Winextra » XP

Rootkits find perfect breeding ground on Windows XP computers

Steven — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:21:12 +0000

Rootkit infection numbers per Windows version

Some interesting news from antivirus company Avast Software about the dangers of rootkits and where they are being found with increasing frequency.

According to the company the decade-old Windows XP platform make up the largest reservoir of infected PC in the world; and interesting enough, or worrisome depending on your point of view, the number of infected XP machines are out of proportion with the operating systems market share. This is the findings from the company after survey over 600,000 Windows machines.

Avast attributed the infection disparity between XP and Windows 7 to a pair of factors: The widespread use of pirated copies of the former and the latter’s better security.
“According to our stats, as many as a third of XP users are running SP2 [Service Pack 2] or earlier,” said Ondrej Vlcek, the chief technology officer of AVAST, in an interview Thursday. “Millions of people are out of support and their machines are unpatched.”
Vlcek assumed that many of the people running XP SP2, which Microsoftstopped supporting with security patches a year ago, have declined to update to the still-supported SP3 because they are running counterfeits.
via Computerworld

This is going to be an even bigger problem once XP, with SP2 installed, reach end of life and Microsoft stops supporting it

Rootkits find perfect breeding ground on Windows XP computers is a post from: winextra
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XP’s life support to be switched off in 1000 days

Steven — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:01:49 +0000

Bye bye XP - Finally

We knew the day was coming regardless of how many cheapskate companies and people refuse to believe but the fact is that at some point a ten year old operating system needs to be declared dead and buried.

Such is the case with Windows XP, and no matter of how great of a workhorse that the XP version of Windows was, there comes a point when no amount of duct tape and binder twine will keep this old beast up to the needs of the future.

The fact is that even at this point XP has lived long past its supposed expiration date, thanks in part to everyone’s great reluctance to upgrade to Vista, and now Microsoft has come out and said quite bluntly – enough is enough, there is 1,000 days left until all support for XP will stop.

From the Springboard Series Blog at Microsoft:

On April 8, 2014, security patches and hotfixes for all versions of Windows XP will no longer be available. So bottom line, PC’s running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats. Furthermore, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, security risks, and ultimately, added management costs for your IT department if you’re still managing Windows XP environments.

Seriously though people, XP is done, toast, baked. It’s time to join the future and get moved over to Windows 7 which by all accounts is a pretty damn good version of Windows and I think having sold 400 million licenses if pretty indicative of just how good it is.

So let’s hope that the next mock funeral procession that Microsoft employees hold will be for XP. IT’s time is done. It’s time to move on.

XP’s life support to be switched off in 1000 days is a post from: winextra
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Even Apple doesn’t like Windows XP

Steven — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:12:16 +0000

It is to be expected that Microsoft would be doing a big push to get Windows users to finally give up that ten year old workhorse XP and onto the new and still shiny Windows 7; but it seems that they aren’t alone in trying to move past supporting XP.

Amazingly it seems that Apple doesn’t have any desire to be supporting Windows XP as one astute observer at gHacks noticed when they were going through the system requirements for Apple’s just announced iCloud service.

So with thanks to Martin Brinkmann at gHacks for noticing this here is the system requirements for Apple’s iCloud service:

Features are subject to change. Access to some services is limited to 10 devices. See www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/ for more information. Some features of iCloud require iOS 5 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2, or a Mac computer with OS X Lion or a PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Outlook 2007 or 2010 recommended). Some music features of iCloud are available in beta now in the U.S. only and require iOS 4.3.3 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2, or a Mac or PC with iTunes 10.3. Download iTunes 10.3 free.

While the requirements don’t come right out and say that there is no XP support, its absence from the list of supported Windows versions would strongly suggest that XP users need not apply for iCloud.

Even Apple doesn’t like Windows XP is a post from: winextra
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Daily Brief – Xbox beta disk arrives. Thank you Mr. FedEx.

Steven — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:47:38 +0000

Just prior to recording today’s show Paul got a knock at the door which turned out to be a nice little package being delivered by FedEx. The package – it was from Microsoft and had something to do with the Xbox Live Update Preview. Not to mention that he also got himself a free copy of one of Microsoft’s hottest games.

Way to go bud.

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Show links.

The death of XP is neigh, Windows 7 surpasses it in the U.S. – WinExtra
Now Marketplace disappears from Switzerland, Belgium and Luxemburg also – WMPoweruser
Windows 8: Windows App Store screenshots leak? – WinRumors
Rumor: Free-to-Play Games Coming to Xbox Live - IGN
TouchStudio – TouchStudioApp – Microsoft Research
Commodore 64 rises from the retro ashes with Windows 7 makeover - Unthinkable

Daily Brief – Xbox beta disk arrives. Thank you Mr. FedEx. is a post from: winextra
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Windows XP takes another death blow as Battlefield 3 aims elsewhere

Steven — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 02:15:27 +0000

There is an old adage in the tech world that says that any advancement in consumer electronics can be traced back to two things: gaming and porn.

If that is indeed true one has to wonder if the death of a platform can be finalized in the same way – game manufacturers stop supporting a platform ends up being a death-knell. Now should this be true then the announcement from DICE that Battlefield 3 will not support Windows XP could be the signal of the Os’s true demise.

According to a post at The Escapist, fan site BF3blog found a Twitter post from the summer that XP and DX9 would not be supported.

According to [Johan] Andersson, the game engine used by Battlefield 3 is advanced to the point where it will not support what was once the dominant operating system among PC gamers: If you’re still using Windows XP, you need not apply.
“Frostbite 2 is primarily developed for DX11. XP & DX9 is _not_ supported, 64-bit OS is recommended. Lots of time to upgrade if you havent!”
Though this is not official confirmation from DICE that BF3 won’t run on Windows XP, if the engine doesn’t support the venerable old OS that’s one huge kick in the side. If true, this is a bold move for DICE

It might be a bold move but one I am glad to see start to happen. Hopefully more game developers will start doing this and we’ll be able to start getting rid of antiquated operating systems.

Windows XP takes another death blow as Battlefield 3 aims elsewhere is a post from: winextra
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Daily Brief – What was in that glass?

Steven — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:08:15 +0000

You know, with it being the beginning of the week you would think that Paul and I would try really hard to be serious. After all this is important tech news that we talk about here so why is it that neither of us are able to keep a straight face at the beginning of the show?

(I blame Paul )

Show links.

Microsoft Acquires Canesta, 3D Tech Patents - eWeek
Pent up demand means Windows Phone 7 orders “exceeding expectations”, handsets sold out. – WMPoweruser
Xbox 360 Dashboard update is now available – Major Nelson
Internet Explorer 8 and 9 usage up in October as IE 6 continues to decline – WinRumors
Windows XP falls under 60%, IE8 loses share for the first time – Ars Technica

Daily Brief – What was in that glass? is a post from: winextra
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Don't forget to check out the WinExtra Community Forums - registration is free.