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CharlotteTheHarlot

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Posts posted by CharlotteTheHarlot

  1. To skinpack ...

    As a courtesy to your fellow MSFN members you should explain in your post several things about your linked website and files ...

    (1) There is no need to click on the gigantic green Download Now! button on the top of the page. Because if they do they will not receive the promised skin pack, but instead they will get a stub downloader EXE and be forced to trust the programmer of that file with their system security.

    (2) Instead, they should scroll down to the text link that simply says "Download" that links directly to the skin pack zip file.

    (3) You might also point out that both the Win7 and Win8 downloads are to the same exact file called: "SkinPack_Mavericks_3.0.zip".. ... ADDED: After looking at this I see it contains a file called

    SkinPack Mavericks 3.0.exe that is an NSIS executable SFX that extracts to 1,379 files and 169 folders of non-english jibberish and would take quite a while to decipher if it is all kosher or not. It is possible it also contains an adware/ bloatware like the WinXP file. My question is why this mess rather than a typical simple skin pack?

    (4) I also see a separate different one for WinXP on this page, but hosted at DeviantArt. ... ADDED: You might also want to note that the XP file called mavericks_skin_pack_1_0_xp_by_downloadsp-d6v58np.exe from DeviantArt is not a typical friendly skin download. It is an NSIS executable SFX that contains a few executable utilities in addition to the skin files, and at least one adware/bloatware called: TopTaskbar.exe. My question is the same as above, why not a typical simple skin pack?

    The Skin sample screenshots do look pretty good though. :thumbup

    EDIT: added more about the WinXP file.

    EDIT2: added more about the Win7/Win8 file.

  2. Just thought of something ...

    Microsoft officially makes Windows free for devices under 9 inches ( NeoWin 2014-04-02 )

    This move by Microsoft is clearly designed to get Windows installed in more devices, similar to how Google makes Android free for use in third party smartphones and tablets. It remains to be seen if there will be any additional conditions to this deal, such as licensing Microsoft apps like Skype and Bing for use in those smaller hardware products, but this will likely be a "win-win" for both Microsoft and device makers.


    This is pretty big news. It is as close to an admission of failure as we're likely to ever see. Microsoft turned the computer industry upside down to sell Windows 8 and related turds and now they are trying something new yet again, copying Android! You know this means one thing - they have looked at the sales figures up and down and finally become convinced they lost big and can never catch up or even compete. The question is this: what on Earth do they do once giving it away for free still does not interest the consumers?

    Take a look at exactly what Microsoft has accomplished here ...

    - Played patent games to lock down use of file systems.

    - Then they use that IP to extort money from other companies, like those using Android.

    - Then they release an alternative OS to this market - and then make it free.

    - OEM decision: Android costs money but Microsoft Tiles is free!


    Familiar pattern?
    Stripped down from all the fanboy remarks it resembles EEE once again. You know this was hatched in a meeting in Redmond. Sure hope they archive their emails and memos for the Congressional investigation because Google has much deeper pockets than Netscape did.

    No surprise to me, nor in what I think. I have said many times before: Microsoft should be broken up, period. Should have been long ago because the OS portion needs a firewall between them and everyone else. Microsoft cannot self-regulate :no: . They are incapable of it. Given any opportunity they will flaunt the rules and regulations and try to kill other things that live in the same space or exist in new spaces they want to invade. It started with Bill Gates and has now matriculated into the corporate DNA. Microsoft is truly like a child carrying around a toy gun who cannot help but to shoot everything he sees, but this IP gun is no toy. In this case using file systems to fleece money from OEMs. If there had been a sane patent system or some good judges this would have been tossed out long ago.

    One must wonder if Bill Gates really should be the richest monopolist on Earth, or should it instead have been Tim Paterson. Pretty amazing feat that was. Snaking away something he created and using it to rule the world. But that's another story.

  3. Well I get your frustration, all except for the most mindless of sheeple will get it, but it will take more than : "When I see the headline reads "facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, AOL, Twitter, and various land line companies, all go to court to stop invasion of privacy laws ..." in my opinion. Much more.

    I think if nothing else we have illustrated through this selection of security articles one thing - the infiltration is pervasive, thorough and perhaps complete. In a sense we have had a paradigm shifting revelation since the spook leaks and it will be a long time for the sheeple grazing on this round rock to realize it isn't flat or stationary at the center of the universe. That revelation has completely inverted what we thought we knew before. Previously the expectation was that people were mostly secure and private but subject to rare and specific cases of scrutiny. It is completely and truly the exact opposite and it was that way all along - we have nearly zero effective security and privacy, the rare circumstance is actually being secure and private and that is achieved only after massive amount of effort and money.

    These companies will never care about user privacy or concerns because the managers and directors involved are in fact safe and secure themselves in their limos and gated castles with security companies ( tech and physical ) watching over them. They are the feudal nobility and have never been known to side with the serfs over the government ( royalty, elected, totalitarian, whatever ). Sure they have been trying to announce these little baby steps to appease us but it means nothing IMHO.

    How do you unravel PRISM when Microsoft joined it first as the primary partner? This was back when the only products of note were Windows and Office and Server ( no mobile, no cloud ). What exactly did they need Microsoft for in 2006? You can't think of today's Microsoft when asking what the feds wanted in 2006. How do you ever get faith in Yahoo when their fashion plate CEO is cowered by the federal spooks and fears jail for not bending over whenever they ask. She's said as much. Same goes for all of them. Some bend over very easily, others needed persuasion, threats or bribes. Fighting for freedom is hard work, and it very rarely happens that high profile people with lots to lose join the peasants, lend their gravitas and do what's right ( Ben Franklin comes to mind and believe me there is no trace of him to be found in Bill Gates or Ballmer or Zuck or any of them ).

    The bottom line is that the spooks are on a long term plan to have multiple redundant points of instant access to any and all technology, at will. Every possible stone is being turned over. Getting whatever they got from Microsoft back during the XP to Longhorn/Vista rewrite ( source code no doubt, and the ability to slip in "enhancements" as updates ) were just the preliminaries. The goal is that if you are a spook and you are handed a task ( whether it is a computer HDD or communication to access and decrypt ) they are building the tools and infrastructure to do it, and there appears to be no line they will not cross. Suddenly Orwell looks like a generous optimist.

    BTW, I like to distinguish between the amazing codebreakers from the early 20th century up until World War II, and those phony codebreakers and their criminal bosses that are present ever since. The shift from math skills, logic and creative thinking that dominated the early period when this was a respectable field died when a certain agency was given big desks, big buildings and big budgets to keep themselves occupied. Inevitably they wound up doing exactly what the very enemy they fought against did, building a Gestapo/KGB clandestine service that specializes in spying on its own citizens and is effectively existing to preserve the government from being changed by those citizens.

    We should start by calling them what they are: Gestapo/KGB. The only real difference is that we in the modern west structure them with a division of labor rather than the more efficient German/Russian models of yore. Ours still have all the same potential, they spy at will, carry weapons, wear snazzy uniforms, jackboots, body armor, drag people off, lock them up, confiscate their possessions, shoot them, kill them, except we assign different people to different aspects of that. We are very civilized you see. So again, I say we should at least begin by calling them what they are, it is effective as ridicule and every so often you strike a nerve in a few of them. I don't care what they or anyone thinks, I'll go down with the First Amendment. When I see the part of the Constitution that says the People and the several States granted the power to the federal government to spy on its very own citizens and lock them up or execute them then I'll shut up ( or support an Amendment to remove it ). But it does not exist, it never happened, and I have read the Federalist papers many times. We're now in an extraordinary situation with a government acting far outside its parameters and defined duties. When a software program does that its a bug not a feature and gets deleted. Time to reformat.

  4. How about creating a new user account. Or, try the built-in Administrator account.

    But ... neither should be done yet ... nor should you try to get online or join a network until the system is *definitely* cleaned.

    In the interest of time it makes sense to just pull the HDD out, install it in a clean system as a slave ( a system set up with on-demand AV scanners and repair tools ), and run multiple scans against it "remotely". You will also want to manually go into all the TEMP locations and browser caches and desktops and user document folder trees and delete stuff that the automated scanners always miss. You also want to double check the boot sector and BOOT ini and traditional startup and task folders. Accessing the registry remotely and checking the startup keys for all users is also recommended. The services and tasks will also need fine tooth comb treatment.

    There is no way to ever be certain that a system has been cleaned when performing the operations under that same live system. Even if the malware itself has no active countermeasures, the hurdle is Windows itself especially in later versions. It will block you from repairs just as effectively as malware. To achieve high confidence of "clean" it needs to be done outside of the infected box. Most of this can also be done by using remote access from something like DaRT or other environment.

    FWIW, the lack of Internet or LAN is usually not a big deal, it might just be a FUBAR setting, policy or permission. If the system was new and never infected I would simply disable the NIC in the BIOS, then go to device manager in safe mode, show all devices, delete the NIC and associated networking, re-enable in the BIOS, reboot and reinstall the drivers. Or simply reinstall all the chipset drivers from scratch. Personally I wouldn't do this though, not until I pulled that disk and thoroughly "washed" it on another system ( or did it from DaRT ).

  5. Yahoo Makes HTTPS Default on Most Company Sites ( Tom's Hardware 2014-04-03 )

    Yahoo strengthens encryption between data centers, says encrypted Yahoo messenger coming soon ( TechSpot 2014-04-03 )

    Moving ahead with an announcement made late last year, Yahoo has said that all traffic moving between its data centers is now fully encrypted, and the company is also planning to introduce additional security to other services, including Yahoo Messenger.

    Do they seriously believe that these baby steps will impress anyone other than the most complacent and ignorant sheeple?

