Windows Vista

[Mad Fox]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/08/03/microsoft.hackers.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Microsoft to confident?

[BobtheCkroach]

I think MS has a much better chance of looking good from this than of looking bad.

If they go through this and get ripped apart

1) Everyone says "just as we thought...nothing new"
2) MS can say "that was the point - now we can fix further holes"
3) MS can point out that this was a gathering of the most talented hackers in the world
4) Potential customers will probably acknowledge that it isn't good, but also acknowledge that it's obvious that MS is taking an active approach in trying to stop the attacks.

BUT if they happen to have a great showing, with relatively few exploits discovered, and no major damage done via the exploits, MS gets to say "we told you that we could do it" and will get a bunch of positive publicity about how they're finally doing things right.

Currently, most hardcore PC users are saying that they're going to wait b/c they're sure vista won't be safe on release. If that viewpoint gets reinforce, MS stands to lose relatively few of sales out the gate. But if they can have a strong showing that proves that they have made strides in the field, they might convince a lot of people to change their mind in the hopes of using a stronger, safe OS.

I think it's a good move for them.

[Caged Anger]

i dunno, would the hackers really give up all the bugs they find? :)

stick with xp for 1 more year, then things should start getting better

[JIMINATOR]

eh, whatever. don't know that any hackers are going to bother with a beta, so the results may be meaningless.

i am reminded of the guys who demonstrated how to hack any mac with an open wireless connection (the default) within 30 seconds. Reason being for the obnoxious mac commercials and the smug attitudes.

security exploits are not discovered by a few that attempt to poke holes in a product, but by the masses that use the product. That is why a mac is 'safer' than a pc.

I imagine vista will be the same, safe & secure until lots of people start using it and then trying to figure out how to crack it.

[Mad Fox]

I'm sure whatever happens we will all be using Windows vista within a short time

[BobtheCkroach]

I'm sure whatever happens we will all be using Windows vista within a short time

I seriously doubt that. I know that I won't be until they prove to me that it's worth spending my money on. Just about everything that they originally toted about being so great - the new File System, etc - eventually got tossed. Now it's pretty much XP with the pretty Aero Glass feature and (hopefully) some improved security. Frankly, I've been spending some time lately working on getting Linux working with all my games and finding applications for linux that match the applications I currently use on windows. I would honestly love for my next switch to be to linux and leave windows behind entirely.

[MassacreAL]

i guess it will be similar to win xp, i remmember when xp came out and it took some time before it had became major os. im only waiting if microsoft will release dx10 only for windows vista. if so, we all r dead(becouse within five years most of games will be for dx 10)

[MassacreAL]

one interesting thing. microsoft has released a lot of dx10 stuff(tutors, samples), but noone can use ut becouse noone has dx10-compatible card :) im wondering how did they take screenshots, when there is no dx10 card :hmmm:

[Caged Anger]

interesting question

[NastyDawg]

I will wait until they get the bugs worked out before I switch.

[Death Engineer]

one interesting thing. microsoft has released a lot of dx10 stuff(tutors, samples), but noone can use ut becouse noone has dx10-compatible card :) im wondering how did they take screenshots, when there is no dx10 card :hmmm:

It's called software rendering. It is slower, but allows screenshots to be rendered when required hardware is not available (or present).

As far as Vista goes, I'm yet to see anything to write home about. The bloated OS has gotten fatter than ever requiring more resources (ram, disk space, etc) and the only thing I've seen so far that makes me want it is the threat of no DX10 in WinXP.

Personally, I'm exploring Ubuntu Linux as a possible personal alternative. Sadly I will be dragged into Vista one way or another in my job.

[Mad Fox]

basically, from what i gather, Windows vista is an over glorified Windows Xp?


There won't be any real changes

[MassacreAL]

one little question. will vista use NTFS or something new?

[JIMINATOR]

vista was going to use a new file system, but that feature was dropped, additionally it doesn't look like it is going to happen at all for consumer versions.

vista is much more than a glorified xp. granted some features may have questionable usefulness but there should be a lot there that helps.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/foreveryone/performance.mspx

[MassacreAL]

wow, some of those things are pretty amazing, like adding new memory via usb and faster file loading. both things will improve gaming very much

[JIMINATOR]

two sticks of ram would probably cost about the same price and help more. my understanding of flash memory is that it has a limited # of read/write cycles available, vista may use them all up.