Print - Update: Ten New Security Holes in Windows XP SP2?

Ten new security holes in Windows XP Service Pack 2 have been discovered, so get ready to insert new patches into your patch management schedule. Microsoft recently announced their Security Bulletin Advance Notification Program, which gives administrators a several days advance notice of upcoming patches, however these new security holes were announced by security product maker Finjan Software.

Finjan said their Malicious Code Research Center discovered the new vulnerabilities, at least some of which are very dangerous. A spokesperson for the company said "Finjan has provided Microsoft with full technical details concerning the vulnerabilities [... ]and has been assisting Microsoft to patch these holes. In order to prevent the creation of malicious viruses and worms, Finjan will not release any
technical details about these vulnerabilities until they are fully patched by Microsoft."

Shlomo Touboul, CEO and Founder of Finjan Software, said "Windows XP SP2 operating system is a continuation of the same Windows XP Operating System and Windows Kernel. All Windows versions have been developed with requirements for highest backward compatibility and open architecture, with maximum productivity and ease of use. In addition, Windows applications typically run with administrative permission with full and unlimited access to computer resources."

"This, together with the emerging technology of mobile code has created a situation in which active content travels freely over the web and gains full control of host computers. These fundamentals create a green field for hackers shown by constantly increasing attacks and damage over the last few years. A security patch of Windows operating system without changing the rules of the game will not be enough to fight the recent complex malicious code attacks such as Scob, Mydoom, and others. End users and Enterprises must add an independent security layer that is not dependent on the above fundamentals. Application level behavior blocking is the leading technology designed to immunize systems from both known and unknown vulnerabilities and exploits; viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing and other threats," Touboul continued.

The vulnerabilities discovered at Finjan could allow attackers to "silently and remotely" take control over an affected system when a user visits a malicious Web page. As you well know, enticing someone to visit a Web page is relatively easy to do.

The company outlined several scenarios to better explain the risks:

Hackers can remotely access users' local files Windows(R) XP SP2 is designed to deny access to a local file in the course of Internet browsing. Therefore, any attempt by a remote web page to access a local file in any way other than downloading a file, is denied. Finjan has shown that this feature can be remotely compromised by hackers.
Hackers can switch between Internet Explorer Security Zones to obtain rights of local zone Internet Explorer uses the notion of security zones to differentiate between mobile codes by their origin. In this way, for example, the permissions of files running from the local hard drive are much higher than the permissions of code downloaded from the Internet. Finjan has shown that it is possible to elevate the privilege level of mobile code downloaded from the Internet. By gaining additional privileges, the remote code could read, write and execute files on the user's hard drive.
Hackers can bypass SP2's notification mechanism on the download and execution of EXE files and therefore download files without any warning or notification One of the mechanisms that have been implemented in SP2 is the verification of the download and the execution of content arriving from the Internet. This mechanism is implemented by three new features - an information bar inside Internet Explorer which filters and blocks unauthorized operations performed by web pages, a file download dialog which requires the user's confirmation for file save and execution operations, and
an execution verification dialog. These features are important to prevent unauthorized silent "drive-by" installations of malicious software.

Upon learning of this news story a spokesperson for Microsoft said the company "is aware of the claims by Finjan Software and at this time cannot confirm Finjan's claims of "ten new vulnerabilities" in Windows XP SP2. Moreover, Microsoft is currently unaware of active attacks against customers
attempting to utilize the alleged vulnerabilities as reported by Finjan. We have been contacted by Finjan regarding various potential issues as part of the usual responsible disclosure protocol and are actively investigating those issues through our security response process to determine the validity and accuracy of the reported issues."

