CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 As first mentioned by TELVM ( with effective use of the HP image BTW ) ... Sales of new PCs with Windows 7 end October 31 for several SKUs ( NeoWin 2014-02-14 ) Microsoft Pushing Users To Adopt Windows 8 Over Windows 7 ( Maximum PC 2014-02-16 ) Microsoft has set a firm date of October 31st for final sale of consumer Windows 7 machines, but business machines are another story. The official website has been updated as such to reflect this, with Microsoft noting that October 31, 2014 is the new end-of-sale date for Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate PCs. Home Premium takes the cake when it comes to sales, but now Microsoft is pushing for Windows 8 to take over as reigning champ, per PC World. CLIENT OS ------- LATEST UPDATE -- END MAINSTREAM SUPPORT ----- END EXTENDED SUPPORT Windows XP ...... Service Pack 3 ....... April 14, 2009 .......... April 8, 2014 Windows Vista ... Service Pack 2 ....... April 10, 2012 ......... April 11, 2017 Windows 7 * ..... Service Pack 1 ..... January 13, 2015 ....... January 14, 2020 Windows 8 ....... Windows 8.1 ......... January 9, 2018 ....... January 10, 2023 That table is official, direct from Microsoft. It seems we finally have confirmation of no more service packs for Windows 7. Lots of FUD was tossed around by Microsoft employees in various threads about the sky not falling and to wait and see. Now we see. This is a huge problem for people that install Windows, being stuck with downloading hundreds of post-SP1 updates. It is also an act of irresponsibility leaving countless computers at the mercy of Windows Update just in order to become vaguely close to 'updated' and 'secured' after an install or reinstall. It is reprehensible. And this is done purely out of selfish interests, to whittle down the amount of users even considering to use anything but the latest modern crap, that abortion called Windows 8. The war on their user base is still raging, the incompetency at Microsoft has no bounds. Or does it? The old theory that Microsoft makes every other version a dog on purpose just in order to create a huge demand for the following rescue version and the inevitable massive movement to adoption just might be true after all, at least some part of it. But it doesn't explain the history here with decreasing number of service packs, especially extending back to the NT4 era ( final number of service packs: 6, 5, 3, 2, 1 chronologically ). This fact is demonstrable of a company that is exiting the hard business of responsible software production and entering the easy business of selling a toy commodity. So what do we really have happening here? It's simple. We have a company that is telling everyone one thing and doing another. They have decided behind closed boardroom doors to officially change Microsoft into IBM and other similar Wall Street darlings, chip away any extra work for themselves ( real or perceived ), and focus on nebulous products of dubious quality. They are cashing out of their long monopolized x86 OS monopoly, shaking the money tree for all it's worth. I expect there will be but one more possibly useful version of Windows before it is all over, and only if enough sheeple speak up. After that passes they will confine themselves to Apple-like OS creation, targeted at specific devices rather than at the entire market, and eventually exit altogether. Layoffs will definitely follow. The stockholders will be thrilled and the analysts will praise them as long as dividends, no matter how small, continue to appear. It was billg himself who all but admitted this eventuality ( in a roundabout way ) when MSFT went public long ago. As soon as non-computer literate stockholders became involved ( and now only Gates and Ballmer remain as sizable shareholders ) the end of the story was written. This was predicted by us here in this very thread long ago on many occasions. The long term strategy is what we discussed while all the 'Tards concentrated on short term tactics. In fact the NeoWin thread there is doing it as we speak now. They really do believe Microsoft is still in the PC business and 'listens to customers' and will turn things around. But we here watched it happen right before our eyes. The PC was sentenced to execution sometime during the past decade post-XP. There have been lots of tweaks and twists to the end-game strategy, but it never really changed. There is no-one left at Microsoft ( if they were ever there in the first place ) that sees a responsibility to the PC, the Personal Computer. And truth be told, they have probably had massive external pressure from the spook community to accelerate its demise. All I can really suggest about this to anyone listening is to stop sending old computers to landfills or recycle plants. Doing this will make it an absolute certainty that there will be no working PC around in a decade or less. Stockpile your x86 systems ( lots of them ), spare parts, and the Software, and the Operating Systems, forever. At some point they will be the only things left that can be operated without looking over your shoulder and being spied upon. Stick a fork in it. It's dead Jim. IMPORTANT NOTE: While we're on the subject, NewEgg shows the Windows 7 OEM System Builder for HOME PREMIUM as Out Of Stock and PROFESSIONAL is available at $125 ( on sale from $139 ) via that link from Maximum PC. I'm not sure if NewEgg will ever be getting replenishment from Microsoft for the Home Premium Edition, so this may be an important bit of news. UPDATE: Microsoft has just cut the OEM licensing price for Windows 8 to $15 ( not to individuals but to actual OEM big box manufacturers ). See NeoWin: Microsoft slashes Windows 8.1 pricing 70% to make way for cheaper devices. It seems that Chromebooks are having a real effect on them now. I didn't want to let this older Thurrott column pass without comment ... What the Heck is Happening to Windows? Is it better to burn out than fade away? ( Thurrott 2014-02-09 ) When critics described Windows 8.1 as a step backwards, I disagreed: Responding to customer complaints is never wrong, I argued, and the new version of the OS made it more acceptable on the many different types of PCs and devices on which Windows now runs. With Update 1, however, I'm beginning to question the validity of this new direction, and am now wondering whether Microsoft has simply fallen into an all-too-familiar trap of trying to please everyone, and creating a product that is ultimately not ideal for anyone. One could pick apart Thurrott's entire column apart sentence by sentence as he is in his up/down see-saw mode once again. But let's just leave it as this: Thurrott was in fact a certifiable shill at launch, and even though he references that first column in the fall 2012 launch he has somehow managed to rationalize this away. If things had gone differently for Windows 8 and the Playskool Metro disaster he would NOT be speaking like this today. Oh whatever. We see right through you Paul, your inner-Apple came out in all its glory at launch, releasing all that pent-up frustration at having no walled-garden you could call your own. They gave it to you and you slurped it up and told us all that the 'Desktop Is Dead' and to join you in your exhilaration at pushing on tiles on a big screen like a chimpanzee. Fate intervened and dealt Microsoft and its modern intentions a body blow and now you back-pedal. That's fine, but it's high time you stop pretending you are a power-user because at every opportunity you opt for laziness and Apple-like sheep-herding into clouds and walled-gardens. A power-user does not think Microsoft Tiles belongs on server operating systems, or even on desktops. They do not attempt to replace their home power-user systems with tablets ( like he tried ). There's nothing wrong with embracing your 'Tardish inner-Apple desires. It is wrong to sit here now and tell us you never were. On Sinofsky, who he never really like ( probably because he did not leak info to him or allow inner access ) he states ... Here, finally, was a guy who could push through a Steve Jobs-style, singular product vision. And he did. Sadly, the result was Windows 8. The reason this happened is that while Sinofsky had the maniacal power and force of will of a Steve Jobs, he lacked Jobs' best gift: An innate understanding of good design. Windows 8 is not well-designed. It's a mess. But Windows 8 is a bigger problem than that. Windows 8 is a disaster in every sense of the word. This is not open to debate, is not part of some cute imaginary world where everyone's opinion is equally valid or whatever. Windows 8 is a disaster. Period. The disaster part is so obvious that even Helen Keller could see and hear the problems. You are not breaking any news here. But my long running question remains, where is the Sinofsky post-firing interview? That is a scoop that a real journalist would really want to chalk up. Even just submitting hard questions and then upon being denied a response would make for a useful column. A sharp journalist would use the non-response as a weapon to pry information out of their target, but from you we get crickets. With your reputation as a shill ( again, the see-saw notwithstanding ) you were possibly the only tech writer actually positioned to get these answers. You failed Skipping through many more obvious thoughts and comments by Thurrott, let's jump to the very end ... You can't please everybody, Microsoft. So stop trying. It's time to double down on the people who actually use your products, not some mythical group of consumers who will never stop using their simpler Android and iOS devices just because you wish they would. I hate to tell you Paul, but you are way behind the curve now. You are under the same illusion that many others are that Microsoft is still even in the x86 desktop operating system business, at least in the way they used to be. The company is now a big corporate. It no longer has the skill, patience, attention to detail or even the will to tackle this job any longer. There is easy money to be made in the cloud and by providing simple, short-lifespan retard devices for chimpanzees. In short, most of them are like you, they have an inner-AppleTard just dying to break free of the wild, crazy and individualistic personal computer universe and desire to create products for Idiocracy style devolution. On Microsoft's part, and yours, it is insane jealousy and envy at watching the famous fruit company jump to the top of the heap. It's really no more complicated than that. You are now about 7 years late to the party. You had your chance during the Vista fiasco to pull your head out of your butt and recognize the clear devolution in the GUI without clear options back to a clean desktop without abstractions. Instead, you and Ed MicroBott jumped aboard Microsoft's defense team justifying every single step towards a less user-friendly and less clean interface, without any way back to familiarity. And this was such an easy thing to criticize! The simultaneous contentious issue of DRM and