Five security flaws in Vista, one more for IE7

[drhowarddrfine]

And they keep on coming.

[bartonc]

And they keep on coming.

tytimes wants registration from me now (and cookies enabled). I was able to get in once, but for now I'll take a pass.
I have noticed a trend in your posts and am curious as to you motivation.
Are you out to keep us informed of weaknesses or do you dislike M$?

[AricC]

Dr doesn't like IE. Just be glad you don't hang out in the HTML forum with me! J/K Dr

[drhowarddrfine]

Why do people automatically try to brand you anti-MS when you dislike IE? I hate bad software and IE7 is verifiably the worst browser on the planet. Previous IEs actually are worse but people should be upgrading. The fact that Vista is the real subject of the article was just added fodder. If IE7 was as good as any other browser, this post would never be made.

I do despise this need for huge computing resources to run Vista which, eventually, you will all unnecessarily be forced to upgrade to. I say 'you' because I am weaning myself off Windows altogether and am just about all transferred to FreeBSD on my desktop and notebook. I really have no need for Windows anymore but just haven't gotten in the habit of using FreeBSD exclusively yet.

I strongly suggest everyone look into switching to Ubuntu Linux if they must use a Linux environment.

I had only three reasons to run Windows:
1) My stock trading software required Windows because my broker is a MS house. But I don't daytrade anymore so I dropped them.
2) Some banks are MS houses but my wife deals with them since
3) she uses Quickbooks Pro which is Windows only, but, since I don't do 2 or 3 anymore, I'm Windows free.

Now games are another thing for other people, including my kids, but I don't play games. So what do I need insecure, bloated, expensive Windows for? Why do you need it?

[bartonc]

Why do people automatically try to brand you anti-MS when you dislike IE? I hate bad software and IE7 is verifiably the worst browser on the planet. Previous IEs actually are worse but people should be upgrading. The fact that Vista is the real subject of the article was just added fodder. If IE7 was as good as any other browser, this post would never be made.

I do despise this need for huge computing resources to run Vista which, eventually, you will all unnecessarily be forced to upgrade to. I say 'you' because I am weaning myself off Windows altogether and am just about all transferred to FreeBSD on my desktop and notebook. I really have no need for Windows anymore but just haven't gotten in the habit of using FreeBSD exclusively yet.

I strongly suggest everyone look into switching to Ubuntu Linux if they must use a Linux environment.

I had only three reasons to run Windows:
1) My stock trading software required Windows because my broker is a MS house. But I don't daytrade anymore so I dropped them.
2) Some banks are MS houses but my wife deals with them since
3) she uses Quickbooks Pro which is Windows only, but, since I don't do 2 or 3 anymore, I'm Windows free.

Now games are another thing for other people, including my kids, but I don't play games. So what do I need insecure, bloated, expensive Windows for? Why do you need it?

I made no such assumption. I merely asked. I'm glad that you have set the record straight for us. Thank Doc,
Barton

[acoder]

Can someone please tell me why, why, why and for the umpteenth time, WHY, do Microsoft (or, if you prefer, Micro$oft), produce such poor software with so many flaws?!

With the resources at hand, it's totally unacceptable. IE7 and Vista both have basic flaws and sometimes security is almost non-existent. IE7 has many rendering problems and CSS support is relatively poor despite so many years of development. Vista has its flaws too - for 5 years effort, it is totally unacceptable.

I am forced to use Windows and IE for development purposes. On many occasions, I have to produce fixes for broken software.

[drhowarddrfine]

Microsoft makes their software work with their software with little regard for anyone else, sometimes. So they create a browser that works well with their OS and software with some lack of regard for the standards. Only when competition arrives do they make an appearance of fixing things for the good of all but it is an appearance only.

For example, lead developer Chris Wilson, on the IEBlog, touts how much MS cares about standards yet can give no information on when better support for all the missing and buggy elements will be added, fixed or upgraded. A mention of IE8 coming out in a year and a half but nothing about what IE8 will bring.

Security flaws are a different story. The OS and software are under continuous scrutiny and attack and new tricks by crackers are created every day, seemingly. While some may claim open source software would suffer the same if they were equally popular, this is debunked in a book ("The Open Source Movement"?) and elsewhere because they are created by the collective "we" among other reasons.

Another theory is the presumed "evilness" of Microsoft in their past and current dealings with customers and partners. There was a recent article talking of the millions of attacks on Microsoft's web sites every year (day?), Google, who's slogan is "Don't be evil", has significantly less a problem.

[Kosmos]

I'm staying away from Microsoft Vista...it will murder my ram and therefore my music production programs

[AricC]

I think when it comes to IE 6,7 and future versions there is one simple problem. Microsoft doesn't make money on IE. 95% of their profit comes through OS and Office products. I think instead of offering to help me "Detect Phishing Sites" they should have corrected the known CSS issues. I still don't use IE 7 and they couldn't give me Vista at this point.

Recently, I was at a small tech seminar and was shown SUSE Linux. The two Novell reps said they had just done an install for a client who wanted bare basics the install was ~400MB why does Vista need ~15GB? I think I'll stick with my XP Pro 64 bit ed.

