Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon

We all know that the end of Windows XP is coming in just over a week, as I write this. A lot of stock pundits are predicting that Microsoft stock will fall because so many people are still using Windows XP, and have not moved on to Microsoft’s later operating systems. Also, this week, Microsoft announced a price drop on the Xbox one console and game bundle from $500.00 to $450.00.

It also appears that this is not a one-time sale, but an actual price adjustment. Investors have been cautious about third-quarter sales figures because the Xbox one has not been selling quite is robustly as expected. So, Microsoft has cut the price to put it in a similar range with the Sony PlayStation 4. Of course, gaming console sales have been softer overall anyway. Microsoft stock is still softer than he has been in over 15 years. So, there are signs that Microsoft’s bubble, at least, may be getting ready to burst.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that their stock is dropped somewhat, so I would not count them out yet. We’ll just have to wait and see what the market does, and how their market share shakes out. It may all depend on what they do with Windows 9 and whether they will insist on continuing to bully customers into using their sorry “Metro” interface. I still think that all they would have to do is provide a software switch within Control Panel to turn off their ugly square Metro screen and give it a classicshell.net, so to speak, option… and they could reclaim a lot of there operating systems market share very quickly!

Now, we all know that historically, Microsoft his fought Open Source for all it’s worth! They have attacked Linux, they’ve called into question Open Source practices, and they have generally fought hard against the entire Open Source movement!

They are, however, finally “getting it!” They have done more to Open Source some of their minor products in recent history; much to the amazement of those of us who have watched Microsoft over the years attack Open Source.

Now, in an amazing move for them, they have released the actual source code for MS-DOS! Granted, it is an ancient operating system on the one hand, and very few people use it these days. However, there was a time when it was the basis of all of Microsoft’s products. So, it is very interesting that they’ve done this.

Microsoft gave permission to Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum to publish the full source code for MS-DOS this week. Now, for those of us that grew up cutting their teeth on MS-DOS, this is very cool to think about. With this source code now open sourced, you could actually write your own MS-DOS-based operating system and release it with a cute name, and run your machines based on your own operating system! Now, granted, there won’t be as much these days to run on that operating system, but consider the geek cred!

Some pundits are reporting that Microsoft is actually considering licensing certain Windows operating systems at no charge, now this is not Open Source, but freeware. However, it is not like Microsoft to do this… something must be changing, perhaps they’re opening up.

Obviously, releasing any part of Windows, or any version of Windows, even as freeware, would be a big deal! Much more so, than the release of MS-DOS source code. But, it is a start, so, “Way to go Microsoft!” And, I bet you never thought you’d see me say that in print!

UPDATE: Hold the phone! It turns out, that even though Microsoft released the source code for MS-DOS, they still left it licensed under a very restrictive, “you can’t touch this,” research license! So, even while grabbing headlines for supposedly releasing their MS-DOS source code, Microsoft has once again shown their true stripes while trying to grab positive headlines! I knew it was too good to be true!

There’s big news this week concerning Facebook! How’s this for a strange purchase on their part? Facebook paid a reported $2 billion this week to purchase Oculus! Oculus is the developer of the Oculus Rift, the alternate reality headset that has been under development for several years, and is still a long way from practicality. Also, this is right after Facebook decided to purchase WhatsApp for $19 billion dollars!

So, this leaves us with the question” “Is Mark Zuckerberg crazy?” Or, is he “crazy like a fox?” He was quoted as saying, “Mobile is the platform of today and now we’re starting to also get ready for the platforms of tomorrow. To me, by far the most exciting feature platform is around vision or modifying what you see to create augmented or immersive experiences.”

One thing is for sure, Zuckerberg must be doing very well at Facebook! Which, of course, goes without saying!

Microsoft has released Microsoft Office for iPad. This has a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering” why did Microsoft release their Office product for iPad first? They could’ve released it for Android first. That would make more sense, based on market share. According to a Gartner report worldwide tablet sales for 2013 indicated that Apple’s iPad is down to a mere 36% market share. And, Google’s Android has a 61.9% market share.

So this begs the question, why release the iPad version first? Now, while I agree that the numbers indicate that it would be smarter for Microsoft to release Office for Android devices first, I am also of the opinion that Microsoft is not very smart in the first place! I believe that they are looking at things viscerally and reacting to the fact that the iPad is what most people think of when they think of a tablet computer, it is considered “the standard” among tablets. And, there is something to be said for the press bump that they get by releasing Microsoft Office for iPad!

After all, here we are talking about it! So in that sense, perhaps it was a good move on their part, at least from a “getting the market’s attention” point of view.

The real question now becomes, will Microsoft follow up by releasing a Microsoft Office for Google Android? If they don’t do that, to try to appeal to a market that is twice the size of the Apple iPad market, then I will go back to my assumption that Microsoft is just plain stupid.

And, by the way, all of my tablets are Google Android-based, even though I now use a MacBook Pro as my personal laptop, and I love it! But for tablets, I’m sticking with Google Android! Go with what you know!