    Facebook Could Go Anonymous (Report) ( Tom's Hardware 2014-04-04 )

    Facebook may be feeling some backlash for its lack of privacy and anonymity, both of which users are enamored with, as evidenced by the rapid popularity of anonymous social apps such as Secret and Whisper.

    According to a report from Re/code, Secret and Facebook may be in talks about how they can work together. One rumor points to an offer of $100 million from Facebook to buy Secret outright.

    Wow, that'll totally convince everyone it's safe, secure and private. You're really good at this Zuck!

    U.S. knocks plans for European communication network ( Yahoo! News 2014-04-04 )

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday criticized proposals to build a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States, warning that such rules could breach international trade laws.

    No word on whether the USTR spokesmouth made this statement with a straight face!

  6. Microsoft's new Xbox leader admits team made some early "wrong decisions" for Xbox One ( NeoWin 2014-04-06 )

    In the video interview, Spencer stated:

    "There is a lot of learning that I did as a leader in the organization, when I just heard how our message resonated with people and some of the decisions that we made, that I think were actually the wrong decisions, and we had to revisit those decisions."

    The interview also had Spencer stating that the anger some gamers had towards Microsoft during that time was upsetting to him, stating that it "kinda hurt me personally so much".

    These guys are terrible at mea culpas and apologies. Terrible. It's like everything they say comes directly out of a sterile human resources textbook written by a committee of eggheads that never even saw a customer in real life.

    Unreal Engine creator: 'I genuinely worry about the future of Microsoft' ( NeoWin 2014-04-01 )

    Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney, who also created the Unreal Engine and still leads its development, said in a new interview he is concerned Microsoft may try to make future versions of its Windows OS a closed platform.

    In a chat with Polygon today, Sweeney stated:

    "I genuinely worry about the future of Microsoft. They've locked down this Windows 8. They say future app developers should focus there, but you can only ship that with Microsoft's permission and Microsoft's approval through Microsoft's store. And that sucks compared to the open nature of the PC platform before."

    Sweeney added that if Microsoft continues to move towards a closed platform model for Windows, developers could decide to switch to Android or Valve's Linux-based SteamOS for their game titles. In fact, Sweeney says that SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines that will use the operating system "will be probably the most open high-end gaming platform ever created."

    In the comments the slow cooking frogs have no idea the water is heating up and their ultimate fate. But at least there are a few there that seem to understand what the guy is trying to say.

    Unreal Engine 4.1 update includes support for Linux and SteamOS ( TechSpot 2014-04-04 )

    Epic Games Unreal Engine 4.1 update is coming later this month with a healthy helping of new features and bug fixes. Chief among them is support for Linux and Valves SteamOS / Steam Machines according to a recent blog post from Mike Fricker, lead tool editor for Epic Games.

    Well it's safe to say the 'Tards are going to have to begin hating Epic and Unreal. This is a really great thing for Linux/Valve though. :yes:

    Microsoft's anti-malware team to have new adware rules July 1 ( NeoWin 2014-04-05 )

    In a blog post, Microsoft stated that online ads start to cross over into adware territory if they run programs on a user's PC and create "notifications promoting goods or services in programs other than itself." If that occurs, Microsoft states there must be a clear way to close such an ad, like a prominent "X" or a close button in, for example, pop-up ads.

    Ads that show messages such as "Your PC performance is poor" must also clearly mention they are ads and not suggest they are in fact warnings generated by a PC, under the new rules. Finally, if a program is installed via an online ad on a computer, there must be a clear way to uninstall it. Also, the name of the program in the uninstall listing must exactly match the name that's shown in the ad.

    The new adware policies will go into effect on July 1, in order to give online ad companies time to change their programs. After July 1, if an ad is detected by Microsoft's online security programs that is considered adware, it "will immediately stop the program and the user will be notified. The user then has the ability to restore the program if they wish."

    Okay then, someone has got to ask: if this is their NEW rule, does that really mean that the current rule ALLOWS fake dialogs without X buttons and no uninstall entries? Who allowed this stuff to be considered legitimate software for all this time? Someone did. Actually I knew this for a long time as I see MANY computers with MSSE happily running ( green icon ) while spyware and/or viruses run in plain sight. It has been perfectly obvious to me they do block very little if anything at all.

  7. Touch-friendly Office coming to Windows, demoed at BUILD ( NeoWin 2014-04-02 )

    Much like Microsoft has done for iOS, Office will be coming to Windows in a touch-friendly variety and it was demoed at BUILD.

    Must be wonderfully painful for the MetroTards to watch Microsoft roll out a native build for iStuff *before* making versions for their beloved Microsoft Tile Toys. :lol: Anyway, Microsoft has now promised them the check in is the mail. Please begin holding your breath now.

    Microsoft: Office for iPad surpasses 12 million downloads ( NeoWin 2014-04-03 )

    Similarly, the apps generated significant sales figures, with Word, Excel and PowerPoint ranking in the top 30 of the largest-grossing apps chart; OneNote didn't appear on the chart as it is entirely free and features no subscription model. All the apps are free to download, though Word, Excel and PowerPoint will only allow users to view files without an Office 365 subscription. With a subscription, they can also edit files with the apps.

    If you're a MetroTard, how do you even process this news? 7 days and 12 million downloads. There is no easy way to swallow this unless you now only care about number of devices out there potentially using the Microsoft store. You certainly no longer have any hope that the iSheep will drop Apple stuff and switch to Windows. No chance of that whatsoever now. :no: In fact this could actually do the opposite and add some switchers to Apple from those disillusioned Windows users who are still hesitant to pull the trigger on an iPad or iPhone because of the missing Office that they are familiar with. Hehehe :lol:

    Microsoft Store site selling Surface Pro 2 with free Xbox controller and two games ( NeoWin 2014-04-03 )

    While we keep waiting for Microsoft to release an Xbox gaming version of its Surface tablets, the company is now offering a way to buy a new Surface Pro 2 with a free controller and two games. The special promotion is now running exclusively on the Microsoft Store website.

    Another firesale for MicroStuff that the MicroTards keep insisting are selling fine and in no trouble at all.

    Microsoft officially makes Windows free for devices under 9 inches ( NeoWin 2014-04-02 )

    This move by Microsoft is clearly designed to get Windows installed in more devices, similar to how Google makes Android free for use in third party smartphones and tablets. It remains to be seen if there will be any additional conditions to this deal, such as licensing Microsoft apps like Skype and Bing for use in those smaller hardware products, but this will likely be a "win-win" for both Microsoft and device makers.

    This is pretty big news. It is as close to an admission of failure as we're likely to ever see. Microsoft turned the computer industry upside down to sell Windows 8 and related turds and now they are trying something new yet again, copying Android! You know this means one thing - they have looked at the sales figures up and down and finally become convinced they lost big and can never catch up or even compete. The question is this: what on Earth do they do once giving it away for free still does not interest the consumers?

    Naturally the NuMensa members at NeoWin ( requires an IQ below 100 ) have cheered themselves up with daydreams and fantasies ...

    RIP Android

    -------

    Once they catch up a little more with the apps there will be zero reason to pick Android over Windows. Add to that full blown Office suite, Outlook, etc and Android will have very little to offer

    -------

    Bye, bye, Android.

    Nothing can penetrate their madness. Nothing. :no:

  8. Windows 8.1 Update 1 launches April 8, Start Menu returns in later update ( TechSpot 2014-04-02 )

    Microsoft bringing Start menu back in future Windows 8.1 update ( NeoWin 2014-04-02 )

    Microsoft is Bringing Back the Start Menu and Catering to Mouse and Keyboard Users ( Maximum PC 2014-04-03 )

    Microsoft provided a sneak peak at a future update to Windows 8.1 that will bring back the Start Menu. Pictured above is a prototype version of the Start Menu that will be seen in the update, showing a mash-up of the Windows 7-style desktop apps list with the Windows 8 Start Screen's Live Tiles.

    The update will also bring the ability to run Modern apps in windows on the desktop, as shown through the same demonstration. Neither of these features will be available in Windows 8.1 Update 1, but Microsoft says it will come in an update sometime later this year.

    2014-04-02-image-17.png

    ( Image Source: TechSpot )

    And as Formfiller suggested, most of the 'Tards are turning right around and agreeing with the decision. There are a few who are angry, and of course Dot MetroTard is busy posting fantasies to erase the "it will never happen" predictions he has spouted for about two years now.

    Mentioned above by Jorge ...

    Microsoft: Start button was 'warm blanket' taken from Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2014-04-03 )

    In an interview with CNET, Chaitanya Sareen, principal program manager lead on Windows, said that when the team was first developing Windows 8, there was lengthy internal debate about whether or not the desktop Start button would be included. He said: "It's not like someone sits there and says, 'There will be no start button.' It's a long discussion. A very, very long discussion."

    Ultimately, the decision to ditch the Start button was one that many, perhaps most, of the people who used Windows 8 felt was a mistake. Sareen compared the feeling to that of a "warm blanket" that is suddenly taken away from a person. He added, "There are some times when you have to take a bet, and there are times when you have to adjust what you're doing."

    Kinda funny to hear this half-hearted mea culpa ( still not doing it right though :no: ) from Chaitanya Sareen. We here in this very thread have discussed him several times when he was featured defending this abomination. See Post #575, and Post #3443.

    In the comments as usual we get a glimpse into the minds of the short bus riders, this one lecturing on why the Start Menu is bad ( so many clicks! ) ...

    The scrolling takes less effort and movement than click-click-clicking through the submenus. Less effort required = more efficient = better for mouse users.

    I can find anything I need on the screen in a fraction of the time it took on the menu. Rolling the scroll wheel a bit is a small price to pay for more productivity.

