Boy-oh-boy, Microsoft’s long awaited operating system upgrade to the aging Windows XP isn’t even out yet and security companies and hackers around the world are already announcing the exploits of Vista and proving the Redmond-based company to be more a swiss cheese maker than a secure software company. With security vendor Determina finding a major security flaw in the just released Internet Explorer 7 and a Russian programmer posting an exploit how to increase users privileges in Vista in the last week alone, Microsoft seems to be giving Apple more and more material for its next Get a Mac commercial. While Microsoft executives have been spouting off how Vista is the most secure Windows ever, it seems the reality of it is that it may be a tad better than XP…or maybe even worse! But don’t tell that to Microsoft, they’ve already got the PR campaign working within its boundaries:

“Currently we have not observed any public exploitation or attack activity regarding this issue,” wrote Mike Reavey, operations manager of the Microsoft Security Response Center. “While I know this is a vulnerability that impacts Windows Vista, I still have every confidence that Windows Vista is our most secure platform to date.”

Haven’t observed any public exploitations? Dude, do they read other Internet sites other than MSN? Heck, I’m sure even Live Search would show lots of links to those very public exploitations!

Determina’s vice president, Nand Mulchandani, offers this warning, “I don’t think people should become complacent. When vendors say a program has been completely rewritten, it doesn’t mean that it’s more secure from the get-go. My expectation is we will see a whole rash of Vista bugs show up in six months or a year.”

Wow, a whole rash of bugs. Sad from an operating system that came from over four years of development and looks to be nothing more than an eye candy upgrade to already sorry OS called XP. Enjoy the eXPerience, folks.

[Via New York Times]

Lagotek will announce Version 3.0 of its home intelligence platform with Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center integration and Sideshow support at 2007 International CES, January 8-11, 2007 in Las Vegas.

Version 3.0 of Lagotek’s Home Intelligence Platform (HIP), the heart of its wireless, affordable, whole home automation system, adds reach integration with Microsoft’s Windows Vista and provides Lagotek customers with the flexibility to control their homes and Entertainment the way they want it: from the in-wall control panel, remote control or a PDA.

Lagotek’s plug-in module for Media Center allows users to control their home systems using a standard remote control by choosing user defined Modes on the Media Center screen. Once selected Lagotek’s Mode can control multiple lights, motor controls, climate, and serve a music playlist to be played with one click of a remote. Key Media Center controls are now available on the Lagotek control panels (HIP100).

With any SideShow enabled remote, the Lagotek Modes gadget will display all Modes on the screen of the remote control, so the user doesn’t need to turn his TV on if all he needs is just to turn the lights on or off. This makes the SideShow enabled Media Center remote - the whole home remote control.

Also in Version 3.0 of Lagotek’s HIP, whole home control (including Media Center control) is now possible from a WiFi enabled PDA running Windows CE 5.0.

Microsoft’s new update to the five year old aging XP, Vista, is not even officially out yet and security firm Sophos is claiming that three malware applications can easily infect Vista without any problem. The irony of this is that these destructive items are nearly three years old!

Stratio-Zip, Netsky-D and MyDoom were executed without issue by Sophos according to ZDNet. With variants of each of these malwares, this puts the total percentage of malware effective against Microsoft’s new “secure” operating system at 39%! Not good.

After Microsoft’s co-president Jim Allchin told the media that he would let his seven year-old son run Vista without any type of protection, just out of the box, Sophos got thinking.

“The comment about his seven-year-old spurred our idea–let’s see if malware runs on Vista,” said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos. “It does.”

“I’m certainly not going to run Vista without antivirus,” Theriault added. “And I wouldn’t take the risk with my business. Who knows how many more pieces of malware run on it?”

Vista isn’t a wash, though. “Vista is excellent, but it hasn’t really changed the security landscape,” said Theriault. “You still need antivirus, firewalls and patches at least.” Or you can just get a Mac and be done with it.

So Apple is having its fun calling Vista a copycat and Vista 2.0 Leopard. Kinda reminds me of the Windows95 campaign of the duck thing. But you know what? Leopard ain’t that big of a deal. I mean, let’s look at what’s new.

Spaces: Ya, it’s nice and all but truth is virtual desktops have been around a long time. There are some great third-party applications for both Windows and Macs that do this quite well right now. Granted, it’ll come with the OS now, but still, nothing ground breaking here. Also, why limit it to just four “spaces”? Available memory should be the key to how many spaces you have if we’re talking “cool” here.

Mail 3.0: Really, Steve, copycat? Dude, have you looked at Outlook Express? Stationery templates have been there for a good while, buddy. I don’t know, man, but someone copied someone here and it wasn’t Microsoft running with something new up north to Redmond!