the intrusion into the personal computer from Hollywood and other copyright mafia also found you defending them against our so-called wacky conspiracy theories and paranoia. These of course preceded the now-known spying issues such as a compromised RNG and other exploits which had they been known at the time would have generated even more anger from the Windows veterans and more contemptuous defense from MicroZealots such as yourself. So Paul is presently trying to reposition himself somewhere in-between his longtime position as a shill and where we mostly are today. Naturally his column has generated much discomfort for his normally sycophantic followers. The thread comments number 265 presently and is six pages long. Quite a few are angry, such as this very familiar MicroZealot ... I'm sorry, but it's people like you that ruin this for everyone else. Windows 8 ISN'T growing as fast as Windows 7 did, but it IS, in fact, growing. I'm sure we can play various statistical games and each show that the other is wrong. But it's people like you that just infuriate me. You're so flipping stuck in the old world that you can't possibly conceive, much less embrace, a hybrid computing existence while we transition to the environment we will unrelentingly move toward. I don't really CARE if you people don't have touch screens. I don't have them either and yet, magically, I can get a much work done--and in a much more organized manner--as I ever did when my machines ran Windows 7. How is that? Because instead of complaining that they were taking away my buggy whip I examined how I could adapt and best use the hybrid nature of Windows 8. Perhaps what angers me most about all of this is that those who absolutely had no use at all yet for the Metro side of things could easily live on the desktop or, better, just become the next group of "Windows XP zombies" with Windows 7. I do have a number of legacy programs that will never ever see the Metro light of day. But I still keep my desktop absolutely clean. EVERYTHING starts from the Start screen. It's simple to throw my legacy programs on screen 2 while my Metro apps are used on screen 1. And NOT ONE ISSUE with using a mouse and keyboard. But the fact is that it won't be that long at all before you simply will not have machines WITHOUT a touch screen or, probably, voice and gesture control. There will always be a place for some sort of mouse & keyboard analog because of the particular needs of granular control. But there is absolutely no reason why we have to be stagnant or, what I believe is now happening, going backward. What a wonderful example of an AppleTard, or is that a MicroZealot. But there is no difference, and THAT is the point. All the historical stereotypical criticisms of arrogant Apple users applies to the current crowd of MetroTards. They are arrogant, they look down their noses at anyone that does not embrace their little toys. And they intend to impose their vision and will on everyone else. Any deviation from this vision is a roadblock to so-called progress. The funny thing is that AppleTards like this may in fact exist, but I do not know them personally, nor do I remember crossing paths with them in the past. But in the here and now in the Microverse they do in fact exist. And as enablers to the cause of Metrofication of all things Windows they are dangerous because at the end of the day with their vision in place, there will be but two main choices on personal computers - two walled gardens with the only real difference being in the design of the retarded interface. Welcome to the Planet Of The Apes where the chimpanzees are calling the shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Microsoft denies censoring Chinese-language Bing searches in U.S. ( NeoWin 2014-02-12 ) Bing reportedly censoring Chinese language search results for US users, Microsoft denies accusations ( TechSpot 2014-02-12 ) The British publication also noticed that Chinese-language searches for politically controversial China-related topics produced unforeseen results. An English-language Bing search for the Dalai Lama is led by a link to his official website, followed by links to his Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter pages. Whereas a Chinese-language search for the same displays a link to information on a documentary compiled by CCTV, Chinas state-owned broadcaster, followed by a link to Wikipedia rival Baidu Baike, which is said to be heavily censored. Stefan Weitz, senior director for Bing, denied the charge that Microsoft is censoring information overseas, citing a technical problem instead. Due to an error in our system, we triggered an incorrect results removal notification for some searches noted in the report but the results themselves are and were unaltered outside of China, he said. People must understand exactly what is the issue here. This is NOT about censorship inside the Chinese great-firewall ( which itself is bad enough, and which Google and apparently everybody has submitted to ). No, this is something even worse! This is alleging that Microsoft has extended that censorship concept outside the firewall to elsewhere, censoring the search results returned on Chinese versions of Bing/Windows as compared to non-Chinese versions. Microsoft says it was a technical glitch? Yeah right. That sounds possible, NOT. That would be one huge and amazing coincidence. Notice that the NeoWin thread has managed to collect a single comment after four ten days. That's another amazing coincidence! Yahoo! used Microsoft CEO appointment as a reason to delay Bing search rollout ( NeoWin 2014-02-17 ) Microsoft and Yahoo signed a 10-year agreement for the search service but Mayer wants out and she is not shy about stating it publicly. She believes that search is a core service of the site and by allowing a third-party to control the experience; it puts Yahoo at a disadvantage. Seeing that Yahoo has not found a way to remove the partnership with Bing, we suspect that Microsoft is not willing to rescind its agreement either as the company wants to take ahold of the largest piece of the search pie. More so, Yahoo has not found any legal loopholes that would allow it to escape the agreement, which is why Mayer is likely intentionally slowing down the deployment. ( NOTE: this is an unusual Brad Sams piece in that he resisted multiple opportunities to kiss Microsoft's behind ). Pretty astonishing conflict going on there. The Yahoo! CEO wants badly to kill the deal with Microsoft to use Bing and Redmond says no. Imagine you are so desperate for positive results that you would not grant a release to a "partner" that wants nothing to do with you. The problem is that in addition to whatever dubious financial gains Microsoft receives this will purchase them even more in bad publicity. And it is going to get worse if she begins really taking shots at them. She should start tossing around words like "slavery" and "abuse" and they will change their tone pretty quickly It's funny to see the NeoKids saying 'too bad, no escape from the deal'. Not only does that illustrate their innate embrace of tyranny, but it plays right into the 'slavery' angle. I wonder if the NeoKids are pondering what happens if Yahoo! now crashes and burns? How will they greet the news that Yahoo! makes a deal to use Bing and then dies? Of course we know the answer, it's the same as it always is. Not Microsoft's fault. Microsoft allegedly considering Android apps on Windows, Windows Phone ( NeoWin 2014-02-12 ) Microsoft Considers Allowing Android Apps on WP8 ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-15 ) Unnamed sources are reporting that Microsoft is considering allowing Android apps to run on Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Sources told The Verge that some inside Microsoft actually like the idea of enabling Android apps inside both stores. As you can imagine the NeoWin thread is full of crazies, worried about polluting Windows with Android stuff ( wow! ) and scaring off Windows developers ( huh? ). But what could really be behind this? Why would they consider inviting Android into the "Windows environment"? Could it be that they have no choice ... Google-VMware deal brings Windows desktops and applications to Chrome OS ( TechSpot 2014-02-13 ) Google and VMware offer Chromebooks access to Windows apps ( NeoWin 2014-02-13 ) Microsoft has been running TV ads recently that show Chromebooks can't access apps such as Office or other major Windows-based programs. Now Google is trying to show that the inexpensive Chromebooks can offer some owners access to the Windows desktop and its programs via a new remote service that is being offered by another Microsoft rival, VMWare. In joint announcements, Google and VMWare revealed plans to give business and enterprise users a way to access Windows-based apps from Chromebooks via VMWare's Horizon Desktop as a Service program. The subscription-based service is already available for businesses that own Chromebooks by accessing VMWare's VMware Horizon View 5.3. Google will also release support for the service via an app from the Chrome App Store. That seems like the pretty obvious reason to me. It has to be so very painful to be a fanboy these days with hopes and dreams ( and fantasies ) being crished on a daily basis. The NeoKids and Verge Tribers have been especially nasty concerning Chromebooks and all things Android. Say a prayer for their mental health tonight, things have not been going their way for a very long time and it looks like Microsoft is going to continue ruining what remains of their sanity as the year goes on. In fact I expect to see some very entertaining opus comments swearing off Microsoft in the coming days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 The Numbers Game ... As first mentioned above by Jorge ... Android and iOS Continue to Dominate the Worldwide Smartphone Market with Android Shipments Just Shy of 800 Million in 2013, According to IDC ( IDC 2014-02-12 ) Microsoft: More than 200 million Windows 8 licenses sold ( NeoWin 2014-02-13 ) Microsoft's Tami Reller Touts Over 200 Million Windows 8 Licenses Sold ( Maximum PC 2014-02-14 ) Microsoft sells 200 million copies of Windows 8 ( TechSpot 2014-02-14 ) Microsoft has revealed a milestone in sales for Windows 8, with Executive Vice President of Marketing, Tami Reller, saying the company has sold 200 million licenses of the operating system. The last time we heard about Windows 8 sales it was back in May 2013, when Microsoft passed the 100 million copies sold milestone. In the first 12 months on the market, Microsoft sold 240 million copes of Windows 7. With Windows 8 having launched on October 26, 2012, it's now 15 months since launch and only 200 million copies of Microsoft's newest operating system have been sold. But these are ambiguous numbers from Microsoft as is always the case. Just for once tell us how many returns there were? I know for a fact that there are many since I have personally been with customers going crazy over the Windows 8 GUI disaster. And I really do mean going