Earlier quoted context omitted.
i think the consensus is that windows 95, XP, 7 were the least troublesome versions. I still think 7 > 10
And all forget that 8 even existed.
Trauma is best to forget
Windows XP source code has leaked
151–160 of 485 posts
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
All these files have been out there for ages. Especially the WRK, which anyone with a .edu could already download.
I have an .edu, is there a place that I can grab this?
WRK is available on GitHub for years:
- https://github.com/9176324/WRK - https://github.com/ntkernel/wrk-v1.2
Strange that nobody noticed and sent strike to that repos
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#153My immediate thought is whether researchers or investigative journalists will find cold hard US government backdoors. This is potentially big.
They won't. Such backdoors would have to be hidden from Joe Average Coder at Microsoft first and foremost. Coding for MS is not a livelong thing, you know? So any backdoor would a) be obfuscated and b) have some form of plausible deniability. If I would have to make them, they would look like strings of two or three bugs.
Obfuscated like NSAKEY?
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe auto updates aren't malicious. Microsoft had a huge problem with worms infecting millions of computers that used outdated Windows version. It made Windows less secure in public opinion, even though these issues had often been fixed a long time. Forcing people to update was probably the only way to stop that. I'm also not a fan, I got burned at least once by a Windows 10 computer restarting in the middle of…
Unfortunately, Microsoft also has a trust problem with updates. Back in Windows XP era, there was no question about whether you wanted to upgrade to SP2 or not -- you'd maybe wait for a few days/weeks to make sure no major bugs were in, but there was no need to force anything. Today, you might run an upgrade and reboot to find a more secure operating system -- or a full-screen Edge ad, with Edge being immediately aut…
But you experience the same when you login to GMail and it has a new interface or your Phone looks different in the morning because of iOS/Android updates.
Users are so used to be annoyed that updates disrupt UX, Microsoft isn't an especially bad actor here. In the end, users tend to disable updates as a response which is bad for security and makes vendors force them to update.
Maybe not "improving" UX with every release would be a solution but there are very few companies that stick with their UX for many years, redesigns are way too easy to sell as a new feature.
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nostalgia is, it seems, a hell of a drug.
In early Windows XP days everybody said it was crap compared to Win2k. XP was the first one with product activation as well. And people called the Luna theme childish. Then Vista came along and people said XP was the good one.
Don't forget Windows 2003 Server in that list. That, to me, was the ultimate Windows. Had the XP stuff, but with the ugly theme disabled by default. Was super stable even compared to Windows 2000. Was lightweight. Only annoying thing was it came with sound disabled, but a few clicks in the Control Panel after installing, and you were golden.
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question: Would using Linux have been a better idea then? An old unpatched Win XP has tons of vulnerabilities but so does an unpatched 20 year old Linux Kernel. Using Windows XP on those devices often gets very bad rep but is there a viable alternative for machines that are air gapped and technically won't be upgradable for several decades?
Remote vulnerabilities don't really matter for air-gapped machines.
"Attacks like Stuxnet, the computer worm deployed against an Iranian nuclear facility a decade ago, shattered the myth that air-gapped systems are impenetrable fortresses."
source: https://www.cyberscoop.com/duo-labs-air-gap-radio-mikhail-da...
Links to: https://duo.com/labs/research/finding-radio-sidechannels
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#157I wonder how this will affect other projects, such as ReactOS and Wine. Exciting.
That would be really bad for these authors to download or look at leaked code. That's exactly how you get yourself in legal troubles. That's why they have policies to not look at any leak, and even with this ReactOS and Wine already had their share of controversies in the past.
However, maybe having someone external to the project look into, and understand those undocumented functions or system calls, and explaining them to the people which will actually implement them could work.
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#158On this note, does anyone know where to legally obtain windows xp, hopefully for cheap ? I should note that I've tried at multiple places and none seemed fine so kindly speak from experience. (Or sell me your own, I'd trust anyone here).
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
> did not expect proprietary operating > systems to be actively working against you. What did I miss? I've last used Windows in 2005, I'm pretty sure that was XP Service Pack 2. What does it do now to actively work against you?
If I remember correctly, the trend of anti-consumer features was already well underway with windows XP. Integrated DRM was there. The limited activation count was there. Creating themes without signing was not possible, and the 'fisherprice' theme was rolled out even if a lot of users hated it. Things were still overridable, but XP started the trend where the end user was not an allmighty sysadmin responsible for its…
Virtually every third party theme came with instructions on how to patch uxtheme.dll to disable the signature check. It was not a big problem in practice, and I don't remember ever having to do the procedure more than once on a single XP install (unlike Windows 10).
Re: Windows XP source code has leaked
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want people to accept forced updates, just send the security fixes. Don't change the UI and don't mess with the users preferences, especially concerning privacy.
Honestly, I've never heard anyone complain apart from tech people. Long reboots are annoying but overall, Windows 10 is pretty well accepted by every non-technical person I know.
Oh, the non-tech people hate it too, but what can they do? They have literally zero choice in the matter.
That's the thing with tech, and that's why I consider all arguments that "people voted with their wallets" to be bullshit in this space. Most users don't understand how computers work. They don't have mental models to recognize how things should work. They have no choice but to accept whatever they're being given.
Devices around them getting less ergonomic, slower, and more flashy UIs? "There are smart people building this magic, they must know what they're doing!". Their computers slowing down to the point of uselessness in the span of a year? "It must be these viruses!". Techies complain because techies understand it's all greed and laziness, and that same technology is capable of being much better than it is.
I mean, ask your parents whether they like their operating system. I'll bet their answer will be a resounding "no", and you may get an earful about their general frustrations with technology.
One notable moment where the dissatisfaction of masses was voiced in unison was the forced Windows 8 to Windows 10 upgrade. You didn't have to have any sophisticated mental model there to recognize you're being made to do something bad for you against your will.