Why XP Continues to Soldier On

Martin Owen, a KDE developer has posted a very enlightenting article on why Windows XP just won't go away. While surfing Dell's website he ran across this little gem:

Read the rest on DoctorMO's Blog.

Windows Vs. Linux Boot Times Illustrated

OK, I've never associated the word "fast" with waiting for a modern PC to boot, but this video has given me a new appreciation for how quickly Ubuntu Linux gets itself running. It's interesting to see just how long it takes Windows to get from "logged in" to useful.  I guess there's one more reason I'm glad I made the jump to Kubuntu last year:

I suspect an identically equipped Mac would have performed very, very well in this race, too.

windows, ubuntu, linux, boottime, video

Wait, What? Vista's Failure was Due to Security?

Everyone has a theory on why Vista was underwhelming. The most curious theory is that of Steve Balmer who said to the Telegraph:

"We got some uneven reception when [Vista] first launched in large part because we made some design decisions to improve security at the expense of compatibility. I don't think from a word-of-mouth perspective we ever recovered from that."

Hmm.  Something tells me that Steve is right about security being the problem, but it wasn't because of compatibility issues.  Security was improved at the expense of usability.  Remember this little Apple commercial that lampooned Window's security?

Vista's application security features were so annoying that it was laughable - and in the end poor security. Security expert Bruce Schneider has a  take on this as well:

"There was also the problem of Vista's endless security warnings. The problem is that they were almost always false alarms, and there were no adverse effects of ignoring them. So users did, which means they ended up being nothing but an annoyance."

So what's the takeaway?  Security doesn't work if users become conditioned to ignore your security features.

vista, windows, balmer, mac commercial

Antivirus Is Not Enough

If you run Windows, Antivirus software is an essential part of day to day life. Recently, David Hall told BLORGE's John Popsil something that seemed directed at Microsoft's new and free antivirus product:

“If you are only relying on free antivirus to offer you protection in this modern age, you are not getting the protection you need to be able to stay clean and have a reasonable chance of avoiding identity theft,” he said. - Symantec: it’s dangerous to rely on free antivirus - TECH.BLORGE.com

There are some very good free antivirus software packages on the market - free antivirus package AVG recently shared honors with Norton on ConsumerSearch.  For Windows users, the threats are bigger than just virus, and Hall made a very imporant point, "It means that you’ve been infected: threat has actually gotten to your machine. So, it [antivirus] is the last layer of defense that you ever want to have activated."

Hall's point is noteworthy because it recognizes that Windows threats have evolved to the point that infection and exploit may occur before any antivirus package can react.  Malware like Personal Antivirus (link to removal instructions and an entertaining description of how it works) are typically installed when you visit a compromised website that literally injects the software on to your PC through a web browser vulnerability.  Hall's company, Symantec sells the very popular Norton Antivirus and Norton Security suite, which includes components to protect users from spyware, email phishing and other non-virus attacks.

The problem is that security experts and the people that write security software may be unaware of a threat for months before anything is done about it.  This leaves users with a false sense of security.

This raisies a few important questions:

• Have security threats evolved to the point that antivirus software provides inadequate protection?
• Are kitchen sink security suites necessary?
• Is Microsoft's new Defender product the answer?

security, antivirus, windows, norton

XP Just Will Not Die.

Image via Wikipedia

Say what you will about Microsoft Windows - there is one version that just refuses to go away: Windows XP.  Last year MS tried to kill support for it and made it unavailable for new PCs.

Then netbooks came out.  $250-300 lightweight laptops that ran Linux.  Vista would not fit.  So what does Microsoft do?  Allow manufacturers to install XP.

Corporate customers never have been enthralled with Vista. It's not an issue of how good it is, it just costs a lot to support a new operating system as you have to test every last application before your roll out 500 new Pcs. So, MS has let companies downgrade. 

With Windows 7 on the horizon, MS still cant kill XP, in fact, under pressure from corporate customers, MS will allow downgrades into 2011. 

So what's the moral of the story?  Microsoft is still in search of a compelling reason for customers to kick XP to the curb. What's it going to take? In short revolutionary new capabilities you can't do with XP. Evolution just isn't good enough.

Four Killer Open Source Applications You Don't Know About

Ok, so you've probably heard a little about Open Source. Chances are most of the websites you see are served using the Apache Webserver. You've also probably used the Firefox browser, used OpenOffice and maybe even have played around with Linux. Here are four incredible open source applications you can download and use for free. There's no strings, and if you want to get source code to the applications, you can.

Marble
Marble is a shockingly good "desktop globe" that includes lots of maps that works on Linux, Windows, Mac and eve Windows CE. Need a map you don't have? Click Open Map and you'll find some Want a quick map to see how to get to the local Tweetup? Use the OpenStreetMap Map. Tweetup on Venus? No problem, switch to Marble's Venus map. Want to plan a bike tour? Use the Bicycling Map. Want to see how hot it is on average in Buenos Aires? Use the average Temperature map. Marble is like having a complete collection of globes, a street map and even an old historical globe. Marble has been great for helping my daughters with geography and science.



Price: Free. As in free beer.
Linux: install the marble package for your distribution. Debian & Ubuntu - sudo apt-get install marble
Windows & Mac: Download Marble Here

Songbird
Want an easy to use, totally web enabled and customizable music player? Ok, look no further than Songbird. Unlike iTunes, Windows Media Player and Linux uberplayer Amarok, Songbird is built on top of the Mozilla Firefox web browser - so it makes using sites like Last.fm, Shoutcast and Amazon.com a snap. Songbird is shaping up to be one of the best music players around... and it works on everything.

Price: Free. As in free beer.
Linux, Windows & Mac: Get Songbird Here

Scribus
Want to work up a newsletter or print brochure? Don't want to shell our $1,000 for software? Look no further than Scirbus, an open source Desktop Publisher. Scribus isn't a toy - it's actually a professional grade page layout program that lets you design print shop ready publications - newsletters, brochures, magazines, whatever. This is one seriously powerful program, and it's free.



Price: Free. As in free beer.
Linux, Windows & Mac: Get Scribus Here

Kompozer
Want a nice web page editor that lets you edit exactly as your page will look in a browser? Well, a few years ago there was a program called Nvu that did that - but the company that funded development gave up on it. Then one day a programmer named Kompozer is a very easy to use web page editor. It's free, and for straight HTML, it's almost unbeatable.

Price: Free. As in free beer.
Linux, Windows & Mac: Get Kompozer Here