crazy - cursing and spitting over this sick and twisted nightmare that Sinofsky and Ballmer greenlit. I can think of at least ten different clients that gave up, and went straight back to Walmart and Best Buy and Dell for exchanges or refunds. This never happened in the past except maybe during the Vista fiasco, where people said 'Eff this sh!t, I've had enough'. That's two massive mistakes of directly insulting and harming your carefully cultivated customers. And you know what's really amazing? The bad impression occurs as soon as the new computer is turned on when they purposely hide the local account option for people that have no idea what a Microsoft account even is ( this is also a direct monopolization attempt at sucking hapless computer purchasers into the Microsoft cloud ). When I show them where the local account option is ( and again, keep in mind this is the first thing they even see so they are simply stuck there until I call them back ) they CANNOT believe what Microsoft did. Then once they get past the user creation and are greeted by Microsoft Tiles and then an alien looking Aero-less desktop WITHOUT a Start Button. And it gets much worse. Wait until they find out they need to create a 2nd local account and use this for daily use as a standard user and then disable that first one they already created, all because it defaulted to "administrator". I've been through this a whole bunch of times since Christmas when lots of suckers bought or were gifted computers. Let me confirm that there are some really ticked off people out there. I know this from walking them through this procedure over the telephone and it's made me even madder than they are. As these alleged numbers are the sole point of optimism lately, in the various comment threads there are a few MicroZealots finally daring to lift their heads up. Over in the NeoWin comments there is lots of entertainment to be had. Watch Dot MetroTard struggle to exonerate Ballmer and insist he was not "fired" over this debacle. And my favorite? IMHO the undisputed gold-medal winner for insulting an astroturfer is seen in the Maximum PC comment thread ... "100,000 sperm and you were the fastest?". God I wish I thought of that one. Anyway, Microsoft's little accomplishment here is nothing more than continuing their exploitation of the long captive OEM monopoly channel. The numbers are only a measure of their monopoly. In fact it is far weaker than the Windows 7 exploitation of that same monopolized channel, therefore they are still failing because shipments are once again falling just like with Vista versus XP. But what about the other big market, mobile phones, where they had nothing but lots of room for growth? ... Android and iOS Continue to Dominate the Worldwide Smartphone Market with Android Shipments Just Shy of 800 Million in 2013, According to IDC ( IDC 2014-02-12 ) Android and iOS made up for 95.7% of worldwide smartphone shipments in 2013 ( TechSpot 2014-02-13 ) Top Five Smartphone Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, 4Q 2013 (Units in Millions) ------------ 4Q13 Shipment Volumes -- 4Q12 Shipment Volumes --- Year-Over-Year Change Android ........ 226.1 .. 78.1% ........ 161.1 .. 70.3% .............. 40.3% iOS ............. 51.0 .. 17.6% ......... 47.8 .. 20.9% ............... 6.7% Windows Phone .... 8.8 ... 3.0% .......... 6.0 ... 2.6% .............. 46.7% BlackBerry ....... 1.7 ... 0.6% .......... 7.4 ... 3.2% ............. -77.0% Others ........... 2.0 ... 0.7% .......... 6.7 ... 2.9% ............. -70.1% You keep hearing the mantra that Windows Phone is growing, but these numbers crush that theory. IDC even phrases it this way: "Windows Phone posted the largest increase for both the quarter (46.7%) and the year (90.9%), with each nearly doubling the growth of the overall market.". But what they are not saying is that in comparing year 2013 to 2012, the most important detail is that 2012 was only from Q4 for WP8, previous to that was the stone cold dead WP7! So the entire year of 2013 versus one quarter of 2012 saw shipments move from 6 million to 8.8 million, which is in reality astonishingly SLOWING growth. Saying that they are growing year over year is a criminal interpretation of statistics, the kind that the SEC just might notice BTW. In fact it looks like they simply replaced Blackberry as the bottom tier platform. And as I almost correctly guessed, at 8.8 million shipments they are just above the annual shipments of Apple iPods, a device with little future and no refresh for that previous year. If these numbers are to be believed they have only shipped a total of 14.8 million Windows Phones in the past two years, which as I theorized is just under what Apple ships in a single quarter. Anyway you slice it, the Microsoft Tiles fiasco was an epic failure, capturing nothing and in fact losing ground in all markets. And the price of this fail was enormous. The wanton destruction of the usability of Windows from the pathetic child-like Playskool interface turned long time Windows veterans into angry sworn enemies. Great job Sinofsky! And Ballmer, and Jensen, and Julie, and the rest! EDITORIAL: iOS on the iPad is stuck in the past and it's kind of embarrassing ( NeoWin 2014-02-12 ) Neowin: iOS on the iPad is stuck in the past and it's kind of embarrassing ( TechSpot 2014-02-13 ) Well Brad Sams has another editorial at NeoWin. This time he presumes to voice concern that poor Apple is falling behind in the tablet space ( wait, wut? ) kind of like a concern troll. But actually he is following his normal pattern really. After the recent news of Apple earnings and its specific sales results ( unlike Microsoft ) he has probably felt the need to cheer up the troops from their depression ( see here ). TechSpot has that second article linked above where it mentions Brad's little editorial thread ( TechSpot and NeoWin have some kind of cross-promotion agreement ). As one of the commenters stated: "This article is clearly written by someone from seattle...". Brad is probably nowhere near Seattle or Redmond though, he strikes me as one of Microsoft's vast army or pawns, unpaid fanboy astroturfers forever engaging in damage control for the mothership. 64-bit Windows 8.1 tablets are coming later this year ( TechSpot 2014-02-12 ) Heres something you may not have noticed before most Windows 8.1 tablets that are currently on the market are loaded with the 32-bit version of Microsofts latest operating system despite the fact that they carry 64-bit processors. Thats about to change, however, according to at least one source familiar with the matter as reported by CNET. As the publication points out, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Samsung all offer Windows 8.1 slates powered by Intels Bay Trail (Atom) CPU but oddly enough, these machines have all included 32-bit versions of Windows 8.1. Yeah, and that's not all. See this comment where I showed what you get when you initiate the purchase from a Windows XP computer ( 32-bit naturally ). The dumb process supplies the 32-bit version setup files with no way to change it, consequently Microsoft has ensured a regress of the substantial progress to 64-bit made by Windows 7 and to a lesser extent, Vista. It is an amazing mistake that could have been avoided by limiting the number of SKU's and offering an online super-ISO of a DVD containing all versions and 32/64 with a simple choice in the setup menu. And it's something that could be done later very easily. Like right now. Neobytes Conan wants Instagram filters in Excel 2014, offers congrats to Nadella ( NeoWin 2014-02-12 ) Here's how Conan O'Brien would have run Microsoft ( TechSpot 2014-02-12 ) Elsewhere, the comedian said he would include a new accessory with Surface tablets called the Tiny Windshield Wipers and that all versions of Windows would be voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Excel 2014 would have built-in Instagram filters and hundreds of millions of dollars would have been spent on a marketing campaign to get everyone in the US to Bing their symptoms after that weekend trip to Juarez. Jeez, I hope Conan patented that idea ( that would be sweet! ). It's a pretty good idea judging by the touch screens I have personally seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Windows XP FUD Edition ... Whitehall and Microsoft negotiate NHS Windows XP hacker survival plan. Protection at a price to GB taxpayer. ( UK Register 2014-02-12 ) Microsoft may offer extended Windows XP support to UK's National Health Service ( NeoWin 2014-02-13 ) The Department of Health has exclusively told The Register its in talks with Microsoft to develop a migration plan to move PCs off of Windows XP. A major plank of that deal will see Microsoft offer what the DoH terms extended support* at a cost. Extended support is not a cheap option and means the taxpayer will foot the bill for the NHSs failure to hit the April deadline to move. Under extended support Microsoft will deploy dedicated engineers to paying customers, who keep releasing fresh security patches after the April cut off. Fees for this special protection start at $200 per desktop for the first year, going up to $400 in the second and $800 in the third year. Naturally the fanboys and some naive commenters are waving their hands at this "outrage". 'Just upgrade' they say! Well I say go ahead and do that, they will deserve it. Windows is no more secure in later versions, never has been, and you get to pay more money just to have the placebo of a newer OS and the illusion of security. Not to mention the guarantee of UK and USA spooks having deep hooks into the new version baked-in at the factory post-9/11 rather than retrofitted later as after-thoughts. Definitely go ahead and upgrade, PLEASE do this. I don't want Windows XP blamed for the inevitable hacking of UK citizen health histories. I think this El Reg commenter agrees: "Replacing one set of unknown XP vulnerabilities with another set of unknown W7/W8 vulnerabilities doesn't make you more secure... the chances are it will make you less secure in the short term... and it will definitely make you poorer in the short term.". But naturally the sheeple do not get this. So let them have their placebo, and let them pay for it, and let them get hacked anyway. Let them eat cake Metro. Many Windows Embedded SKUs based on Windows XP will be supported beyond April 8th ( NeoWin 2014-02-19 ) In a post on the official Windows Embedded blog, Microsoft revealed that that while support for Windows XP Professional for Embedded Systems will indeed end on the same day as XP itself, the other SKUs will continue to receive software update afterwards. Support for Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 3 will end on January 12th, 2016, and Windows Embedded for Point of Service SP3 will see its updates stop on April 12th, 2016. Two other XP-based Embedded operating systems, Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, won't see their support end until January 8th and April 9th of 2019, respectively. ~sigh~ The comments by NeoKids. Unpaid