Живой Microsoft [eng]
Кстати сейчас подразделение MSN считается самым интересным в Майкрософт, и туда стекаются лучшие кадры компании. По идее могут чего-нибудь хорошего наделать в итоге.
Такого же хорошего, как SONY недавно замутила?
На ум две мысли наворачивается:
1) С него (Microsoft-а) не убудет.
2) "Благими" намерениями выстелена дорога в ад.
На ум две мысли наворачивается:
1) С него (Microsoft-а) не убудет.
2) "Благими" намерениями выстелена дорога в ад.
А что замутила сони?
url
Для безинетных:
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Sony slated over anti-piracy CD
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website
Screengrab of Sysinternals blog, Mark Russinovich
Windows expert Mark Russinovich found across the Sony system
Sony's music arm has been accused of using the tactics of virus writers to stop its CDs being illegally copied.
One copy protection system analysed by coder Mark Russinovich uses cloaked files to hide deep inside Windows.
The difficult uninstallation process left Mr Russinovich saying that Sony's anti-piracy efforts had gone "too far".
In response to criticism, Sony BMG said it would provide tools to users and security firms that would reveal the hidden files.
Search history
Mr Russinovich, a renowned Windows programming expert, came across the Sony BMG anti-piracy system when performing a scan of his computer with a utility he co-created that spots so-called rootkits.
Rootkits are starting to be used by a small number of computer virus writers because they allow malicious code to be inserted deep inside the Windows operating system, meaning that it will not be spotted by most anti-virus scanners.
Rootkits are used to hide malicious software once it is installed and ensure it is not found and removed by anti-virus programs
After extensive analysis Mr Russinovich realised that the "cloaked" software had been installed when he first listened to the CD album Get Right With the Man CD by country rockers Van Zant.
Although resembling a virus, Mr Russinovich found the hidden files had come from an anti-copying system called Extended Copy Protection (XCP) developed by UK software company First 4 Internet.
About 20 titles are thought to be using the XCP software and in May 2005 Sony said more than two million discs had been shipped using the technology. XCP is just one of several anti-piracy systems Sony is trying.
XCP only allows three copies of an album to be made and only allows the CD to be listened to on a computer via a proprietary media player. The hidden files are installed alongside the media player.
The CD plays normally on a hi-fi system and the copy protection does not affect computers running on Apple Mac or Linux operating systems.
Piles of pirated CDs, AP
In some countries CD piracy is rampant
Ridding his computer of XCP proved difficult and briefly crippled Mr Russinovich's CD player.
Writing in his blog about the incident, he said: "Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall."
Mr Russinovich said the licence agreement that he accepted when he first listened to the CD made no mention of the fact that he could not uninstall the program or of the significant changes it made to his computer.
If Sony BMG released XCP copy-protected CDs in the UK this oversight could leave the music company open to prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act because it made "unauthorised" changes to a machine, said net law expert Nick Lockett.
"There would be no problem if there's a big screen coming up saying as part of the anti-piracy measures this CD will amend your operating system," he said.
Mr Lockett added that Sony might be inadvertently provoking piracy as consumers irritated by the anti-copying system rip the tracks to get around the restrictions.
Virus link
Mr Russinovich feared that diligent users trying to keep their systems clean of viruses could stumble across the hidden XCP files, delete them and inadvertently cripple their computer.
His worries were echoed by Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Finnish security firm F-Secure, who has been looking into XCP since he first came across it in late September.
"What we are scared of is when we find a new virus written by someone that relies on the fact that this [XCP] software is running on tens of thousands of computers around the world," he said. "The rootkit would hide that virus from pretty much any anti-virus program out there."
Hand on keyboard, Eyewire
Unauthorised changes are outlawed under UK law
Mathew Gilliat-Smith, chief executive of First 4 Internet, said the techniques used to hide XCP were used by many other programs and added that there was no evidence that viruses were being written that took advantage of XCP.
He said the debate on the net sparked by Mr Russinovich's work had prompted the company to release information to anti-virus companies to help them correctly spot the hidden XCP files. Consumers can also contact Sony BMG for the patch to unveil, rather than remove, the hidden files.
