Betas since it was called Longhorn with the Plex interface concept. The latest build is really good. I am very much looking forward to it, and the release of WinFS shortly after Vista goes gold.
What do I like best about OS X? It keeps MS on their toes =)
Anim8r
OH HOW CUTE! Sputnik is back!
Idiot.
sorry to have to point this out BUT… you obviously dont “get” sputnik. you have to read closer.
if, on the other hand, you believe him to be a troll you are the idiot for feeding him.
Ariel,
Mac OS X should feel sluggish on a Mac Mini; those things are extremely crappy. They have 166Mhz busses and memory (motorola never made a proper DDR controller for G4) and 4500rpm laptop hard drives. The older minis only came with 256MB RAM. Ugh.
I can’t wait for Apple to rev the mini to Intel hardware, I’ll buy one immediately.
Buy Windows Vista for the security . . .and iodine for the taste. And a Lamborghini for the mileage. And egg rolls for low fat.
You really should buy it for the amazingly cool clock on the sidebar! If you’re gonna spend billions in R & D, you can give your customers the neatest stuff!
Buying Windoze Vi$ta for security is like buying milk for the fiber.
Or flying a domestic US carrier for the food.
Or staying at a Motel 6 for the luxury.
And, of course, it’s like reading Playboy for the articles.
MDN MW: “human”, as in using Windows should be qualified as a human rights abuse
Yeah, right.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/30/vista_security_allchin/
I guess anything is better than XP, but that hardly describes Vista as being a revolutionary departure from the status quo. These individuals have repeated the lie so often they cannot differentiate truth from fiction, reality from fantasy, or innovation from incompetence.
Evil_MS_User:
“On the other hand, I believe that the only problem with Apple is the Mac Cult. I’ve said it before in another thread – when I heard that Apple was ditching MacOS for a Unix-based system I thought it was the best move they ever did and began looking more positively at the platform. But then I made the mistake of visiting Mac user forums such as MDN and realized that in no way, shape or form would I want to be associated with such a virulent and obnoxious user base.”
You can’t just outright dismiss using a Mac because SOME of the user base is “virulent and obnoxious”….BUT…..
I have to agree with Evil_MS_User on this one. Maybe we are just over zealous (overbering?) about the computer we have come to know and love – but some people just view us as snobs! There is no need to keep bashing Microsoft into the ground all the time – It’s tiresome, a TOTAL waste of time, and does NOTHING to show people who are currently using Windows the advantages of the MAC OS. Instead of insulting Windows users at every opportunity (which turns them away), show them what you’ve got. If they don’t want to change, it doesn’t mean they are stupid idiots. It means they have made a CHOICE.
We scream about wanting to convert the whole world to Mac, but we would probably cry like a baby if it did happen because then we would lose our exclusivity.
This isn’t watered-down politically correct (“can’t we all just get along”) banter – It a dose of commom sense.
Life is what you want it to be
So don’t get tangled up trying to be free
And don’t worry what the other people see
BECAUSE IT MEANS NOTHING! LOUSY NOTHING!
Correction:
This isn’t watered-down politically correct (“can’t we all just get along”) banter – IT’S a dose of commom sense.
One last thought…..(this thread is a couple of days old so I doubt anyone will see this, but what the hell)
The QT clip given by MDN was from a documentary by Robert Cringely called “Triumph Of The Nerds”…It’s on DVD now – here’s a link (if it breaks up just cut and paste it!):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006FXQO/qid=1138733003/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3945579-2020728?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130
Some of the reviews state that they “butchered” this release (DVD), but they only left out several minutes worth of footage for time reasons. It’s dated, and if you lived through it, it isn’t worth getting – especially at $50.00. But that is just my opinion.
Now, I love my Mac – but here are two quotes from Steve Jobs that are on the DVD that bemuse me:
[1] “Picasso had a saying, He said ‘Good artists copy, GREAT artists STEAL’, We (Apple) have been SHAMELESS about stealing great ideas”
*** According to Jobs’ own admission Bill Gates must be a great artist because he is stealing great ideas from OS X and putting them into Vista, yet we bash him for it.
[2] “I didn’t care if I was right. I cared about success”
*** Watched within the context of the video this statement sort of makes sense, but the more I hear it the less sense it seems to make…….