This is a bad zero day exploit involving specifically Microsoft Word 2010. Check out the article from Microsoft for details:

Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution

Microsoft Security Bulletin – “Microsoft is aware of a vulnerability affecting supported versions of Microsoft Word. At this time, we are aware of limited, targeted attacks directed at Microsoft Word 2010. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted RTF file using an affected version of Microsoft Word, or previews or opens a specially crafted RTF email message in Microsoft Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email viewer. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights. Applying the Microsoft Fix it solution, “Disable opening RTF content in Microsoft Word,” prevents the exploitation of this issue through Microsoft Word. See the Suggested Actions section of this advisory for more information.

The vulnerability is a remote code execution vulnerability. The issue is caused when Microsoft Word parses specially crafted RTF-formatted data causing system memory to become corrupted in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability could be exploited through Microsoft Outlook only when using Microsoft Word as the email viewer. Note that by default, Microsoft Word is the email reader in Microsoft Outlook 2007, Microsoft Outlook 2010, and Microsoft Outlook 2013.

On completion of investigation for this vulnerability, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs.

We are actively working with partners in our Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) to offer information that they can use to provide additional protections to customers. For information about protections released by MAPP partners, see MAPP Partners with Updated Protections.

Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the guidance in the Microsoft Safety & Security Center of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates, and installing antimalware software.

Mitigating Factors:

An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website that contains a webpage that contains a specially crafted RTF file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised websites and websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these websites. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit the website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker’s website.

Recommendation. Please see the Suggested Actions section of this advisory for more information.”

With a lot of businesses panicking as the Windows XP operating system deathwatch clock is ticking down, businesses are correctly looking at alternatives to the ancient operating system. Ancient, that is, by computer terms. After all, Windows XP is 12 years old, which is, indeed, “ancient” in the computer world!

On April 8, 2014 Microsoft Windows XP will be dead. I can remember when Windows XP was released, and I was an early adopter. I was very impressed with the operating system at the time, as it was a vast improvement over previous Microsoft windows operating system editions. In fact, I pushed the company I was working for at the time to upgrade to Windows XP as quickly as possible. It is amazing now to look back and realize that Windows XP is dying!

However, as companies look at changing their old software to run on newer versions of Windows, perhaps this is a time to consider moving to Linux. Now, don’t say that this is impossible until you hear me out! If you’re going to have to rewrite your codebase, particularly for internally developed applications, why not look into Linux? After all, it is arguably more secure, more stable, and offers better security overall the Microsoft Windows ever could, in any version!

I know a lot of people will say, “My users will never accept Linux!” However, this is because they haven’t tried Linux in a long time and are not aware how user-friendly it really is! I can guarantee you unequivocally, that if you set an average user down in front of Linux Mint, they will be able to login, surf the web, run applications, find files… in fact, some may not even know their not on Windows!

And, Linux Mint is free, open-source, and very well supported by the developer community. It is based on Ubuntu, which is, of course, a Debian-based version of Linux.

I encourage you, especially if you are a small-to-medium sized business, to download the Linux Mint ISO install CD, specifically with the MATE interface. Then, locate any PC, even one of your older PCs that she no longer can use with Windows, boot off the CD that you burn from the downloaded ISO, and you’ll be surprised at it’s ease-of-use, and functionality!

If you ever make the move, you would no longer be trapped by the Microsoft tyranny that holds you captive to their whims!

Linux Mint Web Site

Corporations are notoriously slow to move when it comes to operating system upgrades. Windows XP is still the operating system that most corporate Windows applications are written for. This presents a real problem for companies that are being forced to move off of Windows XP by next month, April 2014.

Now, it is obvious that these companies should of had their act together long before now, and plan to move off of Windows XP long before this. After all, they’ve had a long time to plan for this event. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses have not planned for this event, and are lagging behind.

The issue is that as of next month Windows XP will no longer be patched, that is, no security patches will be released by Microsoft, and Microsoft developers will no longer be fixing vulnerabilities of the operating system. As time goes by it will become increasingly a security problem for any company that continues to use Windows XP, are Windows XP software.

It is amazing to realize that most banks ATMs are running Windows XP as their operating system! You would expect that banks, perhaps more than anyone else, would have seen this coming and wanted to secure their ATMs! But, that hasn’t happened.

There is a possible answer for businesses that are still running Windows XP applications and are going to be able to upgrade them in time. It is a freeware product, called “Sandboxie.” The 32-bit edition of Sandboxie can be installed into the 32-bit Windows XP mode running within the 64-bit version of Windows 7. In fact, “the 32-bit version of Sandboxie can run fairly well with the 64-bit Windows 7 environment. Windows XP mode is easier to use the standalone virtual machine running Windows XP, as it is better integrated in Windows 7. It also includes a licensed copy of Windows XP. However, this improved integration also exposes the Windows 7 system and documents to malicious changes operating in the Windows XP mode operating system. With Sandboxie, you can have a web browser which is isolated within its own sandbox, making it more secure than your web browser running directly on Windows 7,” according to their web site.

There is a free version for personal and home use, a Pro version available, and a commercial version available for businesses. The company also makes a product called “Invincea FreeSpace” that includes other features such as data protection, real-time detection, and notification of malware threats, forensics, enterprise configuration management, and enterprise software updating.

Check them out at: www.sandboxie.com.