shall continue to argue that Microsoft software (and Windows primarily) is slow and too cumbersome to work with. It discourages high productivity levels. Might this explain why that company from Redmond has produced so little in the past 5 years? Let us discuss.

I am shocked to see a software behemoth with so many employees still struggling to ship products on time. I can recall that rusty O/S called Windows XP, which was released when I was a teenager. It’s amazing that Microsoft has achieved so little in the past half a decade. All it has been able to get is just another ‘Service Pack’, to be ready some time next year. This one has a different name and a new theme, Aero Glass (see above). It also bears a hefty price tag.

Linux users may like to handle complexity, but meanwhile it seems as though their codebase is far more maintainable than that of Microsoft. In case you have not followed some key events, 60% of the codebase of Windows must be rewritten as it’s an utter pain to extend.

Let us take a step further and discuss the issues of security, diversity, and competition. Windows was not built with security or multiple users (network thereof) in mind, so it is merely ‘patched’ to bridge that crucial gap. A one-man election might work with Windows-based Diebold machine. Windows is, after all, a single-user O/S with some ‘hacks’ that make it possible to be used by multiple users in a network that involves more than a single user (e.g. Internet). And it’s worrisome. This has led to cyberstorms and makes the Internet a less pleasant place than ever before. Patches take long to issue because, in a codebase with ‘hacks’, there are just too many dependencies to consider. There is poor modularity. This monolithic approach leads to flakiness and unpredictable behaviours.

Is diversity the answer? Is a staged migration to more mature and reliable platforms the path to secure computing? I have little or no doubt about it. But this will not be easy. It is only natural to assert that Microsoft is doing illegal stuff to stifle its competition. Such a software industry vermin deliberately restricts ‘diversification’. There’s no parity in the industry that outmuscles any competitive threat before it matures to match the behemoth. It strives towards a state of mono/oligopoly and the law offers no barriers as it’s being tweaked by lobbyists.

Competition, you argue? I see none, but luckily people begin to see this and respond accordingly. It’s a false sense of competition when a startup needs and depends on vendor X in order to develop a product to compete with vendor X. That’s what Microsoft does through operating systems, distribution channels, licensing, and programming languages. A stronghold on the market may soon be broken, at least in Europe. The remainder of the world is secretly/quietly migrating to Linux, albeit the scale of this is not being blown out of proportion using advertisements. There is no marketing department in a Free software initiative.

The dentiny of Longhorn?

truly enjoy a good Linux screenshot. Here is a nice OS X-type menubar, as well as a showcase for Composite transparency in X server. The menus are a brand-new GTK modification.

Move over to another operating system (Windows Vista under a Linux hypervisor) and find that there still appear to be many problems with the latest beta. It’s a good thing that Microsoft does not name/label its operating systems by the year. With all these delays, this could become very embarrassing and confusing. And I also found the following article this morning.

“I have been testing Microsoft operating systems since Windows 95, and this is the buggiest OS I’ve seen this late in development,” says Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research. “Look at the older operating systems, and by Beta 2 there is a stable foundation on which the [independent software vendors] can build. Right now, Vista is like a ship on stormy seas.”

A flood of bad news (for Microsoft) has rolled its way onto the headlines. It all happened yesterday, as well as earlier on today. I believe some quotes will speak better than their detailed interpretation.

Worm duo tries to hijack Windows PCs

The pair of worms surfaced over the weekend, several security companies said in alerts. The malicious software tries to hijack the computer for use in a network of commandeered PCs that can be remotely controlled, popularly called a botnet.

It makes one wonder how games are affected. The XBox series shares the same DNA as Windows.

Microsoft warns game developers of security risk

Using malware or software designed to infiltrate a computer system, hackers steal account information for users of MMO games and then sell off virtual gold, weapons and other items for real money.

Windows mobile likewise.

Vulnerability Summary: Windows Mobile Security Software Fails the Test

Since developers are not in a hurry to keep their users information secure… we feel compelled to publish – with exclusivity granted to us by author till August 21, 2006 – an article, that reveals various problems with Windows Mobile software from various software vendors! This article is a “must read” for any serious user of Windows Mobile…

Lastly, a security expert implicitly explains why Windows needs to be rebuilt. Jim Allchin, the main architect of Windows, has already said that 60% of the source code needs to be rewritten! It is no wonder that there was a “development collapse” in September 2005, according to Steve Ballmer. Windows Vista is the product of just 6 months in development (plus testing).

Perspective: Why Internet security continues to fail

Failing to acknowledge or fix an infrastructure plagued with problems raises many doubts about any security product’s ability to function in such a foundation. Placing more complexity on top of existing (and flawed) complexity does not lead to increased protection, but rather, fosters a false sense of increased protection.

That is a lot of trouble to digest in just one day. The implications are SPAM and DDOS attacks, the vast majority of which is spewed from hijacked Windows machines (‘zombie armies’ or ‘botnets’). Sadly, I am among those who are affected by both detriments.

