I can’t count how many times people have asked me if Windows XP would be available on new PCs following Vista’s release.

In the near term, the answer is as much a factor of user demand and OEM and system builder policies. That said, Microsoft will make Windows XP available for from 12 to 24 months after Vista’s general availability, depending on the sales channel.

According to Microsoft’s Life-Cycle Policy Web site, Windows XP Home, Professional, Tablet PC, Media Center and 64-bit editions will be available in direct OEM and retail licenses for 12 months following the beginning of Windows Vista’s general availability, which is scheduled to be Jan. 30, 2007. System builder licenses will be available for another 12–or total 24–months from Vista’s general availability, it said.

View: Full Story Via: Microsoft-Watch

On November 30, Sophos issued its monthly report on the top ten threats reported to them in November of 2006. As a part of this, Sophos also studied Windows Vista’s vulnerability to these malware threats. I found the information and press discussion confusing, so I thought I would clarify what this really means for customers.

In order to understand what was really going on here, I asked the team to go look at the technical facts behind the story, and that started in the lab. We began by observing first-hand how these various forms of malware affect a Windows Vista system using a machine that was configured with the default settings and without any additional security software. What we found was that if you are using only the software in Windows Vista (e.g., Windows Mail and no add-on security software), then you are immune to all ten of the malware threats that Sophos cited.

If you are using Microsoft Outlook or a third-party email client that blocks execution of known executable formats, then a user running Windows Vista is not vulnerable to eight of the ten malware threats. In the case of the ninth piece of malware, Bagle-Zip, the malware is able to run because it uses the .ZIP file format which some mail programs do not block. In the case of the tenth piece of malware, Mydoom-O, the malware is sometimes able to run because it randomly chooses the file type to which to distribute its payload and sometimes that file type is an executable inside a .ZIP file, which some mail programs do not block. In both cases, this is a function of the e-mail software, not Windows Vista. That said, even when a user receives a mail infected with Bagle-Zip or Mydoom-O in the .ZIP file format, in order for the malware to affect the system, the user must first explicitly open the .ZIP file and then explicitly run the executable file that’s contained inside the .ZIP file — there is no way for this to happen without two steps of user action. If you happen run a third-party email client that does not block known executable formats, then you may also be vulnerable to Netsky-D.

View: Full Story Via: Windows Vista Blog

Notebook PC users who upgrade to Microsoft’s Windows Vista may have to disable some of the new operating system’s flashy graphics features to avoid seeing a decrease in battery life compared to when running Windows XP.

The drop will come from the extra power needed to run the high-end processors, graphics cards, and memory capacity required to support Vista. Microsoft has designed the new OS to deliver novel visual effects such as the translucent “Aero” windows on the desktop interface and to offer improved performance as a digital media hub. The business version of the OS was released last month, with the consumer version due out next month.

“Vista demands more computer resources for a given application than XP does. So you need a heavier battery, or you will have shorter battery life because of the greater demand for watts,” said Phil Hester, chief technology officer of Advanced Micro Devices, in remarks made at the company’s annual analyst day in New York last week.

View: Full Story Via: PC World

Underground hackers are hawking zero-day exploits for Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system at $50,000 a pop, according to computer security researchers at Trend Micro.

The Windows Vista exploit—which has not been independently verified—was just one of many zero-days available for sale at an auction-style marketplace infiltrated by the Tokyo-based anti-virus vendor.

In an interview with eWEEK, Trend Micro’s chief technology officer, Raimund Genes, said prices for exploits for unpatched code execution flaws are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, depending on the popularity of the software and the reliability of the attack code.

Bots and Trojan downloaders that typically hijack Windows machines for use in spam-spewing botnets were being sold for about $5,000, Genes said.

View: Full Story Via: eweek

With the recent release of Microsoft’s newest potential cash cows, Windows Vista and Office 2007, the company is expecting a wave of upgrades from users seeking the latest functionality. But what if you’re not looking for new bells and whistles? What if you want to keep your old operating systems, such as Windows 2000, running as long as possible?

