Summary: Vista 7 is put where it belongs (the trash can) as Linux remains lighter and more suitable for devices such as tablets; new security headaches involving Vista 7

LAST WEEK we wrote about a Microsoft Windows summit being called off. Microsoft "scraps" it according to its very own booster and refunds are being issued to those who thought that Windows means partying. Well, the Windows business is declining and products that use Windows get cancelled or discontinued. Watch Microsoft excuses coming via Paul Thurrott, who is another Microsoft booster. He tries to repaint the death of Microsoft's Courier as a "non-event", but the press does not agree with him. A lot of coverage about a product that was never said to exist in the first place sure arrives from all over Internet, except fake 'news' like MSN/MSNBC (distractions). Here are some examples from what qualifies as 'news' sites, not mere blogs (there are tons more):

• Microsoft won't deliver Courier tablet



• The Sudden Death of Two iPad Wannabes



• Microsoft Courier: Not The Right Time



• Has Microsoft single-handedly killed off touch?



• Microsoft's 'iPad Killer' Tablet Is So Awesome They Won't Even Make It



• Microsoft shelves Courier



• Microsoft Cancelling Its Courier Tablet



• Why Did Microsoft Kill Its Much-Desired Courier Tablet? Top 3 Headlines



• Courier Tablet Sidelined, Says Microsoft



• The Macalope Weekly: What a letdown!

The Windows-powered Slate is dying too (Vista 7 dumped), not just Courier (some of the articles above wrote about both).

We found fewer articles about the latter because it's not confirmed by Microsoft yet and the role of Linux as a Windows replacement is only a rumour at this stage (although now it is more certain than before). To give a sample of what's considered news articles:

• Tablets 2.0: Microsoft, HP probably building less powerful products



• HP Slate Might Be Launched With webOS, Unlikely To Use Windows 7 Say Reports



• Analysis: HP Buys Palm. ARM Wins Big. Intel is Screwed.



• Did HP save Palm with acquisition? Or did it save itself?



• HP Expected to Pursue Tablets with Palm WebOS, sans Microsoft



• Rumor Mill Churns Around webOS-based HP Slate



• HP tablet plans draw interest after Palm deal



• HP tablet plans draw interest after Palm deal



• Palm-HP: Microsoft bites bigtime



• With Palm on deck, is H-P killing its Windows-based tablet?



• Why Microsoft is already losing the tablet battle



• HP To Ditch Windows 7 For Homegrown OS?



• HP's Palm Plans May Leave Microsoft Out in the Cold



• What Windows 7 tablet?

It may make sense to be done with it. Windows 7, though much lighter and more efficient than Windows Vista, is still a full-fledged desktop operating system. Even though it runs pretty well on netbooks, it's clearly not suited for super-simple touchscreen tablet devices. Microsoft would need to undertake a major rewrite and strip the software down to its essentials.

• HP's Slate to be replaced by WebOS tablet?

The last we heard about the HP Slate, it was dead (at least, according to rumors). HP found that it just couldn't get the performance it wanted out of Windows 7 on the Slate's Intel Atom processor and 1 GB of RAM. That's no surprise to anyone who's used a netbook with similar specs. Add the touch layer to this package and performance really isn't going to be great, at least not without a lot of tweaking.

A lot of the Web sites which comprise Microsoft boosters are quoting some vapourware talk from Bill Gates about tablets (styluses and touchscreens) because they cannot accept an embarrassing defeat, apparently to WebOS (they hardly mention that it's based on Linux). We choose not to reference those sites because they distract, as intended.

Vista 7 is failing in many other ways. In fact, here is a new blog post titled "Windows security software FAIL?"

It will be interesting to see how long it takes the security vendors to respond, either in the form of software patches or corporate denials, but in the meantime one does have to wonder if Windows security is if not dead in the water then certainly floundering around a little. One thing is for sure, if security researchers can uncover these problems, and if the bad guys can uncover these problems, one has to wonder why the vendors themselves are not made aware of them during the security software testing process?

IDG says that the "Windows 7 'compatibility checker' is a Trojan"

Scammers are infecting computers with a Trojan horse program disguised as software that determines whether PCs are compatible with Windows 7.

Yes, without software repositories, Vista 7 too will be very vulnerable (see links at the bottom).

It is worth adding that WebOS is becoming a risk to Apple's mobile OS. Apple has already threatened Pre/WebOS with patents. Here is the unofficial Apple defence (they don't like Linux) responding to Microsoft booster Michael Gartenberg without naming/highlighting his deep roots in Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. ⬆

Vista 7 and security:

• Trend Micro: Vista 7 Less Secure Than Vista
• Vista 7 Less Secure Than Predecessors? Remote BSoD Now Possible!
• Cybercrime Rises and Vista 7 is Already Open to Hijackers
• Vista 7: Broken Apart Before Arrival
• Department of Homeland Security 'Poisoned' by Microsoft; Vista 7 is Open to Hijackers Again
• Vista 7 Security “Cannot be Fixed. It's a Design Problem.”
• Why Vista 7 Could be the Least Secure Operating System Ever
• Journalists Suggest Banning Windows, Maybe Suing Microsoft Over DDoS Attacks
• Vista 7 Vulnerable to Latest “Critical” Flaws
• Vista 7 Seemingly Affected by Several More “Critical” Flaws This Month
• Reason #1 to Avoid Vista 7: Insecurity
• Vista 7 Left Hijackable Again (Almost a Monthly Recurrence)
• Vista 7 Cracked Again