I have to admit....

Ok, I have to admit, I just love those "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials. No, I'm not a Mac-fan. In fact, I sprang onto the computer-scene at the height of the PC-wars. Mac's were just coming onto the education scene in full force. They had been around throughout my high school years and I was taught on one of the dastardly MacIntosh's. You remember, the ones that the monitor and tower were one and the huge disk drive was on the front. Still, it never took. I just never got the Mac thing. They weren't terribly easy in my day, so I blame that for my less than enthusiastic view of Apple computers. I've always been an avid, loyal PC-gal. I remember how proudly I strutted onto campus with my bright white and blue IBM boxes, brand-spanking new, IBM PS/2, riding up the elevator 11 stories with a load of Mac-addicts. It was ok, I was proud. Still am.

Those "Mac" commercials do get my funny bone, not just because they are creative, but because they're so true. Dead-on, fact. This last one, with the computer error codes really makes me laugh. Again, because they are so true. How many times have I struggled to understand what the bleep a 'fatal exception' or 'syntax error' was. I credit my search for knowledge in helping me wade through sea of PC-confusion. And I, naturally, consider myself wiser because I am a PC user. Because I can figure out how to fix my PC. But I'm starting to wonder, how much more could I accomplish if I didn't have to 'deal' with all the viruses, spam, security holes and overall programming deficiencies of the Microsoft monarchy.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Second Patch for Vista Vulnerability

Microsoft released a second patch for another Vista vulnerability discovered in the same week, dubbed the Vista Memory Corruption zero-day flaw, it is considered a critical patch. You can find the download here.

Could this be the beginning of the crack in the dam, so to speak, for Vista's grand security claims?

In other news, it seems that Windows XP OEM is being phased out by the end of the year and will not be available to computer makers. Manufacturers like Dell are not forcing the new operating system onto it's machines, citing driver incompatibilities and stiff hardware requirements. By year's end, they'll have no choice but to migrate to Vista.

Seems a little harsh to me, Vista has come out with a bang, but feels less mainstream than when XP rolled out. I remember this little operating system that caused a lot of problems for users, you might have heard of it, Windows ME. Yep, and it was such a difficult operating system for people to use and upgrade to, that it never quite took off. Out came XP and the rest is history. I'm starting to wonder if Vista may endure the same fate.

Microsoft changes its tune on Vista-capable PC's

In response to a class-action lawsuit filed last week, Microsoft has re-evaluated it's labeling of PC's as Vista-capable. According to the lawsuit, Vista-capable PC's were not able to run Microsoft Vista Premium at all. Despite there being no specific mention of which version of Vista the PC's could run, the implication that consumers were purchasing a PC that could take full advantage of Vista's "core experiences" such as Vista Aero, is there. So now, when you see a PC label Vista-capable the new fine print is as follows:

"A new PC running Windows XP that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista. All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista — like the new Windows Aero user experience — may require advanced or additional hardware."

Clearly a departure from the previous definition of Vista-capable as shown here:

"Through the Windows Vista Capable program, Windows XP-based PCs that are powerful enough to run Windows Vista are now available from leading PC manufacturers worldwide, including Acer Inc., Dell Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Gateway Inc., HP, Lenovo, NEC Corp., Sony Corp., Toshiba and more. The Windows Vista Capable logo is designed to assure customers that the PCs they buy today will be ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista and can run the core experiences of Windows Vista."

In other words, don't expect to get something for nothing. Don't expect a low-end PC to give you that Wow! you see in the Microsoft commercials. But then again, isn't that just common sense. I see their point, and the lawsuit has its merit, but when we live in a buyer-beware world, it still is up to the consumer to do their homework first.

Zero-Day Virus First to Attack Vista

The 'zero day' virus is the first to attack Microsoft's new operating system, Vista. Microsoft scrambled to release the patch early in an effort to prevent this particular exploit but hackers had already able to exploit the security flaw. Zero day virus impacts other Microsoft operating systems as well, but makes headlines as the first virus to specifically attack Vista.

High Priority Patch Released to Fix .ANI Vulnerability

Microsoft released a patch today addressing the animated cursor vulnerability. MS07-017 addresses seven vulnerabilities, only three of which pertain to Windows Vista. The animated cursor vulnerability is considered critical as it could allow a potentially dangerous execution of code by a remote user. Microsoft says the threat of exploiting this vulnerability is high, and although they have seen limited attacks, they decided to release this update one week early in an effort to stave off an increase in problems. Security analysts concur that regardless of the patch, attackers will continue to center their efforts on the vulnerability, so it's important for all Windows users to download the patch.

New Version of HijackThis Available for Vista

HijackThis, the super-useful and free registry utility, has released a beta version compatible with Windows Vista. The utility has also been recently acquired by anti virus software company Trend Micro. Trend Micro is one of my favorites for free online tools to diagnose nasty virus programs that are written to disable or evade the anti virus software on your PC.

HijackThis is kind of like a registry editor on steroids. It analyzes all your registry entries and gives a nice (and often long) log of the scan results. These can be confusing and it's useful to post your results to a forum specializing in understanding the log if you aren't able to make sense of it all. Once you've identified the results you want to remove, make sure to back up your registry before making any changes. A very handy tool in the battle against malware, spyware, viruses, worms and trojans.