 |
 |
 |
Software Tool Strips Windows Vista To Bare Bones
January 29th, 2008A free software tool that promises to strip down the Windows Vista operating system — which even some Microsoft officials have called "bloated" — to a minimalist state is attracting big interest on the Internet. vLite, created by developer Dino Nuhagic, automatically removes a number of non-essential Windows Vista components in order to pare the OS’s heavy footprint by half or more.
Read the rest of this entry »
Windows 7: The Anti Vista?
January 28th, 2008Even with Windows Vista’s one-year anniversary launch just a week away, all that anyone in the tech-enthusiast community seems to want to talk about is Windows 7 (Except for those who are already sick of hearing about 7, as one Windows user characterized himself in a conversation I had yesterday.) There are Windows 7 screen shots, Windows 7 videos, Windows 7-Windows Live-integration to-do lists.
Read the rest of this entry »
Windows 7 in 2009? Be careful what you wish for
January 28th, 2008Take it as a sign that Windows Vista failed to capture the imagination of Windows users, or take it as a sign that sensationalism sells. Either way, the rumor mill is heating up with claims that the successor to Windows Vista—currently dubbed Windows 7—could be released as early as next year, as opposed to sometime in 2010, as currently expected.
Read the rest of this entry »
A Closer Look: Beta Vista Service Pack 1
January 28th, 2008With dissatisfaction over the Vista operating system persistent, can Microsoft right the OS’s wrongs with its upcoming Vista service pack? Microsoft made the latest beta of Vista SP1 available to the public earlier this month, and after informally testing it for a couple of days, I find my PC is working more reliably–and some tasks especially file copying, take less time.
Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft: Vista More Secure Than XP and Open Source
January 28th, 2008Windows Vista was hit by significantly fewer publicly disclosed security flaws in its first year than Windows XP and open source rivals in their first years, according to a report from Microsoft. The report, written by Jeff Jones, a security strategy director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, is part of Microsoft’s effort to show that its work on redesigning the security architecture and adding new security features to Vista have paid off.
Read the rest of this entry »
Vista SP1 due out in next few weeks
January 24th, 2008The wait is nearly over for the first service pack for Windows Vista, according to sources close to Microsoft Microsoft has said the highly anticipated service pack would be out in the first quarter of this year, but some say it could be available in the next few weeks, more than a month before the quarter ends on March 31. A Taiwanese news outlet Wednesday reported in a story that Vista SP1 would be released Feb. 15, but "that date is as good as any other," said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "For all we know, they could make it available tomorrow."
Read the rest of this entry »
Windows Vista Security One Year Later
January 24th, 2008Hi, Austin Wilson here. Now that Windows Vista has been available to business customers for more than a year, it’s a good time to go back and look at how it’s holding up from a security perspective. I think that it’s fair to say that Windows Vista is proving to be the most secure version of the Windows to date. Our investments in the SDL and our defense in depth approach to building Windows Vista seem to be paying off.
Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft relents: Vista consumer virtualization ban lifted
January 24th, 2008It only took them a year longer than it should have, but Microsoft has finally relented and approved the use of Windows Vista Basic and Premium Edition in virtualized environments, for both "consumers" and business users. Among other things, the change means that Mac and Linux users can now run Windows Vista in a VM without having to pay for the more expensive Business or Ultimate editions.
Read the rest of this entry »
Security architecture of Windows Vista, Part 2
January 24th, 2008Part 1 did not cover how processes generally acquire their permissions and integrity levels. According to the Windows security model, which is known from Vista predecessors, a child process normally inherits the access token of its parent. Vista adds one bit to this process in the access token, TOKEN_MANDATORY_POLICY_NEW_PROCESS_MIN, which is set for normal users but which is cleared in administrator tokens.
Read the rest of this entry »
Security architecture of Windows Vista, Part 1
January 24th, 2008The mainstay of a secure operating system is access protection - the undesirable activities of malware (from the internet etc.) can only be blocked by preventing a free-for-all. With the user account control of Windows Vista, Microsoft is attempting to make it more palatable for the user to work with restricted rights. But even the rights of a normal user go too far if malware takes hold, since it can read, change or delete all the documents in the name of the user.
Read the rest of this entry »
