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Brian's Buzz on Windows has changed its name to the Windows
Secrets Newsletter. Get the latest high-tech tricks with a free
subscription. Click here to subscribe
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NOVEMBER 6, 2003 - Issue 17
Win a free ticket to my Las Vegas seminar
I'm giving away two tickets to attend a seminar I'm presenting in Las Vegas
during Comdex week. The one-hour seminar will be on "Longhorn and the
Future of Microsoft Windows," 9:00 a.m. on Tues., Nov. 18 at the
Mandalay Bay Hotel. It's part of the Computer Digital Expo (CDXPO),
a new Jupitermedia event that competes with Comdex. Registration for
the full event is normally $1,795, but I'm handing out two passes
that'll get you into my portion of the show. Scroll down to the section
entitled CDXPO below if you'll be in Vegas that week and would like
to apply for the tickets.
I have a new "From" address for your whitelist
As I announced in the last issue of Brian's Buzz on Windows, the newsletter
is now coming to you bearing a different address in the "From" line:
Please add the address above to your e-mail Address Book and any
"whitelist" or "approved senders" list that your e-mail program uses, or
you might not receive future newsletters or personal messages from me.
Don't click "Reply" in response to the newsletter
You should use the address above, or my contact page
(WindowsSecrets.com/contact/)
to send a tip or a comment. Don't use the Reply feature of your e-mail
program to reply to the newsletter. If you do click Reply, your message
will be delayed because I have to fish your important comment out
from underneath hundreds of auto-replies. After each issue, the
mailbot that sends my newsletter is clobbered by tons of junk messages
saying, "Pat Smith will return on such-and-such date." It's unfortunately
impossible to filter out all such auto-replies, leaving just the personal
messages. I love reading your tips, I just want you to know the fastest
way to get them to me. Thanks. --Brian Livingston
TOP STORY - info you need to make Windows work
Microsoft PDC reveals the future of Windows
By Brian Livingston
I've just returned from the Professional Developers Conference in
Los Angeles, where Microsoft announced that there's a great version
of Windows coming if you can just wait a few years.
Actually, they didn't say that, but they could have. At the PDC, held
Oct. 19-23 in the L.A. Convention Center, Microsoft handed out to the
7,000+ developers in attendance the first CDs containing a working,
pre-beta build of its new operating system, code-named Longhorn. This
product will turn into a shipping desktop version of Windows some time in
2005 or 2006.
Timelines shown by Microsoft speakers during the conference's main
presentations asserted that the first beta build of Longhorn (officially
called Beta 1) would be released in the 2nd half of 2004. If that schedule
holds up, it means that Longhorn could ship before the end of 2005 if all the
development work goes smoothly. If snags are encountered, on the other hand,
the product could slip into 2006. At this point, I believe it's futile to
speculate on the exact ship date, which is impossible to predict.
Since Longhorn is so far away from being a working product, I believe that
two other upcoming Microsoft releases will have a much greater
near-term impact:
-
Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 1H 2004
A beta of XP SP2 will be released to interested testers by December
2003, according to Microsoft representatives. The final SP2 release,
scheduled for the 1st half of 2004, promises to close some of the
security issues in XP. The plan is to make the operating system more
resistant to worm attacks, even in machines that may not have a critical
patch installed. The changes include improvements
to Microsoft's Internet Connection Firewall (actually turning it on, for
example, instead of leaving it off by default), new support for "no execute"
areas of memory in order to prevent buffer overruns, and safer versions of
Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, and Windows Messenger.
-
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 in 2H 2004
While not providing definite guidance on when SP1 for Server 2003 will
be released for beta testing, Microsoft suggests that the beta release of SP1
will go out in the 1st half of 2004. The final service pack, scheduled
for release in the 2nd half of 2004, is also expected (like the service pack
for XP) to concentrate on security fixes for the server OS.
If your company uses Windows XP or develops software that runs on XP,
it's important that you get into the beta test program for XP SP2.
Many of the changes planned for that service pack will break programs
that aren't designed for the new environment. In particular, changes
to Microsoft's firewall, RPC (Remote Procedure Calls), and DCOM (Distributed
Component Object Model) may interfere with some of today's programs.
"Developers need to test their apps on SP2 as soon as possible," said
Michael Howard, Microsoft's senior program manager of security
engineering and communications, in a telephone interview. "Some
features will be turned off by default" that your programs may
rely upon, he emphasized.
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An excellent 11-page paper that describes the changes in XP, entitled
"Windows XP Service Pack 2: A Developer's View," was handed out at a
security workshop during the PDC. A copy of the paper has been
posted in the
MSDN
Library. I strongly recommend that you take a look.
