For the past couple of years, Microsoft has been using Microsoft-sponsored studies to attempt to prove to customers that Windows is a better operating system than Linux. Now Microsoft is using data that it is amassing in its own, on-campus Linux laboratory to show the alleged superiority of Windows. Microsoft has done extensive testing of Windows vs. a variety of Linux distributions to assess whether Windows performs as well on older hardware as does Linux. The (not so surprising) results, according to the Redmondians? Windows measures up.

Just days after Microsoft patched a critical vulnerability in the way the Windows operating system renders certain types of graphics files, a hacker has published details of two new flaws that affect the same part of the operating system. The new vulnerabilities were posted to the Bugtraq security mailing list on Monday by a hacker going by the name of "cocoruder." All three flaws concern the way Windows renders images in the Windows Metafile (WMF) format used by some CAD (computer-aided design) applications, but these latest flaws are far less serious than the vulnerability that Microsoft patched last week, according to security experts.

Startup JotSpot has a new spin on Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet with its JotSpot Tracker hosted online service. The Tracker service enables users to cut and paste an Excel spreadsheet directly onto a secure JotSpot Web site so that anyone within an organization can view and edit the information contained in that spreadsheet. JotSpot specializes in turning wikis into Web-based applications so that users can change the applications in the same way that they’d alter wiki pages. Tracker entered public beta testing Monday and is due to appear in a final 1.0 version within the next two to three months.

Open source scored its latest government takeover, with MySQL AB nabbing a five-year contract with the General Services Administration that will put its open-source database at the fingertips of government customers. As it is, MySQL already hums under thousands of federal, state, and local government entities, including Los Alamos National Labs, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, and the Department of Defense. The win comes at a time when governments are increasingly turning to open source, much to the chagrin of Microsoft.

Microsoft plans to scour its code to look for flaws similar to a recent serious Windows bug and to update its development practices to prevent similar problems in future products. The critical flaw, in the way Windows Meta File images are handled, is different than any security vulnerability the software maker has dealt with in the past, Kevin Kean and Debby Fry Wilson, directors in Microsoft’s Security Response Center, said in an interview with CNET News.com. Typical flaws are unforeseen gaps in programs that hackers can take advantage of and run code. By contrast, the WMF problem lies in a software feature being used in an unintended way.

Critics have taken aim at a study published by the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team that said more vulnerabilities were found in Linux/Unix than in Windows last year. The report, Cyber Security Bulletin 2005, was released last week. It claimed that out of 5,198 reported flaws, 812 were found in Microsoft’s Windows operating system, 2,328 were found in open-source Unix/Linux systems. The rest were declared to be multiple operating system vulnerabilities. The report has attracted criticism from some in the open-source community. Linux vendor Red Hat said the vulnerabilities had been wrongly tagged, and so could not be used to compare the relative security of Windows and Linux/Unix platforms.

Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, outlined plans to bring a wide range of content, from sports to first-run movies, to anyone with a broadband Internet connection and a remote control using its new Viiv PC platform. While it incorporates new hardware and software, including Intel’s latest Core Duo and Pentium D 900 series chips, Viiv represents the company’s larger effort to bring together a variety of content and display it on a range of devices, including televisions and handhelds. The new platform will spawn several different types of desktop PCs and let users seamlessly access and share music, movies, television, and other media.

Sofizar Inc, a company specializing in Click Fraud Detection Services announced that it has identified a vulnerability in Google’s Pay Per Click location based advertisements. The Google location based service is meant to display Pay Per Click advertisements only in the advertiser designated locations. However, a back door allows a malicious user or automated programs in a non designated area to click on the advertisement, potentially causing grievous losses. Furthermore, Google charges the advertisers for these clicks, even though Google does not record the advertisement impression. This vulnerability has been reported to Google.

Email is a wonderful tool, but it can also be a massive distraction. Vast amounts of mail flowing in can use up hours of your day. And for lots of people, there’s more email coming in than there is time to deal with it all. Triage (ranking and dealing with things in order of importance) of messages is a necessity. That’s where SNARF, the Social Network and Relationship Finder, from Microsoft Research comes into the picture.

Read this OutlookPower article.

Microsoft released a fix for a serious security vulnerability in Windows on Thursday, several days before the patch’s scheduled delivery. The company is breaking with its monthly patch cycle because it completed testing of the security update earlier than it anticipated. "Microsoft is releasing the update early in response to strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as soon as possible," the company said.