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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-11-08

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

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1) Passport "Wallets" (And Credit Card Info) Easily Stolen

I actually wish I couldn't say "I told you so" because this is really ugly--- but it appears absolutely true:

In the current InformationWeek column about problems with Microsoft's Passport system, I wrote:

Crackers' Paradise? One also can ask legitimate questions about the inherent safety of the Passport central database because Microsoft has a spotty record of managing its online services... If you also choose "make your shopping easier" with the Passport Wallet, your Passport login can be associated with your credit-card numbers and such. The potential for trouble is obvious, so the site is likely to become a prime target for crackers.

Well, surprise! Last week, just after I'd finished the column, a hacker did exactly that, finding a way into Passport Wallets, giving him access to all the info stored there. Using this technique, based on a simple HotMail email message, a cracker could not only gain access to all kinds of sensitive data, but could actually act *as you* at any Passport site, including ultra-sensitive sites such as Money Central. How'd you like a cracker to clean out your bank account?

Fortunately, the guy who did this was a hacker, not a cracker, and didn't use this information for evil purposes. But the security hole was so bad that Microsoft immediately shut down its Passport Wallet services:

The bugs in Passport, a sign-on service used by more than 200 million people, were discovered this week by Marc Slemko, a software developer who lives near Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters. Slemko is a founding member of the Apache Software Foundation.

By cobbling together a handful of browser-based bugs with flaws in Passport's authentication system, Slemko developed a technique to steal a person's Microsoft Passport, credit card numbers -- and all, simply by getting the victim to open a Hotmail message.

The attack raises new questions about the inherent security of Passport, which is being positioned by Microsoft as the linchpin of its .NET e-commerce service initiative. (from http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,48105,00.html )

See also: http://netscape.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099246,00.html

You know, Microsoft chose the name “Passport” to conjure images of security and authority. But Microsoft clearly isn't that kind of league, or anything close to it.

Passport--- and the incipient competitive services from Sun and AOL--- are conceptually wrong, wrong, wrong. It's a stupid idea, bad for end users; and in Microsoft's case, it's also poorly executed.

Do these services also seem wrong to you? Your voice is your vote: Please check out the full article on Passport's woes at http://informationweek.com/story/IWK20011101S0026 and/or then add your comments at http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa .

See you there!

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2) XP Performance By The Numbers (Part 1)

A number of pro-XP readers were offended when I suggested that XP might be slower than other versions of Windows. I suspect this stems from the fact that some upgraders are replacing old, cluttered, much-used versions of Windows with a fresh installation of XP. Of course, almost *any* newly installed OS will seem to fly compared to an old one.

In other cases, people are focusing on things like boot time (which *is* faster in XP) as an important measure of speed. But it's not: A faster boot only saves you a few seconds or tens of seconds when you first start the system, and indicates nothing about day in, day-out routine speed of the OS when you're actually trying to get work done.

And still other people are buying new PCs and reporting that XP is faster than what they were used to. But geez, a brand-new install on brand-new hardware *should* be faster than a high-mileage installation on older hardware.

To truly see an OS's real-world performance you need to do careful before/after or side by side tests, keeping as much as possible exactly the same in both cases. Ideally, the *only* variable should be the the OS itself. The hardware should be the same, the setups the same, and the "freshness" the same (if one OS is a clean install, the other should be, too).

We're starting to see those kinds of professional tests now: For example, InfoWorld ran a long series of tests ( http://www.infoworld.com/articles/tc/xml/01/10/29/011029tcwinxp ) and found that XP is almost always slower than Win2K on exactly the same hardware, running exactly the same workload. And the higher the workload, the worse XP looks: In some extreme cases, XP runs at half the speed of Win2K on identical hardware.

It appears that XP's background processes--- especially in the graphic interface--- suck up far more CPU time than they do in Win2K. And it's not something users can control much: Even when InfoWorld's testers turned off the UI's many animations, bells and whistles (as much as possible),  XP still lagged behind.