    Ignoring the fact that "productivity" means checking Twitter and Facebook and Xbox game stuff. What I'd really like to know is where on Earth did this lie about clicks come from! Seriously, I count NOT multiple clicks, NOT even one click, I count 1/2-click to anywhere into any and all flyout submenus. Can someone else verify this please, do the following: Click on the Start Button and keep holding it down, now you can move straight into and out of any submenus ( including Control Panel or even All Programs ) to anywhere, and then you finally release the button to execute or open your choice! One half-click to anywhere, one click in total to do anything ...

    QCYj9kQ.jpg

    Lots of extra clicks my butt. It's one click to get anywhere, and one release to execute it. MetroTards apparently can't even use a mouse without getting confused. They must be clicking madly on everything just as one might expect from n00bs. :yes:

    The only thing that I can think of is that what we have here is the 3rd "big lie" perpetrated by these GUI propagandists. ( The 1st was the Win95 "resistance" to change, the 2nd is the WinXP "Playskool GUI vs Theme" nonsense ). What we also have here are liars who not only weren't around during the Win95 or WinXP transitions, but they haven't really even used WinXP or else they couldn't possibly believe there are multiple clicks to navigate through the Start Menu. Just how n00bish can these sheeple'tards be to be this mistaken after all this time!

    From The Forums: The Start menu's return ( NeoWin 2014-04-06 )

    "Dot Matrix" also thinks that Microsoft should break away with the Start menu UI, citing its tie-ins with older versions of Windows. He stated:

    "This proves that Microsoft isn't going to get anywhere, in making changes to the OS. Half of this code dates back to the 90's... Why are we still trying to hold onto it? Times have changed, operating systems have changed, it's more than time to let some of this backwards functionality go. Windows is a mess of code, registries, and other assorted outdated paradigms. Metro was that clean break to start over."

    Poor Dot MetroTard making a fool out of herself throught the thread and in the forum. Thing is, this Playskool toy operating system is now getting a little long in the tooth. It was first shown to the press THREE years ago in early 2011 ( see Post #3248.) Ironically that exactly matches the three years that Windows 7 existed before being dumped for Windows 8. :lol: It's time for a change Dot MetroTard! Stop resisting you Luddite.

  9. Last call at the Windows XP FUDpocalypse ...

    Windows 7 is Growing Too Fast for Windows 8 to Catch Up ( Maximum PC 2014-04-02 )

    One week before supports ends, Windows XP still installed on 27.69 percent of PCs ( NeoWin 2014-04-01 )


    9lmrcKp.jpg

    ZAps6Vm.png


    I stopped believing these numbers at the red line. Microsoft has many times paid companies to spread propaganda, I think they are doing it again.

    Great comment at NeoWin by someone that has verified what I myself also have done for several years ...

    I have Windows Update disabled for years and my Windows XP is running smoothly.


    Naturally the NeoKids can't process this outside-the-MicroBox thinking and panic like a herd of birds ...

    At the very least, you should get on and manually apply all applicable updates before the end-of-support date.

    After the end-of-support date you should ensure your XP machine is not connected to the internet in any way if you wish to continue using it.


    There's a good little sheep. Disconnect from the Internet, oh my! Baaaaahhhhhhhh!

    This just clarifies why there are so many XP machines still in active use... We know that the majority of the population is stupid, and your comment just shows either your IT stupidity, or ignorance, for not even updating XP over the years. Your actions are like the worst IT sin.


    Stupidity? :no: He ( and I ) are busy documenting that you and your FUD are wrong, have been all along. You are full of robotic responses, you have nothing to back up your fear with, you are actually trying hard to yell 'fire' in a crowded theater, and help sell more copies of Windows while you're at it. That's a good little MicroBoy. Now off to bed so mommy can tuck you in and keep you safe from all the monsters under your bed.


    Dropping Support for Windows XP Could Drive Users to Chromebooks ( NeoWin 2014-04-02 )

    So just now they're catching on? Hmmmm, I wonder why ...


    London Borough ditches Windows XP in favor of Google Chromebooks ( TechSpot 2014-04-02 )

    London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is all set to roll out Google Chromebooks in the wake of Microsofts Windows XP support cut-off, according to a V3 report. The council, which was previously using 3,500 Windows XP desktops and 800 XP laptops, is in the process of rolling out 2,000 Chromebooks for employees and 300 Chromeboxes for reception desks and shared work areas.

    2013060220130602velhamidiavelhamidiando_



    The photo Microsoft used for the Windows XP default wallpaper is (mostly) untouched ( NeoWin 2014-04-01 )

    Not a FUD piece, just a trip down memory lane with the old Bliss wallpaper. Funny thing is one of the chief MicroTards can't help but to open mouth and spew nonsense ...




    Seeing this wallpaper reminds me of the Teleatubbies version that was so popular.

    This was at a time when everyone still hated XP and all its 'horrible' UI changes. (You know, exactly the same response people had to Metro design concepts just a couple years ago that everyone is adopting.)

    What is old is new and what is new is old.

    Side Note with regard to early XP hate: I can still remember users being furious that they couldn't install their soundcard and modem on the same IRQ with WinXP, when it 'worked just fine' under Win9x. Of course they didn't understand why Win9x locked up when they were playing music and connecting to the Internet. (Sometimes users have to be forced to do things the right way, even if they scream and kick and don't understand why it is better.)


    The first whopper there is intentionally confusing the Windows XP theme with the Windows 8 Playskool GUI. I repeat, theme versus GUI. Windows XP could be only called 'Fisher Price' by the most unintelligent of users, the proto-sheeple that ironically love the retarded Metro. There were no GUI changes from Win9x to WinXP, the theme just decorated the GUI and that was a click away to change. The whole theme was just settings in single visual style file with that green and blue color scheme and the separate bliss wallpaper. The GUI did change however in Vista+ and it was substantially mangled in Microsoft Tiles.

    Yet this MetroTard intentionally confuses the two completely different cases, probably in an effort to rationalize away the fact that so many can see the nonsense in Windows 8 that he cannot see. This is one of those classic lies used by MetroTards, it is as big a whopper as the lie about resistance to the new Win95 GUI. What do yo expect I guess. Liars lie.

    w6WQn1i.jpg



    That second part about IRQ's does not ring any bells with me, so I suspect this 'Tard is actually one who was too young to be a foot soldier in those days and just makes up past memories to fill the gaps in his obviously Vista+ era CV. What I do remember was people wanting to use the same exact *differing* IRQ's in WinXP when the OS would combine them on its own, sometimes piling four devices onto the same IRQ whereas in Win9x they could be forced onto separate ones after much fiddling. In effect here the 'Tard has it totally backwards as no-one wanted to pile them together on purpose. Why would they? Like I said, a fake Windows veteran who is busy impressing his easily impressed fellow MetroTards with his fake memories.

    EDIT: typo

  10. On other news, besides the re-known Dual Elliptic Curve issue, it seems like

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/us-usa-security-nsa-rsa-idUSBREA2U0TY20140331

    the "Extended Random" extension to it is an added insecurity. :ph34r:http://dualec.org/

    Important find, :thumbup and detailed article. Let's put the title on the record here ...

    Exclusive: NSA infiltrated RSA security more deeply than thought - study ( Reuters 2014-03-31 )

    And someone involved with Firefox won't like this ...

    In a Pentagon-funded paper in 2008, the Extended Random protocol was touted as a way to boost the randomness of the numbers generated by the Dual Elliptic Curve.

    [...]

    The NSA played a significant role in the origins of Extended Random. The authors of the 2008 paper on the protocol were Margaret Salter, technical director of the NSA's defensive Information Assurance Directorate, and an outside expert named Eric Rescorla.

    Rescorla, who has advocated greater encryption of all Web traffic, works for Mozilla, maker of the Firefox web browser. He and Mozilla declined to comment. Salter did not respond to requests for comment.

    I'll bet Rescorla is not a big fan of Snowden or Bruce Schneier or any other of the critics. :lol:

    I have my own theory often stated here that these types of government sponsored backdoors were intended for general consumption, to be picked up by many or most software developers. However it would be beyond stupid for us to now believe this is the only egg in their basket. I am starting to wonder if these are part of an elaborate plan to be the mostly visible portion, their thinking being 'hey, if we get this in, then great, but let's work real hard on the deep stuff'. So these are expendable things, they can be written off and discarded.

    So why would they really want backdoors in Windows ( and all software, but in this specific case Windows ) in the first place? The answer to that means we must first dodge all the strawmen distractions of spying on users. They already had that ability as the CALEA stuff showed long before 9/11, and even before that they have routinely used the courts and sympathetic judges and grand juries to revoke those pesky Fourth and Fifth Amendments at will. And they always have the local cops available to knock down doors and confiscate anything they want, they can even trump up popularly approved charges of drug running or child porn or whatever suits them.

    No, I believe this is really about getting access to NTFS encryption ( and other OS flavors ). This connection has yet to be made in all the security revelations. Wikipedia: NTFS encryption ...

    Recovery

    Files encrypted with EFS can only be decrypted by using the RSA private key(s) matching the previously used public key(s). The stored copy of the user's private key is ultimately protected by the user's logon password. Accessing encrypted files from outside Windows with other operating systems (Linux, for example) is not possible — not least of which because there is currently no third party EFS component driver. Further, using special tools to reset the user's login password will render it impossible to decrypt the user's private key and thus useless for gaining access to the user's encrypted files. The significance of this is occasionally lost on users, resulting in data loss if a user forgets his or her password, or fails to back up the encryption key. This led to coining of the term "delayed recycle bin", to describe the seeming inevitability of data loss if an inexperienced user encrypts his or her files.

    I do not believe that statement any longer: "Accessing encrypted files from outside Windows with other operating systems (Linux, for example) is not possible",. :no: I believe that it has all been about this very thing since the beginning. The timeline suggests to me that in the 1990's they got most of what they wanted as mentioned above, but probably hit the roadblock of encrypted private computers taken from suspects and terrorists ( in fact one of the 9/11 almost hijackers had an encrypted disk IIRC ). I think it all will become clear if we ever find out the post-9/11 post-WinXP to Vista+ transition story. PRISM falls right into this calendar, as well as ballooning defense and black budgets, numerous legislation, and exposed black-bag jobs.

