Bonum Certa Men Certa

Deceptive Vista 7 Advertising, Neglect, Bugs, and More Security Problems

Skunk



Summary: Latest signs that Vista 7 stinks, despite dishonest "placements" from the Seattle press and other pro-Microsoft circles

THE VERSION of Windows that the public needs to think about does not even exist. The boosters of Microsoft (SoftPedia in this case) insist that the vapourware known as "Windows 8" will fix everything, as usual. They promise that it will not be just another Vista.



SoftPedia also wrote about video ads, correctly pointing out that no level of hype can ever match the disaster known as Vista.

By any standards, Microsoft’s marketing campaign for Windows 7 is much more modest compared to that of Windows Vista. The difference in financial resources allocated to each platform can be explained by a shift in focus as far as the message accompanying each operating system goes.


"Microsoft’s advertising misfires" is the title of this new article from PC Pro (UK) and in Jordan there are Vista 7 ads masquerading as articles. Microsoft PR employees are of course enjoying free adverts from their Seattle press and in the Seattle P-I we find details about the "Slog" against competitors like GNU/Linux.

The posting says Microsoft is looking for someone to, in part, "build and manage the activities of a v-team of 13 district Linux & OpenOffice Compete Leads, and develop a broad set of marketing skills."


It's not about "marketing" or "Compete". We wrote about this a few days ago [1, 2]. Microsoft Nick does not point out EDGI, but he does publish this Vista 7 ad (as an article), leading to comments such as: "wow, another unpaid advertisement for M$" (there are other new examples).

Amongst other comments we have "Will in Seattle" saying: "We save millions not having Windows."

Another person adds: "Wow, it only cost me 4 hours to find out it will not work on my machine, despite with MS said. Now we are having discussions with my credit company since MS policy is no refunds. What is my ROI??"

Finally, there's this:

Cost Savings mileage varies widely.

How were the results calculated?

Who defined the metrics and how were they measured?

Did a credible 3rd party, Gartner or IDC, conduct the research?

Did Microsoft fund third party "research" to reverse engineer results to fit their product value propositions and messaging?

Ask your rep to provide you with customers to contact directly and make sure Microsoft is not on the call.


The Gartner Group and the likes of it are corrupt. It's the nature of their business because they are paid by the very same companies that they cover. Here is a timely new example from Michael Gartenberg, a former Microsoft shill on the company's payroll, who is now pretending to be an analyst [1, 2, 3]. It's like people in costumes. He praises Vista 7 of course, despite the fact that not many users of Vista 7 even exist.

In fact, Vista 7 seems so irrelevant that Apple too is ignoring Vista 7 users. From the news:

Apple delays Windows 7 support

Apple-imposed Boot Camp deadline for Windows 7 is set be missed

Windows 7 Boot Camp AWOL

Apple misses Boot Camp update deadline

Apple likely to delay rollout of Windows 7 support

Apple is likely to miss a self-imposed deadline for delivering support for Microsoft's latest operating system to Mac users running its Boot Camp dual booting software.


Apple would have made its self-imposed deadline had Vista 7 been a significant business factor (but it's not).

Our reader Ryan, a former Microsoft MVP, wrote last night: "Vista + SP2 + Platform Update gives you pretty much all of Windows 7 that means anything. I actually have a Vista Business license I thought about replacing Windows 7 Home Premium with. I found a lot of things in Windows 7 I hate worse than Vista, especially the interface. 7 is also buggier. Vista never shut down Aero with no warning then it comes back later... still haven't figured that out... happens on Nvidia and ATI."

In other news, it turns out that Vista 7 has more security problems it did not talk about:

Windows 7 might get fixed

Long-time Windows vulnerability might be fixed soon

Russinovich: A possible cure for exploitable heap corruption in Windows 7

The key to a huge plurality, if not a majority, of exploits that have plagued Microsoft Windows over the past two decades has been tricking the system into executing data as though it were code. A malicious process can place data into its own heap -- the pile of memory reserved for its use -- that bears the pattern of executable instructions. Then once that process intentionally crashes, it can leave behind a state where the data in that heap is pointed to and then executed, usually without privilege attached.


There have been many other security issues in Vista 7. Some posts about it can be found below.

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

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Richard Stallman's Talk at Georgia Tech is Just 2 Days Away
We're still curious to see how malicious people (or trolls) in social control media will try to slant his talk as "bad"
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VII - The Industrial Actions Began Yesterday, Here's Why
The "Alicante Mafia" might not last much longer
openai.com Traffic Said to Have Fallen 50% in the Past Three Months, Reports Say It Nearly Ran Out of Money to Borrow
After the slop frenzy all we'll have left is environmental destruction
 
