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[Previous entry: "Cali ain't where its at. Texas is the place for political dysfunction."] [Main Index] [Next entry: "How to block SoBig"] 08/21/2003 Entry: "Microsoft gets a clue. Maybe."
Microsoft gets a clue. Maybe. For instance just about every MS exploit could have been stopped if MS didn't enable RPC, Windows file and printer sharing, and ActiveX/VBS on Internet Explorer for your internet connection. All these things are on by default to beat out the competition. Simply put, its bundling - again. For instance lets look at file sharing. Why would someone setup a third-party FTP or EasyFileTransfer application on their PC when they can use the one built-in to Windows? Sure the third-party app may be better and more secure but the Windows one is there free and even better its on and enabled from the get go. No setup, just have to read a few instructions on how to connect. Sure, this puts you at a huge security liability because your computer's innards are now exposed to the internet only protected by a password (if youre even using one). The real advatage here is that MS doesn't have to deal with competition from third-party print and file sharing on the home level and even on the corporate level. Novell's Netware has been all but eliminated from the marketplace because of this kind of bundling. Again, the same is true with ActiveX and .vbs files. These directly compete with Java and javascript respectively. Leaving them on by default means that developers have a bigger incentive to use the MS product because its there, while the user may or may not have Java installed or is using the wrong version of javascript. So now that MS more or less dominates the web, with the Mozilla browser trailing at a distant second and Novell more or less out of the picture, they can disable a lot of stuff that gave them an edge in competition. They can default to a firewall and secure the OS. They got the marketshare they wanted, and in the end that's all that matters to them.
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