Re: FTC Complaint filed


"garyd" <spam@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:egzXaQKWHHA.4404@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I know I will not get anything done during my lifetime, I'm 60. I also run Solaris and Linux, and there is open-source efforts to get the capture/editing running on them. It would be nice!

Perhaps the FTC can look at M$ again, to see if the "rootkits" they build into their updates are documented.

What rootkit? Can you provide any details? I suggest starting with my description of rootkits at http://www.dalepreston.com/Blog/2005/04/rootkits-and-hooks.html.

Then I suggest downloading Mark Russinovich's rootkit detector. You'll have to go to http://technet.microsoft.com to find it now since Microsoft bought him out - heart, mouth, and soul. If you're unsure about the version you can get from Microsoft now, I have the original - pre-sellout - version.

My blog article talks about the steps required to create a BartPC image that will really find rootkits.

Let us know what your tests show. Screenshots would be nice.

A secure system is no longer a luxury, it should be a condition of the purchase. Downloading unwanted or unneeded software without notification or permission should be just as illegal as the spyware/adware is now.


Get a firewall and block everything from Microsoft.

I had no problems running any of my software, even with the large amount of decoders and codecs installed. My problems only occur when, as I said, WMP11 and the retargeted Vista DRM code is downloaded. IE7 does the same thing,ie loads WMP11 AND all of the DRM and Connect stuff if it's not loaded. Every new interface it adds through "stealth mode" adds DRM code too, even if you don't use it! I still don't know how the sync stuff got loaded once, I don't have ant portable devices...

Perhaps if the DRM code would just work correctly, I could upgrade to an extreme version of a pentium to handle the unneccesary overhead while I edit my UNPROTECTED videos.

My original complaint is still valid. There is no way to limit what M$ wants to install on your system because they hide the descriptions, and the code.

I agree with you here. Calling the installation of WMP 11 an "update" for WMP 10 is outright deceitful. And especially considering that their own readme indicates they are aware that installing WMP 11 could cause their customers to lose access to some protected and paid-for content.


Since I cannot download 10 anymore, I'm just screwed. I could, I guess, uninstall all my applications. Install all the junk M$ wants installed, with their bug-ridden DRM code, and then TRY to install my applications. They all say XP/SP2 and WMP10 or above. My experience is that I would end up in the middle of M$ and the other claiming it's each other's fault, and I should buy a NEW version of appxxx, or get Vista and upgrade EVERYTHING except the cpu/mem/disk, which means ANOTHER video card, and OOPS-the drivers aren't stable...

appxxx = Apple? Go ahead. You can say it here. I'm not so sure about saying Microsoft on Apple's forums though. They tend to block or delete posts that get too inflammatory.


Rants.............

That statement should have been the first in your post. Not that I don't rant here from time to time as well.


How many times do I have to download the "Genuine" junk? If my system was valid, was confirmed as valid, why download another copy? I think it's because they need another way to insert more copy protection code, and anything else they want to which will break third-party software that competes with their applications.

I don't mind verifying that my OS is genuine. It is not as though their concern in that area isn't genuine. And they don't need that particular download at all to put more copy protection code on your pc. They have many ways in which they could do it without bringing your attention to the fact that anything is even being downloaded. It could be in any patch you download and you would happily download it when they tell you to. So, the Genuine Windows initiative doesn't need to be done for that.

Hell, they even break their own-how many versions of WORD files are there?

Actually, Word files have remained pretty consistent. I can open anything from Word 97 to Word 2003 in anything from Word 97 to Word 2007. Word 2007 will save in compatibility mode so users of previous versions can still open documents created in Word 2007.

The amazing thing is that they have opened up the document format so now Word 2007 documents can be created in code without even having Word 2007. Simply amazing, isn't it? I know that for me, as a web developer, that's huge! I have many requests from customers to create Excel or Word documents in a web page and, since our corporate policies don't allow Office products to be installed on intranet servers, the best we can usually offer is what amounts to a hack. Now, once Office 2007 becomes the norm, we'll be able to give them much more robust document generation capabilitites.


I still have a local network with Win95, and Win98 (not SE),and Win98SE systems running hardware and applications I cannot afford to upgrade. This is NOT unusual in the technical/business world.

Examples:
A COBOL Compiler. Cost $400, upgrade was $3000 for XP,$4000 for Unix. The compiled programs WILL run on XP, the compiler won't! I could convert to .net versions, but I don't write anything that needs the M$ internet bloatware "features", which is where the developers went. I also have a command line and windowed versions of COBOL interpreters I use. They work fine and last a long time, for quick and dirty programs, and have animation/on-the-fly viewing/correction/etc. (What's a project? Why have 652 components, that just leave 100s of security holes in the linkages?)