He said that users were adequately warned about the copy protection software in the licence agreement and were told that it used proprietary software to play the CD.
"It's clearly packaged on the CD that its copy-protected," he said.
A spokesman for Sony BMG said the licence agreement was explicit about what was being installed and how to go about removing it. It referred technical questions to First 4 Internet.
Mr Gilliat-Smith said Mr Russinovich had problems removing XCP because he tried to do it manually something that was not a "recommended action". Instead, said Mr Gilliat-Smith, he should have contacted Sony BMG which gives consumers advice about how to remove the software.
Getting the software removed involves filling in a form on the Sony website, visiting a unique URL and agreeing to have another program downloaded on to a user's PC that then does the uninstallation.
He added that First 4 Internet had had no complaints about XCP since it started being used eight months ago. He also added that the latest generation of XCP no longer used cloaked files to do its job.
"We've moved away from using that sort of methodology," he said.
Для безинетных:
---
Sony slated over anti-piracy CD
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website
Screengrab of Sysinternals blog, Mark Russinovich
Windows expert Mark Russinovich found across the Sony system
Sony's music arm has been accused of using the tactics of virus writers to stop its CDs being illegally copied.
One copy protection system analysed by coder Mark Russinovich uses cloaked files to hide deep inside Windows.
The difficult uninstallation process left Mr Russinovich saying that Sony's anti-piracy efforts had gone "too far".
In response to criticism, Sony BMG said it would provide tools to users and security firms that would reveal the hidden files.
Search history
Mr Russinovich, a renowned Windows programming expert, came across the Sony BMG anti-piracy system when performing a scan of his computer with a utility he co-created that spots so-called rootkits.
Rootkits are starting to be used by a small number of computer virus writers because they allow malicious code to be inserted deep inside the Windows operating system, meaning that it will not be spotted by most anti-virus scanners.
Rootkits are used to hide malicious software once it is installed and ensure it is not found and removed by anti-virus programs
After extensive analysis Mr Russinovich realised that the "cloaked" software had been installed when he first listened to the CD album Get Right With the Man CD by country rockers Van Zant.
Although resembling a virus, Mr Russinovich found the hidden files had come from an anti-copying system called Extended Copy Protection (XCP) developed by UK software company First 4 Internet.
About 20 titles are thought to be using the XCP software and in May 2005 Sony said more than two million discs had been shipped using the technology. XCP is just one of several anti-piracy systems Sony is trying.
XCP only allows three copies of an album to be made and only allows the CD to be listened to on a computer via a proprietary media player. The hidden files are installed alongside the media player.
The CD plays normally on a hi-fi system and the copy protection does not affect computers running on Apple Mac or Linux operating systems.
Piles of pirated CDs, AP
In some countries CD piracy is rampant
Ridding his computer of XCP proved difficult and briefly crippled Mr Russinovich's CD player.
Writing in his blog about the incident, he said: "Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall."
Mr Russinovich said the licence agreement that he accepted when he first listened to the CD made no mention of the fact that he could not uninstall the program or of the significant changes it made to his computer.
If Sony BMG released XCP copy-protected CDs in the UK this oversight could leave the music company open to prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act because it made "unauthorised" changes to a machine, said net law expert Nick Lockett.
"There would be no problem if there's a big screen coming up saying as part of the anti-piracy measures this CD will amend your operating system," he said.
Mr Lockett added that Sony might be inadvertently provoking piracy as consumers irritated by the anti-copying system rip the tracks to get around the restrictions.
Virus link
Mr Russinovich feared that diligent users trying to keep their systems clean of viruses could stumble across the hidden XCP files, delete them and inadvertently cripple their computer.
His worries were echoed by Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Finnish security firm F-Secure, who has been looking into XCP since he first came across it in late September.
"What we are scared of is when we find a new virus written by someone that relies on the fact that this [XCP] software is running on tens of thousands of computers around the world," he said. "The rootkit would hide that virus from pretty much any anti-virus program out there."