employees of a corporate monolith. Microsoft Answers More Windows XP Questions ( Softpedia 2014-02-07 ) Microsoft: Windows XP Users Are Missing Out ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-16 ) An unnamed Microsoft representative recently spoke with Softpedia about Windows XP and how consumers and businesses are handling the transition. Softpedia: We've heard that the Malicious Software Removal Tool might still get updates on Windows XP after April 8. Is that true? Microsoft: Yes, Microsofts Malicious Software Removal Tool is aligned with the companys antimalware engines and signatures and as such, the removal tool will continue to be provided for Windows XP through July 14, 2015. However, its really important to note that PCs running Windows XP after April 8 2014, should not be considered truly protected, and it is important that business customers and consumers migrate to a current supported operating system so they can receive regular security updates to protect their computer from malicious attacks. Our research shows that the effectiveness of antimalware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited. Running a well-protected solution starts with using modern software and hardware designed to help protect against todays threat landscape. Lie after lie. So Windows 7 is secure? Windows 8 is secure? They are not. It's not even close now. The majority of viruses and hackings is on consumers on Windows 7, because it is the majority OS. You give a sheep any computer and it will get attacked, period. This reminds me of that great Eddie Van Halen story in the late 1970's that taught us that it wasn't just his custom guitar and amp that made his extraordinary sound. When Ted Nugent picked up his guitar and tried it out it still sounded like Ted. Likewise when Eddie plays anything else it sounds like Van Halen. The only way to stop sheep from getting FUBAR'd is for them to give up computers, or switch to Apple maybe. Microsoft is the great pretender by parading this nonsense about a "more secure" operating system. Softpedia: Why are people so hard to convince to move from Windows XP? Why do they love this old OS so much? Microsoft: Windows XP was a great operating system for its time, but the world of technology has changed irrevocably over the past 12 years. Modern operating systems like Windows 8.1 deliver increased security, productivity and mobility that help your organization thrive in a rapidly evolving business environment and help individuals stay on top of and enjoy their busy lives. Companies still on Windows XP are missing out on tangible benefits of modernizing their IT investments from dramatically enhanced security, broad device choice to meet the needs of a mobile workforce, higher user productivity, and lower total cost of ownership through improved management capabilities. Well isn't that quaint! Let's parse out and analyze what this anonymous Softies is really saying. Imagine this ... your desktop computer is presently running Windows XP right now, and you take their ridiculous advice ..."increased security" which he later repeated as "enhanced security" ... umm no. This is a lie right from the mouth of Microsoft itself. You upgrade that computer and at best it is as safe as XP, however, the more popular a new OS is, the less safe it becomes from being the primary target and also from being the very same OS that the bad guys are using themselves in developing their attack methods."productivity" which he later repeated as "higher user productivity" ... That's a big fat NO. You upgrade that computer and productivity goes down, even if it is only for the learning curve. However in reality, it's far more than that because broken muscle memory and removed features require workarounds. Another lie from Microsoft."mobility" which he later repeated as "broad device choice to meet the needs of a mobile workforce" ... That's a laugher You upgrade that computer and it suddenly shrinks in size, sprouts a battery and flipscreen and begins walking around!"lower total cost of ownership through improved management capabilities." ... NO! You upgrade that computer and you have spent some amount of money from $49 to $200. And by removing 18 year old Control Panel items they have made management a disaster. And for tech support over the phone, the missing Start Menu means playing whack-a-mole with a n00b user who can't find the items even on a good day on Windows 7.So is this overly harsh? Heck no. The Softie is lying through his teeth. And I did say LYING because the context of the questions are clearly talking about existing Windows XP systems, not about buying new ones. His answers may be stretched as being appropriate for some other discussion, but not this one. This is FUD and lying directly from the Redmond mothership and reinforces everything that people detest about them. Now check out this non sequitur ... Softpedia: Give some advice to users who cannot afford to switch from Windows XP before April 8 and who'll still be running it for a little bit more. Microsoft: Our advice is that any individual or organization running Windows XP needs to migrate to a modern operating system like Windows 8.1. PCs running Windows XP after April 8 2014 should not be considered to be protected, and it is important that individuals and organizations migrate to a current supported operating system such as Windows 8.1 so they can receive regular security updates to protect their computer from malicious attacks. The good news is that theres a broad range of affordable new Windows devices available in retail and online today. First of all, that answer does not even address the question! And at the very end when he tries to answer it the reply is to buy a new computer. So can he show us where there is a new computer that costs *less* than a copy of Windows, because that's the only possible way for that to make any sense. He also once again alleges that computers are safe today XP or any version, but XP will suddenly be unsafe this spring. How is it possible then for a single Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer to be infected presently? Did he mean to say XP will be less safe this spring? Does he mean to say that newer Windows versions are not safe but are better than nothing? Inquiring minds want to know! Law firms using Windows XP need to be wary of April 8 ( Wisconsin Law Journal 2014-02-10 ) Windows XP Could Be Infected Within 10 Minutes of Support Ending ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-12 ) In an article published by the Wisconsin Law Journal, Michael Menor, a former military computer specialist and network engineer at Tech Experts in Monroe, Mich., indicated that hackers will likely pounce on Windows XP ten minutes after Microsoft pulls the plug on support this April 8, 2014. Shakespeare was right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Xbox still can't catch a break ... PlayStation 4 outsold Xbox One by nearly double last month ( TechSpot 2014-02-14 ) PS4 Outsold the Xbox One by Almost Double Last Month ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-14 ) Sony exceeds forecasts selling 5.3M Playstation 4 consoles ( TechSpot 2014-02-18 ) Sony is off to a solid start in 2014 as January sales of the PlayStation 4 were nearly double those of Microsofts next generation Xbox One according to the latest report from research firm NPD Group. Its unclear exactly how many consoles were sold during the month, however. Conversely, Microsoft took the top spot in terms of overall game sales but its worth pointing out that this includes Xbox One and Xbox 360 sales. Narrowed down to include Xbox One games only, Sony topped Microsoft in all of the bestselling games except for Call of Duty: Ghosts and Lego Marvel Super Heroes. What obviously happened is that both companies flooded their sales channels as would be expected, resulting in large but close numbers in the holiday period, but now the replenishment phase begins. Sony recently said they are sold out everywhere all over the world and are shipping more to meet demand. One can safely guess that the story is different for Xbone. How will NeoWin spin this one I wonder? Oh wait, here it is (was) ... Microsoft touts January Gaming Sales, doesnt quantify Xbox One figures ( NeoWin 2014-02-13 ) <------ NOTE: ORIGINAL ARTICLE TITLE PlayStation 4 trounces Xbox One in January US sales (Update) ( NeoWin 2014-02-1? ) <------ NOTE: NEW ARTICLE TITLE Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate vice president of marketing and strategy for Xbox, published a blog post on Xbox Wire noting the Xbox line sold the most games of all console lines with 2.27 million units sold, including both Xbox 360 and Xbox One titles. That figure accounted for 47 percent of the total console software sales. Mehdi didn't clarify Xbox One's software figures, however, only writing that "U.S. consumers [have purchased] an average of 2.7 games per console since launch." Also absent from the post were any hardware figures for either Xbox console. Poor Yusuf. What a tough job that must be. Interesting that the article got a new title. NeoWin has very sloppy journalism in both the author writing sense, and in the technical sense of journaling changes like in a file system or a Wiki so the only explanation we get to see is this ... Update: Sony has confirmed it sold significantly more PlayStation 4 units than the Xbox One, according to gaming journalist Geoff Keighley. per @LuckyLongworth: PS4 was #1 in sales for next gen consoles in January, nearly doubling the nearest next gen competitor. Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 13, 2014 That's unfortunate for any commenters that chimed in under the old title. The new title has launched a completely new line of controversy in the comments now. Be sure to check out the battle over the use of the word "trounce". In another example of an alternate universe, there is the spectacle of a MicroZealot NeoKid attacking the NeoWin author ( a bit of a fanboy himself ) for using that word to incite trouble, and then the author accusing the NeoKid of flaming. Lots of entertainment to be had. But wait, the numbers game continues ... Just how many Xbox One consoles did Microsoft sell in the US in January 2014? ( NeoWin 2014-02-20 ) Last week, Microsoft decided not to reveal the exact number of Xbox One consoles it sold in the U.S. in January 2014, something the company did announce for both November and December 2013. However, Microsoft might have offered up enough clues in its press release to allow anyone to come up with the January sales number, if they also know where to look for historical information. [...] Finally, if you subtract 1,817,132 (the confirmed total number of Xbox One consoles sold in November and December) from 1,946,500, you get 129,368, which should be the amount of Xbox One consoles sold in the U.S. in January 2014, based on NPD's historical numbers and Microsoft's own "2.29 times" declaration. It's all over but the whining. Like I said, it wasn't really holiday season sales ( which all the NeoKids keep talking about ), it was the launch period coupled with holiday, but the launch was the dominant variable. You had several million in both camps waiting for the next generation console and empty retail channels that needed to be filled ( and these will not be repeat customers next holiday season ). This is why there is that sales cliff the numbers fell off. After the Sony release in Japan next week ( UPDATE: just happened ) and an associated burst of sales, they can both expect a trickle from now on compared to the launch period, a few hundred thousand a month going forward, most likely with Somy leading the numbers each month, and this will continue for years, perhaps even a decade until maybe a hundred million are out there. Of course this guess is subject to change without notice in the event that Microsoft wises up and makes the thing more friendly, and Sony in turn cuts off their legs somehow ( UPDATE: this is one way ). Microsoft removes sharpening filter in latest Xbox One update ( NeoWin 2014-02-17 ) Xbox One update introduces "black screen" issue ( NeoWin 2014-02-18 ) One of the features from the latest Xbox One update that didn't get mentioned during the announcement was the removal of the sharpening filter which was used while upscaling lower resolutions to 1080p. Now, many users over at NeoGAF forums have observed that Microsoft has indeed removed the filter, giving the users a better visual experience than before. Okay, so far so good, but then ... a day later: The latest update for Microsofts Xbox One included a number of highly anticipated features and positive changes. Unfortunately, it has also introduced a fairly significant bug. Users on reddit and the official xbox forums have reported that their screens sometimes go black after pressing the Xbox button to go to the home screen. While users can still hear audio, the only fixes that can bring back video output are either unplugging the Xbox One power cable or, more simply, holding down the power button for approximately ten seconds to perform a hard reset. Xbox cannot catch a break! While seemingly unrelated, IMHO this really dovetails with their push into hardware - phones and tablets. Welcome to the joys of hardware support The funny thing is, they've been doing this for quite a while on a small scale, one could call it a testbed or proof of concept - supporting the Microsoft built device called "Xbox". Yet problems still occur regularly on the Xbox line which makes it even more amazing that they somehow convinced themselves that expanding the company into phones and tablets is economical and sensible. Nevermind the race to the bottom of assembly costs from using slave labor in the 3rd world, a race they cannot win and at best can only equal. You see, Microsoft had their cake and ate it too thriving in the PC universe. They managed to avoid any hardware problems by letting OEM builders create the devices and field the support calls. Moreover, they sold the Windows licenses to OEM's insulating themselves from the customer while actually offloading that support to them as well. When customer sheeple actually got phone calls through to Microsoft rather than the OEM, they were greeted by farmed-out 3rd world operators and then got charged anyway. These two business strategies are night and day. With Windows they never had it so good, and the same is true with WP on Nokia phones. But with the new strategy of selling Microsoft hardware devices they can no longer offload responsibility. And that means whatever profit they manage to eek out of these toys it can be eaten up instantly by quality control problems. The real laugher is that they believe they can arrive late to the party and instantly keep up, a party where the existing companies have already experienced all these speed bumps and adjusted to handle them, a party where giants like Samsung are deeply entrenched and geographically located right in the 3rd world swimming in cheap labor and experience in these issues. It is a rare form of arrogance really that allows one to convince themselves that all they need to do is enter such a universe and you instantly start cashing paychecks like Apple and Samsung. I'd say it's even money that Microsoft will still be selling Microsoft phones and tablets after some period of time, perhaps two to five years. They came to that party just way too late and the race to the bottom is almost complete. The economics do not look good and it is an easy decision to just sell off things like that. Meanwhile, the cash cow of Windows on personal computers is dying on the vine. Microsoft's recently hired PC gaming and entertainment leader departs ( NeoWin 2014-02-11 ) Source: Former Steam head Jason Holtman has left Microsoft ( PC Gamer 2014-02-12 ) Microsoft's PC gaming and entertainment division chief splits after less than six months ( TechSpot 2014-02-13 ) Microsofts often troubled relationship with PC gaming took a positive step in our eyes when the company hired Jason Holtman, previously the head of Steam at Valve, last summer. Now it looks like the gain was short-lived as it emerges that Holtman has left Microsoft after only six months. Another mysterious departure? He probably saw their roadmap and business practices and said "Are you F@*($^G kidding me... You guys arent doing a single thing to make pc gaming better your trying to make the console better but not the pc, cya I am going" Wouldnt have blamed him either.100% agree with wastedkill and 9Nails assessment. After he got behind Microsoft's closed doors and saw what their game plan was (pun intended), I'm sure he said, "no frickin' way," and beat feet for the nearest door. I think it's a stretch of anyone's imagination to believe that MS is even remotely interested in PC gaming with all they have invested in XBox One.Completely agree with everyone above...MS has no intention of doing anything except killing any possible remnants of PC gaming. Jason Holtman saw this after getting on the inside and was like..."No Fing Way!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Miscellaneous ... Bill Gates Talks Condoms, Computers, and Other Topics in Reddit AMA ( Maximum PC 2014-02-10 ) The Best of Bill Gates' Reddit AMA ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-10 ) Hello Reddit Im Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsoft founder. Ask me anything. ( Reddit AMA 2014-02-10 ) Bill Gates reveals what he will be doing at Microsoft in his new role ( NeoWin 2014-02-10 ) Bill Gates combats some myths about himself in cute animated video clip ( NeoWin 2014-02-10 ) Bill Gates hits up Reddit to talk about Microsoft, Samuel L. Jackson and jumping chairs ( NeoWin 2014-02-11 ) And another Reddit thread, this time with billg himself. Unfortunately he says absolutely nothing of consequence really, proving that he really doesn't have any involvement or interest in the detailed nitty gritty of the products from the company he created. His involvement is most likely just for the sake of appearances for Wall Street. So very sad IMHO. Jobs: We're looking for writers! ( NeoWin 2014-02-17 ) What are our expectations and/or requirements?Be active: To be a full time News Reporter at Neowin we require no less than four articles a week, but the more the better. We pay our writers per original article depending on the comments/hits. This won't replace your full time job, but is an easy way to earn extra cash for a new gadget.We expect all articles to be originally written, we have strict guidelines for approvals. You must be proficient in English and grammar. We understand no one is perfect, but we do have high standards in order for a post to be approved on the main page.You need to be able to bite your tongue when negative criticism occurs. It happens from time to time, but remember you represent Neowin on and off this site.Although not mandatory, living near a convention/tech hotspot would be a plus.The minimum age for applicants is now 18 years old. This requirement comes from our legal department (Neowin is a Limited Liability Company registered in the U.S.) Well I would suggest Ed MicroBott. Don't bother calling Thurrott though seeing how he his pendulum is currently swinging in the direction of sanity, at least for the moment. Foxconn is working with Google to replace workforce with robots ( TechSpot 2014-02-11 ) Adding robots into the equation would no doubt speed along the process and help save a lot of money on the employee front. True enough, Foxconn currently has over a million workers and they have been under pressure lately over rising labor costs and workplace disputes. For these reasons, the company could serve as the perfect testing ground for Googles new robotics technology. ( Image: TechSpot ) So, first the companies in 'rich' places outsource jobs to 'poor' places since it was much cheaper to build things there. Then when those places become 'rich' and they run out of 'poor' places to exploit they outsource the jobs to robots. And very soon products will be produced and sold for great profit, however no people anywhere will be working so they won't be able to afford them. Sounds like a great plan. Flappy Bird removed from Google Play Store, iOS App Store ( NeoWin 2014-02-09 ) So now it's gotten even more ridiculous. In his interview to Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/la...t-was-an-addictive-product/) Nguyen confirms he didn't remove the game due to legal threats from Nintendo, and the creator of 2011's Piou Piou (a game FB seems to be a clone of, besides of course many older games) also said he never threatened to sue. No, his grandiose claim is that the real reason he removed the game is because people had become addicted to it, and apparently he now wants to "save" them and their sanity from his own game. Seriously, that has to be without doubt the biggest load of BS I've ever heard. Final important bit for all those claiming he did this because his new-found fortune attracted criminals: "But also, Nguyen isn't a martyr. He's not picking up his toys and going home, nor has he walked away from a fortune per se. Flappy Bird already netted him a hefty amount of cash to be sure, and already installed copies are likely still bringing in loads of revenue daily." Can't wait until the truth comes out. Something is very odd here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Cloud and Security Stuff ... Microsoft launches OneDrive, complete with new features ( TechSpot 2014-02-19 ) Another 3 GB of free storage is available for anyone who enables the automatic camera uploads feature of the OneDrive mobile app. WTF?! That sure sounds awfully creepy. Microsoft's survey reveals how you store your sensitive files, why you should go cloud ( NeoWin 2014-02-19 ) Logan told us that 69 percent of the people in the survey indicated they would rather lose the device than any of the photos and important files stored on that device. He says that shows the importance of cloud storage services like OneDrive and that they hope to make people more aware they can safely store copies of their important files on Microsoft's service. Pretty content-less article overall, mostly about another Microsoft sponsored survey, which coincidentally favorable to their Big Data services. Interestingly, the reaction of the NeoKids is quite unusual with practically no fanboy support of Big MicroBrother, at least this time. They actually make some good points for once, questioning why anyone would trust them or anyone with important data. CloudFlare Hit By A 400Gbps DDoS Attack ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-14 ) CloudFlare, a US website protection provider, reported a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack hitting their systems on Monday. According to itnews, the attack is the largest DDoS attack recorded so far. Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of CloudFlare, said the attack flooded the company with over 400Gbps of traffic at one point; that's 100Gbps more than the largest recorded attack in March of 2013. It's unknown how many of CloudFlare's clients have been affected by the attack at this time. The cloud is your friend. Syrian Electronic Army hits Forbes site; claims to have taken user accounts ( NeoWin 2014-02-15 ) Forbes hacked by Syrian Electronic Army, one million user accounts compromised ( TechSpot 2014-02-17 ) Forbes Falls Prey to Hacker Attack, 1 Million Email Addresses Compromised ( Maximum PC 2014-02-17 ) The hacker group known as the Syrian Electronic Army, which has been targeting Microsoft for the past several weeks, has now turned its attention to other online outlets. Today, the SEA went after the Forbes website, but this time, instead of just defacing pages, it claims to have taken 1 million user names and passwords from the site. The cloud is your friend. Kickstarter hacked, customer information compromised ( TechSpot 2014-02-15 ) Kickstarter hacked, you should probably change your password ( PC Gamer 2014-02-16 ) Kickstarter Apologizes for Security Breach, Advises Changing Your Password ( Maximum PC 2014-02-17 ) Hackers did manage to gain access to usernames, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers and encrypted passwords, however. Actual passwords were not revealed although it is possible for someone with enough computing power to use brute force to crack encrypted passwords, especially those that are weak or obvious. The cloud is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Security continued, Microsoft Edition ... Operation SnowMan: DeputyDog Actor Compromises US Veterans of Foreign Wars Website ( FireEye 2014-02-13 ) New IE10 zero-day exploit found; could be targeting U.S. military ( NeoWin 2014-02-14 ) Microsoft may have released new Internet Explorer security patches earlier this week, but now the company has confirmed that a new zero-day exploit in IE10 has been found and is apparently being used by an unknown group to target members of the U.S. military. [...] Visitors to the site with IE10 loaded another page created by the group in the background, which runs a Flash-based object that completes the rest of the attack. This issue is just with IE10; users who upgrade to the current IE11 browser are not affected by this exploit. Yep, use MSIE at your own risk. It should be noted that the active-duty military users are visiting a non-government site ( VFW ). The code that was inserted at the website exploits Windows API calls on the presumably "protected" military computers. This is from the FireEye site ... After compromising the VFW website, the attackers added an iframe into the beginning of the websites HTML code that loads the attackers page in the background. The attackers HTML/JavaScript page runs a Flash object, which orchestrates the remainder of the exploit. The exploit includes calling back to the IE 10 vulnerability trigger, which is embedded in the JavaScript. Specifically, visitors to the VFW website were silently redirected through an iframe to the exploit at www.[REDACTED].com/Data/img/img.html. [...] The exploit targets IE 10 with Adobe Flash. It aborts exploitation if the user is browsing with a different version of IE or has installed Microsofts Experience Mitigation Toolkit (EMET). So installing EMET or updating to IE 11 prevents this exploit from functioning. [...] The attacker uses the Microsoft.XMLDOM ActiveX control to load a one-line XML string containing a file path to the EMET DLL. Then the exploit code parses the error resulting from the XML load order to determine whether the load failed because the EMET DLL is not present. The exploit proceeds only if this check determines that the EMET DLL is not present. So a great question is how these nitwit sysadmins are dumb enough to allow use of MSIE in the first place, and be doing it without an administrated firewall? Oh wait, I know this ( holds up hands ). Microsoft has sold Windows and MSIE to the military bean counters portraying it as secured! And what allegedly secure operating system are they using? NeoWin does not say. The security site does not say. Well I can tell you it was most likely Windows 8 as the military were early adopters. Their budget knows no limits so at the very least they are on very up-to-date hardware that shipped with at least Windows 7, this is guaranteed. MSIE version 10 at present is used mostly on Windows 8 ( its one year old and needed to be updated to on Windows 7 ) so this is almost a certainty in my opinion. So much for all that Windows XP FUD. Note that not a single NeoKid has figured this out yet, yet all the facts are right in front of them. Let's just cut to the chase here, they use FUD to get you to buy another version of Windows and/or a new computer, that's it. And the FUD includes a whole lotta lies. LIES. Their new placebo operating system is not safer, it is just more compromised by spooks. Their new MSIE is not safer, it still allows the biggest target imaginable, OCX. Fanboys, Softies, Astroturfers, MicroZealots and MetroTards that spout this crap are reprehensible and borderline criminal. And we taxpayers got to foot the bill for those new computers and placebo operating systems. If only we could tar and feather these crooks. UPDATE: not one, but two fixes are now available ( until the next exploit ) for Flash and MSIE respectively ... Adobe issues second emergency patch for Flash Player this month ( TechSpot 2014-02-20 ) Serious Flash vulnerability fixed by Adobe within hours ( NeoWin 2014-02-21 ) Adobe has released a critical security update for its Flash Player plug-in for Windows, Mac and Linux the second in less than three weeks. The update addresses a zero-day exploit first uncovered by security firm FireEye a week ago that targeted visitors of at least three nonprofit websites. [...] Adobe said Flash Player 12.0.0.44 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh, version 11.2.202.336 and earlier versions for Linux, AIR 4.0.0.1390 and earlier versions for Android, AIR 3.9.0.1390 SDK and earlier versions and AIR 3.9.0.1390 SDK & Compiler and earlier versions are all affected. The new version of Flash Player for Windows and Mac is 12.0.0.70 while the newest for Linux is 11.2.202.341. Naturally, youll want to download and apply the patch ASAP. Microsoft issues 'Fix it' patch for IE9 and IE10 zero-day exploit ( NeoWin 2014-02-19 ) Last week, Microsoft confirmed that a zero-day exploit had been discovered in Internet Explorer 10 that was being used in at least one cyber attack out in the wild. Today, the company issued a formal security warning about the exploit and confirmed that it also was found in IE9 as well. [...] The exploit was first discovered and published by the FireEye security firm, which added that it was used by the mystery hackers to compromise the website of the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars. Microsoft has now released a quick "Fix It" patch that will close the exploit in both IE9 and IE10. Older versions of the browser are not affected by this problem. Read the bold part. So much for that "newer, more secure" mantra I guess. Microsoft awards another $100,000 bounty for finding a Windows 8.1 exploit ( NeoWin 2014-02-16 ) Well since Microsoft so intertwined MSIE into Windows, and ActiveX is a building block of both, they should be going bankrupt paying out rewards for the endless exploits this strategy has created. The fact that you cannot remove MSIE ( unchecking it from Add/Remove only restores the RTM version ), the fact that it is the default OOTB, the fact that with the missing Start Button it becomes the thing n00bs click on, the fact that tons of software programs actually hardcode to Iexplore.exe for help and countless other stupid reasons to access the Internet, all in all the thing qualifies as the most dangerous virus ever written and it comes pre-installed in the operating system. If Microsoft had any sense the thing would be killed today and a secured basic HTTP application would be used for typing URL's in the search/run boxes and only to connect to a website to get an alternate browser. It's so bad now that it far dwarfs the original Netscape fiasco of including the browser anti-competitively ( a non-issue IMHO ). The real issue is that it is the virus pipeline, the malware facilitator baked-in to every operating system called Windows and presents the most incredibly large target for the bad guys. Talk about an 800 pound gorilla. Microsoft asks people to "Do1Thing" for Safer Internet Day 2014 ( NeoWin 2014-02-11 ) In order to mark Safer Internet Day 2014, taking place today (11th February), Microsoft is urging everybody to "Do1Thing" to stay safer and protect themselves online. They would then like people to incorporate that thing into their daily digital lives to protect themselves against a specific digital threat for life. Well if it was April 1st, I would re-write that paragraph to say: "Microsoft is urging everybody to "Do1Thing" to stay safer and protect themselves online by installing an alternative web browser and avoiding MSIE at all costs." The problem is, that would hardly be sarcasm now would it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Security and Big Government ... Snowden reveals how GCHQ used "dirty tricks" on their targets ( NeoWin 2014-02-08 ) Eric King, a professor of IT Law at the London School Of Economics claimed it was "remarkable" that the cyber protection unit in Britain had such a right to invade targets in an aggressive manner. He went on to say how "Hacking is one of the most invasive methods of surveillance" hinting even GCHQ didn't have the right. Intelligence officials stood up for the actions that caused such controversy, and stated that the actions were an appropriate response to the illegal acts. One official furthered his point by claiming that British spies were "slightly ahead" of U.S spies when using aggression against targets. The PowerPoint documents also reveal viruses that GCHQ used on suspects, deleting all their emails, encrypting files and making the screen shake as well as preventing the user from logging on. A bit dated this article, but enlightening to those still too stubborn to grasp the scale of