RobbieTheGeek.Com

Hello again all, I know that this isn't more CES news, or is it...A little background: Basically a security hole was discovered (Dec 27,2005) and brought to the attention of Microsoft on Dec. 28, 2005. This security issue allowed a malicious hacker/web site creator/spammer to use a security flaw in the way that ALL Windows Operating Systems dealt with files known as a Metafiles. But the technical details aren't too important except that you should know that this was a huge security flaw, and that Microsoft decided that this issue wasn't going to be addressed until the normal patch-day Tuesday (Jan 10,2006). This is a little crazy considering the number of PCs running Windows OSes and the fact that they were ALL affected by this issue. The security community wasn't accepting the fact that Microsoft took no action to protect it's customers and decided to take this fix into their own hands and make a 3rd party fix. This is a little out of the ordinary to say the least, and apparently Microsoft felt the heat, and recognized that they should, maybe actually forget the standard patch cycle and support their users. So on Jan. 5, 2006 Microsoft released a patch to the world via Windows Update for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Server 2003 (Those folks that are running outdated Microsoft OSes you will have to wait not that I can blame them the support on Windows 98/95/ME has ended and they are still going to fix this problem) . Now, I think that Microsoft underestimated how much buzz that this issue would get and how much negative exposure they would be subjected to. I leave you with this...Was Microsoft's motivation to remove all the internet focus off of Microsoft and their lack of support for their customers? How much is Bill and Microsoft trying to shift the focus of Larry Paige & Google's first keynote at CES?The timing of this patch seems a little questionable, but all in all thanks Microsoft for breaking up the speculation and rumors the week before CES. This geek is out of here...Thanks for reading.