Internet Explorer gets lots of knocks for vulnerabilities, but its main rival,
Firefox, isn't perfect, either. The most recent rev, Firefox 3.0,
has
a hole
that could let a hacker run code on your computer. Details haven't
been released, as the Mozilla Project hasn't finished its patch yet.
Redmond Report reader David pointed out that while Firefox may have fewer flaws,
he finds them harder to fix. Here's what Dave had to say:
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/23/20080 comments
Doug wrote
yesterday
about Microsoft's much-touted Hyper-V. But a few of you aren't
buying into the hype:
Hyper-V is still in beta, has no live migration, has no farm concept
with automatic load balancing and HA, no over-committing of resources, requires
an installation of at least Server 2008 Core Edition, has restricted x86/x64
OSes, is dependent on specific CPUs, is unable to throttle or isolate the
root domain from VMs, and -- to top it off -- it's basically a Xen knock-off.
In fact, it is so similar to Xen (down to the problems), that I wonder how
much open source code crept into this closed-source product.
It amazes me, the giddiness with which people are approaching this pre-1.0
product and clearly inferior technology. The Microsoft Machine with its adherents
are at work here, but it's certainly not amazing technology. Maybe one day,
a few years from now.
-Anonymous
"Hyper-V Poised for Greatness"? Rhetoric. Don't get taken by
the Microsoft advertising juggernaut. It will stop at nothing to make us all
think the Hyper-V will challenge VMware ESX or even Citrix Xen in the short-term.
It will be a challenger in the long-term, but is definitely not enterprise-ready
in its current form.
-David
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/17/20080 comments
At last week's Tech-Ed, Microsoft VP Bob Muglia crowed about Hyper-V. You can
test him at his word, as the hypervisor is nearly here; beta testers can get
the
latest
release candidate
, meaning it's almost all set to go.
Topping the list of new features are better management of Linux VMs, fewer
bugs and snappier performance. You can get the software through Windows Update.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/16/20080 comments
Google is pretty darn impressive. It has no huge staff of well-paid journalists,
yet it makes millions selling ads that surround today's media. As a journalist,
I think Google is parasitic -- the tape worm of the media world.
Given all the free cash involved, it's no wonder Microsoft wanted in on this
kind of action. But Microsoft last week decided it no
longer wanted to pay $40 billion-plus for Yahoo just so it could copy Google.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/16/20080 comments
Microsoft isn't the only vendor with security issues (but I'll argue that it's
the most upfront about them). VMware, which is as much an OS as it is a virtualization
layer, recently plugged two hypervisor holes.
Unlike Microsoft, these vulnerabilities were reported by an outside company.
The remote code injection flaws are in two VMware Linux tools, and the patches
are fortunately now available.
Get the deets
here
Posted by Doug Barney on 06/09/20080 comments
Tomorrow is a relatively normal Patch Tuesday with
seven
patches set for release
.
As usual, the patches focus on remote code execution. What's not so usual is
that the patches address wireless networking and Bluetooth. Since wireless is
the way many (most?) of us connect, these patches are well worth installing.
Posted by Doug Barney on 06/09/20080 comments
If you run Sun Java System Active Server Pages, you best get to patching. Security
company iDefense (the same one that found the VMware problems) discovered a
slew of vulnerabilities
in the Sun Web server. Hackers can basically take over the whole deal, logging
on, messing with files and running their own code.
Sun has updated the software, which takes care of the problems.
Posted by Doug Barney on 06/09/20080 comments
Last week, I was in Orlando for Tech-Ed. So why am I flying back to Florida
today? To go to Tech-Ed! You see, this year Microsoft split Tech-Ed into two
weeks. Last week focused on developers, and because my company also runs
Visual
Studio Magazine
,
Redmond
Developer News
and
ADTmag.com
-- besides
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/09/20080 comments
Microsoft has one of the best Web sites for journalists in
PressPass
.
In it are links to press releases, Q&As, photos and whatnot. It also links
to articles from outside publications.
I had just finished reading an article in the Wall Street Journal,
and was surprised to see Microsoft linking to the same thing. You see, this
article delved into a multiyear power struggle between Bill Gates and Steve
Ballmer that paralyzed many important Microsoft initiatives. Not an entirely
positive piece.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/09/20080 comments
When VMware started, it was all about the hypervisor. But hypervisors, while
of fundamental importance, are becoming commodities. The real action is in tools
for management, as well as applications and storage.
VMware knows this better than anyone and has been building and buying tools
to round out the portfolio. The
latest deal is B-hive, an application performance management vendor that
ships in the form of a virtual appliance.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 06/02/20080 comments
Nucleus Research, which focuses on ROI and analysis, is in the midst of
comparing
Mac to PC ROI
. Like Obama vs. Clinton, so far the early results have the
Mac ahead. At one company studied, Macs have fewer problems which are solved
faster.
I'd like to see more companies embracing the Mac -- not to give Steve Jobs
more dough, or to reward what is arguably the most proprietary PC architecture
in existence today, but to create competition for Microsoft.
Posted by Doug Barney on 06/02/20080 comments