Window's Vista on the Horizon

Dale O Sea · Post by **Dale O Sea** » 07-30-2005 01:22 PM

-Looks like it got pushed back yet again. I just found this today.

Microsoft exec says the OS won't be available until the last quarter of 2006
Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
Friday, July 29, 2005

REDMOND, WASHINGTON -- Windows Vista won't be available for shipment until the last quarter of 2006, a Microsoft executive let slip in a presentation on Microsoft's campus here this week.

Microsoft had previously slated the release of the next client version of its Windows operating system for the second half of 2006. But at the Microsoft Financial Analyst Conference in Redmond, Washington, Thursday, Will Poole, senior vice president of the client division of Microsoft, said the OS would not be available until the 2006 "holiday" time frame in the U.S.

This presumably would mean that the OS will not be available until sometime around the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which is the last Thursday in November, or Christmas, which is December 25.

Poole quickly corrected his faux pas, and reiterated Microsoft's party line that Windows Vista will be ready sometime in the second half of 2006 during the remainder of his presentation to analysts....

PCWorld.com LINK

-No need for any excitement yet.

Gotrox · Post by **Gotrox** » 07-30-2005 03:41 PM

turn off most of the built in back doors in yer windoze with xp anti-spy ( just google it) a small program called aports can show all open or active, ports in yer tcpip stack ( google it also) Cherry is correct, AVG is an excellent AV program, along with your firewall of choice ( I use tiny free, but Zone alarm free is also good, just doesn't work on my network server for some unknown reason) There is a workaround for the genuine advantage check if you are really paranoid ( look in slashdot if interested----if it hasn't been forcefully removed from the archives yet.) I don't mind sending my info out if asked nicely

but I'll be darned if they get it without asking.

sayntbrigid · Post by **sayntbrigid** » 07-30-2005 07:01 PM

Joolz wrote: Try clicking on the link in the "access denied" page. I did that, and then it loaded.

Thanx Joolz

Cherry Kelly · Post by **Cherry Kelly** » 07-31-2005 10:39 AM

Gotrox -- I had zone alarm for many years -- it caused more problems than it was worth - sad to say. XP has good firewall and seems to work well...and doesn't interfere with networking!

- - -
There are many programs out there spybot blaster, adaware, to mention a couple that will work well on most computers...plus popup blockers -- so many that are totally free.

I personally recommend that people defrag computers, scan disc, and for goodness sake -- BACKUP!!! SAVE OFTEN!! on all your important stuff in the computer. Networking to another computer - one used only for backup storage is one thing you can do, run things onto cd disc (but be sure to check the disc after storing to make sure it WILL open and has recorded things properly). I've heard too many stories over the years of people who stored to disc and didn't check to make sure the disc had copied properly - had a crash and ooops lost everything.

When installing a new program - make a second copy of the original -- and save it as backup copy.

Dale O Sea · Post by **Dale O Sea** » 07-31-2005 11:53 AM

Thanks for the tips CK and Gotrox. I don't use any software firewall at all. I had the Windows one on for some time but I don't think it's on anymore. I rely on my NAT routers for protection. Yep, backup often. Something inevitably goes wrong and when it does you can easily get back to where you were after you fix the problem.

Along those lines another of my favorite things to do is to put Windows on it's own drive or partition and my data (pix, dox, settings, etc) that I want to back up on another drive or partition. That way when I have those inevitable Windows problems the format and reinstall can be done painlessly without losing any of my precious data. I've read on Windows biased sites that you lose some of XP's built-in disk optimization by partitioning your drive like that but I'm pretty vigilant with my disk maintenance (the defrag, check disk and disk cleanup that Cherry Kelly brushed on earlier) and have had very good luck managing it that way with no problems so far. A second hard drive is the ideal solution.

Gotrox · Post by **Gotrox** » 07-31-2005 04:03 PM

carefull, carefull!!! windoze firewall and routers do nothing to stop outgoing security threats---IE, your machine can become a zombie server without your knowlege. to test your openness to internet threats, goto
http://www.grc.com/default.htm

Click on "shields up!" about 1/2 way down the list.
you can click on each red square when done to see what port is open.
I pass with a perfect score using tiny firewall.

Dale O Sea · Post by **Dale O Sea** » 07-31-2005 04:56 PM

Thanks Gotrox.. I go to Steve Gibson's shields up site all the time. He was on Leo's last TWiT podcast. I check once in awhile - Ok this time too..

I just checked and my Windows firewall is up. I guess I turned it back on or SP2 did..

sayntbrigid · Post by **sayntbrigid** » 07-31-2005 05:29 PM

Thanx gotrox.....I've never used that before .......but I have XP, and got perfectly safe results .........good to know
but I dont use the XP firewall, I use Zone Alarm with Anti-Virus

PS: I had severe problems with Zone Alarm Pro though.......I dont recommend that one.

Dale O Sea · Post by **Dale O Sea** » 08-01-2005 01:05 AM

Here'sa site with a bunch of screen shots and a video of it opening and closing windows..

LINK