04-01-2004, 11:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Longhorn Beta Doubtful This Year
"Microsoft's efforts to bolster security in Windows XP will likely delay the release of a widespread test version of its forthcoming operating system until next year, Microsoft's top executives told CNET News.com. Microsoft had said it planned to ship the test version of Longhorn, a major update to the company's Windows operating system, this summer. The company has reassigned a large number of developers working on Longhorn to build updates to the existing versions of Windows to bolster security, said Jim Allchin, vice president of Microsoft's platforms group."
Since most of us are Windows users, the coming of Longhorn is a pretty big deal. I'm not terribly surprised to hear that a beta won't be coming out this year, and in truth, I'm happy to see them focusing on hardening the security in Windows XP rather than saying "Screw it, let's just work on the NEXT big thing...". Windows XP is a solid OS, and I'd rather wait for Longhorn to be done right rather than getting a half-baked OS.
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04-02-2004, 01:06 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 784
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Microsoft focusing on security??? I thought you guys were done posting April Fool's items!!! 
Seriously, I'm glad they're doing this, I'd rather have a more secure Windows XP now, rather than a whole nifty new OS in a year or two.
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04-02-2004, 01:22 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 717
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oh, but nifty it is, even as far back as built 4029 it was not that bad. Hell, if you can buy it in the store it's not good enough for this PC. Alpha code is for real geeks  . I hope they finish it soon though so we can move on to the next best thing and that free hardware Bill was talking about.
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04-02-2004, 01:23 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 323
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Re: Longhorn Beta Doubtful This Year
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
Windows XP is a solid OS, and I'd rather wait for Longhorn to be done right rather than getting a half-baked OS.
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Solid compared to what? 3.1? Win98?
Spending too much time in the snow, Jason? :splat:
Mostly agree with you. They need to get Longhorn right and well tested before even a public beta release. I'm not planning to touch a Windows OS until at least a few months after the GM is released. By then who know what Apple will have brought into play with OS X (or beyond).
From a business standpoint, I wonder is MS will ultimately spin off its OS unit to protect the rest of Billy G.'s Corporate empire should the dleays continue.
Phro
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04-02-2004, 01:28 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Re: Longhorn Beta Doubtful This Year
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Originally Posted by Phronetix
Solid compared to what? 3.1? Win98? Spending too much time in the snow, Jason?
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Solid period. XP Rocks! Not going to make fun of Apple here either... :lol:
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04-02-2004, 01:38 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 95
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I agree Jason.
XP is so far and above even windows 2k.
It is good to see them taking the road to fixing existing products, rather than moving on so soon.
Compare xp to 98se. There is a huge gap in functionality that has been addressed. Security, sure its going to be an issue when 90% of all computer owners use MS products. If you have a newer system, say 1 ghz and up, and are still using 98, you are missing the boat.
You can bet if BeOS or Linux were truly mainstream it would be attacked.
Its a case of the top dog gets the most fleas....
my 2 cents
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04-02-2004, 03:52 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 238
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XP is pretty solid, I thought my hardware was failing until I cleaned out my PC and flipped my RAM sticks around and now it's been real stable since then (although, I'm still looking at the Athlon 64's, and since MS is offering XP Pro 64-bit to try out for free, I'm anxious to test it out).
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04-02-2004, 03:55 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Phronetix
Solid compared to what? 3.1? Win98? Spending too much time in the snow, Jason?
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Solid period. XP Rocks! Not going to make fun of Apple here either... :lol: |
Solid in terms of stability and reliability? Yes. Solid in terms of security both out of the box and built in NO WAY. Sorry Jason but IMHO XP is an insecure, smoldering, pile where MS's only recourse is to give up patching the OS and focus on building a moat and wall around the OS in hopes of fending off the landslide of security holes that have plagued 03, XP, 2K, and NT. It�s the whole secure the parameter concept Gates and Ballmer have been preaching for a year and frankly I think it�s a copout in terms of security.
This delay was predicted by news.com a few months back and sure enough it�s coming true. So the question remains: When will longhorn come out? It was estimated �06. Anyone else getting the weird vibe of �07 off of this? Esp now that MS is talking about an interim release of XP tentatively titled XP Reloaded.
As for Apple. Apple is done. They have been relegated to a niche market simply because Jobs is an idealist. Even some of the high end 3rd party developers are thinking twice about investing in development (Palm, Adobe, others?) and have dropped several key, but not critical, apps for Apple. As their market share continues to dwindle so to will its 3rd party support. I love OS X as much as any Mac head out there. I think it�s a beautifully crafted OS but without some of the big name 3rd party support that has backed away what�s the point?
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Originally Posted by rugerx
You can bet if BeOS or Linux were truly mainstream it would be attacked.
Its a case of the top dog gets the most fleas....
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Yes but at least in the case of Linux the dog has already taken a flea dip. XP and 2K have horrid out of the box security. In fact its practically non existent. As someone stated in another thread run a security scanner on a newly installed 2K or XP system with NO patches. The scanner will go nuts with alerts.
Do the same with OS X and see what comes up. Default security in Linux and OS X is MUCH tighter then any NT based system. Can you shore up that security? Sure. But it takes, at least for me, an hour or more to run the basic security policy templates on Windows. Then disable all the various hidden shares. The enable the firewall. Antivirus software. Adware repellant, alternative browser to ensure a secure browsing experience and on and on and on.
It can be done but for those who don�t want to dick with it you have OS X. and for those who are into pain you have Linux. 
__________________
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04-02-2004, 04:04 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 541
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by rugerx
You can bet if BeOS or Linux were truly mainstream it would be attacked.
Its a case of the top dog gets the most fleas....
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Not to drag this off-topic, but what's the #1 web server out there? Apache. Which program do we hear about all the security issues with? Microsoft's IIS.
http://news.netcraft.com/
It's an issue of the dirtiest dog getting the most fleas, not the top dog.
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04-02-2004, 04:14 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 238
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OS X is just UNIX (BSD) with Apple's GUI. UNIX has been around for what 30 years? More time to hash out bugs and holes. But most UNIX/Linux variants aren't really fit for the average desktop, there always seems to be a tradeoff between usuability and security. If set up right, 2000/XP are secure and stable, but nothing is fool-proof. As for IIS, it's just garbage anyway, Apache had the inroads long before MS stepped into the ring.
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