Links 21/01/2026: "Snap Settles Lawsuit on Social Media Addiction" and Attempts in the US to Revive Software Patents
Links for the day
Links 21/01/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' in More Trouble, US Has "Brown Shirts" Problem
Links for the day
Yesterday Afternoon The Register MS Published Paid Microsoft SPAM Disguised as an Article About "AI PCs"
The Register MS cannot help itself, can it? [...] Follow the money.
Microsoft's XBox is in Effect Dead Already, Now It's a Streaming and Advertising Platform
Expect many layoffs soon
EPO's Web Site Misused for Propaganda About Illegal Kangaroo Courts to Distract From EPO Scandals and Judicial Crisis in Europe
UPC is illegal and unconstitutional
Gemini Links 21/01/2026: Edible Circuits and "Sayonara HTTP"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IBM Hides Its Own Destruction (and Red Hat's)
It's like scenes out of '1984', which is what a now-famous advertisement from Apple compared IBM to
LLM Slop Not Dead Yet, Examples of Slop About "Linux"
We wish to see the totals down to zero
Links 20/01/2026: Cheeto Blackmails France Into 'Peace' While Looking to Annex EU, Mass Layoffs in Capgemini (Microsoft Reseller/Promoter) in France
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: Boxing and "Inbox Zero" Success
Links for the day
Windows and Slop Declining While Microsoft Silences Critics
Microsoft tries to suppress facts while faking 'demand' by imposing slop on everybody, everywhere
IBM Kills OzLabs, Signalling An Attack on Free Software (a Sign for Red Hat)
ibiblio also appears to have died (or experiences critical issues)
Red Hat Vice President Leaving After Nearly Two Decades
IBM's culture of secrecy is not compatible with Free software
Links 20/01/2026: "ChatGPT Health" (Latest Distraction From Being Insolvent) Flops and Raises Concerns, "The U.S. Military Faces a Reckoning on Greenland"
Links for the day
Rudeness and Vulgarity Won't Stop Journalism About Free Software
we seem to be on the right path
Readers Pleased With Layout Changes
Two days ago we began improving clarity and accessibility in the site
IBM Plans for Layoffs Becoming Clearer With "Employee Reviews"
Of course this impacts Red Hat as well
IBM is Outsourcing Red Hat's Fedora to Slop to 'Save Money'
If IBM cared about quality rather than alleged "cost savings" (cutting corners), it would assign more IBM staff to Fedora, but instead the exact opposite happened, with the likes of Cotton and Miller removed from the project
European Patent Office (EPO) Industrial Actions Formally Start in Two Hours
As per the latest (revised) action plan, today workers will slow down their work and limit patent grants
Microsoft Under Fresh Investigation by the Italian Competition Authority
In 2025 we kept a running tally of 30,000+ Microsoft layoffs, so 40k this year would not be unthinkable
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VI - More Strikes Planned at the EPO, Starting This Month
Yesterday we said that friends of Berenguer or inside Berenguer's circle may have left
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: New Tea, Using a Roku at a Hotel, and "Voltage-Based Power Management for Any Raspberry Pi"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 19, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 19, 2026
If You Don't Want "Linux" to Become "Windows", Then Follow GNU
GAFAM isn't a friend of Linux; it's only a user in the same sense clients are "users" of a brothel
Links 19/01/2026: National Broadcasters on World or Local Affairs Up to a Week Ago
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/01/2026: Game Boy and "The Lounge" (IRC) for the Elderly
Links for the day
Slopfarms in Google News (at Least Three Today) With Fake 'Articles' About "Linux"
Google itself is trying to promote its own slop ("Overview") at the expense of original and credible sources
Links 19/01/2026: ChatGPT’s Defects and The Guardian on Why So-called "AI Companies Will Fail"
Links for the day
This is What the Slop Bubble Popping Can Look Like
Maybe not an overnight collapse, but getting there gradually
IBM Quiet About Its Plan for Red Hat Amid Accelerated Bluewashing
Something is going on at Red Hat
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part V - It Seems Like Some People Are Already Leaving "The Mafia"
they have a rough idea of what's coming
Microsoft Means War, Microsoft is on the Side of ICE
Microsoft, people-ready
More Confirmatory Rumours Regarding "Massive" Red Hat Layoffs
Ecosystem and sales said to be targeted
Proprietary UNIX is What We'll Have If IBM Red Hat Gets Its Way
IBM Red Hat wants to control everything, even if that means killing everybody
Free Software in Times of Peace (and Times of War, Too)
GAFAM and IBM are war companies
Founder of GNU/Linux (RMS) Speaks in US University (College) This Week
The auditorium has very high capacity and this is his "college comeback" talk in the United States
Office Meetings Are Most Useful to the Least Productive Workers
In my "office life" days I really didn't like meetings
LinuxSecurity and Linuxiac Are Still Slopfarms, Even Anthony Pell Does It
We suppose waiting another month or another year won't change a thing
Claim That the Board of Directors at IBM Isn't Happy With How the Company is Run
IBM tries to project an image of strength to the whole world, especially to its clients
Links 18/01/2026: Legal Trouble for xAI, Climate Concerns, Data Breaches and More
Links for the day
'Vibe Coding', Chatbots, and Other Bots (e.g. "Agents" Disguised as "Superintelligence") Aren't Saving You Time
False marketing, FOMO marketing tactics
Gemini Links 19/01/2026: Analog Cameras and Plucker in 2026, US Losing Acceptability in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 18, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 18, 2026