OSNews reports Microsoft Posts Tablet PC Fix. “On Tuesday, Microsoft posted a patch to its web site designed to prevent the problem, known as a memory leak. This error has plagued Microsoft’s Tablet PC operating system for a long time. In addition, the software giant has promised not to charge for security fixes, but will charge for virus protection.”
Tag Archives | Microsoft
Microsoft rumored to be purchasing adware maker Claria
eWeek reports: “Published reports that Microsoft is in discussions to purchase high-profile adware vendor Claria for as much as $500 million have set tongues wagging in the security sector, with analysts and vendors questioning the software giant’s motives and whether the deal will actually occur.”
Wow. What can you say? I suppose Claria is one of the biggest users of Windows…
Microsoft settles with IBM on anti-trust
Computerworld News notes Update: Microsoft to pay IBM $775M in antitrust settlement. “Microsoft and IBM have agreed on a $775 million settlement in IBM’s private antitrust case against Microsoft… Including today’s settlement, Microsoft has paid about $4.5 billion in antitrust claims following the U.S. government case. Pending antitrust lawsuits include those brought by RealNetworks Inc., Novell Inc. and Go Corp.”
Wow. For some companies, $4,500,000,000 would be a lot of money.
So, is this TrustWorthy Computing — some kind of Anti-anti-trust?
Don’t click on that attachment!
And another from InfoWorld: Top News: Fake Microsoft security alert includes Trojan patch. “A new wave of spam that disguises itself as a Microsoftæ security bulletin contains a link to malicious software that gives attackers complete access to the infected machine, security researchers are reporting.” Just a reminder folks: Never, EVER, run code from an untrusted source. There are no trusted sources.
IE bug can crash the browser; might allow malicious code to run
InfoWorld: Top News reports IE bug can crash browser. “Security researchers have discovered a bug in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) browser that can cause the software to crash, and which could possibly be used to let an attacker run unauthorized software on the IE user’s machine.” Translation: slow news day before American and Canadian holiday weekend. Nothing to see here, folks, move along…
Microsoft Watch: Will RSS expose Longhorn to exploit?
Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley notes The Downside of Embedding RSS in Longhorn. “Microsoft watchers are thinking through the security implications of Microsoft’s plan to embed RSS in Longhorn.”
The upside is that Microsoft bundling a feature in with their OS means that developers can count on the feature being available (although uptake of recent versions of windows may mean that’s only 20% of all Windows users). The downside is that it means malicious developers can count on it being available. While Microsoft is getting better at shipping software less exposed to exploit, it still enlarged the exposed surface for exploit.
Gee, that’s not going to break anything, is it?
InfoWorld: Top News notes As support fades, Microsoft offers Win2000 update. “As the clock ticks on support for mainstream Windows 2000 users, Microsoft has released a “high priority” update rollup of over 50 security fixes.”
The Death Spiral
A reader flamed me recently for commenting that Microsoft was on a “death spiral.” That wasn’t just vindictive thinking because they’re killing my favorite product or because their insecure OS allows malicious software to splatter my Dad’s computer. That was a real live professional opinion from a computer consultant who’s spent 20+ years in the industry and seen ’em come and go. 8″ floppies, paper tape, Winchester drives, Business Basic, Data General, WANG, Digital, blah, blah, blah, ones and zeros? You had zeroes? Now, bear in mind I was also a big Amiga and GEOS fan, so vision is not what I sell to clients. I deliver working code.
Otoh, Mitch Kapor has a lot of experience shipping code, delivering product, selling into the Fortune 100, reviewing business plans, and working venture capital deals. He’s got some of that vision thing too. He had a profile in the Boston Globe recently (sadly, it disappears behind a paywall soon) that talked about his work with EFF and the exciting Open Source product called Chandler, which promises to be a well-thought-out PIM. The killer quote at the end of the article:
”Chandler could fail totally,” he said. ”But open source as a movement is something that Microsoft cannot defeat. . . .Their style of triumph and of dominance is part of an era whose time is passing.”
Microsoft Promises to Do Better?
OSNews links to a ZDNet Australia piece that makes Ballmer sound like a punch-drunk fighter past his prime: Ballmer Confident, But Admits Failings. “Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has confessed the software giant’s .Net strategy has come to a standstill, says he’s accepted SQL Server’s shortcomings and vowed to keep fighting search giant Google.”
Andrew: I Don’t Want to Wait
Andrew MacNeill – AKSEL Solutions says: MS at Gnomedex: I Don’t Want to Wait for Longhorn to see you “get” something. Too True: Microsoft has become the slowest moving beast in the jungle. Other vendors are shipping betas now, or have been shipping live products for years. Andrew notes “There’s a lot to be said about taking the time to get it done right.” Yes, that’s true, but in the immortal words of Susan Graham “Shipping is a feature.” Contrast this attitude with the Open Source idea of “ship early, ship often.” Agile organizations can cobble together a prototype, pass it around to interested parties, build a beta-quality product, circulate it amongst a large audience, use the feed back to add/drop/modify features, then Version 1.0 can kick butt, instead of just being a platform for delivering Service Pack One. Perhaps Microsoft does this within their closed, NDA-enshrouded beta process, but few products (with Visual FoxPro a notable exception) appear to benefit from the vetting. Either the testers aren’t giving MSFT good enough feedback, or MSFT is failing to act on it.
Microsoft has been this route already once with Active Desktop and Channel Description Format (CDF). Any bets that second time will be the charm?