[Kosmos]

I think when it comes to IE 6,7 and future versions there is one simple problem. Microsoft doesn't make money on IE. 95% of their profit comes through OS and Office products. I think instead of offering to help me "Detect Phishing Sites" they should have corrected the known CSS issues. I still don't use IE 7 and they couldn't give me Vista at this point.

Recently, I was at a small tech seminar and was shown SUSE Linux. The two Novell reps said they had just done an install for a client who wanted bare basics the install was ~400MB why does Vista need ~15GB? I think I'll stick with my XP Pro 64 bit ed.

speaking of the XP pro 64...how do you like it? and will it benefit me to run the 64 bit operating system if I have a an amd 64 3400? like will it be able to handle running the 64 bit operating system and run all my 32 bit programs and still offer more efficiency?

[AricC]

speaking of the XP pro 64...how do you like it? and will it benefit me to run the 64 bit operating system if I have a an amd 64 3400? like will it be able to handle running the 64 bit operating system and run all my 32 bit programs and still offer more efficiency?

I am running an AMD 3400+. The OS runs for the most part like XP Pro, some problems to consider before you buy/try. I have found that some companies don't make 64 bit drivers yet ( turtle beach ). I have also had some trouble getting a free anti virus. Avast has one that works, but I don't like it a whole lot. I could buy one, but with freebies out why waste money. Here is a link to the download, I'd recommend trying, 120 days should be enough for you to tell whether or not you like it. Also, one more thing I had some trouble with. If you run IIS and SQL Server ( not sure what versions but deffinetly 2000 ) you will have to find the command to run the application in a 32 bit mode. I spent about 2.5 days looking for that solution. As far as the memory management aspect, I've always run my systems with maxed out ram, these days ram is cheap and probably the easiest way to increase your performance with minimal work. Currently, I'm running 3GB so I've never really had a problem with slow boots or alt-tabbing out of games etc.. That's one last point you can run games on it no problem. I have several Battlefield games and the only thing I've noticed is a pop-up box during the install that says the game has only been tested on 32 bit systems.

Hope this helps,
Aric

[cassbiz]

Since the inception of IE7, I have been forced to re-write so many css pages which were all W3C validated. Pages that looked great even in IE6 broke.

M$ should look at the German and Japanese auto manufacturers. They test every vehicle for several years prior to releasing them. They use what works and correct what doesn't work. I am quite confident that in two to three years that Vista will be a good OS. Until then, who knows what is going to happen?

[murcielagossi]

The CSS problems in IE are very irritating. Haven't yet tried my site in IE 7, but now from what cassbiz said I'm worried about it. More problems to look forward too.

[Kosmos]

I can't stand how when you install something from Microsoft it starts an epic battle against other programs for default usage...like IE7 vs. Mozilla and wmp vs. both my vlc player and winamp...meanwhile when I installed IE7 and the new windows media player, my system took a turn for the worse and I had to reinstall my entire system...as an audio producer...I have a lot of important information so I keep a very stable system...it turns out one of my hard drives had corrupted files on it which I've never had happen to me and suspiciously it happened right when I installed IE7 and the new wmp....I'm not saying it's Microsoft's fault...but I'm suspicious

[Kosmos]

I am running an AMD 3400+. The OS runs for the most part like XP Pro, some problems to consider before you buy/try. I have found that some companies don't make 64 bit drivers yet ( turtle beach ). I have also had some trouble getting a free anti virus. Avast has one that works, but I don't like it a whole lot. I could buy one, but with freebies out why waste money. Here is a link to the download, I'd recommend trying, 120 days should be enough for you to tell whether or not you like it. Also, one more thing I had some trouble with. If you run IIS and SQL Server ( not sure what versions but deffinetly 2000 ) you will have to find the command to run the application in a 32 bit mode. I spent about 2.5 days looking for that solution. As far as the memory management aspect, I've always run my systems with maxed out ram, these days ram is cheap and probably the easiest way to increase your performance with minimal work. Currently, I'm running 3GB so I've never really had a problem with slow boots or alt-tabbing out of games etc.. That's one last point you can run games on it no problem. I have several Battlefield games and the only thing I've noticed is a pop-up box during the install that says the game has only been tested on 32 bit systems.

Hope this helps,
Aric

yeah thanks. I think it convinced me to stay with the 32 and wait and see where the market goes...I heard they tried to come out with the 64 bit thing back in the day and got nowhere with it because nobody was re-writting their programs for 64 bit...but I'm assuming it will become more necessary in the near future...however many years that may be?

[AricC]

yeah thanks. I think it convinced me to stay with the 32 and wait and see where the market goes...I heard they tried to come out with the 64 bit thing back in the day and got nowhere with it because nobody was re-writting their programs for 64 bit...but I'm assuming it will become more necessary in the near future...however many years that may be?

I agree if there were more programs designed to take advantage of it life would be great. Either way you can try it out if you like for a few months for free if you need an OS or have room to play around on an extra drive.

[cassbiz]

They are starting to produce 64 bit programs. The new super systems will be able to take advantage of them, the only problem is that the majority of users are still using 32 bit systems which makes it very hard to justify the added expense of creating the software.

Those that have created software for 64 bit systems are definitely a step ahead for they will be able to find and repair the bugs and know what to look out for in the future.