Another Arrogance of Microsoft and Its Windows
At around 3 this morning in my workshop (yes, quite often I am in my workshop at 3 in the morning), I was fiddling with one of my two computers in there when I noticed that the other was rebooting.
That's funny, I thought. I thought I had already turned that on some time before.
A little later I saw a little notice above the taskbar. It said that Windows had just installed a very important security update in my computer, and that had necessitated an automatic restart.
In other words Win XP had put something on my computer, then turned it off and then back on, all without my okay and participation.
Microsoft's Big Brother Bullpoop at work again!
The history of computing has, as much as anything, been a battle between the users of that company's products and that company's inability to resist trying to do all the thinking for the users. But I guess that's what you get in a constellation packed thick with millionaires.
My wife and I know a young couple that we just love, for certain reasons, and recently they visited, and I was stirred to give them one of my best little stained glass pieces, a "marble box." But I do not love the company that the husband is so lucky to work for, money-wise. (They absorbed the small company for whom he had been working.)
Among many other charges, Microsoft must be making the lion's share of its money these days selling programs that need constant security updates.
Maybe most people do, but I don't give a diddly damn about the security of my computers. My thinking is that I have three in active operation, and they're so small scale and so behind the times technology-wise and so not networked together that I feel in no danger of a virus grabbing them all at once. And if something got one or even two of them, I'd still have another in operation while I was fixing the one. And in any case, I've never been so afflicted in even one that I know of. And as with beehives (and, if I can say this, cars -- you don't have to drive both all the time), no one should ever have just one computer working.
I guess I buy into the theory that in the matter of computer viruses, you have the same scare stuff as we suffered in the recent theft of a cool 810 billion dollars from the American taxpayers for the infamous banker bailout. Entities like Microsoft and anti-virus companies thrive on viruses, trojans, and other such sicknesses because those things create a demand for their products. It's like doctors applauding the unlimited use of tobacco and alcohol.
So hardly a day seems to go by when Windows XP is not flashing a message after bootup saying that another update needs to be installed. And the update is always for security, so Microsoft never feels the need to say in detail what the update is going to do -- provided, of course, that that is really the reason for the update -- and the update is never ever to improve the normal clunky operation of the Windows. And now, sometimes, the Windows even installs the update without asking.
A bunch of gangsters the Microsofts are. No wonder Linux has been able to make so much headway against their Windows.
I wonder how many times Microsoft has tried to buy Linux or Google and then demobilize them. It's well known that that's how Microsoft deals with so much of its competition.
Microsoft is a huge virus in and of itself. That's the default that should be recognized.
That's funny, I thought. I thought I had already turned that on some time before.
A little later I saw a little notice above the taskbar. It said that Windows had just installed a very important security update in my computer, and that had necessitated an automatic restart.
In other words Win XP had put something on my computer, then turned it off and then back on, all without my okay and participation.
Microsoft's Big Brother Bullpoop at work again!
The history of computing has, as much as anything, been a battle between the users of that company's products and that company's inability to resist trying to do all the thinking for the users. But I guess that's what you get in a constellation packed thick with millionaires.
My wife and I know a young couple that we just love, for certain reasons, and recently they visited, and I was stirred to give them one of my best little stained glass pieces, a "marble box." But I do not love the company that the husband is so lucky to work for, money-wise. (They absorbed the small company for whom he had been working.)
Among many other charges, Microsoft must be making the lion's share of its money these days selling programs that need constant security updates.
Maybe most people do, but I don't give a diddly damn about the security of my computers. My thinking is that I have three in active operation, and they're so small scale and so behind the times technology-wise and so not networked together that I feel in no danger of a virus grabbing them all at once. And if something got one or even two of them, I'd still have another in operation while I was fixing the one. And in any case, I've never been so afflicted in even one that I know of. And as with beehives (and, if I can say this, cars -- you don't have to drive both all the time), no one should ever have just one computer working.
I guess I buy into the theory that in the matter of computer viruses, you have the same scare stuff as we suffered in the recent theft of a cool 810 billion dollars from the American taxpayers for the infamous banker bailout. Entities like Microsoft and anti-virus companies thrive on viruses, trojans, and other such sicknesses because those things create a demand for their products. It's like doctors applauding the unlimited use of tobacco and alcohol.
So hardly a day seems to go by when Windows XP is not flashing a message after bootup saying that another update needs to be installed. And the update is always for security, so Microsoft never feels the need to say in detail what the update is going to do -- provided, of course, that that is really the reason for the update -- and the update is never ever to improve the normal clunky operation of the Windows. And now, sometimes, the Windows even installs the update without asking.
A bunch of gangsters the Microsofts are. No wonder Linux has been able to make so much headway against their Windows.
I wonder how many times Microsoft has tried to buy Linux or Google and then demobilize them. It's well known that that's how Microsoft deals with so much of its competition.
Microsoft is a huge virus in and of itself. That's the default that should be recognized.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 3:32 AM
3 Comments:
Please, Carl. Tell us how you really feel about Microsoft.
"Maybe most people do, but I don't give a diddly damn about the security of my computers." - Carl
Carl, I rarely contradict you outright, but you are not merely wrong, but out of bounds here.
There may have been a time five or 10 years ago when one could reasonably argue the issue as you do, but that is simply no longer the case: malware is rampant on the 'net now, and the manufacturers of antivirus software have no need to hype it or create viruses themselves. It's out there and it's really bad. What used to be the tinkering of high school kids in their basements for bragging rights has become an industry intent on stealing actual money from as many people as possible.
More to the point here: security is a community-wide thing. If any of your home computers has an internet connection (which at least one obviously does), your computers may become infected with something that can be externally controlled. Then they can become "bots" (robots) which in turn destroy the security on literally thousands of other computers on the internet, allowing people's bank account passwords to be stolen, etc. I'm sorry, but it's not all about you and what you want: if you're going to use the internet, you have an obligation to the community to secure your computers, for the same reason you have an obligation to make sure the brakes on your car work properly.
By the way, there is a way to turn off the automatic Windows update so that you can determine when and even whether each individual update happens. For my own curiosity, I do this, and review the updates one by one as they appear... but I never refuse a security update; it is extremely unwise to do so.
For what it's worth, I, too, detest Microsoft, and regret that working on Windows-based computers was my livelihood for far too many years. You'll get no argument from me that they are too sleazy for words.
I switched to Ubuntu years ago, and I am just pleased as can be with it. Yes, Ubuntu has bugs, but they are diligent in addressing them, and they are FAR better at spotting holes than the people of M$ are. You must remember that M$ spent billions of dollars and several years..... on Vista! Ubuntu rolls out a new release every 6 months, like clockwork, and the people who use it are invariably pleased with it. There really is almost nothing these days that you can do with Windows that you can't do with Ubuntu, but Ubuntu is a Linux, which gives you a hell of a lot more granular control over securing it. The price can't be beat either.
I say this, for what it is worth, as a former MCSE.
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