    The absence of speculation about this is starting to look suspicious IMHO. Sure, the RSA guys are catching some flak, and some little amount of criticism has been directed at Microsoft and others, but still not enough to overcome the chorus of enablers out there. I'm looking forward to this specific area being exposed. Of course there will be nothing to celebrate aside from the fact that journalists and sycophants are proved wrong again and are so easily misled and distracted. It will mean ( and already does IMHO ) that there is absolutely no privacy or security to be found anywhere. It will mean that Orwell was thinking small and his fictitious Little Brother can't hold a candle to our very real Big Brother.

  11. Actually I wasn't clear. I knew about 2K/XP on FAT32, but just never felt like trying because of the inevitable disk limitations, and the lesser integrity from non-journaling and other safety valves.

    What I meant was some way to create an NTFS system without $Secure, and to further the daydreaming - some way to eliminate streams also ( streams I am just biased against because of the concept of hiding stuff from the computer owner. )

    The thing about ACL's is they are implemented in all-or-none fashion. I think a better idea would have been starting with a fresh naked NTFS space, no ACL's on any object, and only then adding them in for specific objects when wanted. Windows API should have used functions that first test for presence of ACL on an object and then efficiently fall through when absent, and only cycling through security procedures when they do exist. Unfortunate design choices in the early NT era I guess, because if in Windows functions ACL's are assumed to exist everywhere there is little to be gained by removing $secure from NTFS because Windows itself will still be doing the work as if they were there.

    Presently we have the worst possible implementation IMHO, access control lists for every object ( file/folder/key ) and they must be consulted for every transaction, and of course are available to be tampered with by everyone at will, and there is no comprehensive tool to manage the chaos. However, ACL's created à la carte ( i.e., objects are clean by default, permissions only exist when intentionally specified ) would mean you could pull up a list of all ACL's ( maybe only existing for 1% of all objects ) and the entire thing would be manageable, and changes such as modifications or new or deleted permissions could be identified easily. The event log could perhaps be used to show the history of such creations/deletions/changes as well. It's just such a mess now.

    Bonus philosophical question of the day: was SETACL a godsend or a thorn in our side. ( NB: it came along in the WinXP transition era, but in the years since most of the same functionality has been added to setup applications like INNO etc. When you create a setup.exe these days it's as simple as a checkbox or added parameter to specify permissions on not only the distribution files, but anything on the target system. In fact it's really a simple matter to whip up a "permissions fixer" standalone EXE that corrects/creates problems on a system. )

  12. A great experiment which I never did was to install Windows XP on FAT instead of NTFS. ( never wanted to deal with potential structural problems or huge disk limits ).

    But it would be nice to test Windows XP without any ACL's mucking up the mix, not to mention hidden streams. I doubt it is possible but I figured you would know if there was a way to format NTFS without those particular metadata.

    Of course, there may be some dependencies in Windows XP that crap out when that metadata does not exist. But if it were possible, I believe every transaction would see an immediate boost in speed due to absent permission checking on every read/write, not to mention non-file-I/O logic not wasting time with admin/standard permissions. That is the theory of course. No guarantee the good guys in Redmond considered writing dual-use code ( that is, dual file system compatibility ) it might run through the permissions functions anyway and return "not-NTFS" and save no time whatsoever.

  13. Of course the predominant characteristic that defines Windows XP is that the operating system was developed before 9/11 and all the subsequent spook developments. Years ago this was a "tinfoil hat" tidbit of information, but since last summer only a fool would advance that line of reasoning. The fact is that every subsequent Windows generation ( Longhorn/Vista forward ) was written under NuWorld rules, likely with spook oversight and with huge concessions given to the Feds. They had no choice, I'm sure it was do it or else. The 9/11 NuWorld paradigm is noticeably absent from the infographic and all the FUD and propaganda perpetrated by Microsoft and her sycophants. Just say no to lies, deceit and propaganda.

    Suspicion is growing that something similar may have been done with Apple OS's:

    Looking back, we lose even when we win these big issues. Clipper-Chip, Carnivore, SOPA, whatever. They never stop. I recall the argument in the 1990's to be either we quadruple the spook budget to let them make massive supercomputers to brute force decrypt on demand, or, we bend over and accept backdoors on everything and taps placed on every single segment of communication pipe. Instead, after 9/11, they just did both, and everything in between.

    Wikipedia: Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

    Provisions of CALEA

    In its own words, the purpose of CALEA is:

    To amend title 18, United States Code, to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for Law Enforcement purposes, and for other purposes.

    The U.S. Congress passed the CALEA to aid law enforcement in its effort to conduct criminal investigations requiring wiretapping of digital telephone networks. The Act obliges telecommunications companies to make it possible for law enforcement agencies to tap any phone conversations carried out over its networks, as well as making call detail records available. The act stipulates that it must not be possible for a person to detect that his or her conversation is being monitored by the respective government agency.

    Common carriers, facilities-based broadband Internet access providers, and providers of interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service – all three types of entities are defined to be “telecommunications carriers” and must meet the requirements of CALEA.

    The CALEA Implementation Unit at the FBI has clarified that intercepted information is supposed to be sent to Law Enforcement concurrently with its capture.

    On March 10, 2004, the United States Department of Justice, FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration filed a "Joint Petition for Expedited Rulemaking"[2] in which they requested certain steps to accelerate CALEA compliance, and to extend the provisions of CALEA to include the ability to perform surveillance of all communications that travel over the Internet — such as Internet traffic and VoIP.

    As a result, the FCC adopted a "First Report and Order" concluding that CALEA applies to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and providers of interconnected (with the public switched telephone network) Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services.

    In May 2006, the FCC adopted a "Second Report and Order", which clarified and affirmed the First Order:

    • The CALEA compliance deadline remains May 14, 2007.
    • Carriers are permitted to meet their CALEA obligations through the services of “Trusted Third Parties (TTP)” — that is, they can hire outside companies, which meet security requirements outlined in CALEA, to perform all of the required functions.
    • Carriers are responsible for CALEA development and implementation costs.
    Technical implementation

    USA telecommunications providers must install new hardware or software, as well as modify old equipment, so that it doesn't interfere with the ability of a law enforcement agency (LEA) to perform real-time surveillance of any telephone or Internet traffic. Modern voice switches now have this capability built in, yet Internet equipment almost always requires some kind of intelligent Deep Packet Inspection probe to get the job done. In both cases, the intercept-function must single out a subscriber named in a warrant for intercept and then immediately send some (headers-only) or all (full content) of the intercepted data to an LEA. The LEA will then process this data with analysis software that is specialized towards criminal investigations.

    All traditional voice switches on the U.S. market today have the CALEA intercept feature built in. The IP-based "soft switches" typically do not contain a built-in CALEA intercept feature; and other IP-transport elements (routers, switches, access multiplexers) almost always delegate the CALEA function to elements dedicated to inspecting and intercepting traffic. In such cases, hardware taps or switch/router mirror-ports are employed to deliver copies of all of a network's data to dedicated IP probes.

    Probes can either send directly to the LEA according to the industry standard delivery formats (c.f. ATIS T1.IAS, T1.678v2, et al.); or they can deliver to an intermediate element called a mediation device, where the mediation device does the formatting and communication of the data to the LEA. A probe that can send the correctly formatted data to the LEA is called a "self-contained" probe.

    In order to be compliant, IP-based service providers (Broadband, Cable, VoIP) must choose either a self-contained probe (such as made by IPFabrics), or a "dumb" probe component plus a mediation device (such as made by Verint), or they must implement the delivery of correctly formatted for a named subscriber's data on their own.

    That began in 1994 and naturally was greatly enhanced since 9/11.

    Why on Earth would anyone even pretend to doubt that all the software companies ( PRISM! ) have done the same thing? The operating systems are compromised people!

    I'm keeping some Win9x and older systems mothballed, and won't decommission any WinXP computer ever again.

    EDIT: "Clipper" not V-Chip. Doh! old brain indeed.

  14. Hey, at least you confirmed that the firewall did its job, even if it wasn't what you expected. And I suppose there is a setting you can adjust so that COMODO allows the requested activity.

    Cheers and Regards

    To be picky, a firewall should be between you and a (possible) fire and not stand right in the middle of your office, preventing you to get to (say) the restroom or your co-workers' desks. ;)

    In other words, it should be a safety measure against perils coming from the outside, not an obstacle to everyday work.

    Maybe this round the good Comodo guys overdid it a little. :unsure: (or their "smart" Default Deny Protection is not as smart as one would expect :whistle:)

    jaclaz

    Hear hear. :thumbup: This nonsense they started quite a long time ago, pretty much around the time of mainstreaming OS and software from Win9x to WinXP. Many relatively tame programs in their "new" NT versions like Norton, McAfee, Flash, etc began to make ACL adjustments during setup. Perhaps it was even earlier during NT/NT4/Win2K, who knows, but it became noticeable during WinXP.

    The problem is when you go to uninstall something that does this ( changes permissions on folders and registry keys ) there is little guarantee that the uninstaller will reset them back to the way they were before, even if they were so inclined do they really know what the permission should now be set at? It's not an easy task and naturally consumer Windows offers no simple method of auditing ACL's or saving their state, or resetting them. Consequently there are a million unexplained annoyances many of which are probably permission related.

    This is one of the main reasons for the official "removers" from Norton and McAfee I believe, necessary to remove files and keys that mere mortals cannot. Flash still modifies several registry key permissions even today, with every single update even after you manually revert them to the way they were. Firewalls as Jaclaz says ( and all security software and everything else really ) should be a positive experience, a friendly tool, but there is no reason for them to be as we crossed the Rubicon of developer responsibility long ago unchallenged whenever they made these aggressive attacks on the user's very own computer. There is no semblance of responsibility or restraint, they do what they want. They don't even attempt to document what they have done, nor does it appear in many discussion threads.