Compared to XP SP2, less information is available about plans for
SP1 for Windows Server 2003. I'll cover developments in these and
other areas as they evolve.
Now is the time for readers to send me their findings on the pre-beta release of
Longhorn and word on the betas of XP SP2 and Server 2003 SP1. To send me tips
on these or any other subjects, visit
WindowsSecrets.com/contact.
FORWARDING INSTRUCTIONS - news gains value when it's shared
Please share this information with your colleagues
You're encouraged to refer your friends and colleagues to this free
newsletter. Because most e-mail programs don't correctly display a formatted
message that's been forwarded, simply call people's attention to
the permanent Web address of this issue:
BriansBuzz.com/w/031106.
HERE'S A TIP - you'll get a better newsletter if you choose the paid version
You're reading the free version of Brian's Buzz on Windows
Subscribers to the paid version receive additional information in each issue.
This week, the extra content is a special report focusing on major changes
Microsoft is making in its security patch process.
- SPECIAL REPORT on important Microsoft patch changes.
Microsoft has made the biggest change in the release policy of
security bulletins since the invention of service bulletins. Here are some
implications:
- Monthly instead of weekly release of patches. I'll show you how to
use the less-frequent releases to make your company more secure rather
than less.
- Undocumented features of MS patch utilities. There are some
new switches and some old, undocumented switches that even most Windows
pros don't know about.
- Some patch-management software may break. I'll show you how
to make sure yours doesn't.
- Which patch solutions are best? I share with you a ranking
of the patch-management solutions most favored by companies large and
small.
- No more patches in Knowledge Base articles. Microsoft is
removing all security information from the KB. I show you how to work
around it.
Of course, you'll also receive a full year of the paid version of the
newsletter and other bonuses if you upgrade now.
If you make a contribution before November 19, 2003,
you'll be sent the full, paid version of this week's newsletter.
To upgrade to the paid version, please visit
WindowsSecrets.com/upgrade.
Thanks in advance.
COMPLIMENTARY SEMINAR TICKETS - assuming you're going to be in Vegas anyway
CDXPO: Apply to win 1 of 2 seminar passes
As I stated in the introduction to this issue of Brian's Buzz, I'm giving away
two passes that will get the bearers into a Longhorn seminar I'm presenting in
Las Vegas on Nov. 18 - without paying CDXPO's $1,795 conference fee.
These passes will be given to two subscribers to the paid version of Brian's
Buzz who send me their requests and are selected. If you're going to be in
Las Vegas on Nov. 18 for Comdex week, here's how you apply for a pass:
- By Nov. 10 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, upgrade
from a free subscription to a paid subscription using this link:
WindowsSecrets.com/upgrade/. As always, you choose your own contribution
level.
- You'll receive the paid version of the newsletter the day
after your contribution is received (and for the next one year, of course).
- Scroll down to the section headlined "CDXPO," which will contain
the instructions for applying to win a pass. You must then apply via e-mail
no later than 10:00 a.m. PT on Nov. 11.
That's it. Thanks for your interest, and I'll see you at the show!
BRIAN'S BOOKSHELF - new e-books from the author
Spam-Proof Your E-Mail Address
This 27-page e-book in PDF format gives you step-by-step instructions
that can eliminate 97% of the spam that would otherwise clog your e-mail
account. You could call it "Brian Livingston's Spam Secrets." The book
is the result of months of experiments and tests I conducted, and I now
receive little or no spam to the addresses I used as guinea pigs. These tests
show that you can actually reduce your volume of spam to practically nothing,
not just battle an unstoppable and ever-growing flood. The methods I describe
work with Windows, Apple, and Linux and don't require any filters or block
lists - but you can use those in addition to the book's techniques, if you wish.
More info
WACKY WEB WEEK - playing for you the Internet's greatest bits
The Meatrix
Whatever you may think about "Matrix Revolutions" - the final installment of the
Matrix trilogy, which is in theatres now - I'm sure you'll find that
"The Meatrix" is a lot funnier.
A mysterious cow with sunglasses, Moo-pheus, brings a blue pill and a red
pill to a barnyard pig, Leo, to free him from his fantasies of
a family farm. The excellent Flash animation is the result of a grant
awarded to GRACE, the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment. The
short film has a strong ecology message at the end, but if you can live with
that it's quite an entertaining flick. Caution: plays music, watch the volume
level of your speakers if you're in a cubicle.
More info
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