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SECURITY ISSUES Security concerns have long been an issue with Microsoft products. Windows XP has been criticized for its susceptibility to Buffer Overflow s, Malware , Viruses , Trojan Horses , and Worms . Security issues are compounded by the fact that users, by default, receive an administrator account that provides unrestricted access to the underpinnings of the system. If the administrator's account is broken into, there is no limit to the control that can be asserted over the compromised PC. Nicholas Petreley for '' The Register '' notes that "Windows XP was the first version of Windows to reflect a serious effort to isolate users from the system, so that users each have their own private files and limited system privileges." {Link without Title} Windows XP Home Edition also lacks the ability to administer security policies and denies access to the Local Users and Groups utility. Windows, with its large market share, has traditionally been a tempting target for virus creators. Security holes are often invisible until they are exploited, making preemptive action difficult. Microsoft executives have stated that the release of patches to fix security holes is often what causes the spread of exploits against those very same holes, as Crackers figured out what problems the patches fixed, and then launch attacks against unpatched systems. Many attacks against Windows XP systems come in the form of e-mail Trojan Horse s which are sent by worms. A user who opens the file attachment(s) can unknowingly infect his or her own computer, which then e-mails the worm to more people. Notable worms of this sort that have infected Windows XP systems include Mydoom and Bagle . In , spread by using a Buffer Overflow in a remote service present on every installation. In May 2004, Sasser quickly spread through computers running Windows XP and Windows 2000. Increasingly widespread use of Service Pack 2, and greater use of personal firewalls, appears to have been making worms like these less of a common occurrence. {Link without Title} . which removes spyware and adware from computers. Microsoft AntiSpyware is now Windows Defender. Windows XP offers some useful security benefits, such as Windows Update , which can be set to install security patches automatically, and a built-in firewall. Service Pack 2 enables the firewall by default. It also adds increased memory protection to let the operating system take advantage of new No EXecute technology built into CPUs such as the AMD64 . This allows Windows XP to prevent code from being executed on areas of memory flagged with an NX bit and stops Buffer Overflow exploits from running arbitrary code. Perhaps the greatest threats against Windows security are the actions of Windows users themselves. There is little defense against a user opening an e-mail attachment without realizing that it is Malicious (the default setting of Windows XP to hide file extensions doesn't help in this regard), or failing to keep reasonably current on Windows Update patches. Service Pack 2 attempts to remedy this with the Attachment Execution Service that records the origin of files in Alternate Data Stream s attached to files downloaded with Internet Explorer or received as an attachment in Outlook Express. For example if a user tries to run an executable File downloaded from an untrusted security zone, Windows XP with Service Pack 2 will prompt the user with a warning. PRODUCT ACTIVATION While Product Activation and licensing servers are common for business and industrial software (especially software sold on a per-user basis for large sums of money), Windows XP gave many casual computer users their first introduction to it. The system was introduced by Microsoft to curb illegal distribution of Windows XP {Link without Title} . Activation requires the computer or the user to activate with Microsoft within a certain amount of time in order to continue using the operating system. If the user's computer system ever changes — for example, if two or more relevant components (see list below) of the computer itself are upgraded — Windows may refuse to run until the user reactivates with Microsoft. of the following ten values:
This information is used to seed the generation of a number which, along with the CD Key and country of installation, is transmitted to Microsoft. According to Microsoft, no specific details about the hardware are transmitted. However, as key changers and Keygen s were soon available on the Internet after Windows XP's release, many users managed to circumvent the product activation process. There exist volume-licensed copies of Windows XP Professional that do not require Windows Product Activation at all. These copies, intended for use by customers with many PCs, are referred to by some as "Windows XP Corporate Edition". According to Microsoft, 90% of pirated installations of Windows XP use a volume-licensed version to circumvent WPA. The most famous volume license key (VLK) is one beginning with FCKGW , which was released with the first pirated copies of the final version of Windows XP. USER INTERFACE AND PERFORMANCE Critics have claimed that the default Windows XP user interface (Luna) adds visual clutter and wastes screen space while offering no new functionality and running more slowly. Supporters of the new interface praise its task-oriented nature and the automatic grouping of related windows on the taskbar to reduce clutter, and point out that the higher nominal system requirements of Windows XP allow it to easily handle the increased processing demand; with a small amount of tweaking, it is possible to return to the Windows 2000 look, (or with minimal additional effort, the Windows 95 look can be achieved) which is faster, but which many consider to be less visually attractive. 's AnchorDesk and Paul Thurrott, who runs SuperSite for Windows [http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp.asp have both written positive reviews of the operating system. INTEGRATION OF OPERATING SYSTEM FEATURES In light of the United States V. Microsoft case which resulted in Microsoft being convicted for illegally abusing its operating system monopoly to overwhelm competition in other markets, Windows XP has drawn fire for integrating user applications such as Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger into the operating system, as well as for its close ties to the Microsoft Passport Network service. In 2001, , Sun , and Netscape . ACT and CompTIA are both partially funded by Microsoft. The battle being fought by Fronts for each side was the subject of a heated exchange between Oracle's Larry Ellison and Microsoft's Bill Gates {Link without Title} . Microsoft responded on its "Freedom to Innovate" web site , pointing out that in earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft had integrated tools such as Disk Defragmenter s, graphical File Manager s, and TCP/IP stacks, and there had been no protest that Microsoft was being anti-competitive. Microsoft asserted that these tools had moved from special to general usage and therefore belonged in its operating system. To avoid the possibility of an injunction, which might have delayed the release of Windows XP, Microsoft changed its licensing terms to allow PC manufacturers to hide access to Internet Explorer (but not remove it). Competitors dismissed this as a trivial gesture Later, Microsoft released a utility as part of the SP1 which allows icons and other links to bundled software such as Internet Explorer , Windows Media Player, and MSN Messenger to be removed. The components themselves remain in the system; Microsoft maintains that they are necessary for key Windows functionality (such as the HTML Help system and Windows desktop), and that removing them completely may result in unwanted consequences. One critic, Shane Brooks, has argued that Internet Explorer could be removed without adverse effects, as demonstrated with his product XPLite [http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html . Dino Nuhagic created his nLite software to remove many components from XP prior to installation of the product [http://www.nliteos.com/]. In addition, the first release of Windows XP, the "Buy Music Online" feature always used Microsoft's Internet Explorer rather than any other Web Browser that the user may have set as his/her default. Whether this flaw was intentional or simply an oversight is unclear. Under pressure from the United States Department Of Justice , Microsoft released a patch in early 2004, which corrected the problem {Link without Title} . Software compatibility 16 Bit Application s have been incompatible with newer revisions of Windows XP like the 64-bit edition and its successor Windows Vista. -- this needs a cite; also, you can't use the past imperfect tense to describe Windows Vista if it hasn't come out yet. --> SEE ALSO |
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