Hand on keyboard, Eyewire
Unauthorised changes are outlawed under UK law
Mathew Gilliat-Smith, chief executive of First 4 Internet, said the techniques used to hide XCP were used by many other programs and added that there was no evidence that viruses were being written that took advantage of XCP.
He said the debate on the net sparked by Mr Russinovich's work had prompted the company to release information to anti-virus companies to help them correctly spot the hidden XCP files. Consumers can also contact Sony BMG for the patch to unveil, rather than remove, the hidden files.
He said that users were adequately warned about the copy protection software in the licence agreement and were told that it used proprietary software to play the CD.
"It's clearly packaged on the CD that its copy-protected," he said.
A spokesman for Sony BMG said the licence agreement was explicit about what was being installed and how to go about removing it. It referred technical questions to First 4 Internet.
Mr Gilliat-Smith said Mr Russinovich had problems removing XCP because he tried to do it manually something that was not a "recommended action". Instead, said Mr Gilliat-Smith, he should have contacted Sony BMG which gives consumers advice about how to remove the software.
Getting the software removed involves filling in a form on the Sony website, visiting a unique URL and agreeing to have another program downloaded on to a user's PC that then does the uninstallation.
He added that First 4 Internet had had no complaints about XCP since it started being used eight months ago. He also added that the latest generation of XCP no longer used cloaked files to do its job.
"We've moved away from using that sort of methodology," he said.
а что такое этот лайв-то?
меня больше всего порадовал ехидный смайлик в надписи "пользователи файрфокса, подождите: скоро и вас поддерживать будем" =)
меня больше всего порадовал ехидный смайлик в надписи "пользователи файрфокса, подождите: скоро и вас поддерживать будем" =)
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Microsoft Unveils the 'Live Era' of Software
Gates intends make operating systems faster
Email Article Print Article Matias Ponce (matiponce)
Microsoft announced earlier this week the development of two new tools based on the Internet that will function like a complement to the operating system Windows and the package of tools in Office.
"Windows Live" and "Office Live" are the two new products that Bill Gates, president of the company, qualified as a "revolution in our conception of the software."
Through these new platforms, Microsoft will offer to the users an immediate access to most typical functions of the products, without needing to install the programs on the computer.
During a presentation in San Francisco, Gates carried out a demonstration of these new products, giving birth to what he called as the "live era" of the software, a new phase that is characterized by the instant all-access available to the user.
"The type of software of the one that we are speaking about today recalls what the user wants, so that when the user appears, its profiles, its preferences, those more important things are descended to its screen", assured the founder of Microsoft.
The platforms will be free in its simpler version and there will be a service by paid subscription for the complete packages. In both cases, the company is putting a lot of financial resources into the products, which are seen as direct actions to compete since a better position against its Internet rivals, Google and Yahoo!
The Operating System
Gates described al "Windows Live" as a series of personal services based on the Internet that can be added to a main front.
In itself, it is a Web page that will be able to be personalized by each user with different elements in line of the service MSN, as to be the system of instantaneous messaging Messenger, the new service of webmail called Kahuna or the Microsoft Spaces, the program to create "weblogs" or "blogs."
Also, it will permit subscription to RSS channels, will incorporate a search engine especially developed for this platform and will offer direct access to one's bookmarks.
The product will also include a center of security that will permit users to check the computer in search of errors or virus.
Microsoft will offer a special version of this platform so that the users of mobile devices have access to the different options offered by this service "Live."
Office Suite
"Office Live" will be a version in line with the package Office, designed especially for small and medium businesses. The service will be available in three versions (Basics, Essentials and Collaboration) and will offer a series of tools destined to improve the presence of businesses, to automate mundane tasks, and to facilitate the collaborative work among employees, associates and clients.
To help a business headquarter bases on the Internet, Microsoft will offer a service of hosting for its Web page, with personalized control and several booths of available e-mail.
The beta version of "Office Live" will be first released only in the United States at the beginning of 2006.
