Microsoft investigates another IE flaw report

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Get the facts, "non-zelaot": Right on cue, up pops "Non-zealot" with some classic denial mixed in with some Microsoft revisionism of the facts.

Fact - Microsoft integrated IE into WIndows at the OS level in order to crush Netscape.

Fact - In so doing they introduced a design flaw which now means Windows can never be secure, since all the vulnerabilities of IE are now inextricably folded into the underlaying OS.

Perhaps a few articles from the time when all this was happenin (sorry, "non-Zealot", it really DID happen) will help other readers have a giggle at your blinkered denial too.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/04/removing_ie_would_kill_win2k/
"Both Windows XP and Windows 2000 will be rendered inoperable, and Microsoft will be unable to develop future new operating systems, if it is forced to separate IE from the operating system, according to court filings the company made on Friday. The US States still fighting Microsoft argue, on the contrary, that separation of this and other matters now "integrated" into the OS is both feasible and necessary"

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/43276/43276.html
I've privately and publicly lamented Microsoft's bizarre business decision in the mid-1990s to integrate Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) deeply into Windows. Starting with various OEM versions of Windows 95, IE went from a simple bundled application that could be cleanly removed from the OS to an integral system component. In Win98--and the associated Shell Update Release (SUR) for Windows NT 4.0 and IE 4.0 with Shell Integration for Win95--IE was elevated to become the Windows shell, the GUI responsible for interacting with the user.

Just for you, non-zealot, here's a Microsoft web page in which they attempt to justify the disasterous decision to bolt the virus delivery mechanism IE into Windows - "Just an HTML renderer", non-zealot? Are you sure?

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/legal/10-16econ-a.mspx
The Justice Department and the 20 states that have sued Microsoft have completely ignored the benefits that consumers get from the inclusion of IE in Windows 98 at no extra cost, Davis, MacCrisken, and Murphy are consultants to Microsoft.

Integrating additional features and functionalities into the operating system - what the authors call OS integration for short - provides numerous direct and indirect benefits to consumers and developers of computer applications.

? OS integration benefits PC users by automating and simplifying the management of interacting hardware and software components. The greater ease of use promoted by OS integration is an important underlying factor in the rapid diffusion of PCs in the business sector and in the home. In this way, OS integration enlarges market size by making PCs easier to use.

Benefits to the consumer! Of course, they wouldn't have a fraction of the 100,000+ Windows viruses they now have to pay a 3rd party to protect them from, otherwise.

Essential reading for all "non-zealots" -
http://www.theregister.co.uk/security/security_report_windows_vs_linux/
"While some of the shortcomings of Windows are due to its ties to its original single-user design, other shortcomings are the direct result of deliberate design decisions, such as its monolithic design (integrating too many features into the core of the operating system). Microsoft made the Netscape browser irrelevant by integrating Internet Explorer so tightly into its operating system that it is almost impossible not to use IE. Like it or not, you invoke Internet Explorer when you use the Windows help system, Outlook, and many other Microsoft and third-party applications. Granted, it is in the best business interest of Microsoft to make it difficult to use anything but Internet Explorer. Microsoft successfully makes competing products irrelevant by integrating more and more of the services they provide into its operating system. But this approach creates a monster of inextricably interdependent services (which is, by definition, a monolithic system)".
Finally - KDE is just one optional GUI for Linux. I have a choice of 4 on my Mandrake distro. NONE OF THEM are "integrated" into the Linux OS. Poor attempt at muddying the water, "non-zelaot". Oh, and thanks for
a) Displaying your obvious disregard for reality
b) Providing another opportunity to bring the info to new readers; Posted by: whisperycat Posted on: 08/30/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use