    The permission alteration issue is one of the moral cases, something that should be done "with permission" pardon the pun. It dovetails with another Rubicon that was crossed at the same time, programs that use the Internet at will ( phone home, or whatever ). This should never have been allowed to happen without permission as no-one will tolerate it in real life ( a guest visitor using the phone at will ). Another moral line crossed with hardly a whimper. Is there any wonder why malware is everywhere? It's almost hard to even call them illegal compared to what other software already does at will.

    Back to the security topic, the only good solution IMHO is for someone to develop a comprehensive permissions auditing tool. One that records all of their states periodically and can do smart diffing, for example comparing all currently existing objects' ACL with their previous state but leaving out new ones and missing old ones and highlighting only changes. You can brute force record ACLs at two different periods in time but the diff comparison is almost unusable because of missing old ones and lots of new ones. Troubleshooting Windows is fast approaching needle-in-haystack probabilities.

  15. Microsoft makes source code for MS-DOS and Word for Windows available to public ( The Official Microsoft Blog 2014-03-25 )

    Computer History Museum Makes Historic MS-DOS and Word for Windows Source Code Available to the Public ( ComputerHistory.org 2014-03-25 )

    Microsoft releases source code to MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Word for Windows 1.1a ( NeoWin 2014-03-25 )

    Microsoft releases early source code for MS-DOS and Word for Windows ( TechSpot 2014-03-26 )

    On Tuesday, we dusted off the source code for early versions of MS-DOS and Word for Windows. With the help of the Computer History Museum, we are making this code available to the public for the first time.

    Naturally the utterly shoddy journalism over at NeoWin manages to rear it's ugly head in a followup article ...

    Microsoft's MS-DOS and Word source code is filled with Easter eggs ( NeoWin 2014-03-27 )

    Leon Zandman, a software programmer based in the Netherlands, went through the code for all of the programs Microsoft released this week and posted what he discovered on his Twitter account, Some of what he found are NSFW but a few are pretty funny; he later collected all of what he dug up on a Storify page.

    Um no! :no: Sorry NeoWin. Those are not Easter Eggs ( and the cited article does NOT use that term ). These are just source code comments and nothing more. I think the real point here though is that NeoWin really is now a neutered shallow image of its former self, over-run by MetroTard commenters and writers, all of whom display only the most distant child-like grasp of technology and computer history. In short, it is a blissful field where herds of sheeple congregate, the very demographic that they themselves had been previously assigned to iTards. They are content consumers, consumer electronic chimpanzees who are not even vaguely representative of the classic Windows universe. Only someone from this Tard camp could write such a mistaken description of source code comments, and only NeoWin could be counted on to let the article get published as is.

    And now for something completely different ( not really ) ...

    Facebook announces $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR ( TechSpot 2014-03-25 )

    Facebook to Acquire Oculus Rift Developer for $2 Billion ( Maximum PC 2014-03-25 )

    Facebook to buy Oculus VR for $2 billion ( PC Gamer 2014-03-25 )

    Facebook buys Oculus VR PC Gamer debates the pros and cons ( PC Gamer 2014-03-25 )

    Notch cancels Minecraft Oculus Rift deal: "Facebook creeps me out" ( PC Gamer 2014-03-25 )

    How Facebook's Oculus Buy Changes Future of Rift, VR ( Tom's Hardware 2014-03-25 )

    Facebook to acquire company behind Oculus Rift VR headset for $2 billion ( NeoWin 2014-03-25 )

    CCP says Facebook acquisition of Oculus Rift won't change plans for EVE: Valkyrie launch ( PC Gamer 2014-03-26 )

    Minecraft creator cancels plans for Oculus Rift port: "Facebook creeps me out." ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    New York Times reports Facebook will put its logo and UI on Oculus Rift hardware %5BUpdate%5D ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    Doom creator John Carmack is now employed by Facebook ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    Cliff Bleszinski defends Oculus-Facebook deal, calls Notch "pouty kid" ( PC Gamer 2014-03-27 )

    Oculus Should Refund Kickstarter Money ( Maximum PC 2014-03-28 )

    Facebook inside Oculus VR - nightmare come true.

    Facebook has reached an agreement to acquire Oculus VR, makers of the pioneering Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, as part of a deal valued at $2 billion. The deal includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock on top of a $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on certain milestones according to a press release on the matter.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said mobile is the platform of today and now they're getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow. Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever and change the way we work, play and communicate, Zuckerberg added.

    At least most of the blogosphere are angry about this nuclear bomb blast of a story. It is painful to read comments from the enablers though, a handful of commenters at the articles and some high profile people like Carmack and Bleszinski.

    One angle that still needs to be explored is whether there was any quasi-insider trading by getting several of these folks onboard before the deal was announced. Even if it is found to be perfectly legal it still smells like crap. Some of these people stand to pocket a huge chunk of change from Facebook, while the actual grunts that kickstarted the product are left with nothing. I'm glad for this uproar even though it will change nothing.

  16. Computer Insecurity ...

    Microsoft issues security advisory and 'Fix-it' patch for Word exploit ( NeoWin 2014-03-24 )

    Recent Microsoft Word exploit won't affect WordPad [update: Word on iPad isn't affected] ( NeoWin 2014-03-27 )

    Zero-day vulnerability found in Microsoft Word being actively exploited ( TechSpot 2014-03-25 )

    Specifically, RTF files can be modified to cause the corruption of system memory in such a way that code could be executed. When a user opens the file in Microsoft Word, or previews a specially-crafted RTF email in Microsoft Outlook, a skillful attacker could execute code and gain the same privileges as the user. This could cause all sorts of havoc, including a remote takeover of the PC in question.

    ( What, no mention of Windows XP? ) But how can this be true when Windows 7 and Microsoft Tiles are super-duper secure operating systems? This must be a mistake, no? Oh well, time to move on from Microsoft Word I guess. I mean its thirty-one frickin years old! It had a great run.

    California DMV compromised, credit cards breached ( NeoWin 2014-03-22 )

    Earlier this week, MasterCard issued an alert noting that credit cards used online in transactions with California's DMV may have resulted in the theft of data and personal information - including credit card numbers, expiration dates, and three-digit security codes.

    The number of cards stolen is still unconfirmed, but according to security blogger Brian Krebs, at least five different financial institutions have confirmed the data breach. Krebs says the potentially compromised transactions all occurred in a range of six months, from August 2nd, 2013 to January 21st, 2014.

    ( What, no mention of Windows XP? ) Well then, who is the cloud provider? Is it Microsoft Azure perhaps? Who is providing backend security? Symantec? Microsoft? Who designed the system in the first place and connected the credit card database to the website? Who signed off on the architecture? As usual no answers will be forthcoming because they are protecting each other ( the politicians and the tech companies they hired ).

    Privacy ...

    Federal Judge smacks down porn copyright trolls: IP addresses are not people ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    A federal judge in Florida wasn't falling for Malibu's troll tactics however, as last week Judge Ursula Ungaro threw out Malubu's lawsuits and ruled that there is nothing that links the identity of the alleged pirate to the IP address that Malibu was providing.

    "There is nothing that links the IP address location to the identity of the person actually downloading and viewing Plaintiffs videos, and establishing whether that person lives in this district." - Judge Ungaro

    Malibu attempted to justify that the geolocation technology used is always accurate, but aside from being a ridiculous claim, the judge established that a geolocation is still not sufficient to incriminate a specific person.

    An example of this is to consider the concept of a shared car: If 10 people share a car, then just having the license plate of the car is not sufficient to prove who was driving the car at some specific time. Likewise with IP addresses, it merely establishes that that specific internet connection was used, however it doesn't establish who the user was.

    "Even if this IP address is located within a residence, the geolocation software cannot identify who has access to that residences computer and who would actually be using it to infringe Plaintiffs copyright." - Judge Ungaro

    Well that's a nice little sliver of good news. The patent trolls are bad enough but there was double trouble possible here - the danger of precedent had it gone the wrong way. Thankfully the judge did the right thing. So along with some earlier example cases with identical outcomes the precedent appears to now be established that IP Address != Human Being. Thank you for small miracles. :yes:

    Microsoft Alters Outlook and Hotmail Policy After Snooping a Blogger's Inbox ( Maximum PC 2014-03-21 )

    Electronic Frontier Foundation slams Microsoft for searching a blogger's Hotmail ( NeoWin 2014-03-22 )

    Google: It's hard to imagine us snooping in Gmail to investigate company leaks ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    Microsoft will no longer access email accounts that steal company IP ( NeoWin 2014-03-28 )

    Several later articles about the MicroSpy case from over a week ago. BTW, look at that last NeoWin article title! Dripping with anger.

  17. 25 year Microsoft Office and Windows veteran exec Antoine Leblond to depart ( NeoWin 2014-03-30 )

    Microsoft is losing yet another long time employee, Antoine Leblond, who was a major force behind the company's Office division and later for the development of Windows 8. Re/code reports that Leblond sent out an email to team members late on Friday announcing his departure from Microsoft after nearly 25 years.

    The email stated that his last official day at Microsoft will be on Monday, March 31st, which also happens to be his 9,000th day at the company.

    [...]

    During the recent company reorganization at Microsoft, Leblond was not named as an executive of the new operating systems division led by Terry Myerson,, In late 2013, two other major Windows team members who also were not named as part of Myerson's team, Jon DeVaan and Grant George, decided to leave Microsoft.

    Leblond's departure email did not indicate where he might be working next, saying only that it was "time for me to go out and see what the non-Microsoft world has to offer."