"Our early analysis indicates that Finjan's claims are potentially misleading and possibly erroneous regarding the breadth and severity of the alleged vulnerabilities in Windows XP SP2. Once Microsoft concludes investigating Finjan's claims and if Microsoft finds any valid vulnerability in Windows XP SP2, Microsoft will take immediate and appropriate action to help protect customers. "

Other vendors also offer advance notice of unpatched security holes in Windows platforms and related services. For example, eEye Digital Security maintains a Web page of upcoming advisories on their Research site. As of November 10 the page lists one upcoming advisory that relates to remote code execution, which eEye given its highest severity rating. The company notifies the vendor (in this case Microsoft) of vulnerabilities and when the vendor releases a patch then eEye releases its own advisory to the public. Often times knowledge of still other unpatched vulnerabilities can be gathered from intrusion detection systems, which store signatures to recognize attacks.

The practice of notifying the public about the mere existance of security vulnerabilities (not to mention any significant details) is a sore spot in many people's minds. Researchers gain publicity for themselves and their products, and at the same time some claim they offer advance notice in order to keep a tiny bit of pressure on vendors to work quickly to produce patches. Striking a balance in that sort of act is difficult at best since it's not likely that everyone can be pleased all of the time and invariably it's the end users of products who suffer most in the event that too much information is released too soon.

XP SUCKS!!!!!!! 98 (With 2000 as a runner up) IS and was the best OS's ever put out!!!!!!

clearly you are the type of person that loves to propagate malware by allowing your out of date box to become a transmitter. Thanks, but i chose to be secure with XP, and at $40/hour I'll bet someone out there is waiting for your call...

Although I'm not a basher of companies, I do agree with the first post that MS is getting a little too messy.

When everyone slagged MS off about the stability of Windows, they fixed it. Now, everyone is slagging Windows off because of security, and they are making good progress on that. You have to remember that *nix was designed from the ground up for multiuser-ness, Windows was not (Macs are based on Unix now). Give them a chance, anyway, if it really was as bad as people made out, no one would use it, and clearly 97% of people douse it.

I don't believe xp is very stable. it's better then 98 , me and 2k but i don't think i could trust it to be reliable. I reboot atleast 1x a day still. as for 97% of the people using it. well they don't necessarily have a choice now do they. try getting a machine with linux or without a windows license from dell, hp, compaq, gateway, blah blah, blah. it's almost impossible. perhaps it because of the.. brace yourself... here it comes MONOPOLY!! I remember s report where MS forced IBM to shutdown OS/2 development or MS would start charging IBM more money per copy of windows 9x. I love how over in Asia not sure of the specific country, developers are forced to sign a document stating that they cannot sue MS if MS uses thier IP in MS Products. Imagine that! Buying a car from FORD and having FORD lease or sell your car anytime and you not being able to stop it. scary scary stuff

If your computer is working fine. Why do you wanna screw with it and install a bunch of crap like SP2?

Hi all I have used XP and i think its great,better than ME any day, put it this , without microsoft where would we be as i think Mr gates and the rest of the people at m/soft have done a great job over the years to bring O/S systems to the market, all the best i say to them, they lead,others follow, and if you dont like XP . there are always the other O/S systems to use, as for me XP still the best

Windows 2000 w/ latest SP is MUCH more stable than XP w/ latest SP. Haven't rebooted my Win2k Pro workstation in over 10 months. Chew on that.

[root@shaggy root]# uptime 22:22:48 up 694 days, 3:51, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

M$ management relies on denial and format the evidence away to keep their sales high. For how many weeks did m$ deny the reason their servers were down was hacker related? Are they that stupid or just big corporate liers? XP crashes harder than win98!!! And it is affected by the exact same problems other win OS's were affected by! These same problems could have been resolved years ago if m$ quit denying all and formatting the evidence away changing instead to full inspection rather than full denial.