2005-11-04 02:46
©2005 OhmyNews
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Microsoft Spaces - Пробелы Микрософт - охрененная марка!
url
Microsoft Unveils the 'Live Era' of Software
Gates intends make operating systems faster
Email Article Print Article Matias Ponce (matiponce)
Microsoft announced earlier this week the development of two new tools based on the Internet that will function like a complement to the operating system Windows and the package of tools in Office.
"Windows Live" and "Office Live" are the two new products that Bill Gates, president of the company, qualified as a "revolution in our conception of the software."
Through these new platforms, Microsoft will offer to the users an immediate access to most typical functions of the products, without needing to install the programs on the computer.
During a presentation in San Francisco, Gates carried out a demonstration of these new products, giving birth to what he called as the "live era" of the software, a new phase that is characterized by the instant all-access available to the user.
"The type of software of the one that we are speaking about today recalls what the user wants, so that when the user appears, its profiles, its preferences, those more important things are descended to its screen", assured the founder of Microsoft.
The platforms will be free in its simpler version and there will be a service by paid subscription for the complete packages. In both cases, the company is putting a lot of financial resources into the products, which are seen as direct actions to compete since a better position against its Internet rivals, Google and Yahoo!
The Operating System
Gates described al "Windows Live" as a series of personal services based on the Internet that can be added to a main front.
In itself, it is a Web page that will be able to be personalized by each user with different elements in line of the service MSN, as to be the system of instantaneous messaging Messenger, the new service of webmail called Kahuna or the Microsoft Spaces, the program to create "weblogs" or "blogs."
Also, it will permit subscription to RSS channels, will incorporate a search engine especially developed for this platform and will offer direct access to one's bookmarks.
The product will also include a center of security that will permit users to check the computer in search of errors or virus.
Microsoft will offer a special version of this platform so that the users of mobile devices have access to the different options offered by this service "Live."
Office Suite
"Office Live" will be a version in line with the package Office, designed especially for small and medium businesses. The service will be available in three versions (Basics, Essentials and Collaboration) and will offer a series of tools destined to improve the presence of businesses, to automate mundane tasks, and to facilitate the collaborative work among employees, associates and clients.
To help a business headquarter bases on the Internet, Microsoft will offer a service of hosting for its Web page, with personalized control and several booths of available e-mail.
The beta version of "Office Live" will be first released only in the United States at the beginning of 2006.
2005-11-04 02:46
©2005 OhmyNews
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Microsoft Spaces - Пробелы Микрософт - охрененная марка!
url
И сама "живая" винда: http://www.live.com/
много букв, ниасилил. в двух словах можно?
the new service of webmail called Kahuna or the Microsoft Spaces, the program to create "weblogs" or "blogs."В двух словах: Микрософт назвал свои блоги "Пробелы Микрософт", это самое интересное в этой статье, а в остальном - try it.
файрфокс не поддерживается =)
а ие у меня какой-то допотопный совсем, пятый, что ли. боюсь даже запускать его =)
а ие у меня какой-то допотопный совсем, пятый, что ли. боюсь даже запускать его =)
Интересно, кто-нибудь кроме тебя перевел так название? 
Понятно, что space переводится не только как пробел, но именно эта мысль мне пришла в голову первой.
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SvinkaVJeansah
В статье автор высказывает мнение о том, что новая "Живая" стратегия Микрософт - очередной пук в воду.-----
Microsoft Windows Live? Not Yet--And Maybe Not Ever
Microsoft and its cheerleaders are all running around giving each other high-fives and throwing their hands up in the air and shouting "Hooray for us!" following the announcement of the company's Live initiative. But what, exactly, are they congratulating themselves for? So far, the Live initiative is a big ol' bucket of vaporware, combined with technology, products and service that were already available or announced quite some time ago, and are just being repackaged.
And when Microsoft talks about its future plans, they're describing a change in business model so broad and sweeping that it's completely unprecedented. I suspect Microsoft has no idea what it's letting itself in for.
The Windows Live site is your basic customizable home page. It's got e-mail. It's got online bookmarks. You can do Windows Messenger instant-messaging from that page. You can search the Web. These technologies were fresh and innovative during the Clinton Administration. Today? Not so much.
