Can Microsoft Survive
An Electronic Pearl Harbor?

YOWUSA.COM, 27-May-01
Marshall Masters

…Continued

A Colossal Misconception of the Present

The recent Department of Justice case against Microsoft has never received the support of the majority level of Americans who often say, “I love my Windows.”  For most Americans, Windows has been a truly inexpensive way to enjoy the benefits of the Internet and home computing in general.   

But what the average American does not see is the destructive love-hate relationship between the computer industry in the Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the one in Redmond, Washington area where Microsoft is headquartered.  That relationship is far more about hate than love.   

Aside from Microsoft’s heavy-handed manipulation, what the Silicon Valley computer professionals hate about Microsoft is not that it can sell newer versions of its software by offering “more reliability ” and “more security."  Rather, what they hate is that this approach actually excites Microsoft users into laying out hard cash.  Yet on the other side, these same users routinely expect and demand free updates from other software vendors for the very same things.  If there is such a thing as digital penis envy, this is it! 

Then there are the Jedi Warriors of the computer field, who hack through the midnight hours and subsist on a steady diet of warm colas and cold pizza.  They see Microsoft as an all-devouring anti-Christ, and lavish peer accolades upon those who can do the most damage to Microsoft corporate web sites and computers running Microsoft software.  For this reason, a plethora of computer viruses abound on the Internet, and more than 95% of them are aimed specifically at computers using the Microsoft operating system.   

Computer security professionals have called it the “Virus-95 Phenomena,” but there are no tones of admiration in their voices.  They hate the phenomena because it has turned Microsoft security into another elaborate Maginot Line, and those in the know are quietly taking steps to protect themselves.  

For example, Oracle Corporation strictly prohibits its own employees from using Microsoft’s new Office 2000 productivity programs, such as Word 2000.  The reason is that Office 2000 programs like Word 2000 is now fully web-enabled and is highly vulnerable to computer viruses.  Consequently, Oracle continues to use Microsoft’s previous Office releases, such as Word 97.  

Microsoft’s reputation as an industry bully has haunted it somewhat, but what has done the Redmond-based company more damage is the fact that its products have consistently failed to measure up to its claims of increased reliability and security.  Consequently, it is not enjoying a similar command of the new Internet-based technology markets.  Two good examples are Internet servers and Internet appliances such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) like Palm and Handspring, and Personal Digital Video Recorders like TiVo.  

Internet Servers

The main boulevards of the Internet are called the backbone by people in the networking industry.  Companies with this level of access have something important to protect; they use large computer systems running under various incarnations of the UNIX operating system – not Windows.  UNIX was originally developed by Bell Labs (Lucent) back in the 1960s, and is used on every type of computer, from small handheld appliances to the largest supercomputers available. 

Currently, the most popular operating system for Internet servers worldwide is a stripped down version of UNIX called LINUX -- not Windows.

For beginners, UNIX is obtuse and cryptic which is why it has never enjoyed the same popularity as Windows. However, professionals love its power, versatility, flexibility and security.  Try as it may, no incarnation of Microsoft Windows operating system has ever been able to top the security and power of UNIX.  However, where Microsoft does have the advantage is its interoperability and ease-of-use, despite is comparatively lower levels of security and reliability. 

Internet Appliances

In the battle for the PC desktop, Windows has been the unstoppable juggernaut.  However, in the area of Internet appliances, the Windows monopoly has consistently failed to translate into new strongholds for Microsoft.   

In terms of the PDA market, the PalmOS by 3COM continues to dominate with more than 80% of the total PDA market. The next time you see an Ameritrade commercial showing an investor trading stocks while waiting for a delayed flight to be called, take note of the PDA in his or her hand.  It will not be a Windows-powered PDA, but rather a PalmOS-powered PDA.  

Another example is personal digital video recorders (PDVR) for TV channel surfers who are sick of brain-numbing ads for jock itch powder and 2-ply toilet paper.  With a PDVR, you can skip past commercials with ease, and still stop the program to go to the bathroom.  When you get back, we not have missed a thing.   

The leader in this new field are the TiVo-powered digital video recorders, and this a new entertainment technology is taking the country by storm.  While Microsoft is offering its own version of TiVo is avaiable from major brands like Hughes, Philips, Sony and RCA.  

This is significant, because TiVo-powered digital video recorders run on the LINUX operating system.  In other words, when buy a TiVo, you automatically become a brand new LINUX user, without having to learn the overwhelming and cryptic vagaries of the UNIX operating system.   

Three notable TiVo adopters are AOL Time Warner, Radio Shack and DIRECTV, the #1 digital satellite entertainment service in the U.S. 

The latest version of the DIRECTVTM Receiver comes with a TiVo digital video recorder built-in, in addition to conventional TV and HDTV reception as well.  This gives content providers and equipment manufacturers a built-in future for providing the widest possible array of new Internet services with instant access to the high resolution and sound quality of HDTV.   

There is another significant factor to be considered with these two Windows competitors.  The PalmOS is not a free operating system.  Manufacturers must pay a licensing fee for it, just as they do with Windows.  LINUX on the other hand is a free operating system, and TiVo is free to use it as it pleases without paying a penny for it.   

The key point here is that the popular notion that the a free LINUX operating system versus licensed proprietary software like Windows is the primary reason for Microsoft’s inability to monopolize this new business arena, is simply bogus.  The driving issues are reliability and security.   