Tests like these suggest that people who claim that XP is faster than other versions of Windows are actually seeing something else and interpreting it as improved OS speed that in reality just isn't there. In fact, InfoWorld's careful tests suggest quite the opposite--- that XP is rather slow.

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3) XP Performance By The Numbers (Part 2)

To test my systems, I used the PC Pitstop tests ( http://www.pcpitstop.com ): they examine  a PC's subsystems--- disk, video, CPU, etc. This is different from the InfoWorld applications-level tests. PitStop's lower-level subsystem tests look at some fundamental issues of OS performance, and are less affected by high-level things like interface inefficiencies.

Let's look at one of my systems in particular: I'd previously tested my 1.2GHz system with clean installs of Win98SE and WinME; I had those results on file. I now did a clean install of XP--- as close to the tested setups for SE and ME as possible--- and compared the results.

Curiously, Win98SE and WinXP performed essentially identically, except in the area of video: But new drivers from my PC's graphics board vendor--- not from Microsoft --- account for this speed increase. The vendor releases drivers in unified, all-in-one patches, and says that the same speed increase should be available on 98 and ME systems, too: So, it doesn't appear to be an XP-specific thing. 

(BTW: Even with identical hardware, the slowest of the three OSes was WinME, which matched my subjective impressions. WinME is the runt of the Windows litter.)

Bottom line: At the subsystem level, XP itself does not appear to be intrinsically faster on my PCs here; and InfoWorld's tests (above) suggest, in fact, that applications may run significantly slower.

Whatever benefits XP can offer you, speed isn't likely to be one of them.

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4) In Fairness: Ten Things I *Like* About XP

Yes, there are parts of XP that actually are rather nice. Unfortunately, because Microsoft is spending half a billion dollars to tell you how wonderful XP is, I feel that they don't need a lot of help from me to convince you of XP's benefits.<g> That's why I've spent more time, so far, talking about the areas where I've found XP's real-world performance to be at odds with Microsoft's rosy claims: After all, you *won't* hear any negatives from Microsoft!

But there are good things in the OS, and we need to discuss those, too. It's not only an issue of basic fairness, but also is a simple recognition of the fact that--- like it or hate it--- XP is the future of Windows. It's the only choice available on many new PCs now, and over time, if you want to stick with Windows (a preference more and more people are coming to question), then you're going to have to deal with XP.

So, I'm working on a major article: "The Ten Best And Ten Worst Things About XP." If you're using XP, please start you own lists, too, but DON'T send them to me yet (that comes later). Instead, please make notes as you use the OS and encounter things that your particularly enjoy or dislike. Save your notes for now, and in a week or two, I'll open an area where we can all share our experiences to develop a collective list of what we all like best--- and least--- about the new XP.

It should be illuminating, and fun. Stay tuned!

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5) A Good Non-Microsoft Resource Re: XP Compatibility

We've already discussed Microsoft's own XP compatibility tool--- http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/home/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp --- which is a good place to start before you try making any move to XP. But experience shows that the compatibility tool is not fully reliable: It may warn you of nonexistent problems, or (worse) not flag a very real, show-stopping problem that you may not otherwise discover until you're hip-deep into converting your system.

So, reader Jon Crowe thought it would be useful to gather *real world* feedback from XP users about compatibility issues:

I thought I would let you know about a little site I put together a couple of weeks ago that I think might be of benefit to your readers. The site is a resource for the internet community to list their results and check others successes and failures with installing all kinds of software on Windows XP. It was created to be useful for those considering the upgrade but not sure whether their 5 year old dos game will still work if they do. And also for those who already took the plunge, they can help others by listing their results.

The site is at http://xpsc.cjb.net and has been growing rapidly and becoming more useful. Appreciate your consideration.

Thanks, Jon. There's already a ton of information there. With more being added all the time.

Microsoft's information tends to be over-broad, and may not be relevant to the nitty-gritty specifics of your particular system. General user comments can go the other way, and be way too specific to have general utility. But by combining Microsoft's info with info from a site like Jon's, you can get a better-rounded and more realistic appraisal of what's going on than by using any single source.