    Leblond was sure busy pimping Microsoft Tiles in this official Microsoft Windows Blog ( June 2013 ) and maintaining the Sinofsky line while getting hammered by commenters like this ...

    But the Microsoft product people have a better plan. Remember when we introduced the Ribbon they tell Steve. There was a lot of wailing, but it went away. Same will happen with Windows 8 and soon, don't worry Steve, Windows 8 will be on tablets and smartphones everywhere.

    Boy are they wrong. Times have changed. There are real alternatives out there now. LeBlond tells us with a straight face that they listened to users. Only thing I can suggest Antoine is that you need a hearing aid. Users, from grannies to power-users have complained, are complaining and will complain in the future and slowly drift away from the Microsoft franchise. Not to Linux of course, but to the Mac and Google's offerings.

    This is way beyond a sea change now. It is a clean sweep of the MetroTards from management and the company ( obviously the rank and file is still infested though ).

    Photograph of Terry Myerson wishing Leblond well ...

    Picture+15.png

    Two stories that belong together and illustrate the hypocrisy of Microsoft ...

    UK ad regulator allows Microsoft's "Scroogled" Pig Latin radio ad to be aired ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    The Advertising Standards Authority stated today that the group got two complaints about the message, which begins with a character speaking some words in Pig Latin. Another person then says, "Pig Latin may be hard to understand, but you probably need it if you use Gmail, because Gmail scans every word of your e-mails to sell ads. But Outlook.com doesn't." The two complaints claimed that Microsoft also scans all Outlook.com emails.

    In their decision, the ASA said that Microsoft's Outlook.com does scan all of its emails, but just for the purposes of finding any viruses or spam, rather than for ad generation as Google's Gmail does. It stated:

    They (Microsoft) explained that this protective scanning was not mentioned in the ad because, unlike scanning to target advertising, scanning for viruses and spam was standard practice of which consumers were likely to be aware. Therefore, they considered that omission of this practice in the ad did not render it misleading.

    So here's a dumb@ss judge that literally restates Microsoft talking points, taking their word at face value (disgusting IMHO ). We can assume that THIS is exactly the kind of judge that Microsoft has promised to consult whenever they need to spy on user emails. :yes: Yep.

    On the other hand, Microsoft is whole hog into policing Xbox players, hammering them with political correctness no doubt, in true Orwellian groupthink fashion ...

    Microsoft will now tell you if you are a jerk on Xbox Live ( NeoWin 2014-03-26 )

    Microsoft uses colors to represent Xbox One player reputation levels, with "Green" linked with "Good Player," "Yellow" meaning the score "Needs Work" and "Red" standing for "Avoid Me." In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft stated, "Beginning this month, some players will start receiving reputation warnings as their reputations drop due to feedback from the community."

    If a player sees his or her online reputation fall into the Red level, they may experience limitations on playing games on the Xbox One until they can boost their score up. That may also include not being able to broadcast games via the Twitch app. On the other side of the equation, Microsoft says it has plans to offer rewards for players who are in the green and have been rated as having a good online reputation. Details about those plans should be released in the future. Microsoft insists that their algorithm will adjust if some people attempt to make false reports against Xbox One players.

    Presumably these are all paying customers, so we can expect a future backlash and subsequent policy reversal here as well. I'm starting to wonder if there is a single landmine or sh!tpile that Microsoft avoids stepping on.

    Most importantly, someone's gotta ask: If you really want to slap a childproof safety cap on the world then why are they in the business of marketing shooters in the first place?

  18. What Our Customers Have to Say About Windows 8 ( PugetSystems 2014-03-25 )

    Puget Systems Offers Free Service on New PCs to Make Windows 8 Look and Feel Like Windows 7 ( Maximum PC 2014-03-25 )

    Puget: Windows 8 is not our fault, but we have to clean up after Microsoft's terrible UI decisions ( TechSpot 2014-03-25 )

    Clever marketing gimmick from a system builder apparently to drum up sales. Of course this is all ancient news to everyone in this thread. Better late than never I guess. Hasn't been picked up by NeoWin yet, but it's just as well since they got their hands full at the moment crying about Apple.

    Oh, excellent points made by a commenter ...

    Microsoft had a decision to make with mobile: for our curated experience do we come up with something that's familiar-looking but very limited in function, or make an entirely new UI paradigm? They chose the latter and it was the worst decision in the company's history. Change for change's sake will never sell. Apple succeeded with the iPhone because it was *better* than any touch system that had come before. You can't just throw something that's "sort of" like what people are used to and pray it sticks. Microsoft should have addressed all the complaints regarding iOS and exploited them. Instead they kept none of the positive aspects of existing UIs (Windows included) and switched to an inefficient, non-intuitive interface while ignoring all feedback from the average consumer. The entire industry has become dependent upon the Windows-Office refresh cycle and proceeded to go down with the SS Ballmer. IMHO there are only two possible salvation for Microsoft. The ideal one would be for Windows 9 to combine every truly great idea Microsoft ever had for user interface design. The start menu, with both fly-out and scrolling styles, quick launch, jump lists, the sidebar...all of it in one glorious, highly configurable desktop. Windows 9 themes should save every aspect of your UI, allowing you to instantly switch from a desktop to pure touch experience or anything in between. The runner-up solution would be for an open standard of shell modification to emerge that let's us create our own Windows experience. Get all of the bright minds from Classic Shell, Pokki, Stardock and the other guys together to settle on an app support layer for any UI replacements they create. If every third party shell enhancement or replacement displayed Metro apps the same way then Metro apps could become fully integrated into any UI supporting the standard. You'd see people creating custom UIs that were almost totally composed of Metro apps. Of course it would be much simpler if Microsoft simply allowed Metro apps to be run just like regular desktop programs (ala gadgets) or at least in a reserved desktop area - "Windows Sidebar 2", if you will.

    Microsoft Store selling Xbox One bundles with 'Titanfall' or 'Forza 5' for $450 ( NeoWin 2014-03-25 )

    Microsoft Store locations to offer 1 free year of Office 365 to people who bring in iPad ( NeoWin 2014-03-28 )

    Microsoft Store offering free Touch Cover with any Surface until Saturday ( NeoWin 2014-03-24 )

    Why do companies have firesales in the first place? To clear out old stock or to give CPR to a a dead business. Clearly both are in play here contrary to what MicroZealots have been telling us. I've pretty much lost count as to how many price cuts and Crazy Eddie bargains have been trotted out.

    Dell will pay Microsoft royalties for each Android and Chrome OS product sold ( TechSpot 2014-03-27 )

    Microsoft and Dell sign cross-patent license agreement ( NeoWin 2014-03-27 )

    More extortion of the Android platform by Microsoft, fleecing an operating system they did not even write but insist on collecting protection racket money from. If they actually have claim to some fractional percentage of the total code size of Android ( maybe 1% ) then they should collect that 1% of the cost. But since this is actually about lawyers, and companies that cave and settle rather than standing on principle this criminal Mafia action will continue. Let's hope that Google has something up their sleeve as payback for the Scroogle nonsense.

  19. Bumping ugly with the Apple enemy ... Hellraiser edition! ... ( and already mentioned by FF :thumbup: ) ...

    Microsoft announces Office for iPad, available for download today ( TechSpot 2014-03-27 )

    Microsoft on Thursday revealed Office for iPad during a press briefing in San Francisco as part of their goal of empowering people to be productive across all devices. The product has reportedly been years in the making but according to Microsoft, theres good reason for that.

    This is an all-new version of Office built specifically for the iPad, not a ported version for Windows or a 2x zoom of the iPhone version.

    Oh boy. This is not gonna sit well with the MicroZealots. :no: Considering that Microsoft has yet to create a native Playskool edition for Windows 8 or RT, this will be quite the pity party.

    Office for iPad is official, downloads now available ( NeoWin 2014-03-27 )

    Office on the iPad rumors have been around for more than 2 years with the first alleged screenshot being released back in February of 2012. Since then, the release has been rumored time and time again but finally, Microsoft has come forward and announced Office for the iPad.

    [...]

    Office is the real deal, it allows collaborative work like you have known to love with documents in the cloud and it works with markup and threaded comments. The app is also native, this is not a port of a previous version of Office.

    That's NeoWin's chief MetroTard Brad Sams again. Yes he really uses that phrase: "Office is the real deal"! Actually it's not, it is not much more than the traditional Word/Excel/Powerpoint VIEWERS that Microsoft keeps releasing. But we'll get back to this later I'm sure.

    Let the suffering commence ...

    "Personally I don't think they should have released it. This definitely can't help the Surface in the future, especially as far as corporate buyers are concerned."

    ---

    "No one cares about or wants Surface. This is the right step for MSFT."

    ---

    "A LIMITED version of Office is no comparison to the full versions you get on Surface. The iPad version is not much more than a glorified version of Office on the Web."

    Sweeeeet! It can't get much better than this! :lol: Or can it?

    Tim Cook and Satya Nadella offer Twitter congrats for Office on iPad debut ( NeoWin 2014-03-28 )

    While we do think it's a tad odd that Apple leaders didn't want to show up to Microsoft's event in person. that didn't stop its CEO Tim Cook giving a virtual "Congrats" via Twitter to Nadella for the Office on iPad launch.

    Welcome to the #iPad and @AppStore! @satyanadella and Office for iPad Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2014

    Nadella quickly returned the message from Cook with a Twitter post of his own:

    Thanks @tim_cook, excited to bring the magic of @Office to iPad customers #cloud4mobile Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 27, 2014

    How awesome would it have been if Tim Cook had then said: "Thanks @satyanadella, excited to bring the magic of Apple hardware to @Office users!"

    tumblr_ma7bpxDaYe1r1yqj1o8_250.jpg

    Unbearable, isn't it? The suffering of strangers, the agony of friends. - IMDB

    But there is still much more agony to come ...