Hell they haven't even patched the IFRAME vuln in IE yet! It's real simple, IE is such a kludge these holes were inevitable and safe to bet more will follow. Dumb enough to browse the web with IE, you sort of deserve what you get. ONE WORD - FIREFOX! PS - Yeah, if Firefox had the market share that IE had, it'd be under heavy attack by the badguys, but at least the firefox folks clearly care more about security and turn around patches a heck of a lot faster than Redmond.

and redmond isn't going to update IE for it's other operating systems. Could understand not providing the XP SP2 IE improvements for 98 and NT4, but Win2000 is still under mainstream support but they don't seem to care. railroading folks into using XP sure looks monopolistic to me.

>> [root@shaggy root]# uptime 22:22:48 up 694 days, 3:51, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 << Running as Root eh? Anyone can type up/edit uptime numbers, all ZERO average loads is suspicious at best. NICE TRY Get rid of your LINUX toy and get a real UNIX OS like Solaris or FreeBSD.

I agree that W2K is much better than XP, tried both on my laptop and W2K runs much better, if nothing else it sure feels more responsive. XP is just BLOATWARE.

XP & LINUX SUCK Linux lovers, chew on this: http://www.winnetmag.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/44398/Windows_44398.html

> XP & LINUX SUCK > Linux lovers, chew on this: > http://www.winnetmag.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/44398/Windows_44398.html "permenantly connected" ther are more Linux servers permenantly connected than windows ones. also the 235000 attacks isn't represented as a %age, where I think you'll find the %age of succesful attacks is Lower per linux installation. DDOS and DOS will affect ANY os, The big difference is, many compromises and exploites on linux boxes are down to poor user/admin configuration NOT due to explotable code within the system unlike some other OSs I could mention. You really expect a "Windows" magazine to be unbiased???

No OS is 100% secure, but hackers go for mass market everytime - so you could say that MS asks for it by trying to get thier stuff on every damn machine in existance. Couple that with people that still set admin as thier admin password and you have a system ripe for abuse. All we can hope is that MS stops using paying customers as beta testers at a time, and finaly releases an OS that is built to do the job and not look nice and have puppy dogs helping with my searches.

with good firewalling, good setup, and some intelligance, that some people seem to be lacking, security holes can be minimized. Linux does better, but it has anyone who feels like working on it, working on it. Much better workforce, huh? The entire XP kernal needs to be scrapped, and rewritten for security, and stability. Ease of use is a lot easier to add in patches, than fixing security holes. And people who will say that linux is worse than windows one (hyphenated) word Ping-of-death. Works every time on windows, never has yet for me on linux

for a more unbiased loot at windows and linux security.... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/linux_v_windows_security/

XP...; 2 letter abbreviation for: SWISS CHEESE! Bunch of "FARM-ERS" produce it. "MILK" their "GOLDEN COW" No wonder so many "RATS" are attracted to it.

This "WINDOW's" "WIDE OPEN. Just another of BIll's many "WINDOWs" of opportunity" Like the Emperor in his "new clothes" we quickly find our "XP-eareance" is one of being NAKED", "VULNERABLE" and "TOTALLY EXPOSED". . Got us again did you? This is your fun eh Bill? Boy... Aren't you such the one jokster.

For all of them who had experienced crashes or reboots, may I ask you a simple question: do you really use PCs to run Windows XP or something else in shape of box that you call it "computer"? I have been using WIN XP for 2 years and never got a glitch. Windows XP SP2 is outstanding. Well done and my congratulations to the Windows SP2 team.

I used xp for a few years and have had no security problems with it. I have no ad-ware, viruses etc am I just lucky?

"as for 97% of the people using it. well they don't necessarily have a choice now do they. try getting a machine with linux or without a windows license from dell, hp, compaq, gateway, blah blah, blah" .... How hard is it to get linux? Download a distro and install it and STFU!!!

SP2 Sucks Ass...I ran it, and it because non-responsive(sure i reformat once a month), XP(buuilt with the right firewalls) can outrun linux...

I just wish Microsoft would fix the drive mapping bug. Map a network drive to the first available drive letter, then plug in a USB drive, and watch the fun as Windows assigns them both the same letter. They got this right in 2000, why'd they break it in XP? I'm tired of having to explain to my users how to use Disk Manager to reassign drive letters...

