[IP] more on Microsoft responds re Windows XP update vs. spyware
Begin forwarded message:
From: John BARTAS <Jbartas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 8, 2006 2:45:04 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IP] more on Microsoft responds re Windows XP update vs.
spyware
Dave:
For IP, if it's not too off-topic:
--------------------
I'm a sometime attendee at the Silicon Valley SDForum security
Sig, a monthly meeting of computer security professionals -
researchers, consultants and IT folks. (Great event, link below) At
the beginning of each meeting,the organizers review what's news in
computer security, and what current best security practices are. One
ongoing recommendation is to make sure your Windows patches are current.
About a year back one participant volunteered that he found the
Windows updates to actually be destabilizing to his windows systems -
that once he has a Windows system working decently, he disables the
auto-updates; and relies on third part security software instead of
patches. I chimed in "me too", as did several others.
The facilitator called for a show of hands - how many of the
seventy or so computer security experts present allowed Windows auto-
updates on their systems, and how many did not. About 90% did not.
Like Bob Rosenberg, I had heard about XP's phone home "feature"
when it first came out. I keep a home network monitoring tool on my
nets that logs every IP site visited, and the XP->Microsoft packets
stood right out. I let it do it's thing until the first time it
trashed my system. I then blocked it - Not just "turned it off", but
blocked the IP address and domain name in my hardware firewall.
So far there have been no ill effects. The two XP systems I had
when I started blocking each ran for over two years. Never had a
virus, never got "Windows bloat", where the system gets slower with
age. A few times the XP laptop I had tried to update when I took it
traveling and forgot to turn on the software firewall. I think an
IPv6 stack got activated that way.
Last year I replaced my laptop, and the new one had a newer XP.
Since it was stable, I again blocked the phone home. So far,so good.
I'm not in a huge hurry to dump windows. I just want a system
that works. Windows 2K is close enough - it only crashes about once
a month. But because of Microsoft's hubris about giving the customer
what Microsoft wants (this phone home is IMO spyware) rather than
what the customer wants, I've simultaneously been alert for for
alternatives. I'm now using Linux (Currently Ubuntu) for some
software development, multimedia, and web browsing. OpenOffice 1.1.3
is finally ready for prime time, and now does all my text &
spreadsheet work, even on my new XP laptop. There are still nits
(someday I'll code a word count feature for OpenDocument), but the
only reason I still have XP is because 1) the laptop came with it,
and 2) my kids love "The Sims".
I don't mind paying $50 or so for a decent OS, but the idea of
"renting" software that tells me what I can and cannot do is
abhorrent. Does anyone know if "Win4Lin" runs the Sims?
-JB-
SDforum link:
http://www.sdforum.org/SDForum/Templates/Level1.aspx?pid=10111&sid=7
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