Bonum Certa Men Certa

Reader's Post: 3 Stories on Advising Against Using IE

Microsoft BBC



Summary: Criticisms brought forth by several Boycott Novell readers

EARLIER TODAY we wrote about the BBC's poor coverage of Internet Explorer (IE) denouncements, which happened at a national level. Instead of just reporting the news, the BBC added Microsoft spin and some readers of ours saw that clearly. Separately, and completely independently from the previous post, another reader wrote to us some hours ago:

I just read a story this morning on the BBC where France joins Germany in advising against the use of Internet Explorer. It tries to discourage people from switching by saying that other browsers may have other security problems and quotes Microsoft as saying that IE is the "most secure browser":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8463516.stm

I notice that the above story differs a bit from the original story where it was only Germany giving this advice. This story doesn't contain so much of the Microsoft "hard sell" words such as "most secure browser":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8465038.stm

I suppose that means that Microsoft is really worried about this latest event. Finally, here is a story in French for comparison. Of the 3 stories, this one by far seems the most straightforward and factual:

http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies...

A summary of the Microsoft sourced content is something like "Microsoft completely rejects the allegations and says that the security problems encountered by Google do not affect ordinary users. The problem can be solved by setting the security level to 'high'." It goes on to say that BSI says that raising the security level makes the attacks more difficult, but does not prevent them completely. The article ends by saying that setting security to 'high' disables ActiveX and Javascript, which may render some Websites completely inaccessible. MS-BBC indeed!



Another reader wrote to us the following two days ago:

This incident shows how easy Microsofters can operate posing as ICT workers.

Everyone 'understands' the idea of practicing medicine and many spotted trouble but no one did anything about it for the longest time:

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done

Very few understand ICT so if a whole IT department gets replaced by poseurs, there's no one to call them on it. Even if there is, like in the fake doctor case, they'll keep their mouth shut hoping that 'someone' would have prevented any mischief.


Microsoft-oriented administrators are notorious for just rebooting and never actually diagnosing issues, which means that the issues will recur.

Some other interesting input from readers can be found in the IRC channel. Yesterday for example we learned from Eruaran that "Microsoft has discontinued XP Pro, but technically business customers can still use it. They are artificially inflating Windows 7 numbers by forcing people to buy Windows 7. One of our business clients today needed to upgrade from Windows 2000 to XP because of lack of driver support on newer hardware."

"Same trick [are] applied to Vista figures," says FurnaceBoy.

“They are looking forward to MS putting XP under the deprecated OS list.”
      --Oiaohm
Eruaran continues: "According to Microsoft, if they buy Windows 7 Professional they can use one of their Windows XP Profesional license keys to install XP on that system, then call Microsoft to tell them that they bought W7Pro and they are ok with that. Windows 7 never gets installed, Windows XP does, but they have to buy a Windows 7 license. Microsoft is promoting the idea that 'business is embracing Windows 7', but its a complete crock."

Oiaohm writes: "MS forget to tell people that entities like charities got free upgrades for Vista to Windows 7 in there usable licence keys and can install back to windows 2000 under that licence. Yet everyone else is expect to pay for upgrades. [...] No new issued keys. By the roll. Each roll is 10 000 keys. So far they have not got through the first roll. They are looking forward to MS putting XP under the deprecated OS list."

This sure puts Vista 7 in perspective, doesn't it? Never underestimate public relations (PR). You know that they lie when their lips are moving. It's their job to deceive; those who do not deceive will not survive in this job.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
1989: Free Software as "Open" Software (OSI Didn't Coin "Open Source", It Also Predates Linux)
"One man's fight for Free software"
 
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day
The Calling
Persist and persevere, justice will come your way
So Far Every BetaNews 'Article' is LLM Slop, So BetaNews is Officially Just a Slopfarm
They just don't seem to value what they have
IBM Rumour: Mass Layoffs (RAs) Lists Being Made for Consulting, With Effect in July 2025
Bogus companies with no viable products and no world-leading (in their field) staff are doomed to perish
Links 21/06/2025: Data Breach With 16 Billion Passwords, Dutch Government Recommends Children Under 15 Stay off TikTok and Instagram
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Notes about Typst (and LaTeX) and Opos
Links for the day
Microsoft's Competition Tactics: Sabotage GNU/Linux Installs, Block Chrome
Edge is dying
The Microsoft OOXML Modus Operandi: Throw 1,000 Pages of Other People's Work for a Judge to Read Ahead of a One-Hour Meeting
No time to discuss this - that's the point
Formalities Officers (FOs) at the EPO Are in Trouble, Reveals Internal Report
We already know, based on an HR pattern we saw at IBM and elsewhere, that reallocating roles can be prerequisite for dismissal and those who do so expect many to resign anyway
The Web is Slop and FUD, Let's Go to Gemini Protocol
Lupa sees self-signed capsules at 92.4%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 20, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 20, 2025
Links 21/06/2025: Phone Bans for Concerts, Tensions in Taiwan Strait
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Spoilers, Public Yggdrasil Node, Changes to AuraGem Search
Links for the day
"Six years of Gemini!"
From gemini://geminiprotocol.net
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Summer Updates and Hardware Failures
Links for the day
Links 20/06/2025: Google Shareholder Sues Google and Google Sued for Defamatory Slop ('Hey Hi') Word Salads ('Summaries')
Links for the day
Linux Journal Might Have Become the Latest Slopfarm Targeting "Linux", the Trends Are Concerning for Dying News Sites
They tarnish the Web with junk and then die
On "Learning to Code"
quality may suffer, plus things get bloated
Quick Points Regarding This Week's Court Hearing
it paves the way for us to squash all the SLAPPs from Microsofters
Common Mistake: Believing Social Control Media Will Document Your Writings/Thoughts and Search Engines Like Google Will Help You Find These
Many news sites wrongly assumed that posting directly to Twitter would be acceptable
The Manchester Bees and This Hot Summer
We have had a fantastic week so far this week
Gemini Protocol Enters Its Seventh Year, Growth Has Accelerated!
Maybe in June 20 2026 there will be over 3,500 active capsules?
Mastodon and the Fediverse Have an Issue: Liability for Content (Even in Other Instances) and Costs
self-hosting is the only logical path forward
Why Microsoft and Its 'Hey Hi' (Slop) Frenzy Fail While Sinking in Deep, Growing Debt
Right now, like Twitter around the time it was sold to MElon, "open" "hey hi" is a big pile of debt with a lot to pay for that debt (interest payments)
Europe is Leaving Microsoft, the Press Coverage Isn't Sufficiently Helpful
The news is generally positive, but the press coverage leaves so much to be desired
Slopwatch: Linuxsecurity, BetaNews, and Linux Journal
slippery slope
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 19, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Gemini Protocol Turns 6!
Links for the day