So, what has kept Microsoft from giving the computer more confidence in its reliability and security?  In a word, the “Registry.”   

The Achilles Heel of Windows

The terms “Achilles Heel” refers to the Greek demigod’s heel, the only weak spot on his body.  Knowing this weak spot, Paris used this intelligence insight to kill the demigod who had helped to level Troy during the Trojan War. The point of this illustration is to demonstrate the military advantages of such weaknesses, because in terms of an “electronic Pearl Harbor,” the Registry feature of the Windows operating system is the digital Achilles Heel.  Nevertheless, this vulnerability is relatively new. 

All versions of Windows Prior to the release of Windows 95 did not offer the Registry feature.  First introduced in Windows-95, the Registry feature was soon afterwards incorporated into the networking version of Windows called Windows NT 4.0.  Since then, every release of the Windows operating system has included the Registry feature.

The official reason cited by the Microsoft marketing for the Registry feature are added security, better performance and smoother integration.  Those who know better in the Silicon Valley have listened to this since 1995, and continue to shake their heads in disbelief to this very day.     

So then, what is the Registry feature? (For those of you who have already suffered this knowledge, please skip to the next section.) 

The Windows Registry

No matter what kind of operating systems you’re using, most programs require initialization files stored on your computer to help them get started.  All versions of UNIX and all versions of Windows prior to Windows 95 use simple text files to store this information. 

The advantage of these simple text initialization files is that they are easy to maintain, and help simplify the process of restoring damaged operating system files.  It is one of those simple but sane approaches to computing that consistently works like an Energizer Bunny. 

UNIX has many flavors.  For example, Solaris from Sun, and AIX from IBM. The list goes on, but not one UNIX solution vendor has incorporated a feature similar to the Microsoft Windows Registry since the introduction of Windows-95.  The industry reasoning is "Why trade in your Energizer Bunny for a three-legged horse?"

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Conceptually, the Registry is not something on par with say the foundation of a house.  Rather, it is more like the plumbing and electrical conduits that snake everywhere throughout the house.  When something leaks or shorts, finding the source of the problem can be pure hell on the soul and the pocketbook.  Consequently, the term “the slow spiral of death.”  This term describes what happens when a Registry error occurs that slowly grinds your system performance down to one blue screen of death after another.

This brings us to the vital question of: Why did Microsoft trade their text-based Energizer Bunny initialization files used with all versions of Windows prior to Windows-95, for a problematic a three-legged Registry horse?

Money and Three-legged Horses

Bill Gates did not become the richest man in the world, by letting people steal his software.  This is sole reason for the very existence of the Microsoft Windows Registry.  Because, the sole purpose of the Registry to serve as software piracy firewall for the Microsoft Corporation. 

The Registry is a cryptic area of the operating system, that is a labyrinth for most software developers. Especially those tasked with the responsibility of rebadging software.  

Say for example your company, XYZ sells a sophisticated Windows application with hundreds of Registry entries and your firm is acquired by ABC Company.  The first thing ABC will want to do is to remove all instances of file names incorporating the XYZ moniker.  In the case of UNIX software, this would be a simpler process thanks to UNIX’s use of text-based Energizer Bunny initialization files.  However, doing the same thing with comparable Windows Registry settings can save hundreds of frustrating man-hours.  

Consequently, the fastest way to make a Silicon Valley software engineers go postal is to tell them that they will be responsible for a huge Windows Registry rebadging project. 

side from making software engineers crazy, what’s the real beef with the Registry? 

Why The Registry Is The Achilles Heel of Windows

The majority of the Windows Registry is documented for software engineers, but one part of the Registry is strongly encrypted and Microsoft will never release the documentation on this part of the Registry.  If they did, everyone would burn their copies of Windows.  This is because Microsoft built secret backdoor keys into the Registry that would enable them to snoop on any system running Windows so they can determine if the user running that computer is properly licensed.

This encrypted part of the Registry is also used by Microsoft to give it special competitive advantages with its own Office products, through what software engineers call “undocumented calls.” 

Before going further, it is important to note that computer professionals and especially those in the LINUX programming community have raised these allegations quite often. Microsoft has categorically denied these allegations.  Yet, the debate rages and none of Microsoft’s denials have changed the minds of computer professionals save for the most devoted Windows programmers. 

While most security experts will privately tell you that Windows is the Swiss Cheese of security, they use more euphemistic terms when explaining the same things to people with big check books. After all, Windows is the dream product of consultants everywhere.  It looks simple at first and then wham; you need to lay out the big bucks for consultants who swear by the product and smile with big toothy grins. 

What took the grins off everyone’s face was this announcement back in 1999.

Post-2012 Land Navigation — Celtic Cross Inventor and Author, Crichton E. M. Miller

Ask indigenous Peoples such as the Hopi about the coming global cataclysm and their answers will be certain and unequivocal.  Their folklore documents previous global cataclysms and compels them to prepare for the next. 

Most who lack this folklore (because they are deprived of it, or choose to ignore it), are so caught up in inertia of validation, they cannot see beyond the looming event itself.  However, a few can see beyond and the need to plan for the continuation of life afterwards.  One such man is Crichton Edward McGregor Miller, inventor of the Celtic Cross.

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