TechMiso

Microsoft has caved in to the loud demands of their customers and announced Windows XP will be sticking around on the operating system scene for another ten years. Yes – ten more years with XP. Its default Playskool-like blue interface will continue to irritate more people than those who admit to enjoying the godawful GUI through 2020.

Prior to shipping Windows 7, we communicated that end-user downgrade rights provided in the software license terms of Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate editions preinstalled on a new PC would allow a customer to downgrade to either Windows XP Professional or similar Windows Vista versions for 18 months, or until the availability of SP1, whichever came sooner. Generally, PC manufacturers are in the process of ramping down Windows XP downgrade facilitation options that some offer today. As background, an OEM’s ability to generally offer downgrade facilitation options (e.g., preinstalling Windows XP Professional on a new PC that includes end-user rights for Windows 7 Professional) ends on October 22, 2010.

This is good news, especially if you have no compelling reason to upgrade from XP to Windows 7. A lot of folks, myself included, continue to run XP and actually prefer the operating system over Microsoft’s newer endeavors. Although many rave about Windows 7, there really is no reason to upgrade if all you do is use XP as vehicle for launching a web browser to reach the internets.

My main workstation is a MacBook Pro, however I continue to run an older HP desktop as a backup. It runs XP quite smoothly and is rarely used. Why would someone in a similar situation consider purchasing Windows 7 when Microsoft is committed to continually supporting XP through 2020?

At first glance it may appear as if all we do around TechMiso is post story after story about Apple, Security and Social Media. Well, how is this for something different – nine essential tips for speeding up your Windows 7 experience to help make Microsoft’s latest operating system feel a whole lot lighter:

The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system has been designed for delivering better speeds than its predecessors. However, as time passes by, the laptop/PC might tend to get slower. This is not exactly the fault of the OS. As the matter of fact, it is a common problem faced by many operating systems.

The major reasons for this are accumulation of junk in the system or a highly stuffed hard drive or running of too many unnecessary services and programs. Here we shared a few essential tips that can help speed up Windows 7 performance on laptops or computers.

Many of the tips are quite easy to implement, no matter whether you are a computer novice or major geek. Some of the tips, such a disabling sound, are things I do on just about every operating system I install because I find them to be far more trouble than they are worth. Others, like disabling unnecessary services may require a little more mojo to work out but can still be taken care of with relative ease.

While I do still use Windows, I currently do not have a single workstation running Windows 7. At work I am forced to use Windows XP and at home I use that same operating system because I have not found a truly compelling reason to upgrade my somewhat ancient HP AMD/64 desktop. I primarily use my MacBook Pro so upgrading XP to W7 is not a priority.

If you find any of the tips particularly useful, or if you have others not listed, please feel free to share them with our readers in the comments.

Zulfikar Ramzan, technical director of Symantec Security Response, believes enterprising criminals conducting “business” online are more likely to target stupid users than a technical flaw in any particular operating system:

This trend has been rising rapidly over the past two years. Currently, only about 3 percent of the malicious software that Symantec encounters exploits a technical vulnerability. The other 97 percent of malware is either “piggybacking on that 3 percent,” or more likely trying to trick a user through some type of “social engineering” scheme, according to Zulfikar.

It is quite obvious criminals would target user behavior rather than exploit an OS or application vulnerability. It is exponentially easier to trick users to do things you want them to do – humans are inherently trusting creatures, which may ultimately be to our detriment.

The amount of time and money required to successfully architect and deploy an attack exploiting a technical vulnerability in an operating system or application is too expensive. The return on investment would have to be exceedingly high to be considered victorious.

This is why it is imperative people pay attention to what they do online. Everyone must take the necessary precautions to safeguard their online activities. Failure to do so may result in a compromised workstation, or worse yet – a bank account siphoning cash to an online criminal enterprise.

I’m sure security isn’t the only reason behind Google’s shift away from Windows. But nonetheless, here’s Microsoft’s comeback on the Windows Blog:

There’s been some coverage overnight about the security of Windows and whether or not one particular company is reducing its use of Windows. We thought this was a good opportunity to set the record straight.

When it comes to security, even hackers admit we’re doing a better job making our products more secure than anyone else. And it’s not just the hackers; third party influentials and industry leaders like Cisco tell us regularly that our focus and investment continues to surpass others.

It’s not just security, Brandon LeBlanc.

David Gelles and Richard Waters in the Financial Times on an article titled, “Google ditches Windows on security concerns” wrote the following:

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system. “Linux is open source and we feel good about it,” said one employee. “Microsoft we don’t feel so good about.”

Other than DoD and the financial industry, moves of this nature seem to be gaining momentum. Although Windows 7 is a far better product than Windows Vista, the newer operating system does not appear to offer any truly compelling reason to stick with the Windows platform.

That, in and of itself, is the biggest problem Microsoft faces today – increasingly shrinking relevance due to a terrible security track record and a lack of innovation. Can anyone say the same about Linux and Mac OS X?