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by Charles Carr
Vista: Why Hurry?
Scott Graham of the security firm
INVISUS
is telling his company's clients, "The security of Windows Vista
is not mature enough to be trusted. INVISUS has chosen not to
support Windows Vista until we have determined that Vista is
suitably mature and protected by all of the same proven
technologies that are currently protecting Windows XP users."
"It's not so much that Microsoft doesn't make good software
(Vista is likely going to be its best operating system yet)," he
adds, "it's just that hackers love to tear apart anything from
Microsoft. So the hackers are already at it, finding holes in
Vista. Microsoft will be consistently patching the major holes
found over the next year. Windows XP had two major Service Pack
updates to correct serious problems. Vista will likely follow
suit."
Graham further contends that Vista, as originally designed,
"would have been far more secure than Windows XP�and Microsoft
would have been in the position of restricting or eliminating
users' choices in regard to their PC security. Symantec and
McAfee cried 'foul!' and took out ads in financial newspapers .
. . that Microsoft was tightening security to shut out
competitors. Subsequently, Microsoft capitulated and left the
mainstream 32-bit versions of Vista less secure than originally
intended by leaving the core (or kernel) of the operating system
open to third parties, and thus still vulnerable. Some industry
experts are therefore making the point that Symantec, McAfee,
and Microsoft are all thus guilty of putting their own economic
interests ahead of the welfare of PC users."
Graham also notes that many corporations and business consumers
are holding off on upgrading right away because, "Most consumer
and business software programs are not compatible with Vista at
this point; the cost to upgrade hardware systems so they can run
Vista is prohibitive�several hundred dollars minimum per
machine�and, like past releases by Microsoft, Vista will go
through several months�or years�of fixes and updates to correct
problems (including security problems) discovered by users."
As a result, Graham is advising that users "give Microsoft time
to find and fix the first rash of bugs and security holes that
are inevitable with any new operating system until Microsoft
releases a Service Pack or two."
"If you are tempted to upgrade," says Graham, "first run
Microsoft Upgrade Advisor on your existing PC and pay
special attention to all of the incompatibilities you are likely
to encounter. Vista is an enormous software program with more
than 50 million lines of code. To run well, it requires a
high-performance computer�a 2GHz processor, at least 1GB of RAM,
a fairly expensive and fairly recent video card, and more. Few
computers have that kind of horsepower today."
A Case Study
My trusty old Palm TX has been naked for more than a year now,
without a case or cover to protect it. Whether you need to
protect your PDA, cell phone or MP3 player, you'll find a
variety of stylish cases on the market. I recently looked at
three different cases for my Palm.
The first case, made by
Sena,
comes in various colors, from orange to black. My case ($56) was
clothed in dark brown leather sporting the texture of soft
lizard skin. The Sena is well designed. The lid closes down with
a magnet at the top, so it's snug but easy to open. Holes in the
back leave open the speaker and reset button. Your Secure
Digital (SD) cards fit snugly and securely in two slots on the
back of the front lid, with a larger slot for credit card-size
items. And best of all, you don't need to remove the case to
plug the Palm into the hot-sync cradle.
 
The second case, from
Piel Frama,
is also sleek and well designed. Available in different colors,
my case ($78) came in tan leather made with the unusual
combination of cow skin and ostrich. The lid connects securely
to the case with a snap closure. You'll find two slots for SD
cards and three for larger items. A grill in back leaves the
speaker open, and the rotating belt clip is a smart touch,
keeping my Palm close at hand.
The third case is manufactured by
Noreve, a
French company. The soft leather case ($52) came in beige,
though black is also available. Like the other two cases, the
Noreve is well designed, protecting the PDA in all the right
places, but leaving cutouts so I could access the Palm's key
controls. The lid snaps down with a magnet clasp. Two slots are
available for SD cards and two more for larger items. I
especially liked the belt clip, which fit snugly to my Palm.
Noreve also sent me a case for a Blackberry, as stylish and
sophisticated as the Palm case.
Of the three, my favorite was the Sena case for its value, style
and durability. But you won't go wrong with any of the three
cases if you need to protect and preserve your PDA.
Reviews contributed by Lance Whitney.
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