In many ways I think Vista is superior to XP... but there's a performance hit in key areas. And constantly approving application access or internet stuff for security is a drag. People autopilot approve everything after a while, and so the platform isn't really any more secure than XP. I don't think.

I think that's a good example of what I call "cover your ass" security. It's really not security at all. It's like giving a six-shooter to a five-year-old with a piece of tape over the trigger that says "Removing tape could lead to serious injury." And also having a piece of tape (or cork plugs) over the slots in the cylinder. You also have a little message taped over the safety. What I'm trying to say is that security via cover-your-ass is not security at all. The gun analogy is very flawed, but the point is that simply warning people of the dangers of using something is not the same thing as building in safety features. In the case of a smart gun (and cops have those, right, or is it still in the lab?), unless your own palm is on the grip, it won't fire. If someone takes the gun from you they can't use it on you because your palm print won't match. An even smarter gun (theoretically) would have a little camera that acted not unlike the "face detector" technology of some digital cameras. It wouldn't fire if it was pointed at your face (or appendages). Not sure how this would work, but it's probably theoretically possible.

Instead of actually tightening security and making sure that some program doesn't indiscriminately erase your hard drive or suck all the private information from your computer and send it out to another computer, Windows just says "Well, if you're going to use this program then I wash my hands of any ill effects." And all that the user is presented with is "Ok" or "Cancel." That's not security. That's just covering your ass. OS X does the same thing. You download some program from, say, MacFixit or MacUpdate and it gives you the same cover-your-ass dialogue about whether you want to run an application or not. Fine, that's probably a nice hedge so that some downloaded application doesn't automatically start running and cause havoc. At least I'm supposing that there is more than cover-your-ass involved. But such warnings are basically useless to the user because it's only a "yes/no" option. It just warns me that programs that I run could cause harm. Well, no shit. But true security is keeping those programs in a tight box so that they do no harm – something a secure, robust, and intelligent operating system is supposed to do, not just offer "Go ahead and do it if you want, but don't blame me if anything bad happens."

Of course, we now live in a disclaimer cover-your-ass society. All kinds of warnings are now on records, on movies, on television programs, and on a lot of the things we eat and drink. I say the answer isn't to just cover your ass but to find solutions. If smoking isn't good for you, then find a way that can deliver that nicotine without all the tar, but that still tastes and smokes good. Same with alcohol. Find a way to get a buzz but one that isn't harmful to fetuses and livers; maybe something like Star Trek's synthehol whose effects can be cancelled at any time and is non-addictive and (presumably) not harmful.

All we have now are operating systems that claim to be secure by the amount of warning messages they can throw up. That's not to say that Vista, XP, and OS X don't have a lot of sophisticated security software and techniques. I'm sure they do. But they're obviously not very good if they constantly have to revert to the cover-your-ass strategy.

I think the gun analogy is iffy because guns were designed to be lethal. There is no better safety with firearms than the human finger, off of the trigger, out of the trigger guard. The gun will not fire without the conscious participation of the user, any more than a hammer will jump up and drive a nail by itself.

With a gun, somebody has to pick it up, point it, and pull the trigger. In a drawer, it's not gonna suddenly go off and injure somebody. It needs a human agent. Firearms are mechanically simple objects... as much as people try to BLAME them for shit, rather than the people who wield them, it's a tough sell.

Computer security is tough because very few users understand how computers work and communicate with each other on a network. Computers can actually "behave" independent of human agents, with software that runs automatically. And some of that software is malicious. The security software used to combat the malicious software could be equally cunning, but people need some indication that it's working, or has worked. Meanwhile, both the malicious and security software works in similar ways... sometimes it's tough to tell the white hats from the black hats... and so companies need to ass-cover.

I'm totally with you about finding friggin' SOLUTIONS. I think there's plenty of them out there to discover that could end many health problems. Of course people would choose "safe" cigarettes rather than cancer sticks if given a choice. I don't doubt the tobacco companies have been working on it... but they're probably unable to think outside of the cash crop. They wouldn't, for example, get behind something that used Kale instead of tobacco. They need tobacco to work in order to sell tobacco products.

It's like big oil... they probably have the resources to figure out ways to put themselves out of business, so we depend less on foreign oil, but there making piles of cash right now, so why bother?

The consumer is never first when it comes to ass-covering strategies. Corporations are always fearful of the consumer finding some way to be injured by their product, and suing the pants off of them. That's why you have all these ridiculous disclaimers. Why handguns have stupid warnings stamped into them like "read instructions before use." Duh.

That we have to say these things to people is absurd. And yet, when it comes to computers... which kind of live and breathe in this arcane, geek-aristocratic world, we really DO need to cut through the mumbo-jumbo many times to see what the hell is going wrong, or could go wrong.

But we need advocates. We need people who speak geek, but who have some kind of higher moral barometer that lets them help consumers even though there's a conflict of interest: keeping consumers rubes means you make more money.

Have you heard my Windows Vista security is like a mule analogy?

LOL.

