If Vista is so Great...

Then why does Microsoft officially supports downgrades from Vista Ultimate/Business to XP?

Click on the picture to see the whole story.

technorati tags:windows, vista, xp

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Good News: Worlds Most Powerful Super Computer Cluster running Windows, Bad News:...

Good news to Windows fanboys out there: A New Zealand-based computer scientist Peter Gutman says that a Windows-based computer cluster can be classified as one of the top 10 most powerful super computers in the world.

The bad news is this Windows-based super computer is a part of a botnet dubbed as the "Storm Worm Botnet".

So, how did this Windows-based super computer came into being? According to uberreview.com:

The Storm Worm has spread primarily through infected email attachments, video attachments and infected web pages. The most recent being a malicious .exe file on a page titled “Download Tor.” The rootkit that the Storm Worm installs makes it all but impossible to remove from an infected PC. If you have been infected with the Storm Worm, the easiest means for removal is a fresh installation of Windows.

Now, I'm really glad I'm running OS X and Linux.

technorati tags:infosec, windows, storm-worm

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MacBook-less: Day 8

My friendly Apple dealer sent me an SMS and confirmed that I can pick my MacBook up from him tomorrow. So after-lunch tomorrow, I'll be back to using Mac OS X and its time for my Linux-powered iBook G3 to have its hard drive replaced.

For the past 8 days, I've been using Ubuntu Linux on my iBook. The experience is a real eye opener because I discovered that I can still exist without Windows or OS X. I was able to do the things I do daily exclusively using a Free and Open Source software. One of the "extra" thing I was able to do was to revisit some IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels, my old haunt back when majority of internet users were academics, scientists and hard-core geeks.

I was still able to download some files to install on my Nokia e61i, I was able to do my personal emails and blog. Incidentally, a colleague was banging her head earlier this afternoon because her computer crashed -- caused by a computer virus infection -- something that won't happen to my iBook unless I'm really, really careless. :)

So here's what will eventually happen to my iBook once its hard drive is replaced. I will configure it to dual-boot OS X and Linux. I still need OS X on it so that my kid (see avatar) and my wife can still use their favorite applications. Meanwhile, if I need to use it, I can boot up Linux and continue on with my Open Source advocacy.

Vulcan Flipstart

It may be too soon but I think I'm in (gadget)love again!


But at around $2,000, I'll stick it out with my MacBook!

Official Support for WinXP SP1 Ended Yesterday (10/10/2006)

Don't look now but if you are still running Windows XP Service Pack 1, Microsoft's official support for your computer just ended yesterday (that is assuming that the copy of Windows XP you are using is *not* bought from your friendly neighborhood pirate at Greenhills).

Frankly, this should not come as a surprise since Windows XP Service Pack 2 addresses a lot of security issues that plagued earlier releases of the said OS. People that are still running Pre-Service Pack 2 Windows XP faces the daily risk of malware infection and if a clueless user has one, it is most likely be infested with trjoans, rootkits and other malware that renders it a "zombified" computer -- a computer that is under the complete control of shady characters which uses it to send out SPAM and copies of malware to other computers.

If you are still running a pre-Service Pack 2 Windows XP, do yourself and the cyberspace a favor, do a software update as soon as you can.

Windows Users: Be Very Afraid!

Quick Reply to a Quick Comment

Someone commented on my post regarding the use of FireFox in lieu if Internet Explorer. User Robert says that FireFox is slow.

I say, I'd rather have a slow browser than a computer full of Adware, Spyware, Virus and Trojans.

So there!

Infosec Alert: Video Codec (zcodec) Actually a Malware

WARNING FOR INTERNET VIDEO ADDICTS:

According to Panda Software, zCodec, a program that promises to deliver videos in "less size" with up to 40% better quality and "playback support for most popular players" is actually a malware. According to Panda, zCodec will download and run files and will alter your DNS configuration opening up your system to other internet "nasties". zCodec has its own website and needs to be downloaded to your system in order for it to "work". It is only 100Kb in size.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Microsoft Vista now out of Beta...

The latest version testers of the upcoming Microsoft Vista (the next version of Windows) is now RC1 (Release Candidate 1). Although still far from going "gold" which means ready for DVD pressing, RC1 will most likely show what Vista will be once it is finally released next year.

According to CNET, Microsoft Vista RC1 was released last Friday to testers. Well, it looks like Microsoft will meet their self-imposed deadline of getting this out in the market in the first quarter of next year.

Expect to buy these at your friendly neighborhood Greenhills stalls within this week.

CrossOver Mac Beta: Now available for download

Owners of Intel-based Macs can now test the first Beta release of Crossover Mac. Crossover Mac is Codeweavers' port of Wine (windows emulator) which was originally wrtitten for Linux, which was then subsequently ported over to Darwin under the monicker Darwine.

Once installed, Windows applications will run windows-based applications under OS X without the need to install a virtual machine (such as Parallels) or to re-boot (to actually boot into Windows via Boot Camp). Initial reports say that installation of Crossover Mac is a bit kludgy and that it does not really work too well at this point. However, this is just minor setback because I'm pretty sure that once its ready for primetime, Crossover Mac would be the ideal solution to the problem of running a Windows application without actually installing and using Windows.