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Author: Mike Pontillo

Windows XP gets a reprieve

Microsoft has announced that it will continue to sell Windows XP through June 2008, five months longer than originally planned.

Not that I get any pleasure out of continuing to bash Windows Vista, but this is a significant acknowledgment by Microsoft that customers are continuing to demand XP.

This extension gives us a bit more breathing room to evaluate Vista after the release of its first service pack, currently scheduled for January 2008. We’ll see at that time if we and Vista are ready for each other. Until then, I continue to recommend that you hold off on Vista, unless you enjoy having problems with your computer.

Test your phishing detective skills

Security software vendor McAfee has created a ten-question quiz to see how well you can spot a phony website. If you’ve been reading my tips here, I expect you to do very well. Let’s find out.

The quiz has some excellent examples of common phishing scams, and it’s a very good primer on how the bad guys operate.

Both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 have built-in phishing filters. These provide an additional level of protection by checking any site you visit against a list of known malicious web pages.

Depending on which browser you use, make sure the phishing filter is enabled:

Internet Explorer 7: IE 7 asks you during installation if you would like to enable the phishing filter. To double-check, click the Tools menu, then Internet Options, and then the Security tab. With the Internet zone selected, click the “Custom Level” button and scroll down through the settings until you find “Use Phishing Filter.” Make sure it’s set to “Enable.”

Firefox 2: Click the Tools menu, then Options. Click once on “Security” on the top menu bar to highlight it. Then make sure the “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected forgery” option is checked. Under that, select “Check using a downloaded list of suspected sites.”

Phishing filters are, of course, not a substitute for paying attention, but they can certainly help. Use them to back up your newly-heightened awareness after taking the quiz.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, I got a perfect score on the quiz. Why else would you take my advice?

UPDATE 9/16/07: McAfee has taken down the phishing quiz site referenced above. However, Internet security vendor SonicWALL has an even tougher quiz on their site. Here’s a link.

PC industry “disappointed” with Vista

PC World reports that PC manufacturer Acer has acknowledged widespread industry disappointment with Microsoft’s new Vista operating system.

Gianfranco Lanci, president of the fourth largest PC manufacturer worldwide, points out that Vista has serious stability and compatibility issues, and that customers are still demanding Windows XP on new hardware, particularly business customers.

The article also notes that despite Microsoft’s claims of strong Vista sales, Windows XP sales are predicted to be 50 percent higher this year than Microsoft’s original estimates, potentially totaling 22 percent to Vista’s 78 percent.

In other words, Vista has taken off more slowly than any new Microsoft OS release since Windows achieved desktop dominance in the early 1990’s. Furthermore, Vista is not driving new PC sales as hoped. People are settling for Vista because it’s all they can find.

The release of the first service pack for Vista has still not been announced. Service Pack 1 for Windows XP was a significant milestone, making the product ready for widespread deployment. Given the major hurdles Vista still must overcome in terms of hardware and software compatibility, Vista SP1 will be expected to work miracles. It had better.