the spook saga. How about that bold part, a hilarious euphemism for saying the UK spooks are even more criminal than our own. Bitcoin regulation to "come this year" says New York financial services superintendent ( NeoWin 2014-02-12 ) The financial services superintendent for New York, Benjamin Lawsky, has detailed plans to regulate the use of the digital crypto-currency Bitcoin by the end of this year. Speaking at a currency conference in Washington D.C. yesterday, he said "Our objective is to provide appropriate guardrails to protect consumers and root out money laundering - without stifling beneficial innovation." Oh yeah sure. As the government is busy making its move to capture every communication, tame the Internet and thwart any possibility of privacy for the sole purpose of protecting itself from its angry and motivated serfs, of course Bitcoin and all other non-governmental currencies will need to be crushed. As we saw recently, Apple has already cleaned Bitcoin wallets out of its store. Interesting thought from a NeoKid ... Great, now the FED will get involved and just start creating bitcoins out of thin air like it does with dollars..... Followed up by the usual inside-the-box sheeple thinking ... that's actually one thing nobody can do, and probably what scares them. You cannot create any amount of a certain cryptocurrency out of thin air as you have to abide by the block creation rules, and the very same network supporting the transactions is creating blocks at the same time you are and validating/invalidating any transaction or block you create. Really? What if the they decided to turn all their supercomputers to mining coins? They could easily flood the market and even max out the limit very quickly. Ironically at the moment they seem to be making them more valuable by taking many of them out of play with all the recent confiscations. It's starting to like like the only sensible future will be one that has a new Internet WITHOUT government presence, and new currencies WITHOUT any government involvement. This will require more free citizens and less sheeple though. That brings up another point, do we even know how many Bitcoins are already in their control? For example ... Hackers steal more than 4,000 Bitcoins from Silk Road 2.0 ( TechSpot 2014-02-14 ) Why would anyone automatically assume that these are independent hackers? Why not government employed hackers? EU calls for less US controlled internet with web globalization proposal ( TechSpot 2014-02-12 ) Following news of NSA surveillance operations along with years worth of concern regarding US control over the internet, the EU has set forth new proposals calling for globalization of the net. [...] "The next two years will be critical in redrawing the global map of Internet governance," European Commission VP Neelie Kroes said. "Europe must contribute to a credible way forward for global internet governance. Europe must play a strong role in defining what the net of the future looks like." Classic carrot and stick. Less USA control but with 'global internet governance'. Government bureaucrats will never pass on an opportunity to sink their greedy hooks into something, they never let a crisis go to waste. While we are rightly criticizing the infiltration of spooks into every facet of technology and turning these items against the free citizens, along come self-serving bureaucrats circling like sharks in bloddy waters. People must be on high alert and keep their guard up. Governments are fully capable of conspiring together ( e.g., USA and UK using each other to dodge each respective laws ) and manipulating the people with scare tactics to gain support for their own laws. Dutch telco KPN strikes deal with Silent Circle to offer encrypted communications ( TechSpot 2014-02-20 ) Dutch telecommunications giant KPN has struck a deal with encryption firm Silent Circle to offer a peer-to-peer platform for secure communications. The move will let KPN's customers make secure voice and video calls as well as encrypted text messaging and file transfers. [...] Silent Circle's services don't store metadata, and the encryption keys are managed on the user's device, outside of KPN or Silent Circle's infrastructure. Also, keys are automatically destroyed after a communication session, making it impossible to decrypt the data. This means that users don't need to fear phone taps by telcos. Of course, the service only works when both parties have the encryption application installed. Well at least it's not all bad news out there. Recall that both Silent Circle and Lavabit shut themselves down rather than pander to government pressure and have since then developed The Dark Mail Alliance ( from an earlier post: "Silent Circle was founded by encryption pioneer Phil Zimmermann and former Navy SEAL Mike Janke, who had approached Zimmermann about forming a company that could provide secure communications that could not be monitored by any government. Zimmermann himself was at the center of the mid-1990s "crypto wars," when the U.S. government regarded secure encryption as a threat to national security." ) This announcement is dated February 20. So it appears the good guys are still on the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Even More Security ... Sophisticated malware dubbed 'The Mask' went undetected for the past seven years ( TechSpot 2014-02-11 ) ( Image: TechSpot - they have the best pictures! ) Security researchers recently unearthed a spying tool that managed to go undetected for the past seven years. Dubbed The Mask by those at Kaspersky Lab, the malware zeroed in on a wide range of high-profile targets for the better part of a decade using techniques and code more sophisticated than anything previously found in the wild. Experts at Kaspersky say the malware specifically went after government agencies, diplomatic offices and embassies, research organizations and activists as well as those in the gas, oil and energy markets. It employed a combination of malware, rootkit methods and even a bootkit to remain undetected over the years. Oh there's no mystery where this one came from, broadly speaking, is there? Well I have no doubt. Stuxnet, Flame, and several others, and it shows that in our government protectors we have unleashed a monster who is willing to cross any bridge at anytime. I'm certainly not against them crippling Iranian centrifuges ( such actions were already covered by Constitutional national defense authority and required no crazy post-9/11 legislation ), but exactly what are the chances that they will stop there? Here's a very interesting fact, one definition of "Mask" at Wikipedia is: MI5 operation (19341937) that decrypted Comintern radio communications. Linksys Routers Targeted by Mysterious New Worm ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-14 ) Linksys Routers Getting Infected by "TheMoon" Worm ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-14 ) "TheMoon" Worm Infecting Linksys Routers ( Maximum PC 2014-02-16 ) Kickstarter hacked, user info stolen ( NeoWin 2014-02-16 ) So far, only Linksys' "E" product line, which includes the E900, E2000, E3200 and E4200 models, has been shown to be affected. Devices that have upgraded to the latest firmware, 2.0.06, should be safe, but some earlier models whose support has expired, such as the E1000, can't get that upgrade. The worm works by remotely calling a router's Home Network Administration Protocol, or HNAP. It then uses a known vulnerability in the router's Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script to gain administrative control. [...] Update: Linksys has issued a statement about the breach: "The exploit to bypass the admin authentication used by the worm only works when the Remote Management Access feature is enabled. Linksys ships these products with the Remote Management Access feature turned off by default." The company also promises a firmware update to prevent the worm gaining access to its routers even when the feature is enabled, and says they'll post the update to their website in the next few weeks. And yet another example of how remote management features, especially when left in the hands of sheeple will bite you in the butt. What happened? Someone published a theoretical exploit to HNAP and someone else implemented it. Done. Wise people leave these things OFF ( normally the default in the router firmware anyway ) and it cannot occur. Remote Administration and universal Plug and Play should be off until you actually really need it. And it needs to be turned off again when done. This goes both for Windows, and any other device connected to it. I've been starting to notice something though. On lots of routers lately the trend is to use an application for the install, rather than manually adjusting the firmware through the web interface. This is killing the entire purpose! It makes them run an application, usually on a CD, naturally it leaves traces such as an automatic update checker. It enables uPnP. It creates weak passphrases and does not lock down the network. The stupidication of sheeple devices has reached all points of the computerverse now - including the very hardware that you purchase to protect you. Humanity is doomed. And the sheeple are destined to be the first to go. Asus routers exploited, connected drives easily accessed ( TechSpot 2014-02-17 ) Asus Finally Rolls Out a Firmware Fix for Major Router Vulnerability. It took Asus eight months ... ( Maximum PC 2014-02-18 ) Hackers have exploited an eight-month-old flaw in Asus routers, giving anyone access to data stored on drives connected directly through the USB port on the back. Some affected users have found text files on their connected drives informing them they've been hacked, with instructions on how to protect themselves. "This is an automated message being sent out to everyone effected [sic]. Your Asus router (and your documents) can be accessed by anyone in the world with an Internet connection," the message reads. Finding this message on their connected drive has alarmed some users, who believed that the drive was only accessible through their local network. [...] The hacker group in question posted nearly 13,000 IP addresses of people with vulnerable Asus routers two weeks ago, along with a torrent containing 10,000 complete or partial file lists detailing data on connected drives. Affected Asus router models include the RT-AC66R, RT-AC66U, RT-N66R, RT-N66U, RT-AC56U, RT-N56R, RT-N56U, RT-N14U, RT-N16, and RT-N16R. Luckily, firmware updates for the routers that patch the exploit have been available since last week, however many potentially vulnerable users are yet to install the patch. In July of last year, Lovett posted additional details about the security flaw. "The vulnerability is that on many, if not on almost all N66U units that have enabled https Web service access via the AiCloud feature, [they] are vulnerable to un-authenticated directory traversal and full sensitive file disclosure," Lovett explained. "Any of the AiCloud options 'Cloud Disk,' 'Smart Access,' and 'Smart Sync' (need