Live also includes OneCare online security services, which is pretty cool, but which was announced some time ago.
Microsoft's future plans involve online, hosted versions of all its applications, including subscription and advertiser-supported Office, and, possibly, hosted enterprise apps such as CRM.
If all of this sounds familiar, that's because it is. It all sounds a lot like Microsoft's .Net initiative, which it announced with a similar level of fanfare in 2000. Like Live, .Net involved Microsoft hosting a lot of applications, which would run across a range of devices, from smart phones to traditional PCs. That initiative fizzled, perhaps because it was simply too early. Or perhaps because customers simply aren't interested.
Our article by Aaron Ricadela provides more details on Live, including the fact that the new services will be ad-supported.
This is a completely new business model for Microsoft. Company Chairman Bill Gates compared the Live announcement to the change to Web services in 2000, and the embrace of the Internet in 1995. But this change runs much deeper than those--it makes those changes look as trivial as re-painting a conference room. Those changes were changes to Microsoft's technology, but what Gates is describing here is a fundamental change to Microsoft's way of earning revenue.
Here's how Microsoft makes most of its money: They sell their software to channel partners, who then sell it to the customer. These channel partners include PC vendors, like Dell, and also a whole class of service providers ranging from the little computer shop around the corner to IBM Global Services. The channel partners do the hard work of selling Microsoft software, installing it, customizing it, installing the hardware on customer premises, and--maybe most difficult of all--fixing it and training users in how it works.
If you work for a big business, you have a department in-house that either works with partners on doing those things, or does it themselves.
Visit the smallest, most remote town in America, one so small that it doesn't even have a traffic light, and you're likely to be able to find two things: a pizza parlor, and a place where you can get your PC fixed. (The pizza is probably awful--I can't speak for the quality of the tech support.)
Microsoft mostly doesn't get its hands dirty with this stuff.
This has been Microsoft's business model for 20-plus years, ever since the days of MS-DOS and eight-bit computing. It's been constantly adjusted, but fundamentally unchanged, as Microsoft added applications and server software to its portfolio, and embraced the Internet in 1995. While online services, such as MSN, have proven popular, the operating systems and applications businesses carry the company.
But now, Microsoft is taking on the task of maintaining its own applications, sidestepping the channel, and providing those applications directly to the user.
In doing so, Microsoft is not only significantly adding to its cost of doing business, but it's depriving itself of its chief competitive weapon. The U.S. anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft described how Microsoft crushed Netscape in part by denying Netscape access to the channel. Microsoft saw to it that Internet Explorer was installed on all the systems shipped by PC vendors, and demanded that the PC vendors refuse to install Netscape, on threat cutting off the PC vendors' access to Windows. It's classic monopolist strong-arm tactics--Microsoft referred to it as cutting off the competition's air supply. Without Windows, the PC vendors would go out of business, so of course they acquiesced to Microsoft's demands.
But how are you going to do that when there's no software to install on the desktop, when the software is all accessed online? How is Microsoft going to cut off the air supply of Google and Salesforce.com?
On top of that, Microsoft is taking on the challenge of selling advertisements. These days on the Internet, "advertisement" is a code-word for easy money. Well, I have worked side-by-side with advertising salespeople my whole career (sometimes literally, when I worked in a small office) and I can tell you that it is hard work. It's like retail and the restaurant business--margins are usually thin, competition is fierce, and you have to think fast and smart, know a lot about the business, and work long hours to make money at it.
Advertising is, as a matter of fact, reminiscent of another business with thin margins that requires a lot of skill: The grocery and supermarket business. Remember Webvan? From 1999-2001, the company pioneered Web-based ordering combined with grocery delivery. They figured: We have the Web smarts--how hard can it be to bring bananas to people's houses? They learned it was plenty hard, and they went out of business. Now, online grocery delivery has made a comeback--led by the same companies who've been in the supermarket business for decades.
I expect many companies, like Microsoft, who think advertising is easy money will suffer the same fate as Webvan.
Posted by Mitch Wagner on Nov 2, 2005 at 05:33 PM
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