Vista to be released in October come Hell or high water.

[pofnlice]

But wait, it gets better, this just posted today;

Adobe, Symantec challenge Microsoft

Lobbying European Union regulators against Vista operating system
PrintE-mailDisable live quotesRSSDigg itDel.icio.usBy MarketWatch
Last Update: 1:18 AM ET Sep 21, 2006


SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Two U.S. software makers are lobbying European Union regulators for action against Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation Windows computer operating system, according to a media report Thursday.
But regulators can't take action against Microsoft until it releases its Vista package, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, citing an EU spokesman. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).

Vista is scheduled for release to corporate customers in November.

The challenges come from Adobe Systems Inc., and Symantec Corp., The Journal said.

Adobe has told regulators that Microsoft should be prohibited from building free competing software for reading and creating electronic documents into Vista, The Journal said, citing unnamed people it said were familiar with the situation.

Officials from antivirus-software maker Symantec plan to travel to EU headquarters in Brussels next week to brief journalists about Vista features that the Cupertino, Calif., company has told EU regulators will undercut rival computer-security-software makers, The Journal said.

The briefings are intended to offset a similar public-relations effort by Microsoft, a Symantec spokesman, Cris Paden, told The Journal.
 
At a Sept. 12 briefing, Erich Andersen, Microsoft's general counsel for Europe, said any regulatory action requiring changes in Vista's design could "increase security risks for European consumers" by making them more vulnerable to malicious attacks through the Internet, something that Symantec contests, The Journal reported.

EU antitrust chief Neelie Kroes has warned Microsoft not to design the new version of Windows, which runs more than 90% of the world's personal computers, in ways that would put rival software companies at a competitive disadvantage, according to The Journal report.

The EU fined Microsoft 497 million euros, or more than $600 million, for antitrust violations related to its earlier versions of Windows in 2004, The Journal said. In July, Ms. Kroes imposed an additional penalty of 280.5 million euros against Microsoft for defying orders to change its business practices, according to the report. The company is appealing both fines.

"Our goal is to deliver a fully innovative, secure version of Windows Vista that is compliant with EU law," The Journal said it was told by Tom Brookes, a spokesman for Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash.

Symantec is concerned that Vista will direct consumers toward a Microsoft-designed security console, or box that shows what level various security functions, such as an Internet firewall, are set on, The Journal said. Symantec wants to be able automatically to override the Microsoft template with its own design and features, as it has been allowed to do in the past, according to the report.

Microsoft has a new feature, called PatchGuard, designed to protect the core of its operating system from hacking, The Journal said, but Symantec said the design has been changed from previous Windows versions to prevent security-software companies from accessing the crucial part of the system to update computers against security threats.

Adobe objects to Microsoft's inclusion in Vista of its own software for creating and viewing digital snapshots of documents, known as XML Paper Specification, or XPS, The Journal said. XPS competes with Adobe's widely used portable document format, or PDF.(That bit should make worker201 smile...)

While Adobe earns money by selling its Acrobat software to create PDF documents (while giving away the software to read such documents), Microsoft will include both reading and writing software as part of Vista for no extra charge, according to The Journal.

An Adobe spokeswoman declined to comment, The Journal said.

wow...drama...just remember;
 Windows Vista Minimum Supported System Requirements
Processor 800 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1
System Memory 512 MB
GPU SVGA (800x600)
Graphics Memory -
HDD 20 GB
HDD Free Space 15 FUCKING GB WHAT!!!
Optical Drive CD-ROM drive2
Audio -
Internet -
 
1) Processor speed is specified as the nominal operational processor frequency for the device. Some processors have power management which allows the processor to run at a lower rate to save power.
2) The CD-ROM may be external (not integral, not built into the system).

[piratePenguin]

When I read that stuff about Vistas holes.. after reading OS Xs problems, and with the whole crack-computers-with-certain-wireless-cards-on-any-OS thing, is the problem that nobodys thinking about security or that security is just plain impossible?

Microsoft make software on some pretty important machines, how on earth can they produce something this unsecure?

[Calum]

when they say "it's a feature, not a bug", do they seriously mean that microsoft have deliberately written resource intensive software with a wealth of undocumented security problems because somehow they believe their products should be based upon this model? that's the only interpretation i can imagine for that phrase.

