OT: VISTA

[Kana]

Yeah if I had to buy a custom made PC, that is where I would go, I've had some friend be very satisfied with what they recieved.

[Atrocities]

Its the selection, I just don't know what would be best. I mean with so many parts choices which parts are the best for my needs.

I would like to have a nice gaming platform for the next three years. So obviously a high end Geforce Card is a must, 2.1 Ghz Duo-Core process would work, and say 1 gig memory with dual 250 gig HD drives. A nice set of DVD/RW/CDRW drives would be needed, and of course very good case cooling and a 600 watt power supply.

Past that.... what is the best MB, do I need better CPU cooling? What about other extras? Should I go with SLI or stick with top of the line Geforce PCIex card?

What about sound, stick with on board or go with something else?

And then there is VISTA... professional or not... I bought Win2k Pro and XP Pro and have been happy with both. So perhaps ****A pro might be the best fit, say for the price.

[PvK]

It's also the reason you should never upgrade to Vista, because the requirements are components with super-duper-evil copy protection features.

[Atrocities]

I wonder what SE V would look like running DX10, on a VI****A OS?

[PvK]

Atrocities said:
I wonder what SE V would look like running DX10, on a VI****A OS?

If you're super duper extremely lucky, it'd look exactly like it does on Windows 98. Otherwise, it might look and sound blurry, or flicker from blurry to sharp, or censor any images it thought might possibly belong to a major corporation, as its impressive Digital Rights Management kicks in and out.

[Tim_Ward]

Vista's first security hole discovered: two days after release.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6320865.stm

Vista has speech recognition hole

Vista was launched to consumers on Tuesday

Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders.

Vista can respond to vocal commands and concern has been raised about malicious audio on websites or sent via e-mail.

In one scenario outlined by users an MP3 file of voice instructions was used to tell the PC to delete documents.

Microsoft said the exploit was "technically possible" but there was no need to worry.

The firm has pointed out that in order for the flaw to be exploited the speech recognition feature would need to be activated and configured and both microphone and speakers would have to be switched on.
There are also additional barriers that would make an attack difficult
Microsoft security researcher


"The exploit scenario would involve the speech recognition feature picking up commands through the microphone such as 'copy', 'delete', 'shutdown', etc. and acting on them," a Microsoft security researcher wrote on the team's official blog.

Some Vista users have already tested the exploit and were able to delete files and empty the trash can so that the documents were not retrievable.

Microsoft has said that even if the machine was primed to accept voice commands it would be unlikely the user would not be in the room to hear the file with malicious instructions being played.

The firm also said that voice commands could not be used for privileged functions such as creating a new user or formatting a drive.

"There are also additional barriers that would make an attack difficult including speaker and microphone placement, microphone feedback, and the clarity of the dictation," wrote the Microsoft researcher.

While speech recognition was a feature of Windows XP, in Vista the use has been widened.

"While we are taking the reports seriously and investigating them accordingly I am confident in saying that there is little if any need to worry about the effects of this issue on your new Windows Vista installation," said the researcher.

'tis not a critical hole or anything, but it is amusing in light of Microsoft's MOST SECURE OS EVAH claims.

[capnq]

Microsoft has said that even if the machine was primed to accept voice commands it would be unlikely the user would not be in the room to hear the file with malicious instructions being played.

Oh, that's so reassuring...

I'm sure Vista runs so slowly that when you hear the malicious file playing, you'll be able to move quickly enough to interrupt it. And everybody has the specialized software you need to restore a file that's already been flushed from the Recycle Bin.