Microsoft...

Post by **evasive** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:50 am

We all know about the hole that was detected and seems to be ever more gaping:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/19 ... ncy_patch/
http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2 ... ry-18.aspx
uh oh
http://www.vupen.com/exploits/Microsoft ... 135286.php

Let's say I was already less than impressed by their PR tactics in the past but this is getting pathetic...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/19 ... nightmare/

so less credibility here:
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/ ... ses-664429
and governments advising to jump the sinking ship:
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/ ... aws-664420

and that is just IE falling apart, how lovely we have a ring0 bug to offer as well:
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/ ... /0346.html

happy new year microsoft...

Post by **fussnfeathers** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:22 am

Not sure I really see a problem here........the attacks only affect IE6. We're on IE8 now. I would have an issue if IE weren't free. (Note.......I don't see any FF fanboys complaining about upgrading to 3.5.....) XP is two generations old. MS isn't going to put a whole lot into new developments into it, except for barebones security patches. They did the same with Win98 and NT4. I mean, really.......would you, as a business, continue to support a product beyond its lifespan while trying to sell a newer product? Windows 98 again.......everybody was complaing about updates ending for that OS, and being forced to move to XP. XP SP1 had an EOL for security updates in 2006, requiring everybody to upgrade to at least SP2 (which caused a ton of complaints). I really don't see where transitioning away from the product is a big deal.

This is mostly just people looking for a reason to complain. If it's that big a deal, everybody knows what FireFox is, and you can always switch to Linux, or go whole-hog and go Apple. Absolutely nobody is forcing anybody to buy Microsoft. I would be more concerned if it involved IE8 and Win7, those are new products I expect to have better security than an eight year old one..........but it doesn't, and they do. Simple solution- catch up to the times, upgrade your free product to yet another free product that works better anyway, and fix the issue. /rolls eyes

AmEv · Post by **AmEv** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:32 am

Our school runs XP on every computer (save the sparse mac or two), no matter how old or new. (I think they even tried running it on a P1 machine

) Even the brand-spankin' new ones run XP!
I can't wait to see what happens when XP becomes a dead system....

Post by **fussnfeathers** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:41 am

how many Mac OS's have there been that people were forced to transition not only the software, and the software they wanted to run on it, but also the machines the OS needed to go on, since each OS needed a bigger, more powerful machine? You're right, you can run XP on ancient machines......and that's a good thing. XP came out in 2001. IE6 also came out mid-2001. We're talking ancient software here, that can only be patched so far.

This isn't from an MS fanboy either, just an experienced end user, and I find it silly that people and the news are complaining about a new-found security hole in a piece of software that was discontinued four years ago. I mean, get real here. I could see a point if IE cost $50 to upgrade, but it's friggin' free.

Post by **evasive** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:12 am

IE8 isn't free. That is the real problem. IE6 is such a beast of a browser back then requiring vendor lock-in coding for page rendering (what HTML standard?) that loads of companies are FORCED to use it until they rewrite their entire intranet et al. THAT is the problem.

The other thing about XP, yes it is old. But yes it is still possible to patch things. I am not talking about the other gaping hole in the TCP/IP stack that requires an entire rewrite of large parts of the kernel here. News about that has strangely gone silent.

As you can see I am not a M$ fanboy but one thing I just cannot stand and that is marketing mumbo-jumbo to hide flaws in your product and trying to get people into using another flawed product where viable alternatives are available. IE is free. So is FF. So is Opera. So while the people at Redmond try to find a way out of this mess, you might want to use a different browser. If you decide to keep that even when all holes in IE8 have been plugged for the time being, tough luck for M$.

Post by **fussnfeathers** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:23 am

You can put IE8 on XP easily. I did it just out of habit. No need to pay for it, and if somebody is charging you, well..........and, BTW, IE8 went standard HTML, doesn't follow MS's old rule of somewhat standard. No more need to recode for MS, or optimise for FF.

I see what you're saying, but the arguments are based on products that are a few years old, are out of production, and should have been updated as a matter of course. I mean, around here, someone has internet troubles, what's the first things we ask? What browser and what version, then the next thing is to suggest updating to the latest version. I can see the media and the OEM push-button users arguing this, the media reports anything, no matter how old, and I don't expect the home user to update frequently, they often don't know how, or even know the need. We here should know better. Besides, this isn't new, it's been going on since the first virus hit the first office PC by way of a boot floppy nobody noticed. Gets tiring after awhile.

Post by **evasive** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:19 am

Yeah IE8 IS following HTML standards better. I am just rambling about all the stuff that went wrong in the past, the cover-up that followed and I am starting to see the same pattern all over again. That is what is bothering me.

As for the need to upgrade, I can see where that is coming from, the linux boys need to replace their kernel every now and then as well. What I do not get is why I need to get a new set of hardware to get the latest version of the OS. That is something that bothers Apple users as well (by design sometimes!) so hence the Linux comparison.

thomas_w_bowman · Post by **thomas_w_bowman** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:25 am

I was getting more and more websites that were misbehaving regarding my vintage IE6 - So I finally downloaded FireFox. Smooth Easy, seamless - imported my favorites, etc.

M$ is really promoting FireFox (and slowly but surely - Linux as well).

Post by **fussnfeathers** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:24 pm

The funny thing is, since everybody reversed their programming policies, all the sites designed for FF and Linux fans work best on MS products......everybody is advertising their competitors now.

Post by **evasive** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:45 am

they already knew in august last year!
http://www.bugsec.com/index.php?q=node/47