Microsoft blinks
Microsoft, a company that rarely blinks, did the blinking in a battle with anti-virus vendors over Windows Vista the next version of Windows.
This was a battle you may not have been paying attention to but one that I found pretty fascinating.
Simply put, when Microsoft entered the security market in a big way a couple years ago, vendors such as Symantec and McAfee were in deep trouble. After all, when the owner of the operating system builds the utility in, there is little reason to buy a third-party utility.
When Microsoft was planning Windows Vista, it decided to lock down the core of the operating system. It claimed that would keep it the most secure. The other vendors, of course, threw down the anti-trust card and claimed the company was unfairly locking them out of the competition. After all, without access to the core, or kernel, the other companies claimed they could not effectively protect Windows Vista.
Here is what drives me nuts. I don’t know who to believe in this mess. I do know when McAfee is preinstalled on a new Dell and at first boot I decline the End-User License Agreement, it installs anyway.
I know it then is nearly impossible for normal users to uninstall because the virus product is running. (More than one client has hired my computer repair company just to uninstall this product and the other junk Dell pre-installs.)
My favorite trick that both Symantec and McAfee offer helpfully to “disable duplicate alerts” from Windows but what that really means is they disable Windows Security Center.
My opinion is just that, my opinion, but as these anti-virus products became what I call “bloat-ware” they became less valuable to consumers. They are now these large suites containing a half-dozen applications, some of which people don’t want or need. I think especially dangerous are consumer-level firewalls, which are pretty troublesome for the average consumer to use and configure when compared with the one built in to Windows XP Service Pack 2. (Yes, I know the after-market ones are more powerful but for an average consumer they also are very troublesome if you answer incorrectly on one of those pop-ups.)
On the other hand, I see the point that Microsoft should not both own the operating system and the security system that controls it. Instead there is something to be said to having Microsoft focus on making its OS better and then having the folks at Kapersky, Symantec and other third-parties making tools to secure the perimeter. That way there are more people focused on the issue, a better chance that security will be a priority and that holes will be filled faster.
Of course, Microsoft didn’t make this decision out of the goodness of its corporate heart. It was possible that the sale of Vista would have been blocked in Europe under anti-trust had it not been opened.
So we shall see in January when Vista goes on retail sale how virus protection will finally work. I would expect Microsoft to offer a year of protection for less than $10 if not free.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Remember when radio was cool? Me too. Relive it at Radio Free Phoenix (www.radiofreephoenix.com)
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
Be the first on the block to own the hot off the press copy of "Hungarian Rhapsody," my new book about international adoption. You can get the details at www.derk.com
Thanks!
A new look at borrowing money
What if you needed to borrow a couple thousand bucks to replace your washer and dryer but didn’t want to pay 18 percent interest on a credit card?
What if you had a couple thousand bucks but wanted to earn more than 2 percent on your money than you would on passbook savings account at a bank?
Such is the idea behind Prosper.com, a Web site designed to anonymously link borrowers and lenders in the spirit of Ebay.
Of course, the best idea is not to borrow money at all (see also: Dave Ramsey) but if you have to this is one interesting concept.
Prosper was founded by Chris Larsen, the founder of E-Loan, an online mortgage broker. Once he shook up that market he decide to shake up another.
What’s in it for the borrower?
Generally you will pay a lower interest rate than on a credit card, a bank loan and (shudder) a payday loan joint. You specify your own repayment terms, the interest you are willing to pay and lenders bid on your business. You can borrow up to $25,000 for up to three years. And you have to release your income and your credit score. (A credit rating and a debt ratio is released to your potential borrowers.)
You also can join a “group” of like-minded borrowers that may make you a more attractive risk.
What’s in it for the lenders?
Here it gets a little more dicey.
If your borrower pays as promised you can get a decent rate of return in many cases (certainly a lot better than a bank savings account or a CD.)
There is one main strategy that lenders use to reduce their risk: to widely diversify and invest across lots of individual loans to reduce your individual exposure.
It’s a tad hard to explain but it is explained well on the site. I am not necessarily recommending the site but it is another sign of how the Internet is changing how things are getting things done.
When my mother passed away in 2003, I found a Web site called “Beanies for Baghdad” to which I donated her collection of Beanie Babies. They are now in the hands of Iraqi children thanks to American troops, which distributed her toys and tens of thousands of others. (www.beaniesforbaghdad.com)
Without the Internet how could such a worldwide grassroots effort have ever existed?
Take another one, called Modest Needs. This Web site (www.modestneeds.org) matches compassionate persons with people with short-term emergency needs. These things are the things you can imagine coming up in your life, the sick child, the bad water heater, the car transmission.
You explain your need and hope for the best.
It’s not a hand out, it’s a hand up.
Again, without the Internet, where would we be?
All three are great examples of how the Web are moving the dial of our society and removing the middlemen in out culture. No need for the banker, no need for anyone between you and the soldier. You mail him or her a toy and he or she puts it in their backpack and hands it out on their next patrol.
That’s amazing stuff.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER:
Help a soldier at Thanksgiving. See how at America Supports you (www.americasupportsyou.mil)
James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
This week's tips and tricks
A column full of tips and tricks for you today.
---My computer shop often is full of computers that shut off for no good reason. One great toy around the shop is the Thermohawk 200, a small touchless infrared thermometer. You aim the little beam at the processor or whatever and wham, an instant readout of the temperature of whatever you’re pointing at.
This is, in the vernacular of long ago, wicked cool.
This $50 gizmo is no larger than a penlight, fits on a keychain and works in a second. Point, aim and shoot. It’s great for overclocking processors (how hot is too hot?)
It’s from Q3 Innovations (www.Q3i.com) and available in many computer stores.
---If you’re ever tempted to buy one of those $25 mini vacs to clean out dust from your PC, forget it. Not enough suction, I found out after a couple of vacs. Instead I am out about a billion of those little cans of air that I hope don’t harm the ozone layer.
---Speaking of dust, you are periodically opening your PC and blowing it out, right? Right? Well, if you’re like most people, you’re not. If your PC is in an enclosure or other tight space it’s even worse. Investing $5 a can of compressed air and 10 minutes of work is time well spent.
Unplug everything, take it outside and unscrew the two thumbscrews or the slide (unless it’s a Dell) and open the side. Then blow the dust out of the CPU fan, the case fan and the video card fan. Then blow the dust out of the power supply fans and vents too.
Make sure all of the fans spin freely and the dust is all cleaned out before buttoning it all back up.
---I got a great set of Sears/Craftsman screwdrivers (#41711) including some hard to find small Torx screwdrivers to open some odd computers and media players. My only issue prior to finding these was that tiny screwdrivers were tiny. (Opening some Apple Powerbooks were nearly impossible.) So there was very little leverage while using them. These have been a great tool in the repair arsenal. The only trick is not to misplace them.
---If you own an Apple Mac, make sure you run Software Update. There are some critical software patches that have been released for the Mac. If you run a Windows XP machine also run Windows Update for a couple of patches released in September.
---I have received several e-mails with feedback about Ubuntu, a version of Linux offered free on the Internet. It’s not only free on the Internet for download but free on CD (even free postage.)
All of them who have written me so far like it, saying it has given new life to old hardware that otherwise wouldn’t have been used for anything. I agree. It’s just the answer for day care centers and K-4 classrooms who don’t need the latest and greatest stuff, either.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: One of the first sites I found on the Web is still one of the best. Check out Chateau Meddybemps with your kids at www.meddybemps.com
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
