Testers running the Beta 1 version of Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system got a very unpleasant shock when they examined their network traffic. It seems Microsoft introduced a new Peer to Peer Networking feature in Vista and actually has it enabled by default. Whenever the beta testers booted their Vista PCs, they would immediately attempt to locate and connect to other Vista operating systems on the net. (ZD Net: Vista feature exposes beta machines).
Despite all of the security exposures exposed in the past three Windows operating system releases, Microsoft still doesn't seem to get it. Their stated policy of "secure by design, secure by default and secure in deployment" is laughable. Using "Microsoft" and "Security" in the same sentence borders on the absurd.
What's most puzzling is the decision to release Vista in the first place. For the home user, XP continues to be an extremely stable operating system, especially when compared to its predecessor (Windows 98). The latest patches of XP SP2 have closed all of the known security holes. Resource demands of the operating system are not too excessive and the operating system does a fair job of preventing applications from stepping on each other.
Vista, on the other hand, already appears to have its own brand new security holes. Initial reports on the resource requirements of the new operating system are staggering. There's also no pressing need on the part of applications or end users to migrate to a new operating system. Applications are not clamoring to support a 64-bit architecture, and with the high memory demands of Vista, end users are going to be hit pretty hard in the wallet when it comes to RAM. Some reports are listing 1GB as the minimum necessary to get even mediocre performance.
Microsoft needs to carefully consider the wisdom of pressing forward with Vista. Right now, they dominate the PC market. But that dominance came about at a time when the only options were Macintosh (which couldn't run most of the applications the PC users wanted - i.e. games) and OS/2 (which IBM couldn't market even to their own internal users.) Today, however, they still face competition from Macintosh (which still can't run the games) but also from Linux. FC4 requires far less resources than any Windows operating system, has virtually all of Windows application software functionality available to it as open source (i.e. free) and, using WINE, is capable of running most games including the popular MMORPGs. That's competition Microsoft would do well to avoid.
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