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Long Zheng reveals that a number of bloggers received Ferraris (of the laptop variety) from Microsoft this holiday season. Best (tongue-in-cheek) line:
I don’t see the Free Software Foundation handing out any Ferrari’s.
There’s already some predictable grumbling at this unprecedented largesse in the comments to the post, but Robert Scoble observes amicably, “THAT is my idea of PayPerPost!”
Update Dec. 27: Marshall Kirkpatrick says Now Microsoft Wants Its Laptop Back.
Microsoft seems to have found some unwanted gifts under the tree this Christmas. Along with the reports of security flaws, Darren Murph at Engadget is reporting a Vista activation hack that leaves Vista permanently in the fully functional part of the 30 day activation grace period:
With the help of a few background apps, a little registry tweakin’, and whole lot of deviousness, you can reportedly freeze the 30-day countdown timer within the operating system in order to prevent it from ever leaving the fully functional evaluation mode. Purportedly, the TimerStop Vista crack works “on all 32-bit x86 editions” including Ultimate and Premium, but the success rate in 64-bit (x64) environments is “likely to be low.” Notable, the folks behind the crack suggest that Windows Updates will still be accessible, as will Microsoft’s “value-added software downloads” typically only available to those who pass the WVGA validation process.
More details at KezNews and MyDigitalLife, but this one should get swatted promptly.
Late on Christmas Eve, the New York Time’s John Markoff popped down the chimney at Redmond and filled Microsoft’s stocking with coal:
Microsoft is facing an early crisis of confidence in the quality of its Windows Vista operating system as computer security researchers and hackers have begun to find potentially serious flaws in the system that was released to corporate customers late last month.
…
Despite Microsoft assertions about the improved reliability of Vista, many in the industry are taking a wait-and-see approach. Microsoft’s previous operating system, Windows XP, required two “service packs” issued over a number of years to substantially improve security, and new flaws are still routinely discovered by outside researchers.
Markoff notes the first admitted Vista exploit discovered last week and five more discovered by security firm Determina including a drive-by exploit in Internet Explorer 7.
Frankly, there seems to be less there for Vista than meets the eye due to the special properties of IE7 running on Vista, but the point is that with Vista, Microsoft not only has to continually defend the operating system from security threats; they also have set themselves up to continually defend against the mere perception of security threats. That’s because enhanced security is Vista’s primary claim to novelty and improved functionality aside from the fancy new graphical user interface on the pricier versions. If Vista descends into a continual litany of exploits and rushed Patch Tuesday fixes like Windows XP, they’ve failed, if not disastrously, at least embarrassingly.
Microsoft has spent millions branding the Vista operating system as the most secure product it has produced. and it is counting on Vista to help turn the tide against a wave of software attacks now plaguing Windows-based computers.
Vista is critical to Microsoft’s reputation.
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Although Vista, which will be available on consumer PCs early next year, has been extensively tested, it is only now being exposed to the challenges of the open Internet.
I guess we’ll all soon see how well they did, but the latest bug reports hardly seem to be a “crisis of confidence”. How about “a cause for continued wary observation”?
Actually the wow starts January 29 and the wow in question is the consumer launch event for Windows Vista and Office 2007 as Paul Thurrott reveals:
Microsoft will officially launch Windows Vista and Office 2007 for consumers at a special event in Times Square in New York City on January 29 called “Wow Starts Now.” At the event, Microsoft and its partners will promote Vista, Office 2007, and related products.
“On January 29th, Microsoft will celebrate the launch of two amazing products that represent the culmination of a tremendous team effort,” an email message from Microsoft reads.
Yadda, yadda by following the link, but the interesting thing is that the 29th is one day before the general availability date of January 30.