The trick is how you use the operating system. You can decently secure a windows box and you can easily have a wide open OSX box. If you don't configure your machine and use it properly, you will get exactly what you deserve regardless of the OS.

XPWSP2 is the way to go. It will run the most applications with the easiest and best looking user interface. Also, if you know how to deploy it correctly using it built in security firwall (yes only incomming traffic), and a basic multi-user virus scanner you should have very little outside issues. They have patched this installation very appropriatly and it now works as good as sp1 did as far as compatibility goes. In the area of security it has greatly improved in almost all areas. In some cases i've seen where it will return IE from a browser hijack without any extra efforts. Also, letting you view the installed activex controls is very handy. You can almost put down your version of hijackthis after the install (almost lol).

No l33t hax0rs in here. OpenBSD, secure by default, chrooted by default. Mac OSX, bloated, but still more secure then Windows XP. (However, rendezvous makes network noise)

It amazes me all the idiots with "I reboot XP daily." 14,000 desktops and the only reboots we track are usually the 2nd Wednesday night of the month after the latest Windows Updates are published on our SUS server.

XPsp2 is the best thing a NOOB can do for himself - he IS a noob for even using XP so making it safe enough (possible though) is like asking a blind duck to finger paint... sloppy at best - hybrid species (1% or less) of non-noob XP users that DO make their XP safe enough are probably up for an "idiot savant" award... here's a way to make XP 100%safe: 1) shutdown and never boot again - crude yet effective 2) Pull out modem/network cable out - requires some knowledge of which those cables are 3) Pull out your modem/LAN card out if you can tell them apart and you haven't got integrated components MOBO (noob indicator on!) btw i'm up for a double award since i use win2k and XP both never caught more than a "tracking cookie" Dumb luck i guess

Windows has a great many security vulnerabilities that will not go away as long as they rely on their "single user" and "backward compatible" desktop models. Windows will never be a very good multiuser OS until Microsoft begins to shed its "not invented here" attitude and begins implementing some of the features from Unix that can solve their security and stability problems. There's a reason that 20+ years of computer science are put into *NIX, because there's no "not invented here" attitude to contend with. Linux is great for this and has a great many user friendly distributions, few viruses, and vulnerabilities are often discovered and patched when they are at the theoretical level. The same goes for BSD. Keeping the source code from the eyes of those who might help you fix your own security holes has severely hurt Microsoft. I'm not sure how they will compete fairly in the long run.

Best OS I ver used: CP/M Best Graphical OS I ever used: OS/2 I also charge $75/hour for home pc malware cleanup and security updates, so you know I love Windows.

These new vulnerabilities are BS and blown way out of proportion. It's funny that when something or someone is successful everyone hates them/it. Just take the US for instance, greatest country in the world and the rest of the countries hate us. Whatever OS you are running you will have vulnerabilities, if Linux had as large an install base as MS more problems would be uncovered. More end users run MS systems making it easier for virus and malware writers to take advantage of their lack of skills and common computing sense. Like it or not MS is here to stay if you don't like it then run Linux or another OS and shut the hell up! Were sick of you whining!

Right on about the analogy between the US and MS ;) MS is the US of the computer industry.

For the general office computer running outlook and MS office, Windows 98 is stable enough, and more secure than XP. Expecially when you are using NetBuei to access local shares - it's bullet proof. XP is clearly a cludge and has extreme security issues. Thanks to XP-home running on $600 Dell and Gateway computer at home, that is the single biggest reason for the massive increase in spam over the past 2 years. XP was never designed for the causal home user. IT was designed to be put behind massive firewalls in large corporations where the IT gods crave desktop login security and remote administration and deployment. For the small office (or the neophite home user) Win 98 is more than good enough (and simpler to configure and secure). Other than the benefit of NTFS file system, I dare anyone out there to point to a performance or operational advantage of XP over 98.

