The fact remains that even if you are using the latest software the vulnerabilities that were exploited by sobig and blaster will still be prevelant (if not in their current form from base unpatched installs - in newer forms as new vulns come out).

Patching processes under XP especially with quick fixes can number quickly in the hundreds - people who have actually bothered to keep with the latest OS because they foolishly believe the lies about it being "the most secure" are left wading thru a mountain load of patches not understanding 99.999% of them and left wondering if they should download and apply it.

It discourages people the way MS code.

As for having to upgrade hardware everytime MS put out a new product just goes to show how useless they are at streamlining their original code - this it's an ever increasing melting pot of complexity and user lock that MS are putting people through & we all know the more complex the code the more holey it is. (unholy in m$ case). What ever happened to making your software work better on existing hardware!? We spend fortunes on new equipment because MS DON'T CARE.

I do NOT applaud their security efforts. Their latest XP SP2 is a shining example of yet another misuse of their monopolistic powers that be - watch closely the firewall software market over the next 8 months. It'll be like Netscape and IE. No IE is not the best browser - it is just the most prolific due to the fact it comees "bundled" with the OS. Firewall software market? Nahh never heard of Zonealarm I just use MS's [rubbish].

It's called user lock in - and its the single biggest security threat we as a societ y face today. Cascading System Failure from ONE vulnerability should concern EVERYONE. If we're all forced to use the same S/W across the board - well hackers will have a FIELD DAY (They are already IMO). It'll be "Hey lets see how many we can take down at one time" Competition on the next level.

Anyone who thinks M$ Security is a good thing SHOULD WAKE THE @#$%&^* UP Themselves.

Wait for the day that M$ Says "Well TCP/IP Is really the problem - its not our fault. We suggest you move to our new protocol stack thats way more secure.. oh and look XP already has it inbuilt into it [As XP Stands for Xfer Protocol]".

SAD SAD Future for all the M$'sers.. All your bases ARE owned and the only thing you can do about it is to STOP TRUSTING MICROSOFT - Stop Letting them LOCK YOU IN.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/217/24739#24739