Oh man, Speak of the devil. I'm having huge problems with Vista on my local network right now. For some reason I've been unable to copy anything to or from my server (it was working fine up until a few days ago). No idea what the problem is.

Say I take a file from Vista and try to copy it on the server... it says "calculating time remaining" for about 20 minutes, then says there's a problem accessing the file on the C drive. Then when I cancel it's another 20 minutes before the whole thing becomes unresponsive. Must be bolloxed permissions, but I have no idea how to correct. When I double-click my desktop link to the server, it opens up and I can SEE the contents... it's just that when I try to move files to and fro it craps out. Could this be a result of the latest security update from Apple? That's really the only thing that's changed. Software update on OS X server and my desktop system. Maybe there've been some Windows updates too, but I haven't been keeping track what they are.

It may fix itself in the meantime, but I'm going to bring this problem to the Windows network tech guy I know. I'll let you know. Sometimes I don't see him for a couple days at a time.

I've been trying everything, rolling back the network driver... other drives on the server seem to be working better. Just not the main one.

Bolloxed permissions is my guess. But I have no idea how to fix them on Windows.

Still waiting for the networking guru to come into the office. He usually comes in, double espresso in hand, pretty early in the morning and then he's gone. I had to travel north to deliver something before coming into work so I missed him. But your free advice will be gotten. I'm carrying around a printed-out description of your problem in my back pocket just so I can be ready to ambush him at any time.

I talked very briefly with the Windows networking tech guy. I think his opinion was the equivalent of a long sigh. He basically said, "Well, that's Vista for ya." But I will get a more detailed answer from him (I hope) when he is less swamped.

The advice finally given to me by the Windows tech guy isn't very specific and not particularly helpful to the computer savvy. Basically he told me things that you probably figured out on your own and tried already: Google and see if anyone else has a similar problem. Try various search phrases to see if you can get a hit.

Sorry I can't be of any more help than that. But shit, you could have paid someone eighty bucks to come to your office to give you the same advice, so will that be cash or check? I prefer cash.

That's funny, it was the same advice I gave myself. I give that answer to people who call ME for computer advice when I don't feel like giving it. But so far nothing really valuable in the forums yet. Or I see a tantalizing one, where somebody has ALMOST the exact problem as me, but nobody will have fielded the question yet.

This definitely was a degraded-over-time problem, and had to do with either some auto-update that happened, or with a hard crash where I did have to power down restart in order to get the computer back.

I've tried all kinds of crap. Even going back to earlier restore points. Squat.

I keep getting an earful (and eyeful – mostly rolling eyes) about Vista when talking to my Windows people. (Yes, people who use Windows are people too.) According to them, nobody wants the damn thing. It breaks too much stuff. But Vista is looming large just like OS X loomed large for any happy OS 9 users. Apparently in a year or so Microsoft is going to quit selling XP altogether. Hey, we've all been on the receiving end of that strategy.

But apparently Vista works just fine if you (and where have you heard this before?) upgrade all your programs to work with it. But even then, apparently there are a number of programs (common ones, apparently) that are having major problems. (And where have you heard this before), no one knows for sure whether to blame the 3rd party software manufacturer or Microsoft. As I told a couple of my Windows people: Welcome to my world, the world of forced obsceneness (obsolescence I think is the correct word) and crap not working right and not knowing who to blame. It's no wonder then that a lot of people are staying with XP. But like I said, all this is anecdotal information, but it *is* anecdotal information from several people who are Windows enthusiasts and, frankly, who are usually Windows apologists. So I guess that tells you a little something. But actual sales figures of Vista, of course, could show that this is either an isolated pocket of dissatisfaction or representative of something larger.

This is just my advice, thalo, but if the problem becomes completely intractable, try creating another user account with Admin privileges (if this is possible) and setting up the network connection again. That will now be $160.00. I also accept VISA and MasterCard.

Jeez, I didn't even think of that. Take your pay out of my thousand dollar prize money.

My Windows friend turned me on to this douche-chilling video. I'm Hosting A Windows 7 Launch Party! Apparently...okay, stop laughing...apparently this is being coordinated and promoted by Microsoft. Watch the video and take a look. My friend refers to the cute blond as the "Stepford Wife." I agree.

And we both concluded that this whole Scientologist-like creepiness is another thing that Microsoft stole from the Mac. But I told him that it's unlikely Mac users would have needed prompting from the Mother Ship to do a party. They would just do that themselves. My friend said that was even more pathetic. Perhaps he's right.

Don't get me wrong. Getting together for LAN parties or to talk about computers and stuff is cool. But such gatherings are for pretzels, beer, burps, farts, and rowdy "WFT were they thinking with this?" kind of talk, not this Martha Stewart-like cocktail party portrayed in this video.

Some helpful tips they give:

1) First load Windows 7 a couple days before the party. [I would allow a couple weeks, if not a month, to get things working.]
2) Mingle
3) Google to find naked celebrity photos
4) Take photos of the party
5) Edit photos of yourself to email to friends
4) Have everyone drop their keys into a big bowl when they arrive

I made a couple of those up.