97% of people use Windows because it came with the computer, it works for them, and as such don't care. And why should they? If they can do everything they want (order photos, reprints and t-shirts directly from a folder containing pictures!)and it works out of the box, why should they care? FWIW, I've had a XP SP2 box directly on the internet on a 1Mb ADSL connection using only the Windows firewall, since SP2 was made available for download end of august. There are 5 other machines going through it, and although it started an an experiement to see what SP2 security was like, its been rock solid. No breeches, no crashes. So i'm going to leave it. After this enlightening experince, tell me why i should change to Linux?

I think it should pointed out that the NT5.2 Kernel (Server 2003) is very stable. Its just Explorer that is buggy and that has security hole, mainly becasue of IE. That said, I think what one of the earlier post said about windows not being writen from the group up with correct multiuser cabability also plays a role. Also, Windows complies the drivers in the kernal at run time, so if you have a buggy driver, this will make Windows unstable - graphics drivers are a common culprit. Most NT kernel crashes are to do with buggy drivers, but this is same with Linux as well, but are less common because linux is normally used in a server enviroment where graphics is not a priority. Not sure where other *nix variants stand on this issue though.

should i mention that apple releases its third landmark update? oh, and they run efficient and more reliable. but windows must be better, since you need a new computer every three years to fulfill window's demands on memory and processor speeds. sheesh. it must frost the "programmers" at microsnot that they are stagnating while others (linux, macosx, etc) excel. but m$ will probably wow us with a wonderful, mind-blowing release of LongHorn, when they finally invented all the technologies they have promised (to steal and turn them into proprietary crappola). what is it? 2006 until a *stripped* version of the next winblows is scheduled for release? 10 years, and those dos-bound (yes, even xp) bean-counters can only TRY to fix the wholes and inconsistencies which slumber in every piece of that bloat-ware? give me a break. the only thing left in this security-holes lined drama called microsoft product-line is to rewrite them from the ground up, and to compromise on trite but true techniques and mechanisms to give the user a good experience (value for the price), and the competition a run for their money. but i should not expect such an incredible feat from a company that is only governed by peter-principled managers (look at a recent interview about firefox!). i stick with winblows 98se for those little tasks (daily diminishing) that i have not found a substitute on the mac for. i like 98se, but i like my mac better. it gives me that warm and nasty, fuzzy feeling when i work with it... something that a windows user can not understand. they seem to only bitch about vulnerabilities or how defend with nasty remarks how much better their system must be (but who can be wrong? crap must taste great, a million flies can't be wrong after all!) for those of you preparing a nasty reply: dear frustrated windows user, i can understand, been there, done that, i have my "i was a windows user" stupid-hat in the attic. just return, pretend you took the (what was it) blue pill, and continue your life on your oh so defendable windows machine. it will not matter to you that it is owned by some teenage-script-kiddie in thailand or anywho else in the world. yours, uninterested but somewhat amused and saddened the always right, anonymous poster.

Linux sucks, anyone using it is a newb that doesn't know how to lock down Windows

[alan@linux01]$ uptime 09:01:50 up 114 days, 12:01, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Wow. It's always amazing that people with small 4-letter vocabularies seem to think constant repetition of unfounded opinions somehow becomes convincing. NO operating system, right out of the box, is both secure AND able to run a wide range of hardware & software. Try OpenBSD -- secure & tough to set up; Linux -- not as secure, easier to set up, plenty of holes; WinXP -- easy to set up, pretty open. However -- anyone who says you can't secure windows (post W2K) within a layered infrastructure doesn't know where to find the registry. Stop whining - ditch 98 (except as a thin client!), and learn to use current software. Sheesh.

