MS to ship anti-virus product for XP SP2

[Nick FitzGerald]

then you obviously don't understand the virus problem... if they did
what you described it would not eliminate the virus threat, only reduce
it (and to what degree is unknown)...

Indeed.

"Geese_Hunter" would appear to be a typical *nix bigot with little grasp
on what makes viruses tick and no knowledge of the platforms on which the
first successful (and, arguably, only "scientific") virus experiments
were performed.

the existence of viruses does not depend on vulnerabilities or lax
default settings, viruses are a feature of *all* general purpose
computing platforms, regardless of which operating system is used, what
vulnerabilities are available, or how secure the defaults are...

so long as we use general purpose computers we will have to deal with
the threat of viruses...

Yep.

Thus, if MS were actually to get into the AV market pushing a product
based on such a flawed technology as known virus scanning they would be
doing a greater disservice than either keeping out of said market (and
retaining the "it's not our problem what code you choose to run on your
computer" moral high-ground) or trying some alternative approach (that
may establish an even higher moral ground for them -- and no, I don't
mean all that pie-in-the-sky, "getting into bed with the RIAA and MPAA"
NGTCB crap either...).

i trust then you'll come back here and ask us what the best anti-virus
for linux is...

Nope -- he's probably gormless enough to believe the "*nix is virus proof"
crap so beloved by folk of his ilk...

 

[Jari Lehtonen]

My thanks to you for the info. I'll most likely take an old laptop I have
and install XP and go from there.

Duane

Remember to spre the spuninstall-files. You will need it when updating
to the next build of SP2 (it will not install an older sp2build).
JAri

 

[Jari Lehtonen]

Remember to spre the spuninstall-files. You will need it when updating
to the next build of SP2 (it will not install an older sp2build).
JAri

What is wrong with my spelling??? Nowadays I write as a 7-year-old
schoolchild although I have 2 exams from the university! I mean
remember to save the sp-uninstall files. (if you wonder what "spre"
means...).

Silly me
Jari

 

[Tosis]

Bitstring <je9%[email protected]>, from the
wonderful person kurt wismer <[email protected]> said

The only way to eliminate the need for AV software is to put the whole OS in
ROM

Interesting... without thought of how to actually go about it, how about
bootrom chips on your betwork cards, BOOTP server to "download" your OS from,
and a scratch disk for session-only info (that get trashed at logout). Just a
thought.

 

[FromTheRafters]

The only way to eliminate the need for AV
software is to put the whole OS in ROM

This would be good for autostarting malware that uses
the OS, but won't do much about viruses.

and stop the users from being able to install =anything=.

Now you're talking...but viruses don't install.

Or we could change human nature and eliminate stupidity.

Pretty rash, but it would work, if it weren't impossible to do.
What about only allowing trusted applications to execute?
The "Fritz" chip verifying a trusted platform, and only allowing
likewise trusted apps to run.

Hmm, guess the AV writers (MS, or otherwise) are
pretty safe then.

:O)

 

[Duane Arnold]

What is wrong with my spelling??? Nowadays I write as a 7-year-old
schoolchild although I have 2 exams from the university! I mean
remember to save the sp-uninstall files. (if you wonder what "spre"
means...).

Silly me
Jari

It's ok you were in the ball park. I do a lot of fat fingering myself.

Duane

 

[Jari Lehtonen]

It's ok you were in the ball park. I do a lot of fat fingering myself.

Thanks, I needed that.

J.L.