    Microsoft makes Office for Android and iPhone free for home users ( TechSpot 2014-03-28 )

    Office Mobile for iPhone and Android smartphones now free for home use ( NeoWin 2014-03-27 )

    The announcement was made as part of the Office for iPad post on the Microsoft's Office blog. Previously, Office Mobile required a Office 365 subscription, but that has now been eliminated for home use. Office 365 is still required if the apps are used for business purposes; Office Mobile for Windows Phone is already free to download and use.

    Ouch! That's like a kick in the nuts right after a kick in the gut! Sweet suffering continues ...

    "Seriously, is Microsoft abandoning the devices part of their "devices and services" business model? Apple hasn't release any of their iWork or iLife mobile products to Android or Microsoft. Microsoft has to know that hardly anyone will think twice to buy a Surface or a Windows Phone product. Like i said on another thread, there is zero reason to buy Microsoft hardware."

    ---

    "Umm... "Office" is not a device, it's a service."

    :lol: I think it's hysterical that the second guy is even more clueless than the first ( who was right about abandoning "devices" like Surface )!

    tumblr_ma7bpxDaYe1r1yqj1o8_250.jpg

    Save your tears. I'll reap your sorrow slowly. I have centuries to discover the things that make you whimper. - IMDB

    And still another shot to the heart ...

    Apple gets 30 percent cut of Office 365 subscriptions if made within Office for iPad apps ( NeoWin 2014-03-28 )

    EDITORIAL: Office for iPad revenue model called 'unfair' for Apple, except it's not ( NeoWin 2014-03-29 )

    Re/code has confirmed with Apple that they will get a 30 percent cut of any revenues generated from Office 365 subscriptions if they are made within the iPad apps.

    [...]

    Considering that there may be a lot of iPad owners who have yet to sign up for Office 365, that could represent not just a new revenue stream for Microsoft but also a significant boost for Apple's bottom line as well. Of course, people who already have Office 365 subscriptions, like the 3.5 million people who already signed up for the Home Premium version, won't see any of their money going to Apple.

    If that's not funny enough that he says "already signed up" ( already? They got only 3.5 million out of over a billion ), check out the 'Tards suggesting that people should screw Apple for money ( the same ones that have strokes over Microsoft bootleggers ) ...

    "Couldn't they just push the users to the mobile web to sign-up to avoid Apple's 30% cut?"

    ---

    "So apple think they deserve 30% of the price for doing NOTHING?"

    ---

    "30% is fairly steep. Microsoft's cut in the Windows Store is much lower."

    ---

    "Nope."

    Seriously, some of the MicroZealots don't even know that Microsoft is doing the exact same thing. I wonder if they would be embarrassed that Microsoft literally copied ( stole? ) the Apple store model right down to the letter?

    And here's one more kick to the gut ( that's four by my count! ) ...

    Microsoft does not "strictly enforce the limit" on Office for iPad installations ( NeoWin 2014-03-29 )

    However, as CNet reports, it looks like anyone with a Microsoft account and a paid Office 365 subscription can simply pass that login information to others in order to activate more Office on iPad apps beyond the five tablet limit. In fact, there seems to be no restrictions on just how much an Office 365 subscription can be shared.

    In a statement, Microsoft admits, "Similar to our commercial use rights, we do not strictly enforce the limit on tablet installations, but trust that our users respect and understand the device limits outlined in the EULA." The company did say that it tracks the number of tablet installs on each Office 365 account so in theory someone who abuses the limit could be discovered.

    So they're willing to let the AppleTards slide on intellectual property theft while nailing the MicroTards at every opportunity! Ouch. Not a great week to be a MicroZealot.

    tumblr_ma7bpxDaYe1r1yqj1o8_250.jpg

    Down the dark decades of your pain, this will seem like a memory of Heaven. - IMDB

  20. The last few desperate gasps of the Windows XP FUDpocalypse ...

    ATM operators looking to replace outgoing XP with Linux ( TechSpot 2014-03-24 )

    A number of financial firms and ATM operators are considering a move to Linux as Microsofts April 8 end-of-support date for Windows XP is quickly approaching. Migrating to the open source OS would reportedly give operators more control over both hardware and software upgrade cycles.

    As outlined in a recent article from Computerworld, operators would prefer to sync their hardware and software upgrade cycles. That is difficult to do now with Microsoft in charge of the software upgrade schedule. As such, some operators and financial firms are exploring the use of non-Microsoft operating systems according to David Tente, executive director of the ATM Industry Association in the US.

    Amp up the scare tactics trying to get customers to change operating systems ( and pad Microsoft's wallet even more ). You just might not like the results you get Redmond. Hehehe, Linux!

    shoot_yourself_in_the_foot.jpg

    Criminals Rob ATMs with Text Messages ( Tom's Hardware 2014-03-26 )

    At least one brand of ATM can be robbed by sending the machine a text message, then walking up and collecting the ejected cash.

    It's not quite as simple as it sounds. The ATMs, which in this case are actually Windows PCs, need to be running Windows XP and need to be infected with a Trojan called "Backdoor.Ploutus.B" or simply "Ploutus," which can only be installed by loading a CD into the ATM's optical-disk reader.

    Criminals also have to open the plastic cowling covering the ATM's innards to access the computer. But they don't have to crack into the ATM's safe, where the money is held.

    Once the malware is installed, the ATM also has to be hooked up to a mobile phone via a USB port, as Symantec reports on its blog. But if you can complete these two steps without anyone finding out, you can then command the infected ATM to spit out cash just by texting a message to the attached mobile phone.

    When the mobile phone receives a properly phrased text message, it then translates the text into a network packet and send it to the ATM. Ploutus then transforms the packets into command-line instructions.

    Of course you have to read farther into the article to see past the FUD ...

    The reality may not be that dire. Most ATMs running XP actually run a stripped-down version called Windows XP Embedded, which Microsoft will support until December 2016. Most ATMs are not connected to the Internet and are at minimal risk of network-based attacks. And most non-bank ATMs, such as you'd find in a convenience store, run something other than Windows.

    What is indisputable is, as Regalado wrote, that "cybercriminals are targeting ATMs with increasingly sophisticated techniques." But that would true no matter which operating system an ATM runs.

    A great question would be why the frack would any ATM be networked to anything other than its host system, especially the Internet? Who could possibly be that stupid?

    Here is NeoWin's take on it ...

    Symantec: Hackers already attacking ATMs as Microsoft's Windows XP deadline looms ( NeoWin 2014-03-25 )

    Symantec says they were able to replicate this kind of attack in their labs. They claim that protecting older ATMs that still have Windows XP installed from this kind of method will be "more challenging" and offer a number of ways banks can protect their machines, not the least of which is upgrading to Windows 7 or 8. Many banks are already in the middle of their ATM OS upgrade and play to pay Microsoft lots of money to continue to support Windows XP past April 8th until that task is finished.

    Rather surprisingly even the NeoKids aren't fooled by this deception ...

    The title of this article is the definition of "Link Bait"

    Symanetec Title " Texting ATMs for Cash Shows Cybercriminals' Increasing Sophistication "

    Neowin's Title " Symantec: Hackers already attacking ATMs as Microsoft's Windows XP deadline looms"

    Busted!

    Malwarebytes pledges to provide lifetime support for XP users ( TechSpot 2014-03-24 )

    Anti-virus specialist Malwarebytes announced today its new Anti-Malware Premium suite. According to the company, the suite will provide lifetime support to XP users, which still make up 20 percent of its user base.

    Smart people at MBAM. :yes: Comment of the day nomination ...

    I guess the folk at Anti Malwarebytes have tried Win 8.

    :lol: Yep!

    Microsoft reminds us Office 2003 support ends with Windows XP April 8th ( NeoWin 2014-03-24 )

    Today, Microsoft has a new post on its Office blog, along with a humorous infographic (shown below) that shows how much the computing world in general has changed in the past decade since the launch of Office 2003 in August 2003. While the software had a number of interesting features, including the first version of OneNote and the final version of "Clippy", Microsoft now says that individuals and businesses who are still using the software now need to move on.

    Funny thing about that infographic, it doesn't mention that Xbox was born just after Windows XP in late 2001. They also ignore that Skype came around in 2003. While Xbox has had several generations since the thing is unquestionably as old as Windows XP RTM, yet when referring to the latter they conveniently leave off the RTM/SP1/SP2/SP3 iteration for some reason. Skype itself is eleven years old by any measure that can be applied to Windows XP and yet they omit it whenever they spout this self-serving FUD and propaganda. How devious.

    Of course the predominant characteristic that defines Windows XP is that the operating system was developed before 9/11 and all the subsequent spook developments. Years ago this was a "tinfoil hat" tidbit of information, but since last summer only a fool would advance that line of reasoning. The fact is that every subsequent Windows generation ( Longhorn/Vista forward ) was written under NuWorld rules, likely with spook oversight and with huge concessions given to the Feds. They had no choice, I'm sure it was do it or else. The 9/11 NuWorld paradigm is noticeably absent from the infographic and all the FUD and propaganda perpetrated by Microsoft and her sycophants. Just say no to lies, deceit and propaganda.

  21. May I add, in passing by, how in the US a judge is usually elected by the people, and being the career of a judge very interesting (culturally and socially) and quite rewarding (financially) it is not-so-common the case that someone who managed to be elected as judge chooses to become ex-judge (unless the people decided to elect someone else).

    On the other hand, while in charge a judge is to all effects a representative of the people, while once he/she is an ex-judge, he/she is only an ex-judge.

    His/her opinion on any legal matter may well be authoritative, legally sound, accurate and what not, still it is and remains an opinion, without the dignity that a decision of a "real" judge has in court.

