Windows XP opinions?

[rickod]

mayhem just how are you running aces high under these platforms ???

I have attempted to use a win95 emulator on a solaris 7.1 machine but could not get the emulator to recognize the 3d card driver

[Vulcan]

riiiiight. Unix never gets hacked does it?

Just because the Unix virii and worms don't make it to the news print doesn't mean its more secure. When the Red Code Virus was hitting MS machines nobody mentioned that there was just as much traffic being generated by the Lion virus on Linux based systems.

XP is nice and stable. All the admin help options can be turned off, plus it has a built in firewall (basic, but it helps).

Originally posted by Mayhem


All MS operating system's have run with open ports thats why microsoft has so many security updates and service packs for there OSs. If you want closed ports and better security use linux Solaris or unix.

[Saintaw]

Q: how does AH run under XP ?
Q: how about CH gear ?

Thx, need to know if I can upgrade home too.

[Wlfgng]

true.. linux, unix, mac .. etc etc.. all get hacked.
but not with the frequency of MS products.

if Mac, say, were to become the leading OS they would be the prime target.

being number 1 means you always get shots taken at you.

[LePaul]

...and how many copies of Linux, Mac and other non-Microsoft OS's are out there?  Windows dominates and thus, its a bigger target for hackers, etc.  If Linux had 90% market share, I think it would be just as big a target as Mirosoft currently is.

Redhat has bugs galore, Im on the support email that updates when problems are found...I'm getting an email a day or more.  Point is, they all have headaches.  Microsoft's just always land on Page 1 whilest the other OS's woes are generally harder to find to the layman.

ANYWAYS...

Here at work, just upgraded my Windows 98SE machine (Athlon 700. 128mb ram) to Windows XP Professional.  Few impressions as I play with the new OS now...

1)  Liked that it wanted to search the net during install for latest drivers.

2)  Hate the default "pre-schooler" style bright colors and icons after install.  An why wont these bastids leave my folder options to "Show all files" and "Details" toggled on!

3)  Lost all Internet settings and sharing configurations.  Wasn't hard to fix but the sharing setup was a lot clunker to work with than Win2k

4)  No driver hiccups.  From CD in to CD out, it was just over an hour and everything is working.  I was able to change the look and feel back to the Windows 98 look, and when I add another 128mb to this machine, it should fly nicely!

5)  Expensive!  And already registered.  Sigh.  Would love to play with at home....oh well.

[Doberman]

Those of you stating that you'll never ever run XP better hope that 2000 is gonna be the last OS you need.  Cause you ain't getting another 2000.

FWIW, I've been using Windows on various machines since BEFORE Windows 3.0.  XP Pro is far and away the best version of Windows yet.  All the features that 2000 users have been touting (ie. "when my programs crash I can close them without taking down Windows") are in XP also.   Everything runs MUCH faster (than 2000, I've found in-game FR to be about equal to 98SE).  No more security holes than any other version of Windows has started with.

And seriously, how many of you home users have EVER had anyone try to get into your system?  Nobody wants the porn you've got stashed in that hidden subdirectory.  If you're running broadband without a router or a firewall, you got so little computer knowledge that making judgements on OS's probably isn't your strong point.  

Some of the ways virii can sneak in could stand to be fixed but if you're opening e-mail attachments or unknown programs, you probably deserve what you get.  And hey, get some anti-virus software.

D

[Wlfgng]

have anti virus software...
have firewall..
have email attachment stripping...
have packet filters...


I get approximately 30-40 attempts each day to 'look' at my home machine.

True, they aren't interested in anything I have on my hard drive but.. In my experience, it doesnt' matter.  Most hackers, script-kiddies, etc. only want to cause mischief/destruction... delete files, etc.

As for the OS's, I'm not talking about gaming per se.. but the security each OS provides.

Daily I check for 'leaks', hackers, etc and find that Win2000 is very secure (for a Microsoft product).

Yes, I know MS would like us all to migrate to XP and they are dropping 2000.. it's mostly to make money and dominate the internet.  
We'll see if they get 'rid' of 2000 or not.  Many IT professionals like myself are in MS's ear about it.

[Raubvogel]

Doberman pretty much summed it up. XP has all the features everyone thinks are so great about 2000 without the headaches of 2000, and it performs better. Hackers messing up your home computer? I think your pr0n is safe enough. Just because your firewall (lemme guess, ZA or BlackIce?) tells you your computer is being probed doesn't mean someone is trying to steal your collection of Pamela and videos.