COBOL? For quick-and-dirty programs? That's a prersonal choice. See my blog article on learning .Net at http://www.dalepreston.com/Blog/2006/07/learn-to-program-in-net.html. You can do it for free. I have, in the past, used C, C++, Visual C++, IBM BASIC, BASICA - just about everything under the sun (though never COBOL) for quick-and-dirty programs. There's nothing wrong with COBOL but there are a lot of alternatives better suited for quick-and-dirty programming on the PC.

So you don't want to learn new things but you want the benefit of new things? I have long said , in my opinion and pre-Vista, that Windows 95 was the best OS Microsoft ever made. From a look and feel, it isn't so far from Windows 2000 or even XP with gummy turned off. And it installed in under 30 MB. Maybe you just shouldn't use newer OS's.


Lotus 123/Amipro. I have the upgrades for 98 and XP, but I use Amipro for doing formal documents and PCB documentation. It will let me insert multiple graphics, cut and overlayed, even transparent and merged for multilayer boards. I can't reinstall it on anything, because the floppy disks can't be read anymore...

Your problem here is with IBM/Lotus then. Too bad they don't make it any more. As I have stated on the Vista newsgroups - facetiously only - I am really upset. I hooked up my RS-232 to 20-ma loop adapter to my Vista PC, connected my DEC VT-50 to it, and not only can I not get it to run AERO, I also cannot get Vista to run my CP/M copy of WordStar.


A PCB design program. Cost $149, upgrade $700. There are free or cheaper ones, but they don't allow the control of each line/pad/part. It also supports my pen plotter. I can't reinstall it because the 5.25" floopys can't be read anymore...

Your complaint then, should be with your PCB software maker. Do you make your living designing PCBs? I have in the past. Before Windows ever came out I bought cheap PCB layout software. It cost me about 4000 dollars (OrCAD). Expensive software for a PC back in the mid 80's/early 90's was closer to 15000 to 20000 dollars. If you actually make your living creating PCB's, you wouldn't be hesitant to purchase the upgrade. Just the time you have spent ranting here would probably have paid for the upgrade. The speed difference of laying out PCBs in a high end system versus a cheap system will save many times its cost.

The only PCB software I know of from the Windows 95 era and in the price range you state was made by a large component wholesaler. I can't remember their name but they were bought out in the mid-90's and became something like NGE or NG something or something like that. It wasn't a tool for serious work but it worked ok for amateurs and hobbyists. Then there was the free trial of PADS-PCB. It would only do 2 layers and had some limitations on numbers of components and connections. It was another great tool for hobbyists. You can still find it on some sites online (I downloaded it last year for a project) but the new version of the trial from Mentor is pretty useless. I guess Mentor realized that too many people were using the old trial version for real work. It was pretty powerful. If I remember correctly, Mentor made a competing product to PADS back then. They must have merged or bought out PADS. I could be wrong here.

A quick google shows that the PCB software world has changed a lot since I did that work. There are a lot of powerful PCB layout tools for free that will run on XP like the open source FreePCB. And as a great testimonial to the power of open and competitive markets, several board manufacturers like ExpressPCB and PCB123 will give you free software so you can use their board manufacturing services. And they all run on XP.


Two ATI display cards that capture TV, but won't run under '98 because M$ changed their drivers to support Windows TV, EVEN if you didn't install it! I still use them to capture some programs, and they even work better than the XP/MCE systems at 1/10th the horsepower! Progress???

First off, it makes no sense to complain why your old stuff won't work with your new stuff. I know you have heard Johnny Cash's "One Piece at a Time". That's what you're trying to build; a '95 - '96 - '97 - '98 - '99 - '2000 - '2001 - '2002 - '2003 - '2004 - '2005 - '2006 data processing system. It ain't gonna work. And it shouldn't work.

Windows 95 and Windows 98 have been unsupported for a long time now - just like Lotus 123 and AmiPro. If you have software that you just absolutely have to use on those versions, make sure you keep bare metal backups. I suggest Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image. And then, keep them off of the Internet at all costs! There are no more security updates for them and viruses for them still exist in the wild. And that way, nothing will get updated without you knowing either. Have one network for your old stuff and a new (I suggest Vista) PC for your Internet usage. A USB drive makes for a great sneaker net.

Dale


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