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01/30/2004 Archived Entry: "Kein Mitleid Für MicroSoft"

Quote of the Day:

"A high-volume system like [Windows] that has been thoroughly tested will be by far the most secure."
-- Bill Gates, 26 Jan 04: less than 24 hours before the outbreak of the MyDoom virus; the same day that a "malicious folder" vulnerability in Windows XP was revealed; and two days before a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer was revealed.

Let's see now. Would this be the same Windows that Microsoft itself, just last month, advised is unsafe to connect to the Internet? The Windows that last November took seven out of the top ten places in a list of security vulnerabilities? Perhaps the Windows that in the year 2000 was shipped with 63,000 known defects? From the company that last year employed Linux servers to protect its web site?

Sorry, but when I read Bill's statement, I had to go on a rant. Comparing Windows to Linux or to Mac OS X for security is ludicrous in the extreme. And now Microsoft has hired some analysts to demonstrate lower "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) for Windows. (IBM hired a group that found Linux to be cheaper. Imagine that.)

Decatur Jones (the "clueful" analysts I mentioned some time back) have concluded that "Desktop Linux is gathering momentum faster than previously expected". No wonder: the Yankee Group reports that 43 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are concerned about over-reliance on Microsoft; 72 percent are seeking other vendors. The Inquirer and The Register both see the trend.

I won't shed a tear. The last ten years of dealing with the company and its products have left me sharing this sentiment:

Kein Mitleid Für MicroSoft. [No pity for Microsoft.]

brad [end of rant]

P.S. If you're using them, here are those security advisories again for Windows XP and Internet Explorer.