WinInfo Daily UPDATE, November 4, 2004

Microsoft Intel Launch Digital Joy Campaign 

Yesterday, computer industry giants Microsoft and Intel launched a rare joint advertising campaign, Digital Joy, that targets the connected home lifestyle that Media Center PCs, Media Center Extenders, and Portable Media Center devices enable Microsoft told me this week that Intel was so excited about the capabilities of Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE) 2005 related products that the microprocessor giant wanted to work with Microsoft to promote the technology.

"We're rallying around a common vision for digital entertainment for consumers," Brad Brooks, director of consumer marketing for the Windows division, said. "That includes XP Media Center Edition 2005 running on Intel Hyper Threading processor based PCs." Microsoft and Intel are touting the capabilities of such systems through a Digital Joy Web national TV and print advertising online advertising and a set of almost 40 Experience Zones in malls across the United States where consumers can experience these technologies firsthand.

Coupled with the recent recasting of XP MCE 2005 as a more mainstream offering earlier versions were available only with expensive new Media Center PCs the new marketing campaign represents a significant step toward educating consumers about the wonders of Media Center. Using a Media Center PC, you can record and watch TV shows enjoy vibrant photo slide shows on your TV listen to music playlists on your best stereo system access a range of subscription and a la carte music and movie downloads listen to Internet and FM based radio stations and more If you add one or more Media Center Extender devices to the mix you can remotely transmit those experiences to any TV in the house And if you add a Portable Media Center, you can enjoy those experiences anywhere on earth.

I've written extensively about each of these products on the SuperSite for Windows and believe that they're the most revolutionary digital media technologies available today. For more information see the following reviews. 

Study Linux Is Least Secure OS 

According to a study, the British security firm mi2g Linux is the world's most breached OS and is exploited more frequently than Windows. The company recently analyzed more than 235,000 successful attacks against computers that were permanently connected to the Internet during the past year and concluded that Linux was responsible for most of the successful exploits.

"For how long can the truth remain hidden that the great emperors of the software industry are wearing no clothes fit for the fluid environment in which computing takes place where new threats manifest every hour of every day?" DK Matai mi2g's executive chairman said in a statement. "Busy professionals don't have the time to cope with umpteen flavors of Linux or to wait for Microsoft's Longhorn when Windows XP has proved to be a stumbling block in some well chronicled instances."

According to mi2g, Linux-based computers accounted for more than 65 percent of all successful electronic attacks during the past year whereas Windows based systems were responsible for only 25 percent. Attacks against Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) based systems were successful less than 5 percent of the time. However, it's worth noting although mi2g didn't that BSD based machines make up a small percentage of the installed base of permanently connected machines. In all probability those machines weren't attacked simply because there was little incentive to do so not because of any inherent superiority over Linux or Windows based systems.

The mi2g study also analyzed the impact of malware during the same time period and found that most malware attacks about 60 percent successfully targeted small businesses whereas about 33 percent successfully targeted home users. Only 6 percent of malware attacks successfully targeted midsized businesses whereas 2.5 percent successfully targeted enterprises government agencies and similar firms. According to the company, 459 successful malware attacks occurred during the past year most of which targeted Windows based systems. Malware rarely targeted BSD-based and Linux systems.

These electronic attacks are taking an economic toll. The firm says that electronic attacks such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks caused as much as $123 billion in damages during the past year Malware attacks were responsible for $202 billion in damages during the same time period.