Dashboard Dashcode: Hey, I appreciate the ability to make my own Dashboard now, but if this is one the main highlights Apple is pushing for reasoning of the $129 price tag Leopard will be sure to claw from your pocket book, then I’m not scratchin’.

Spotlight: Being able to search network-mounted folders is nice but really is just the next logical step in Spotlight. Nothing cutting edge here.

Parental Controls: Copycat? Again, not a new thing and something that has been a well known feature of Vista. I saw it myself at CES in January, eight months ago, and apparently so did someone at Apple.

Time Machine: Okay, this is cool. Not only will this help bust more white collar criminals as they’ll have no way to erase their criminal past, but it’ll also remedy bonehead mistakes from costing many lost hair and hours of anguish trying to recreate a perished file from scratch (if it’s even possible.) Without a doubt, watching Scott Forstall demonstrate how to bring back an accidentally erased contact in your Address Book was the coolest.

So out of this entire list, only one item grasped the audience enough to bring resounding applause. Remember, these are the highlights, the really BIG stuff! If this is all Leopard has to offer, I’d say this is more a meow than a growl of the name in which this OS shares with. Definitely not worth the common $129 Apple asks for and absolutely not a reason to have to wait until Spring ‘07 for it.

So what of this? A lesser upgrade than we all expected and to be released after Vista. Wouldn’t it seem one should release its copied product before the copycat?

I think Apple is treading on thin ice with this campaign and should really just drop it. There’s enough Microsoft fanboys about that will have a field day with this lackluster release that comes well after the fanboys are doing Windows XP SP3 on their tired PCs.

You gotta love Microsoft. They can’t even accept some free publicity for the ill-fated, often delayed, OS X ripped-off, operating system of theirs. Nope, Microsoft sent the bullies after Chris Pirillo and sent him a cease and desist letter. In part, it read:

The information in this notice is accurate, and I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of Microsoft, the owner of the copyright(s) in the work(s) identified above. I have a good faith belief that none of the materials or activities listed above have been authorized by Microsoft, its agents, or the law.

We hereby give notice of these activities to you and request that you take expeditious action to remove or disable access to the material described above, and thereby prevent the illegal reproduction and distribution of this software via your company’s network.

The e-mail was signed by Peter Anaman with a title of Internet Investigator. Man, and I thought webmaster was a cool title. This one almost makes Peter sound like he works with TJ Hooker.

Anyway, it’s pretty funny that Microsoft would kill the only real way to get this beta to everyone since it is 3.2 GB in size. This is what BitTorrent was designed for, but hey, even if Microsoft says it’s hip on the Internet, actions like this shows it’s not. Using the lame excuse that no one would know for sure if this was the real deal or pirated software, it drove Redmond to request the removal. Even though Chris had a check sum up for anyone to verify the download with.

Whatever. Keep the faith, Microsoft. Maybe a few more people will buy Vista instead of a new Mac that does Vista stuff today…and will run Vista when it comes out, too. Why Microsoft is reminding me of the RIAA and its embracing of MP3s, I don’t know.

Now that anyone can get a copy of Windows Vista Beta 2 (grab the BitTorrent from our friend Chris Pirillo instead), one can see first hand just how much Microsoft admires OS X. I know when I first saw it in all its glory at CES this year, I kept mummering to myself, “That’s from OS X…that’s from OS X…that’s from OS X,” until the Microsoft project manager that was giving the demo told the crowd what hardware demand was needed. Ya, that was all Microsoft.

If you haven’t seen the next version of Microsoft Windows, then Lifehacker has some side-by-side (well, top-by-bottom) comparisons to show you. For those that can remember the ads Apple took out in 1995 against Windows 95 (”if it looks like a duck…”), then you’ll probably be expecting an update to all the papers across America sometime next year.

The irony of Windows Vista isn’t that it uses Gadgets instead of Widgets or Windows Calendar instead of iCal but that all this glass interface and other software applets it uses will have a heavy hardware requirement. While Microsoft will not give out exact specifications yet since it’s still in beta, (it does give suggestions if your PC is “capable”) most estimates are that computers that are of the medium grade released in the last year have a chance. High-end machines from about two years ago could probably pull it off. If you don’t have such a system, start packing it up for the dump now ’cause it ain’t gonna do you no good when Vista rolls out.

As Vista drags on toward its ultimate release date, OS X will continue to grow in market share. With the growing number of daily insecurities of Windows (which has plagued Vista betas as well,) users will soon grow tired of Microsoft and move on. The extra hardware need may be that final straw, to use a cliche. When many see that they can buy a Mac mini at a fairly low price and get all that Vista promises at half the cost of what Vista demands, it may be Apple looking out from the clear mountain tops of Cupertino…well Saratoga at least, in the end.