Re: Anyone using Vista?

riplin@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Mar 9, 12:27 am, "HeyBub" <hey...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Pete Dashwood wrote:
Michael Mattias wrote:
This is a more or less 'hot topic' in two other programming-type
newsgroups I frequent: The Inno Setup (setup creation software) and
my BASIC language compiler group.

About 95% of the "problems with Vista" reported by folks in those
groups were in fact not problems with Vista per se, but problems
with the fact that Vista comes with the UAC security EN-abled by
default. (XP comes with UAC available but DIS-abled by default).

For setups ("Setup.exe") , you have to be some of King Kong User to
write into "Program Files", but you can handle that with a manifest
and/or "Run AS" .

For programs, the major problem is people trying to use the
application folder as the place to store configuration and other
data, e.g., the program's "INI" file. This is a big No-No when UAC
is enabled and the programs are installed under (of all places!)
"Program Files" Make sure your program data is on the Common
Application Data folder or the user application data folder; and
always used the CSIDL_xxx equates to locate Program Files, Common
application data or any other "system" folder. If you try to
hard-code these you will be in deep doo-doo.
Registry keys are also controlled by UAC... if you try to write to
HKLM (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE), the O/S will silently re-direct to HKCU
(HKEY_CURRENT_USER). Bottom line here is, if you use these keys,
don't count on being able to "find stuff where you expect it" using
regedit.

Very informative, Michael. Thanks.

I'm particularly interested in theRegistry Keys as I just wrote a
script for accessing remote COBOL that checks the remote registry to
see what versions of COBOL are installed... I hope it still works
under Vista...

For twelve years Microsoft admonished users to NOT use the registry
as a scratch-pad. With Vista, Microsoft enforced the rule.

Actually the registry was supposed to be a superior way for every
program to hold their configuration items rather than the text .ini
files.

That agrees with how I remember it too. Plus the Registry would "register"
GUIDs of Classes so they didn't need to be reinstalled every time they were
updated, and a few other useful things.

As usual, MS did a poor implementation which let malicious programs
change stuff too.

Well, to be fair Richard, anything that provides legitimate access is going
to be vulnerable. One of the thngs I like about C# web pages on ASP.NET is
that they are externally configured through a web.config file. This file can
be part of the assembly of code-behind pages which are compiled and run on
the server, but even if it isn't, it is not available to anyone other than
the developer or web master. (It can be encrypted with a private key). The
same idea applies to C# assemblies for the desktop, where config files can
be included internally in the assembly or inventoried as part of the
assembly manifest which again is encryptable). Even without the encryption
and including the files inside the assembly, config files are loaded to the
same obfuscated directory that the application is, when the system is
installed and are very hard to find and manipulate. (So much so that I
provide a facility to users which allows them to change the values I deem
safe for them to change and they never have to deal with the actual file
itself.)

While these measures may not be perfect, they serve very well in actual
practice and I think it is fair to say that MS has learned from the past.


Immediately every version of Intuit's QuickBooks failed to work.
Quickbooks used the registry for all manner of stuff, last check
number, cups of flour in a biscuit mix, whatever.

Exactly, the stuff that it would have put in an .ini file except MS
disuaded them for that old stuff.

This was but one part of the design consideration of Vista - bolt
down the operating system to secure it against malicious
(intentional or not) software.

Actually the popup confirmations (UACs?) are not about security but
about blame. By asking the user for confirmation about stuff they
shouldn't have to care about it is not Microsoft's fault if they
answer 'yes'.

I smiled at that...:-)

Because only a small percentage of these are meaningful they train the
user to bang 'yes' for everything.


I think THAT is a very valid point. It does become easy to just hit "yes" (a
bit like many of us do when asked ot accept a software licence...). There
isn't any easy way round it that Ican see immediately.

This Vista did quite well but it's going to take some time to wean
people from driving on the wrong side of the street just because
it's more convenient to do so.

For us gurus, Vista requires some re-thinking; but the hundreds of
millions of casual users will be safer from malware. It's kinda like
innoculations for smallpox; if enough people run Vista, the rest of
us will live longer.

Alternately, if no one ran Windows, we'd _all_ be safer.


A non-sequitur, I think...

That said, 90% of the complaints about Vista from the non-technical
users revolve around two distinct areas: Underpowered machines and
antiquated hardware. You simply cannot run Vista on a 20MHz 386
(though God knows, many have tried) and Vista does not support
paper-tape readers, most dot-matrix printers, and a lot of
last-century devices. The manufacturers of these antique machines -
if they're still in business - have no interest in back-filling
drivers for out-of-production contraptions.

So it you have an 'antiquated' (< 2007) 'underpowered' (< 2 Gbyte, < 3
MHz, < 2 cores), don't bother trying Vista, put Ubuntu on it.


Well, at least you have a choice... Seems around 90% of the population have
voted with their feet. That doesn't mean the Open stuff is no good; it just
means people, while they mnay grizzle and moan about Vista (for instance)
are, on the whole, happy with MS products. However things can change. A year
ago MySpace was not threatened by Facebook; today it is a vastly different
story.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/03/05/myspace-is-toast

I am fairly confident that Windows 7 is a "last chance" for MS for many
people. If this is the fiasco that Vista was, we could well see a major
change to alternatives.

Of course you can buy a new twin turbo V12 Coupe just to drive to the
shops, but expect it to targetted by car thieves, and pay the
insurance premiums appropriate to that. Or the old Honda wagon can get
through the traffic and takes more groceries in its boot anyway.

I stole my twin turbo V12 Coupe... it was just sitting outside a shop... :-)

As for shopping:

1. Send the kids.
2. Get it delivered.
3. Delegate the management of the household to the wife or Housekeeper.
Ensure her job spec includes making sure the pantry is full :-)

Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."


.

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