[pofnlice]

When I read that stuff about Vistas holes.. after reading OS Xs problems, and with the whole crack-computers-with-certain-wireless-cards-on-any-OS thing, is the problem that nobodys thinking about security or that security is just plain impossible?

Microsoft make software on some pretty important machines, how on earth can they produce something this insecure?

OK, I'm no english major and on most days, I do well to spell my own name correctly...but, insecure? Are you saying MS needs a hug or did you mean unsecure?

[piratePenguin]

OK, I'm no english major and on most days, I do well to spell my own name correctly...but, insecure? Are you saying MS needs a hug or did you mean unsecure?

Not the hug one, but according to answers.com unsecure = insecure. I guess I'll watch out to see what other people generally say..

[pofnlice]

Well shit. I hate it when that happens. Maybe it's the military background. We always said insecure as in that guys an insecure little fucking prick. We used unsecure to describe a state of encryption or protection as in...This land-line/radio transmission/perimeter is unsecure, watch what you say/do. Of course the military does that with lots of words...

[worker201]

I'm not sure where to argue on this one.  Vista is going to be the apocalypse, for sure.  But any situation that makes Adobe and Symantec whine like little bitches has got to have some value, right?  I like PDF, and I'm glad Adobe has made it somewhat open.  And Symantec's SARC has proved an invaluable resource.  Overall, I think Microsoft's drive to Control Everything(c) is the true villain here.

when they say "it's a feature, not a bug", do they seriously mean that microsoft have deliberately written resource intensive software with a wealth of undocumented security problems because somehow they believe their products should be based upon this model? that's the only interpretation i can imagine for that phrase.

Right.  Except you call them "undocumented security problems", while Microsoft probably calls them "private backdoors which we may or may not use to add functionality (spyware) later on, but we're trying to keep somewhat secret right now".  Just a difference in vocabulary, really.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

You know I think if we somehow make a collaborative effort to explain to people how incredibly shitty Window$ is and how much shittier Vi$ta will be and then give them Linux or BSD as a good alternative, then I'm thinking M$'s stock is gonna plummet. Since more than 50% of servers run Linux (is this still accurate ?) they have only one major foothold left ... the proles, I mean the public. Really I don't think I can go out there and hand out CDs come October (next month) ... maybe I'll just try to spread the word as much as possible till then. Yeah, how about I add a link to the Linux wiki everywhere I can. I think M$ has a good chance of taking a major blow for fucking up Vi$ta so bad.

Wait, actually instead of a Wiki does anyone know of a site that shows all of Vi$ta's weaknesses and Linux's strengths ? I'll try to look for one, a short, concise, explanation why to choose Linux over Vi$ta.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Someone once said that what the average man or woman only need is a computer with about 100 MHz. about 3 GBs of storage and 32 MB of RAM.

They might've been me, if not I've said a similar thing before. The above spec PC should be fine for web browsing, Word processing, even some image processing.

[pofnlice]

But it's not near enough storage space for downloading and storing your favorite porn videos.

[ReggieMicheals]

You know I think if we somehow make a collaborative effort to explain to people how incredibly shitty Window$ is and how much shittier Vi$ta will be and then give them Linux or BSD as a good alternative, then I'm thinking M$'s stock is gonna plummet. Since more than 50% of servers run Linux (is this still accurate ?) they have only one major foothold left ... the proles, I mean the public. Really I don't think I can go out there and hand out CDs come October (next month) ... maybe I'll just try to spread the word as much as possible till then. Yeah, how about I add a link to the Linux wiki everywhere I can. I think M$ has a good chance of taking a major blow for fucking up Vi$ta so bad.

It can take a major blow, but nobody who is computer illiterate is going to be willing to change to anything but Vista. They still probably believe the old Mac myths and they'd think Linux would be so obscure that they wouldn't even use it, and you can't convince them otherwise. They're too closed minded to try anything else. Those are the kind of people MS is relying on to use Vista, and surprisingly it will work until the next generation steps in.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Unfortunately, I think you're right ... I realized that yesterday. But, maybe they can learn ? Can they ? No, they're not motivated enough to. Maybe when Window$ is compromised enough security-wise they may switch.

[Aloone_Jonez]

They talk about beta testers when they're realy talking about alpa testers. The real beta testers will be the people who'll buy the first milion copies.

[worker201]

Well, it's October now.  I see no Vista.

Maybe later this month?

[pofnlice]

Bill was flinging poo with the monkeys at the zoo and forgot.