How can I get just the file "WINFILE.EXE" from the DL "sp6i386.exe" without downloading the latter? Thanx

i think that i can already rest my case. windows users *are* defensive of their OS, but without being able to produce a scintilla of evidence to support their claim. trashing other products is all that is needed to convince you? suit yourselves, well done.
i would not for the life of me try to convince a windows user to abandon their so beloved platform. aqain, been there, done that. it is useless to count all security holes that befall M$ products. any approach to unveil the plethora of dangers of winblows, scientifically or with other logic reason, is met with liberal ignorance of the facts, vulgarities (you angry wanne-remain teenagerZ know who you are), and petty emotional outcries. yes, i do have my 98se box turned into a thin client, as it is not a viable candidate to run anything mission critical. zonealarm, eudora and firefox keep it nice and healthy (as healthy as a terminal patient can be). i have programmed for windows for years, when they did not lie about dos being their foundation (and under the hood it still is). it saddens me to abandon winblows, but the measures to keep it even remotely secure are an undertaking i don't want to deal with anymore. i don't want to spend my time to hunt down those apps and tweaks. i want to use my machine to get things done, and not to spend my time to lock it down (which is a sisyphus task).
microsoft is not dead, yet. but there has been no innovation. the trend of patching the patches becomes so old after a while that loosing your confidence in their products becomes a logic inevitability. what change has there been in 10 years? gui enhancements and more bloated code on an already flawed base. but instead of using their time wisely to rewrite their code base and to do-it-right from the ground up, they squandered their efforts in marketing hype and FUD. it is a shame, really. this is why we are stuck with service packs and other updates that promise salvation but cause only more problems than they solve.
but all hype can not hide the fact that M$ is (sadly) withering away. the task, which i still hope happens, is to reinvent themselves as apple did with OS X. but that means to ditch their present base and to begin with a clean slate, or to embrace unix as a secure base and make a windows gui/shell ontop of unix (akin mac os x). yeah, that's not going to happen anytime soon. microsoft wants it their way, a proprietary system. away with trite but true, proven techniques.
oh, and don't count on longhorn. it will work, but without all promised innovations. empty promises are a specialty for M$, given their track record. and i suppose there will be more 4-letter-word responses from the mentally challenged posters. unless someone really comes up with a good argument, i stand confirmed on my beliefs.
yours, uninterested but somewhat amused and a bit saddened, the always right, anonymous poster.

I DON'T WANT TO BADMOUTH ANY OF THE O/S'S OUT THERE, I USE LINUX,98,2000 AND XP AT WORK AND AT HOME AND THEY ARE ALL GOOD, DEPENDING WHAT YOU NEED!!!!! XP IS GREAT FOR GAMING!!! 2000 AND 98 FOR OFFICE USE AND LINUX FOR SERVERS. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM????

i agree with this guy, you need to know what the f*(*(##$ you want to do with your pc.once again end user problem!!!

I use XP and have not experienced any trouble whatsoever. Maybe the people who have trouble using XP can enlighten us by describing WHAT the problem is they are having... It doesn't work is to easy, explain what it is that doesn't work and also how you configured it. Btw, UX systems are good as well, but it should be, because they are around for more then 40 years now, so they should have had the time to make it good... Windows servers are available for 10 years now and see how far they have come.

I won't defend MS, shoot I won't condem them either. End-users have something of a stake in securing their systems. Good computing practices will save the bulk from attacks and viruses - Granted, on that other-hand - when you are MS and you release a product that is going to more novice and non-puter savvy users you really should double-scrutinize your work. Of course, maybe MS isn't so much a monopoly... if it where it'd be busy putting the AntiVirus and Firewall software companies out of business?!?!