    Additionally, an "ex-judge" may well be an absolutely unbiased, honest person (and I believe the large majority of judges and ex-judges are like that), but he/she could well be if not outright a crook, somewhat sensible to bribing or simply strongly biased.

    Maybe the good MS guys should put together, besides the ex-judge opinion, a private Grand Jury :w00t:;).

    jaclaz

    :thumbup: epic points! Try this for that last part ...

    Microsoft should be criminally investigated by a private Grand Jury. If they so choose we will even allow them to consult their bought and paid for retired judge, and we will objectively consider and then promptly disregard his esteemed arguments.

    Paul Thurrott takes the clearest step yet toward advocating for the REAL Windows:

    In Windows, Veritas

    Although Windows won't be the primary personal computing platform going forward, it's still an important and vibrant platform that can dominate the competition in the key market for productivity. Let Android and iOS wallow in "Candy Crush": Windows is where real people go to get real work done.

    [...]

    ...[W]hen you consider the general usage patterns that will occur across these 300 million PCs, not to mention the 1.5 billion installed base, one obvious trend emerges. Although, yes, some people can get "real" work done on tablets or even smartphones, the fact remains that PCs are now, and will continue to be, where real work gets done.

    This is the bit that really does get me excited about the future. And while Microsoft wrong-headedly pursues some vain and ultimately fruitless consumer strategy, it's here where I'd ask the company to step back and ask itself who its real users are. They're often individuals, of course, but they're not "consumers." They're people who are being productive, getting work done. They're the doers.

    [...]

    Microsoft has an opportunity to shore up its most important marketbusiness customers and those individuals who need to get real work doneand all it has to do is . . . wait for it . . . just stop focusing on all this consumer stuff that frankly isn't resonating with anyone. Just give it up. Walk away. Let Windows be . . . Windows.

    In its desperation to repeat the successes of Apple and Google in consumer-oriented devices and services, Microsoft has subverted Windows's key strength. This is misguided, and while the Windows of the future will no longer dominate personal computing as it did in the past, the Windows of the future can most certainly dominate an important market of doers getting things done.

    Microsoft just needs to start listening to our needs.[...]

    :o:thumbup

    --JorgeA

    Looks like he's found some meds that work! :thumbup

    Forget about Thurrott's medication, from reading all his ups and downs I now need Dramamine. :lol

    And now, they will scratch their heads trying to figure out what happened when they find that a very large number of their base has left and will not return. Combined with their open hostility to their users and the recent revelations of just how far they will sink as to privacy issues, I can't see to many wanting to continue with them. We've already seen articles about companies and governments outside of the United States saying that they want something different, just for security/privacy issues. I'm afraid they have done irreparable damage unto themselves.

    bpalone

    Well said.

  22. Security Issues ...

    Australian Attorney General's new war on internet encryption and privacy ( NeoWin 2014-03-17 )

    Forced compliance to unlock encrypted data on the way?

    Buried deep within a 68 page proposal to the Australian Senate lies a hidden suggestion that the adoption of secure internet connections, such as SSL, has become a major problem because it's difficult to spy on. Even worse, the proposal mentions how some people go so far as to encrypt their data.. the same thing that terrorists do!

    Masking itself as merely formalizing existing practices, this proposal actually introduces new powers such as

    • The ability to force individual suspects to unlock encrypted items (including turning over passwords for private services).
    • Making it a criminal offense not to comply with this.

    A totally different editorial from NeoWin, pro-privacy and criticizing this Oz bureaucrat, one which has not yet ( at this writing ) been polluted by NeoKids demonstrating their ability to march when fascist bureaucrats order them to. This is probably because Microsoft is not involved. :-)

    What is the answer though? Well believe it or not it's actually pretty easy at least for us in the USA, not so much for the UK and Oz though. All we have to do theoretically is enforce the Constitution, perhaps add some Amendments including one that holds elected government to the exact same rules as the citizens. Our construction here is that the government is empowered by us, the People, and the States yet we have stupidly allowed that pecking order to be reversed by the sheeple over time. It would be an Earth shattering reversal to be sure, but it is very simple. The answer is not in more laws that tweak this or that.

    Will it ever happen, it's admittedly doubtful, but it would be the best of all solutions. It is the way it used to be, back when everyone knew the President was no better than any random person on the street and could not do anything we could not do ( this ended during the 20th century after years of baby steps by succeeding Presidents each outdoing their predecessor ). Somewhere in the chain of Teddy/Wilson/FDR/JFK/LBJ/Nixon they evolved from citizen President to Prince. Perhaps because none of them were cut down to size in a courtroom for violating the Constitution. You can put me in the column of supporting a 2nd Constitutional Convention now, all doubts have been removed in my lifetime and there is nothing else on the horizon to scale it back.

    Twitter cans direct message encryption project without explanation ( TechSpot 2014-03-20 )

    Late last year it was revealed that Twitter was working on a way to encrypt direct messages sent between users. That project has since been dropped according to sources familiar with the plans as reported by The Verge.

    [...]

    Abandoning the project is a bit puzzling when you consider Twitter has typically been ahead of the curve in terms of privacy. The company has a reputation for fighting government data requests and has repeatedly challenged subpoenas and gag orders.

    Puzzling? I don't think so. :no: Twitter is seemingly hacked every other day seemingly at will and are heavily monitored by Spooks. Besides, as a newly minted Wall Street darling they have to play ball, and this means letting accommodating the Feds from every bureaucracy from regulators to spooks, a now-obvious characteristic of all public corporations particularly in the upper echelon of sheeple management like Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Apple.

    NSA program can record every single phone conversation from an entire country ( TechSpot 2014-03-18 )

    The National Security Agencys spying capabilities seemingly know no bounds. In the latest Edward Snowden-inspired leak, the Washington Post highlights a program called MYSTIC that is able to record 100 percent of all voice calls in a target country and retain them for up to a month.

    Calls are said to be recorded automatically and stored in a 30-day rolling buffer that deletes the oldest calls when new recordings are added.

    Just out of curiosity, wasn't anyone else alive during the 1990's battles over Carnivore and the V-chip? So glad we won those.

  23. The Competition is certainly having an effect ...

    Nokia: 1 million pre-orders for Nokia X in China ahead of March 25th debut ( NeoWin 2014-03-14 )

    Nokia's strategy of offering a cheap Android-based smartphone seems to be paying off. The company announced today that the Nokia X has already received one million pre-orders just in China ahead of the phone's March 25th launch in that country. It reached that number just four days after pre-orders began.

    A couple weeks ago I was commenting on how sweet it would be if the Nokia Androids compete with or even defeat the Nokia WP. Now there is already an indication that this is indeed possible. If this actually does happen it will give the fanboys heart attacks. Buy popcorn futures! The NeoKids are already spitting and sputtering about on the news. I like how one commenter throws gasoline on the fire ...

    This is what happens when you make a product that no one wants. In the age of faster processing process and better graphics display, you want people to be looking at flat fisher price color tiles with couple of texts floating around. Whoever came out with Metro tiles idea need to get fired. Oh they already did. Now If , there is any sensible people left with MS, they should completely ditch this design abomination and come out with better design.

    Hehehe :lol: And so true.

    Microsoft launches free OneNote app for Mac and Windows desktop ( NeoWin 2014-03-17 )

    The rumors that Microsoft was planning to launch a OneNote app for Mac users are indeed correct. The company announced today that its popular note taking software is now available for free to download from the Mac App Store.

    Sleeping with the enemy is official now.

    Microsoft's stock surges up to 14 year high thanks to Office on iPad rumors ( NeoWin 2014-03-18 )

    USA Today reports that Microsoft's stock price went up 3.94 percent to close at $39.55 a share today on the NASDAQ market. That's the highest for the company since 2000. Microsoft's stock price has been up 6 percent since the beginning of 2014.

    You just know that this really burns the butts of the fanboys. I mean, Apple has such a tiny "marketshare"! If it were up to the fanboys they wouldn't even have Mac versions of anything ( nor would there be a desktop Windows ). An even more enigmatic question than Big Bang or Black Holes or Dark Matter is how can one company like Microsoft create such a contingent of 'Tards in such a short period of time? It's as if they found a field full of lackadaisical sheep and then hand-selected the dumbest and least equipped to survive and then interbred them to create a new species that defies any logical description. It's like a reverse Darwinism, survival of the dumbest.

    Microsoft says it has 'renewed focus' on PC gaming, details coming this summer ( NeoWin 2014-03-21 )

    Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer told an audience at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco today that the company will be putting more effort into PC gaming, though he stopped short of offering any specific details.

    Is that fear I smell in the air? What could be causing it? Could it be from all the attacks on all the battle fronts?

    GOG announce plan to support Linux, will start this Autumn with 100 games ( PC Gamer 2014-03-18 )

    The DRM-free digital distribution service will soon support Linux. "At least" 100 games will gain support for the OS, GOG say, and that catalogue will include a selection of classics making their Linux début.

    A post on GOG's news blog explains the details of their planned support:

    "We're initially going to be launching our Linux support on GOG.com with the full GOG.com treatment for Ubuntu and Mint. That means that right now, we're hammering away at testing games on a variety of configurations, training up our teams on Linux-speak, and generally getting geared up for a big kick-off in the fall with at least 100 Linux games ready for you to play. This is, of course, going to include games that we sell which already have Linux clients, but we'll also be bringing Linux gamers a variety of classics that are, for the first time, officially supported and maintained by a storefront like ours."

    burns-excellent.gif Like I said, multiple battle fronts.

    Samsung and HP Reportedly Have Chrome OS All-in-One PCs on Tap ( Maximum PC 2014-03-14 )

    We knew this one was coming, but wait until the NeoKids see it :lol: And they have only themselves to blame for enabling the destruction of classic Windows used by over a billion people. It's simple really ... When Android and Chrome look more like Windows than Windows does, exactly what outcome should we expect?

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