Application Programs:
Security:
“As
Windows users are being plagued by computer viruses, spam, buggy software, and
Web pop-up ads, some are questioning why the Redmond, Wash.-based software
behemoth has failed to integrate security and repair features that could make
computers less prone to problems.
“
‘Microsoft has added lots of bells and whistles to Windows to protect their
operating system franchise over the years, but when it comes to Windows
security and reliability, they’ve done comparitively little until recently,’
said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a Bethesda,
Md.-based computer security and training organization.
“
‘It’s like they are selling faster cars with more powerful engines but leaving
off the seat belts and air bags — all those critical things that make customers
safe when using their products,’ he added.
“Microsoft’s
critics say the reason the company isn’t eager to add security features is
simple: Doing so wouldn’t help it fend off competitors whose products could
undermine the spread of Windows.
“
‘You would think there would be money to be made in Microsoft having some kind
of more effective antiviral program of their own,’ said Andrew Gavil, an
antitrust expert and law professor at Howard University. ‘But virus programs
don’t present any threat to their operating system monopoly.’ ” —Los Angeles
Times, “Microsoft Runs Into Bundling Dilemma”, March 27, 2004
Microsoft
falsely claimed that it would make security a company-wide priority in its much
publicized 2002 “trustworthy computing initiaitve”. Since then, Microsoft
Windows (all versions) has become even more vulnerable to viruses and other
internet attacks. Security is a purposely false and misleading marketing slogan
at Microsoft.
“Ironically,
some experts say, product bundling is partly to blame for Windows’ security
woes.
“Lee A. Hollaar, a computer science professor at University of Utah, said the widespread proliferation of the Melissa computer virus stemmed from the tight integration of Microsoft’s Outlook e-mail program with its writing application, Word.
‘The Melissa virus exists only because Microsoft expanded Word documents to contain functions that let it access the Outlook address book’, Hollaar said.
“Similarly,
he explained, when the Internet Explorer Web browser was folded into the
operating system, it exposed Windows to greater security risks from the Net.’ ”
—Los Angeles Times, “Microsoft Runs Into Bundling Dilemma”, March 27,
2004
Other:
“NT,
even in its Enterprise Edition incarnation, trails in virtually every area
except PC interoperability. As a comparatively new system targeting broader
market requirements, NT simply lacks the functional depth of UNIX today.” —D.H.
Brown Associates
“You
may have noticed that a new TV ad for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer e-mail
program uses the musical theme of the ‘Confutatis Maledictis’ from Mozart’s
Requiem. ‘Where do you want to go today?’ is the cheery line on the screen.
Meanwhile, the chorus sings ‘Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis,’
which means, ‘The damned and accursed are convicted to flames of hell.’ ” —Gary
Pavek
“Windows
95 is an ‘edifice of bailing wire, chewing gum and prayer.’ ” — The New York
Times, August 2, 1995