Running m$ xp with sp2. Better stability than win98 but not perfect. As with every other version of windows, they plug the old holes then add a whole loada new ones as their features grow. Wish they built on a more solid foundation like unix

While there is some truth in using different OS for different enviroments the real reason most people (97%) use Windows OSs are cost per user and ease of use. Mac X while claming it is only 1 version is actually 3 to 4 subversions and does have its problems just like windows. For all you Lenux wanabes the real stibility and support doesn't come till you pay more then what it would cost of Windows so Why should you? You think it is more secure NOT if you are connected to any other machine you can be hacked given enough time. So don't give me this load of hooy about the grandure of Lenux. As for Unix I was working in Unix when most of you weren't even born. I helped to install 1 of the first Unix based Mini computers in the World and that was only 25 years ago. We are just learning about this kind of communication and it has it good points and bad but the real reason people use what they use is ease and cost. SO STOP COMPLAINING AND GET ALONG HACKERS WANT TO SCREW WITH ALL OSs IF THEY CAN.

Granted, MS sucks in thier handling of these securtiy holes. They may be waiting until they fix these current holes to release details but they make way too much info available for those script kiddies to work with. They should go light on the detail so the hackers don't get an advantage of those of us who have to patch. MS also lives in a world of denial and making light of what they have found, at least in the past they have. Most of you bitching about MS are using their software, OS, Office, Money, etc, etc.... So just stop buying thier products !! Open the doors for competition.

> Best OS I ver used: CP/M How can you even compare a 64K bank-switched platform to the 2GB of flat address space we have now? Clearly your measure of "best" has nothing to do with capabilities, efficiency or throughput. All that's left is the way its CLI worked -- how CP/M's CLI might seem "better" than cmd.exe, I can't even imagine, but even if you managed to make a compelling argument, it would still be moot: the capacities of current O/S are in a different league -- really, they're not even playing the same sport. You are delusional, living in the past, it's pathetic. > Best Graphical OS I ever used: OS/2 Well, since the difference between perfect software and imperfect software is users, I guess OS/2 is perfect, you might have a point. Of course even in its heyday the shortage of apps to support it was painfully evident... what a surprise that claiming to be a "better Windows than Windows" failed to solve this problem... go figure?

Where did this myth come from that Windows NT, 2000, XP, and probably Windows Server 2003 are based on single user code? I saw this in the Register the other day and sudden it is "fact". Fact is Windows has been multiuser since Win NT 3.1

NTFS may offer features that would support multiuser applications, but application support for multiuser capability in Windows seems to be limited to storing data files in a subdivided "Documents and Settings" folder trees. Having the data structures in place is a good thing, but "hidden files" is not the basis of a multiuser operating system. Having used multiuser computers and operating systems of thirty years ago, I feel confident in saying that Windows, saddled with its hundreds of non-compliant off-the-shelf applications is not up to the par of Oasis, MP/M and AMOS. Those bygone computers ran at one or two megahertz with up to 64K of memory and could keep several users from trashing each other even when running the same application. Terminal Server and Metaframe are effective tools at keeping users apart, but they are a brute force approach to cover the fact that support just isn't there in mainstream applications.

cant even unistall sp2, my ad/remove programs only lists programs beginning with "A". print takes 8 minutes from IE, printing to a printer on a Win 98SE peer to peer home network. Have NAV zonealarm and Ad aware SE. Broadband downloads ok. PC pitstop rates my PC as being ok

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Re Post 1.... if you have nothing intelligent to say than don't say anything at all....

please u have to c LINUX and then u can say what u nwant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its actually a funny thing with microsoft.. They want to push and push there new OS'es on us but listin to this.. There new xbox 2 due out probably sometime either next year or 2006 is makeing developers scratch there heads.. Why you may ask? Because microsoft has sent the developing software not on a pc with windows... but a MAc..... You heard me right... a mac... hmm maybe even bill him self isnt trusting in his own OS'es?

all the os'es have holes in them and theres not a lot u can do unless ur bill gates or someone like that, why dont u make ur own os then u have no-one to blame but ur self for the doggieness, go ms-dos!! the most stable thing there is, cause theres not much can go rong it, if any.