Made with the GNU
Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

ARELY should politicians get involved in the software industry. Ever. As a matter of fact, they generally fear that unknown as seldom will they be familiar with the latest technology. Everyone steers away from anything which can expose ignorance and lead to an embarrassment, at peer or public level.

Last Friday, however, marked a turning point — a remarkable exception. The US Government served as the spokesman of Microsoft Corp. Granted, the Department of Homeland Security encouraged people to receive some ‘binary blobs’ from our friends at Redmond. Now, I would not like to baselessly step forward and nag about nepotism and ill conduct over at Microsoft and the US Government. However, knowing the historical background of both Microsoft and — more latterly — the US Government (heavy eavesdropping comes to mind), I would barely hesitate.

Bill Gates is an immoral, irritable person. Steve Ballmer is not any better. He never steered away from or averted any controversy. Both have proven that they have a real spark for incompetence and unethical business practices. More broadly speaking, the Draconian Microsoft was never afraid of altercations or was rarely deterred to embrace questionable behaviour. Over the years they disrupted the equilibrium in industry, shrewdly exploiting loopholes in American capitalism, through apathy amongst the American government, as well as its blind eye (Gates’ grandfather was a State Senator). Fortunately, on the other side of the Atlantic, the European Commission has watched over Microsoft like a hawk. This is well overdue. The EU/EC is also fining that ‘evil empire’ for outmuscling its competition quite aggressively, as well as for hiding key information. It is doing the job that the American government was supposed to do, but chose to turn a blind eye to.

Alas, IANAL (I am not a lawyer). Discussions in some legal forums were never fruitful as they didn’t end up leaning in my favour. I hope people can judge for themselves and realise that Windows is inclined towards a spy-friendly ideaology and, for real privacy, Open Source must be welcomed with open arms. The other gripe I have with Microsoft is its ruining of the World Wide Web as it also heavily affects those who turned their back on Microsoft.

Related items: Vista Encryption and Back Doors

UPDATE: Just noticed a similar blog post somewhere else

• For malware developers
• For spammers
• For extortionate botmasters
• For spam filter developers
• For firewall developers
• For anti-virus developers

All of the above are nasties or software that defends against them. All of them exist and prosper owing to the fact that Windows was never built with security in mind. I can’t help feeling bitter as I am among the sufferers, despite the fact that I touch no Microsoft software. In a matter of just one week, a 30-megabyte mail account got clogged up by SPAM. The amount that comes in is so sheer that I cannot afford to even look at all the subject lines; rather, I go by patterns and highlighting-type filters. It is unbearable as I am skipping some genuine mail.

Windows botnets have brought the Internet to a dark age. Some people question themselevs as to whether conceding the use of E-mail altogether is the better way. And as for collaboration-based, Web 2.0-ish software, I have already been forced to disable much of its function (e.g. registrations, comments, and open Wikis). I also needed to block 2 IP address yesterday, due to continuous abuse involving heavy and continuous spidering of my main site. At least the abusers’ ISP‘s were alert and they quickly took action. These attacks came to their end yesterday. They were not the first though. It is a recurring pattern.

Several years ago I said that SPAM was a problem that did not affect me and I would rather just ignore it. But I am afraid that it is no longer possible. And if Microsoft does not protect its O/S (Vista was already proven to be hijackble) or loses a very significant market share, things will not improve any time soon. They will only get much, much worse.

S a programmer in training and background, I have always been told that I must keep up with the latest and the greatest — technology-wise that is — in oder to remain marketable. The way I perceive it, Windows technology that excludes the competition is a dying breed. I would not want to expand my knowledge in that area, which is why I continue to urge people to upgrade to Linux. At the same time, I rarely bother to keep up with advancements in the Windows world and yet I keep an eye on features and demonstrations that permit me to make a comparative analysis.

A mockup I prepared using the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

Today in the news:

• Microsoft CEO seeks to reassure analysts
• Ballmer: Windows releases must come more quickly
• Microsoft fails to ease Vista fears
• Beijing Co-Create Claims 50,000 Linux Desktops

And that, mind you, is just half a day in the news. It is representative of merely any day in the year 2006. The world changes more quickly than most people care to realise.

O, there I am at work again. By all means it’s an ordinary day, but the unusual heat makes me want to stay inside where it’s air conditioned. Just a minute ago I saw a follow Ph.D. student slamming his mouse and keyboard. I could see an empty Windows XP desktop, so I can only imagine that it froze on him (possibly after an important overnight experiment). That’s just something, isn’t it? No access to the results and a whole night gone in vain. I’d offer him Linux (it’s already installed on his secondary partition), but I don’t want to risk alienation or become his ‘support guy’.

My computer was running from April to July (SuSE Linux 8.1) without a single reboot, but we had three outages recently. These were due to the heat wave that evidently affects London datacentres, as well as California (notably the half-day MySpace downtime). I even heard about Utah too last week… downtime reported in news:alt.www.webmaster. I then found a news release and reproted it to Walt as a possible proof that the Web host was not lying. I guess we must all have to cope with the effect of the weather on our servers. Everyone suffers the same, so balance prevails.