Application Programs:
Security:
“AsWindows users are being plagued by computer viruses, spam, buggy software, andWeb pop-up ads, some are questioning why the Redmond, Wash.-based softwarebehemoth has failed to integrate security and repair features that could makecomputers less prone to problems.
“‘Microsoft has added lots of bells and whistles to Windows to protect theiroperating system franchise over the years, but when it comes to Windowssecurity and reliability, they’ve done comparitively little until recently,’said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a Bethesda,Md.-based computer security and training organization.
“‘It’s like they are selling faster cars with more powerful engines but leavingoff the seat belts and air bags — all those critical things that make customerssafe when using their products,’ he added.
“Microsoft’scritics say the reason the company isn’t eager to add security features issimple: Doing so wouldn’t help it fend off competitors whose products couldundermine the spread of Windows.
“‘You would think there would be money to be made in Microsoft having some kindof more effective antiviral program of their own,’ said Andrew Gavil, anantitrust expert and law professor at Howard University. ‘But virus programsdon’t present any threat to their operating system monopoly.’ ” —Los AngelesTimes, “Microsoft Runs Into Bundling Dilemma”, March 27, 2004
Microsoftfalsely claimed that it would make security a company-wide priority in its muchpublicized 2002 “trustworthy computing initiaitve”. Since then, MicrosoftWindows (all versions) has become even more vulnerable to viruses and otherinternet attacks. Security is a purposely false and misleading marketing sloganat Microsoft.
“Ironically,some experts say, product bundling is partly to blame for Windows’ securitywoes.
“Lee A. Hollaar, a computer science professor at University of Utah, said thewidespread proliferation of the Melissa computer virus stemmed from the tightintegration of Microsoft’s Outlook e-mail program with its writing application,Word.
‘The Melissa virus exists only because Microsoft expanded Word documents tocontain functions that let it access the Outlook address book’, Hollaar said.
“Similarly,he explained, when the Internet Explorer Web browser was folded into theoperating system, it exposed Windows to greater security risks from the Net.’ ”—Los Angeles Times, “Microsoft Runs Into Bundling Dilemma”, March 27,2004
Other:
“NT,even in its Enterprise Edition incarnation, trails in virtually every areaexcept PC interoperability. As a comparatively new system targeting broadermarket requirements, NT simply lacks the functional depth of UNIX today.” —D.H.Brown Associates
“Youmay have noticed that a new TV ad for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer e-mailprogram uses the musical theme of the ‘Confutatis Maledictis’ from Mozart’sRequiem. ‘Where do you want to go today?’ is the cheery line on the screen.Meanwhile, the chorus sings ‘Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis,’which means, ‘The damned and accursed are convicted to flames of hell.’ ” —GaryPavek
“Windows95 is an ‘edifice of bailing wire, chewing gum and prayer.’ ” — The New YorkTimes, August 2, 1995