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antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

1 recommendation

antdude

Premium Member

Straightening out Microsoft's confusing security tools

»www.pcworld.com/article/ ··· too.html

"Microsoft has released a confusing selection of security programs over the years. Deborah Armstrong asked me to make sense of them..."

rfhar
The World Sport, Played In Every Country
Premium Member
join:2001-03-26
Buicktown,Mi

1 recommendation

rfhar

Premium Member

Thanks

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

Blackbird to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude
Microsoft's anti-malware product approaches remind me of a preteen trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up... first this career, then that, then a variation on the first, then still another choice. It's rather peculiar (and unsettling) to see such a dart-board approach to product design from a major company...
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

2 recommendations

dave to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude
I think one way to understand the state of affairs is that "Microsoft" is not a monolithic entity. Maybe if we knew which group within MS was responsible for each product, we'd be able to figure out a decent hypothesis of how it got that way. Likely the OS guys had one thing, the support organization had another, the people who maintain various web sites threw in something...

therube
join:2004-11-11
Randallstown, MD

1 recommendation

therube to antdude

Member

to antdude
They left out Windows Firewall.

It can be set up to function correctly, seemingly.
(Correctly IMO would be a default deny, where by default it is a default allow [basically].)
Now if you were to set it to default deny, it would drive you crazy allowing those apps that you did want to allow.
(There are third party apps that can help in that regard.)

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

Snowy to dave

Premium Member

to dave
said by dave:

I think one way to understand the state of affairs is that "Microsoft" is not a monolithic entity ...

I've often wondered how that discombobulation came into existence & not being from the corporate world I've been in awe that they still manage to tie their shoes in the morning let alone prosper as well as they do.
By design or not, it must come down to multiple departments working independently of each other or a monolithic like Security Overlord running the show.
But then the Security Overlord would need a department of their own, adding yet another dept...
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

3 recommendations

dave

Premium Member

I used to work for DEC (may it rest in peace) which had much the same sort of issues.

I think it's simple: organizations larger than N people can't really communicate efficiently. Assuming the sort of attitude that computer types have, you naturally end up with a bunch of organizations within the organization. Given the choice between trying to set some other group to do something for me, and just doing it myself whether it's in my charter or not... to hell with it, I'm taking the easy and fun route.

Even IBM, which had more rigid control that most, at least in its mainframe days, ended up with multiple competing product lines.

KodiacZiller
Premium Member
join:2008-09-04
73368

KodiacZiller to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude
Those are just scanning tools. The best tools come with Win 8. Things like AppContainer and ESET, etc.
redwolfe_98
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11

redwolfe_98 to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude
it isn't really confusing as long as you know that "windows defender offline" is "microsoft safety scanner offline" and that windows 8's "windows defender" is MS's "security essentials" av-program..

i hope this helps
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude
Windows SteadyState @Wikipedia..
Interestingly enough, all references to this useful product (belonging now to category - "No longer available") is completely removed from company's own web sites... It simply doesn't exists now in m$ search...
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

2 recommendations

dave to redwolfe_98

Premium Member

to redwolfe_98
Marketeers have this fantasy that it helps customers "understand" your products if you give them similar names. People with brains think that the point of names is to distinguish entities, so it's better if the names are not similar.

Marketeers have this fantasy that it helps customers "understand" your products if you keep changing the names. People with brains think that the point of names is to identify entities, so it's better if the names don't keep changing.

Hope this helps...


norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian to OZO

Premium Member

to OZO
I always wondered what happened there.
It's a pity that support disappeared for the product.
Maybe there was technology in it they could incorporate in Win 7?
At least you hope it didn't all goto waste.

Applies To: Windows 7

Shared computers present unique challenges. Microsoft® publishes software that gives users a great degree of flexibility, allowing them to customize their experiences by configuring their computers’ settings. In shared-computer scenarios, however, administrators want to limit users’ ability to change settings, particularly settings that would affect the health of the computer or the experience of other users. Privacy and consistency are very important in shared-computer scenarios.

Windows® SteadyState™ is a free tool from Microsoft that helps make shared computers easier to set up and manage. In scenarios where users share computers (for example, in kiosks, schools, libraries, or Internet cafes). Windows SteadyState helps make those computers more reliable, providing a more consistent experience for users. Additionally, it helps defend shared computers from unauthorized changes and restricts users from changing system settings or files.

Windows SteadyState is a useful tool for shared-computer access; however, it supports 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista® only. It does not support Windows 7. You can learn more about Windows SteadyState, including the Windows operating systems it supports, at Windows SteadyState.

Although the link to SteadyState at the end of the quote on the page just links to Windows 8 (urgghh).
/whine off.

»technet.microsoft.com/en ··· 10).aspx

therube
join:2004-11-11
Randallstown, MD

therube to dave

Member

to dave
Marketeers have this fantasy that it helps customers "understand" your products if you give them similar looking apps.

Your desktop looks like your browser looks like your email looks like your explorer looks like ...

Can't stand that. Can never figure out just what I am running. I like each piece to stand on its own merits & to stand out from anything else.

jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
MVM
join:2000-04-13
USA

jaykaykay to Snowy

MVM

to Snowy
said by Snowy:

said by dave:

I think one way to understand the state of affairs is that "Microsoft" is not a monolithic entity ...

I've often wondered how that discombobulation came into existence & not being from the corporate world I've been in awe that they still manage to tie their shoes in the morning let alone prosper as well as they do.
By design or not, it must come down to multiple departments working independently of each other or a monolithic like Security Overlord running the show.
But then the Security Overlord would need a department of their own, adding yet another dept...

Just like our government.