MySpace, the social networking site favoured by teenagers, recently had an embarrassing security problem. Some devious people had placed an advert on their pages. Unknown to MySpace, and surfers, anyone clicking on the ad infected their PC with a virus .
This virus used a known security flaw in Windows, called the Windows MetaFile bug, which had been fixed by Microsoft months before. The fix had to be downloaded from Microsoft, or the PC was still vulnerable. It mattered not one bit that you religiously updated your virus scanner. The problem was with Windows itself.
Microsoft regularly releases fixes, for all sorts of problems, which are crucial to the well-being of your PC, and data. The MySpace incident proves that millions of people do not update their software regularly. No matter how hard Microsoft tries to get people to do so, there will always be some computers that need fixes applied. Easy meat for the cyber-villains.
Recently Microsoft stopped support for Windows 98, 98SE, and ME. It will be dropping support for XP Service Pack 1 in October. Windows 95 has been unsupported since the end of 2001. Not only do you have to apply the fixes, but you to move to the latest version of Windows.
Currently the IT world is in hiatus, holding its breath, patiently waiting for the release of Microsoft’s next incarnation of Windows – Vista. It has been a long time coming. It was first heard of way back in 2001, under the codename Longhorn. It has had many delays, and this year there have been reports of major code rewrites, as parts of it were found not to work, as expected.
The release date for Vista is still vague, but we are told it should be out some time in the first quarter of 2007. This has upset many IT companies, and retailers, who hoped to make a buck, or two, selling it, and the new PCs that will probably be required, during the Christmas season.
Those of you thinking of getting a new PC, should ensure that it is Vista capable. A little sticker saying so, should appear on the case. The specifications for a PC capable of running Vista are a bit daunting. An 800 Mhz processor, 512MB of memory, and it takes 20GB of hard disk space. Then you need a DirectX 9.0 capable graphics card to experience the super, new, graphical presentation, included in Vista. These specs are the minimum requirements, so going on past experience, people are already recommending a 1 GHz processor, 1GB of memory, and at least 40GB of hard disk space. These requirements have led some commentators to suggest that many companies, and individuals, may not upgrade to Vista, and look at Linux instead .
To try and stop MySpace type embarrassments, Microsft have put in a huge effort to ensure that Vista will be more secure than previous versions of Windows. There is already some discussion that this is just a false sense of security.
More Windows Vista Links
- Tom’s Hardware Guide review of Windows Vista
- 20 Things You Won’t Like About Windows Vista
- 20 Reasons Why Windows Vista Will Be Your Next OS
- We test three different retail computer systems sporting the “Windows Vista Capable”
- Microsoft unveils Vista upgrade matrix
- Microsoft lights upgrade path to Windows Vista
- Microsoft: Want to see if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista?
- Microsoft: Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs
- Microsoft: Get Ready for Windows Vista
- Microsoft: Minimum supported system requirements
- Windows Vista’s recommended settings according to Microsoft, then according to Ars
- The truth about Windows Vista hardware
- Hurdle on horizon for Vista acceptance
- Windows Requirements, Then and Now
- Symantec highlights Windows Vista user vulnerabilities
- Ballmer lets slip Vista slip
- Gates ‘glad’ to delay Vista some more
- Microsoft sees no reason for Vista shipment delay
- Ballmer Analyzes Microsoft’s ‘One Big’ Vista Mistake