Check it out!

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6) Karen Kenworthy Releases New Free Software

In her current issue of "Power Tools" ( http://www.karenware.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-06.asp ) programmer and columnist Karen Kenworthy released a new " 'Net Monitor," and an update to a speech synthesizing "Power Toy."

"'Net Monitor [is] designed to detect and report web server problems, it's used by many readers who operate web sites... The original version of the monitor displayed an on-screen log of test results, showing when each test was performed, and whether the test succeeded or failed. The new version continues this tradition. In addition, it now allows you to save your test log to disk, creating a permanent record of each web site's performance. From there, the test results can be imported into a spreadsheet, word processor, or database program for detailed analysis. The new 'Net Monitor has learned another new trick It can now test email servers, or "Internet Post Offices."...  The new version now [also] calculates several testing statistics and displays them on-screen...."

Check out 'Net Monitor and the updated Power Toy--- and all of Karen's stuff--- at http://www.karenware.com .

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7) Want $10,000 To Spend For The Holidays?

The Recommend-It site gives away up to $10,000 as an incentive to use their service to recommend newsletters like this one!

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win $10,000 or other prizes from the folks at "Recommend-It:" http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. (Full details also available via this link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming and Coming...

Well over 1,600 of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

Free device driver site, and more
http://www.karldavis.com/

Rudolph's Home Page
http://www.angelfire.com/nm/niessink/index.html

Tom's meta/start page
http://www.ourstart.0catch.com/

Joy Luck Club (animated e-cards and more
http://www.thejoyluckclub.com/

Nicely-organized personal pages
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mbatalla/home.htm

BOJANGLES' HOME PAGE
http://members.fullnet.net/bojangle/

"Make money on the net..."
http://www.essjayar.co.uk/index.html

Lake and land outfitters (Indiana)
http://www.lakeandlandoutfitters.com/

Tomar Games
http://www.tomargames.com/menu/tomar.html

DCliff's Looney Bin
http://home.pcmagic.net/dcliff/dcpage2.htm

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9) New Linux Version (Free, As Usual...)

As Microsoft digs itself deeper and deeper into trouble with its own best customers, more and more Windows users are looking elsewhere for their next OS:

Most Linux versions ("distributions," in Linux-speak) are available as free downloads for people with fast connections and with the technical means to get the download onto a CD.  For everyone else, retail CDs usually are available for a fraction of the price of what Windows costs.

For example, you can download Mandrake 8.1 for free from
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ftp.php3 , or order the standard 3-CD set for $25 from http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/81/standard .

Linux still isn't quite as polished or newbie-friendly as Windows, but anyone of intermediate skill or higher can usually get it going. If you haven't taken a look yet, maybe it's time to start exploring.

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10) Just For Grins

My sister sent this to me, from Florida. I don't think she meant anything personal by it. <g>

THIS explains everything!

We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give more than 100 percent of your effort. How about achieving 103 percent? Here's a little math that might prove helpful in the future.

The English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  can be represented as numbers where A=1 and Z=26. So you can convert any word into an equivalent sum by adding the values of the word's constituent numbers. Thus:

H A R D W O R K:
8 1 18 4 23 15 18 11 = 98% only

K N O W L E D G E:
11 14 15 23 12 5 4 7 5 = 96% only

But:

A T T I T U D E:
1 20 20 9 20 21 4 5 = 100%

And:

B U L L S * * T
2 21 12 12 19 8 9 20 = 103%

So, it stands to reason that hard work and knowledge will get you close, but attitude and bull**** will put you over the top.

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights
Software Gestapo;
Recovering 100MB Of Netscape Bloat;
More On *Washing* Your Electronics!

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: Information from a reader who found a clause in the license agreement of some popular software that actually gives the software vendor the right to enter your premises and search for illegal copies!; a reader's successful efforts to find--- and wipe out--- a huge amount of unnecessary Netscape files; and first-hand reports from users who've tried washing balky electronics gear!

Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
(fred@langa.com)

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

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