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November 10, 2006

Media Twists Windows Vista Security

At a press event the other day, Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin made a remark concerning security in Windows Vista. As has happened quite frequently lately, many members of the media have taken his comment completely out of context and twisted it into something it wasn't. This unfortunately is journalism at its worst, and in an effort to make sensational headlines, we have seen a number of headlines stating that Jim Allchin said Vista won't need to run an Anti-virus solution. This is not what Jim Allchin said, yet it seems his words have been twisted once again by those hungry for headlines.

The original quote from Jim Allchin was "My son, seven years old, runs Windows Vista and, honestly, he doesn't have an antivirus system on his machine. His machine is locked down with parental controls, he can't download things unless it's to the places that I've said that he could do, and I'm feeling totally confident about that." Nowhere did he say that the average user of Windows Vista doesn't need Anti-virus, but rather Jim was referring to his seven year old son, who is running in protected user mode, with highly customized security settings which make the chance that a virus will ever be downloaded in the first place highly unlikely. He did not recommend not using Anti-virus, nor did he allude to any issues with Anti-virus companies, yet this is what has appeared in the headlines.

In the past few months, many members of the media have created headlines that have given an incorrect perspective regarding security in Windows Vista. Some of the statements have been highly interpretational, while others have been blatently wrong. It is one thing to report on facts, but it is another to basically make up a story just to grab headlines. Are there issues regarding Windows Vista security? Sure there are. There will always be issues when it comes to computers and security. However, when it comes down to it, Windows Vista is much more secure than any previous version of Windows, and that fact alone is a good reason to use it.

Posted by jrfree1 at November 10, 2006 06:55 PM