Microsoft isn’t making it easy for you. Office 2007 and the software for the company’s much-hyped Zune music player won’t install on Windows 2000. As other new products emerge from Microsoft in 2007 and beyond, more and more of them are likely to leave Windows 2000 out of the party.
Which of these installation restrictions are caused by a real lack of capabilities in Windows 2000, however? Are any of them merely a “squeeze play” by Microsoft to convince buyers that it’s necessary to immediately upgrade all PCs to Vista and all servers to Server 2003 or the forthcoming Longhorn Server?

One example of this conundrum is Microsoft’s Windows Defender program. This antispyware program can be downloaded for free, but it will only install on Windows XP, Server 2003, and higher. The application won’t install on Windows 2000, according to Microsoft’s own product documentation.

View: Full Story Via: Information Week

35 days before Windows XP was officially released, a pirated key, called the “devils0wn”, began circulating around the web which allowed users to run a pirated copy of the operating system. Since then, the key has been used thousands of times and is now a part of Windows XP history. Trying to follow in devils0wn’s footsteps, a new crack for Windows Vista is rumored to have become available. Called “Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06”, the key reportedly unlocks any version of Vista. Sounds great for pirates, right? Maybe it is, depending where you stand on software piracy.

Those who download “Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06” will end up with anything but a cracked version of Vista. The file is neither a crack nor key generator, but it is a trojan installer that installs the malware known as “Trojan-PSW.Win32.LdPinch.aze.” According to APC Magazine, most antivirus scanners will recognize the trojan, but NOD32 and Norton’s latest signatures do not.

While most of us dread the thought of a new piece of malware in the wild, it’s hard not to like the motive behind this trojan. Nevertheless, any propagation of malware is a bad thing so I’m happy to hear that most scanners can stop this one.

View: Full Story
News source: Ars Technia

Microsoft expects software piracy, which costs the company billions of dollars every year, to ease with the introduction of its new Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software suite, CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday.

Microsoft launched Windows Vista to businesses Thursday, releasing the first major upgrade in five years of its dominant operating system that sits on more than 90 percent the world’s computers.

In an interview, Ballmer said that more than 20 percent of its software running around the world is pirated and the company aims to lower that figure with a new authentication program to run in Windows Vista and Office 2007.

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News source: VAR Business

When the smartest businesspeople on the planet – the Google guys, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates – all say the future of their companies is in video, who are we to argue? Google is buying YouTube. Apple is set to launch the iTV, which will wirelessly connect your TV to your Mac.

The much delayed operating system launches on Nov. 30 for business users and in January for consumers. And like any new rev of the OS that still commands 90 percent of the PC market, Vista has the power to take a technology and make it mainstream.
Pumping cash into the global economy

Just as Windows 3.1 led to mass adoption of the graphical user interface and Windows 95 popularized the browser, Vista will slowly but surely transform the PC into a true multimedia device. The computer has already absorbed the telephone’s capabilities; Vista’s role is to throw in the TV too.

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News source: Money

Just talked to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in advance of tomorrow’s Very Big Deal launch of the new Vista Windows operating system and new generation of Microsoft Office. (Funny — I saw Sun Chairman Scott McNealy last night, and he joked that Windows and Office make up “120% of Microsoft’s profits.”)

Though we didn’t really intend to talk about the Zune music player, it did come up — and, you’re hearing it here first, Gates says that if Apple will make iTunes music playable on Zune, he’ll make Zune music playable on iPods. Though, of course, Gates knows what it’s like to hold all the cards, and right now Jobs holds all the cards in digital music.

Said Gates: “If Apple said any song on the iPod could be played on Zune, we’d say the same thing. Because they have such a high market share, they’re not interested in interoperability, but that’s too bad.”

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News source: USA Today

About 200 Linux commands for serious newbies. To get more examples on how each command is used, use this command:

#>man commandname

Where commandname is an command you pick from the table below. If no manual exist, then that command is most likely unavailable for your Linux distro. Ignore it and proceed with other commands.

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News source: True Hacker