atw: Re: OT: MS & Spyware

I ran Ad-Aware, spybot AND search and destroy.

Then I ran Spy Sweeper. It found a scarily large number of items the others
overlooked. It's the only real tool for those folks serious about spyware
control.

Steve
 

-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Allan Charlton
Sent: Wednesday, 19 January 2005 4:37 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: OT: MS & Spyware

John said
> Spyware is legitimate software that A USER HAS VOLUNTARILY INSTALLED.
 
Some, perhaps, but lots of it gets installed by users visiting websites
written and maintained by people with more technical skill than moral fibre.
Lots of it was installed on my PC without my knowledge or consent and it has
caused me considerable angst.  And I'm not sure I'd call it 'legitimate
software'.
> So now Microsoft has purchased one of the leading antispyware 
> companies in the world.  They have issued its products to Windows 
> users for free.
 
I had never heard of Giant before the Microsoft announcement, but maybe
that's because I found Lavasoft first.  But I'm cynical about the 'free'
status of Microsoft anti-spyware because I remember how Microsoft used the
same line to lock in a customer base for Microsoft Money.  Free for the
first release, then a small fee for an update, then a slightly higher fee,
and so on.  I'm sure you remember that.

> the biggest security hole in computing: the vast gap between a user's 
> ears.
 
John is correct.  It's amazing how many people can't operate a refrigerator
correctly, yet they insist on being able to use a computer.
 You can't blame manufacturers for trying to meet the demand.  Where John
and I differ is our opinions of the way the computer industry goes about its
need to satisfy its customers.

> Unix operates on <what??> percentage of the world's desktop computers?  
> (I'll save you the trouble of looking it up: it's around five per 
> cent.)
 
I'm not sure that's a valid argument.  We'd be better to debate the relative
difficulty of setting up a 286 AT running DOS 5.  It was relatively
unfriendly and garnered more respect than a current Windows box because of
its unfriendliness.  People took the trouble to learn basic stuff about it.
 
I'm not saying that we should ditch GUIs - I'm saying that Microsoft has
engendered a view that bugs are OK and that Microsoft would prefer to not
fix bugs in its software.  That translates as Microsoft having a cynical
view of its customers.  Whether it's true or not, it's unfortunate and will
eventually be *very* expensive for Microsoft as users take the options that
are becoming available.
 
The X Window System was relatively bug-free when I last looked at it. 
And I have seen a completely untrained secretary install an X terminal on a
Unix box using only the manual for guidance.  The claim that the desire for
point-and-click software is the cause of the bugs just doesn't hold water,
I'm afraid.

> Microsoft has spent money to purchase a company they now have to staff 
> and operate
 
Wasn't Giant staffed and operating when Microsoft bought it?  Won't some of
its operations be absorbed by Microsoft?  I'm confident the price of the
product will increase over time.  What Microsoft *really* bought was some
technology that its customers have been getting from other vendors.  That
would never do.
 
> users who have created a large industry problem by determinedly 
> resisting any efforts to educate them or change their operating 
> practices.
 
People resist change.  They have done so since the beginning of recorded
history.  The last twenty or so years have seen incredibly fast change, and
to push it along without expecting resistance is a bit naive.  I'm sure that
the good people at Microsoft know that.  Yet they seem to be reducing their
attempts to educate us: I noted the Microsoft statement about the Help in
the next OS and its suite of software - they say it will be task-based
(imagine that!) and that they will not document all features.

But I disagree with both John and Steve: let's not pillory that Gates
chappie, because he might introduce bugs in the anti-spyware software.  And
we don't want bugs in anti-bug software, thank you.
 
Allan

 

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You should scan any attached files for viruses.

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