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Ragnar Harper`s blog on Microsoft technology and security

December 2008 - Posts

  • So, goodbye Vista – I enjoyed the ride :)

    After using Windows 7 for a bit, I decided to move to Windows 7 for my main work PC. I will still keep Vista on one of my computers though, as well as on my kids PCs.

    Looking back, I think I have to write some of my experiences with Vista. We first met in 2003, at the PDC. Even though that version was very very Alpha, it made some promises. I liked you right away. Moving to late 2005 I more or less started to use you as my main system. Since then, I read a lot of bad stories about you in the press and online. I felt you got very unfair treatment. I did not recognize all the bad they wrote about you. Sometimes I felt I was living on another planet – and maybe I was. But I always thought that your security enhancements was important, and I know that all the changes you brought to Windows are taken further in Windows 7.

    One of the most unfair things I read about your is the lack of enterprise rollouts. I do think I`m pretty early using new software from Microsoft. But enterprises usually are on other schedules. Companies don`t necessary live after release schedule of  Microsoft. And of course, in many ways Windows XP is great. But this does not make Vista bad.

    A lot of people also went crazy over User Account Control – UAC – and I simply cant understand why. I think UAC is a great concept. I could also mention ASLR, Bitlocker and integrity control. And, not to forget, all you brought me with x64 support. (not a bad word about Windows XP – but the 64 bit version could not be compared…)

    What I missed the most in the beginning was your  server partner – Windows Server 2008 – and it sure made you even better.

    What I did not like with you? Well, as many out there maybe know , I `m not a big fan of DRM… and you supported that too good :(

    For me, Vista will always be a pleasant experience, even though we had our moments :)

    Posted Dec 17 2008, 10:08 PM by ragnar with no comments
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  • Live Mesh – I just love it!

    Live Mesh really cool technology from Microsoft. Still I find a lot of people that have not tried it or dont know about it.

    With Live Mesh you could sync your stuff between multiple devices. For now, both Mac and Windows is supported, as well as a web version. I use it for my “home-drive” so that all my presentations and documents are synced between all my devices. There is support for a mobile client under way – so that I can also sync with Windows Mobile.

    What is more is that Live Mesh is a platform – also for applications. This makes your applications follow you in some very cool scenarios I think. And you also get offline sync for free in the platform. My guess is that we will see an application store in this area, and that we will se alot of applications from Microsoft inside the Live Mesh platform – as well as from other developers.

    It`s the beginning – and I love IT :D

    You can start to play with this from www.mesh.com – go try it!

  • Critical Alert: Internet Explorer patch out tomorrow

    As you already might know there is found a critical vulnerability in Internet Explorer that affects all currently supported versions of Windows. Please prepare your systems to apply this patch asap. This is critical, and needs to be patched as fast as possible. You can read more about this here http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-dec.mspx
    Posted Dec 16 2008, 09:44 PM by ragnar with no comments
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  • Microsoft creates free software for iPhone

    Microsoft Live Labs has just published what I belive is Microsofts first application for iPhone. Seadragon is available for free through iTunes AppStore. With Seadragon you could see giga-pixel images on your iPhone. You can read more here http://livelabs.com/blog/seadragon-goes-mobile/ s
    Posted Dec 15 2008, 08:59 PM by ragnar with no comments
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  • Patch Tuesday update

    Microsoft released 8 patches today. Six patches is rated critical. They also issued a warning to older operating systems about a hole in WordPad. The warning says it will be possible for a hacker to remotely execute codre on pwnd computers. Affected versions are WordPad Text Converter for Word 97 files on Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP2. If you run Windows XP SP3, Vista or Windows Server 2008 you are not affected. The exploit can not launch itself, a user must open at attachment for it to execute. At this time, Microsoft is still investigating the issue. If you run Office Word you should not be affected, and to make sure you can block *.wri documents until there is an patch. You can read more about this issue in Microsoft Security Advisory 960906 One of the bulletins, MS08-077 covers Sharepoint and Search Server. This is interesting, and as it is about security controls in Sharepoint or Search Servers and might allow users to access parts of Sharepoint or Search Servers to execute administrative tasks. I do think organizations using Sharepoint should apply MS08-77 as soon as possible. Please read more about this in Microsoft bulleting MS08-77.
    Posted Dec 09 2008, 11:25 PM by ragnar with no comments
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  • Reading the news about how much smoother customer support is at Netflix after they went for Silverlight. Going with Silverlight means they dont need as much support personel as before. Actually, they lay off 50 support technicans after introducing Silverligt. Read the story yourself at http://blog.netflix.com/2008/12/changes-in-customer-service.html
  • Norwegian user group conference - MANUS 2009

    In march 2009 I will attend the early conference of MANUS(Microsoft Advanced Network User Society) where I will do some sessions on security and Powershell. Please visit www.manus.no for more information about the conference, its in Kristiansand march 28-31. Hope to see you there!
  • Terrorism and technology

    You read about it all the time, for example, this time, terrorists used Google Earth in Mumbai. Please then remember that tools are tools, for good or for bad. Terrorists also used boats, cars, screwdrivers, food, phones and so on. If they used Google Earth, it should not surprise anyone, as terrorists use all available tools. What do you think? Should we give up every technology terrorists could use? Read the story here http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=networking_and_internet&articleId=9121819&taxonomyId=16&intsrc=kc_top
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