WindowsXP. Nothing like Windows 3.1 or DOS. Thats a good idea, hows about we take all these people who DONT want to learn how to operate a computer and ask them to use DOS. We can tell them its stable, and they're performance and security wont be degraded becacause of other features they're not even going to use. They just have to learn how to install DOS and configure it. They just need to know that a default install can be just as bad in security, however after they read the book, and finish the install, they can continue browsing movie listings and checking their email. Woops, I mean't linux not dos. Essentially WindowsXP makes things easier for people. Complain about it, but its better security than Win98. Its got NTFS, automated backups, wizards for networking and drivers (yes they can sometimes be nightmares) Someone said they still have to reboot their XP PC once a day, what? If you cannot learn how to optimize a Windows XP machine, and slim it down to make it totally stable, where do you get the nerve to rag on certain versions. What it comes down to, is rather 1. You being a mother or father of 3, take time to learn how to install linux. 2. Invest in a Mac which isn't used by most schools or business's, and have your kids fall behind in pc class. 3. Realize that different people have different needs for a computer. There is the online gamer, who stays up till 4am in the morning playing video games and drinking 4liters of mtdew before he goes to jr high, highschool, his 40/5. There is the grandpa without his own teeth who checks their email from Johnny the 3rd. Yes this site is WinNetMag, however does everyone here want to install configure and support Linux on all their friends/families/co-worker's computers for them for free? If not, shush it. Different people have different needs. Thats why FORD makes a minivan.

Windows ist damned also like Linux! They are both buggy! and fat32 doesn't fragment so fast like ntfs

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Suse linux desktop and server nice No problems. I would love to see windows server run a phone exchange. Yep all I have it Cat 5. No phone lines. Just now wish I could get cheep accounting software that was user friendly and run on linux.

Yup, most of you are dumbassess. I'm a sysadmin and I've never had a problem with XP because I CONTROL IT AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT/SECURE IT. I virtually never have reboot (unless I install/modify), never once caught a virus or did anthing else stupid. If you are stupid, you'll mess up whatever os you have. Yes I also use Unix and Linux so I got skills...

one word...... AMIGA rules always has and always will! M$ System Restore, what a joke, really what good is it for besides taking up your hard drive space?!

partially misleading; getting any and all updates is important I've seen people use this as why they don't get SP2.

there are linux os's that are pain in the ***, instant day by day kernel updates sometimes makin the network down (admin has linux traffic control). I use only winxpsp2 coz its far more stable and less wunerable (proper spyware removal and antivirus monitor with built-in xp firewall) than any other windows. U all seem to compare os's like to compare planes: winxp is like jumbo jet and linux is like f16, u wonder why win xp cant be secure enough, coz its for people not maniacs >> i can always put some sidewinders on my jumbo to kill some f16 ;), if u wanna have one person in control and secure system go for uneasy way to steer a linux/freebsd/and 100000000 other clones of.

Lets get one thing straight, XP is supposed to be a shell program , not the only program itself thus it should give full ram to the programs launching, not to the background program itself ..XP does not even do that on start up process FreeRam XP pro ( freeware program) is only reason i am able to use Windows without freezing.. and still have to run it multiple times a day ..please note i dont do photoshop, music or games on here .. XP will expand to your memory thus making further memory upgrades useless. It will feel just as slow as it was before. Windows 98 runs the same programs as XP with significantly less ram and just as effective.. Why is this? XP was a rushed solution and degrades the overall effectiveness of the programs you install into your computer. Another comment i read was winXP stops more problems.. THis is also false as it is recommended that you run a seperate firewall outside of the one provided by windows. 2 antivirus programs and spyware.. Those are what are doing the work , not XP itself Stick with 98, it run most of the same programs without hogging all the resources which is what an "launching platform" program should be doing anyways.. i was one of the luvky ones to get a working copy of ME.. had all the bonuses of XP without bloating the system ..too bad they didnt perfect it Switch to apple or linspire