[Kieran]

...until Microsoft does something about registration (i.e. individual codes) friendlier to gov't operations, I seriously doubt any of the entities will migrate. Imagine managing several hundred computers, each with their own CD key to track. Need a format? Nope, can't just grab that corporate license version and go- gotta have that key.

Anyone I have spoken to in the biz says XP is a no-go for gov't; I don't know how MS fairs without that market. Some of you other guys that currently work for the gov't may hear differently...

[AKcurly]

Originally posted by Vulcan
riiiiight. Unix never gets hacked does it?

Just because the Unix virii and worms don't make it to the news print doesn't mean its more secure. When the Red Code Virus was hitting MS machines nobody mentioned that there was just as much traffic being generated by the Lion virus on Linux based systems.

XP is nice and stable. All the admin help options can be turned off, plus it has a built in firewall (basic, but it helps).
 

roadkill  Code Red was caused by an IIS flaw.  There was no immediate fix and the first m/s fix made it worse.  Even worse, lots of folks running IIS were completely in the dark.

Lion relied on a broken remote print services.  With the right root kit, you could grab root and install lion.  Prevention of lion didn't require intervention by ANYONE.  You simply used ipchains to deny access to a particular port.

There is a world of difference between the two situations.

XP appears to be a really nice os SO LONG AS YOU DON'T CONNECT TO THE INTERNET.  The list of security problems with XP is long and more are on the horizon.  Concerning Microsoft's firewall, why in the world would anyone expect their firewall to be better than the rest of the crap they sell?

Doesn't Microsoft own hotmail (or something like that?)  Wonder why they don't use win2k or XP server to run it?  Wonder why they use Unix for their server?  Isn't that odd? lol

curly

[Vulcan]

Good and good.

I use a FS Pro, Throttle, and Pro Pedals on an analog joystick port.

Oh and Curly, do you know what contradicting yourself is? Read these two sentences:

"Prevention of lion didn't require intervention by ANYONE. You simply used ipchains to deny access to a particular port."

At the end of the day I was getting more lion hits on my firewall than Red Code hits. And I did say the firewall was 'basic'. XP is basically Win 2K "facelift model", its a much better option than Win 95/95/Me. Linux/Unix is nice, but it is by no means perfect and by no means a good "off the shelf" solution for Joe Public.

Kieran there is a "key-free" version of XP, its the Corporate Edition. (also the version posted into the Warez newsgroups )

The only warning I have about XP is in relation to Creative products. It seems that Creative have no interest in writing good stable drivers for the SB Lives, Videocards, and Webcams they do.

Originally posted by Saintaw
Q: how does AH run under XP ?
Q: how about CH gear ?

Thx, need to know if I can upgrade home too.

[Hajo]

Using 98SE and will stay with Win98SE and here's why.

Win98SE does very well on my system, it ain't broke so I'm not fixing it.

WinXP doesn't recognize a cable Modem attatched to the USB Port.  I have one so XP out of the question.

I have Speed Keys.  Any of you that have a CH Pro Throttle know what I'm talking about.  One can't use speed keys to program a joystick and throttle if you're running XP.  XP simply ignores it.

let me see.....3 statements above why I'm running 98.  Besides, I never was much of following a trend and being "en vogue" just for the sake of being "en vogue"

[CptTrips]

Don't mind Curly.

He's just part of the OS Taliban.  He'd like to roll back the progress of Western Civilization 30 years or so.  If he'd have his way, we'd all be submitting out ACM maneuvers on stacks of punch cards to a PDP-11.  We would then come back in a hour or so to pick up our print-outs to see if we got a kill or not.


Jus kidding.

Wab

[Wlfgng]

software firewall ???  NOT.

linux hardware firewall

as for the features.. I don't need them.

I need stability and security.

for software firewalls (home) I'd suggest Tiny Personal Firewall recommended by Gibson Research.
http://grc.com/default.htm

as for Government staying away from XP.. you're right.
I'm the IT manager for the city government here.

[Wlfgng]

FYI.. here's the problem with Windows XP and it's serious security flaws...:

http://rr.sans.org/win/sockets.php


I'd suggest you XP users really look hard at this.