another verification on this one) appear to enable this vulnerability." Oh lookee here, remote administration again. That's just swell. Thank you for turning security devices into children's toys. I have a question for the ages ... Who do we blame more, developers of devices designed for retards or the retarded retards that demand them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Big Data and Big Telecomm ... Comcast agrees to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion ( TechSpot 2014-02-13 ) Comcast to Obtain Time Warner Cable for $45.2 Billion ( Maximum PC 2014-02-13 ) Comcast Says Time Warner Merger Will Mean Faster Internet ( Tom's Hardware 2014-02-13 ) The top two U.S. cable service providers, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, announced on Thursday a merger (or friendly takeover) worth $45.2 billion. [...] Reuters reports that the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal may face "close scrutiny" from U.S. antitrust regulators because of the deal's potential to reshape the country's broadband and pay TV markets. The resulting company stemming from this deal would have a footprint stretching from New York City to Los Angeles. The company would also be in 19 of the 20 largest U.S. TV markets. [...] What does this deal mean for subscribers? Comcast argues that customers will benefit from "technological innovations, including a superior video experience, higher broadband speeds, and the fastest in-home Wi-Fi." For businesses, the new company will be able to offer advanced services like "high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet services and cloud-based managed services to enterprises." More innovation? What an incredible load of crap. And "close scrutiny"? Even more crap. Some commenters actually disagree, here's an enabler ... This is not a "monopoly" in the regulatory sense. They do not currently overlap in their service areas so there is no effective decrease in competition There is certainly a sucker born every minute. And this sucker should just ask himself why "they do not currently overlap" and engage in competition? It's enabler thinking like this that guarantees there can never even be any competition because after all these mergers there will never be enough individual companies left to overlap one another in the first place. This will be approved as part of a back-end deal with the government to allow more invasive spying. Systems will be in place under the guise of "insuring internet fairness" because this will be the warranted and logical cry from the public. While those systems will certainly be able to measure bitrate, throttling and the like, they will primarily be used for tracking. Yep, there's that too. Who can possibly doubt this theory now after all the Snowden leaks. See the whole comment thread at Maximum PC for a back and forth between mindless enablers and more sensible commenters. Not surprisingly there is a similar situation happening in the mobile market. First some older news that sets up the context, that being what a little competition can accomplish ... AT&T's new Sponsored Data could be a huge win or huge catastrophe ( NeoWin 2014-01-07 ) Sprint's new 'Framily Plan' offers deep discounts for you and your friends ( TechSpot 2014-01-08 ) Sprint retires 'One Up' early upgrade plan, pitches 'Framily Plan' as alternative ( NeoWin 2014-01-13 ) Uncarrier 4.0: T-Mobile will pay you up to $650 per line to switch from competitor ( NeoWin 2014-01-08 ) T-Mobile will pay up to $650 per line for you to switch to their network ( TechSpot 2014-01-09 ) AT&T's new Mobile Share Value plans could save you a lot of money ( TechSpot 2014-02-03 ) AT&T subsidiary Aio Wireless revamps no-contract rate plans ( TechSpot 2014-02-04 ) T-Mobile expands International Talk & Text plan to include mobile numbers ( TechSpot 2014-02-20 ) Followed by similarly hopeful mumblings from regulators ... Sprint may reconsider T-Mobile merger following strong opposition from regulators ( TechSpot 2014-02-11 ) Sprint's potential merger with smaller rival T-Mobile has hit a major roadblock after strong opposition from antitrust regulators. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint entourage, which included CEO Dan Hesse and Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son, met with the FCC and the Department Of Justice last week, but was surprised by the level of opposition the deal is expected to face. [...] The Department of Justice already warned Sprint that the deal would face "intense scrutiny" and numerous regulatory difficulties. But if Sprint and T-Mobile still decide to move ahead with the deal, it could result in a repeat of the actions taken in 2011, when T-Mobile's merger with AT&T was blocked. But we've heard this many times before. A whole lot of discussion and then magically the roadblocks get lifted, mergers proceed and the competition evaporates. I don't believe for a hot minute that the government cares about competition ( these companies lobby them for favored positions WITHOUT threat of competition ) nor do they even want lots of ISP's or carriers because that just means more work for the spooks in their quest to access every single byte of data traveling between citizens terrorists. AT&T and IBM partner to launch smart city sensors throughout the US in 2014 ( TechSpot 2014-02-19 ) There has been talk in the past regarding smart cities and ubiquitous sensors, and now IBM and AT&T are joining forces with plans to create a massive city system linking cameras, traffic technology, and other forms of realtime city data that will feed information to cars and citizens, among other things. Both companies will analyze Big data and realtime utility stats from cities while integrating local social media and traffic reports as well other real-time city information in order to offer better data to citizens and city planners. Oh nothing to possibly worry about here. AT&T was probably the first thoroughly compromised private company in the century old government vs citizen wars, providing at the very least metadata for every phone call ever made, and lots of whispers that it was much more than that. Big Blue has been whispered to be the storage provider for them as well as most of Big Government since the 1950's. When IBM was nearly broken up itself more rumors flew about what they had to agree to in order to remain in one piece. Frankly any mention of the two in the same sentence has always been worrisome for the private citizen. And now we get it right out in the open, both of them doing for the government what was long suspected. Orwell be d@mned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphlpt Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I saw this great description for the latest MS "Start Button":... 'new and improved' 'not a start button but is exactly where start button used to be and does everything useful the old start button did plus more' button...All it needs is an ackronym and a catchy jingle. Cheers and Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpalone Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 (edited) First the Headline: Microsoft Lync gathers data just like NSA vacuums up info in its domestic surveillance programAnd then some quotes from within the article:Microsoft's Lync communications platform gathers enough readily analyzable data to let corporations spy on their employees like the NSA can on U.S. citizens, and it's based on the same type of information - call details.At Microsoft’s Lync 2014 conference, software developer Event Zero detailed just how easy it would be, for instance, to figure out who is dating whom within the company and pinpoint people looking for another job.Microsoft says these call detail records have been stored by traditional PBXs for legitimate reasons such as accounting for cross-charging, to help with trouble-shooting or even to track contact-center agent productivity, and that’s why Lync does so as well. “From a reporting perspective, Lync does this no differently than any other enterprise communications system,”.....Entire article can be read here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/022014-microsoft-lync-nsa-278925.html?hpg1=bnI would think that they are having enough of a trust problem after the preceding year or so of leaked spook information. Then, they have to come out beating their chest telling everyone just how wonderful their product(s) are at spying on the very people they expect to buy their products. Doesn't make a lot of sense.As for the underlying issue of collecting data. I don't know that it is so much just Microsoft, but more of an overall technology thing/issue. It is more of a moral issue, as there are many valid reasons to have the data available to review, such as making sure that you or your employer/client are not getting hosed by whomever. The moral and ethical issue is, just what do you do with that data? Not so many years ago, no one would had any trouble properly answering that question. But, today, society in general has lost its moral compass and the question has become much harder for the people in charge to answer correctly. In this era of LARGE DATA, we have to expect some minor abuses, but we should not have to accept the gross abuses we have seen lately. I also doubt that it has just been going on for the last few years. Those who run and thrive in the spook shops are by nature a bit paranoid, they have to be. However, there needs to be some adult supervision in order to keep them in bounds. We as the people sheeple, can do things to keep most of our data mostly private and should do so. We also have to accept that a certain amount of information is going to be lying around and that it can certainly be abused. Just try your best to not let it be to incriminating.bpaloneedit for clarity Edited February 23, 2014 by bpalone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Welcome back, Charlotte. I was getting worried that something untoward might have happened during one of those endless snow shoveling sessions. (From sometimes scary experience, I know that it's very heavy work.)Sounds like you really got hammered. We got about 6 inches on top of everything that was already on the ground, but that's like nothing compared to what fell on you.No problem here with inflicting the masssive data dump on us, it'll keep us busy for a while. --JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 As JorgeA mentioned earlier ... Welcome back! ... never realize how much you miss posts from various members until it actually happens. I figured it has to be the weather as you said as much earlier but the thought did cross my mind that maybe the "spooks" were nearby surrounding the property and all communication was cut off.I guess when most of us think of spooks we picture them dressed in black, or at least I do ... easily seen in the snow but maybe they also dress in white every so often to blend in with the snow pack !... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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