Windows VISTA beta 2 - An exciting beta you can use !!

Micorsoft for a change has opened its Windows vista beta 2 to all users, and they even provide you with trial product key.Ok lets forget it all and come down to business, I installed vista ultimate edition last week and seriously didnt find anything discerning.

The beta is as smooth as any normal version, cool features wonderful new concepts.And it really looks like one for the future. The Collaboration tool and also IE and support for both 32 bit and 64 bit applications, and ability to run IE in both 32bit and 64 bit mode are real cool. The inbuilt phising filter,antispyware and Firewall have beefed up heavily.The security features have improved vastly.And cooler vista doesnt allow any software to run in admin mode without ur permission...so virtually denying spywares any control at all.

I got nVidia drivers for vista (yes most hw manufacturers already provide vista beta drivers).Even if vista installs ur driver I recommend you to download from hw manufacturer.Most XP drivers will do for Vista as well. Diagonistic tool in system menu recommends ur hw changes and driver updates and also suggests reasons why your PC is slower.

My recommendation for Vista (minimal)

Any P 4 or AMD XP or AMD 64

atleast 512 MB RAM(if you have a good ie 128MB or above graphics card)

(or)

1GB RAM

128MB or above graphics card(aero compatible)

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Zero day attack...

According to eWeek, there is a critical flaw in Microsoft Word that is being leveraged successfully to compromise fully patched Windows systems. The issue is designated as a zero-day attack because individuals responsible for the security incident are taking advantage of a flaw that was previously unknown.

Victims, it is reported, receive an e-mail that appears legitimate with an enclosed Word document. Once opened, the Word document launches a Trojan-like program that opens a back door into the affected system. Also troubling is the fact that neither the corrupt attachment nor the malware that it executes are currently being detected by anti-virus products. For all intents and purposes, attackers can gain full control of a compromised system using the method described in the article.

As there is currently no patch for the vulnerability being exploited, the recommended course of action for both home and corporate users is to be vigilant and reject any unexpected e-mail messages with Word attachment, even if they appear to come from legitimate sources.

It seems Microsoft is working on this and may release a patch on 13 jun 2006.But Antivirus vendors may introduce new updates much sooner.