Most of us will, perhaps grudgingly, accept that Microsoft’s products are dominant internationally – particularly in the operating system and office application software areas.  Through their superior marketing - not necessarily superior products, Microsoft has come to dominate what is a very lucrative market.  Despite recent anti-trust law suits and claims of unfair or questionable business practices, Microsoft continues relentlessly to extend this global dominance. 

A number of attempts have been made in the past to dent this global reliance on Microsoft systems.  This is particularly true in the desktop operating system area, and it would appear that Microsoft’s global dominance is being dented – just a little.  A report recently indicates that many large organisations, including governments, are beginning to look more closely at their operating costs and at alternatives.

The UK government’s Office for Government Commerce (OGC), for example has recently announced plans, in conjunction with IBM, to investigate the use of so-called “open source” software.  Open Source software is software that has been developed and the source-code (original program code) has been placed in the public domain, can be modified and even given away, and is effectively free.  A well-known example of “open source” software is the LINUX operating system.  The purpose of the government’s study is to determine the cost effectiveness, security and reliability of such software.

Quite naturally, Microsoft is alarmed at the prospect of a large customer like the UK government moving from Microsoft products to Open Source applications.  In a similar study undertaken in a local authority in Germany recently, Microsoft countered any suggestion of moving away from their products, by making a secret offer of massive discounts to the authority.

In a similar vein, Microsoft has continued to receive public criticism over the endless number of “patches” issued to close “vulnerabilities” detected in their range of Windows operating systems.  It seems that almost every week, another security loophole is discovered, and the technical staff at Microsoft has to issue small programs to plug those loopholes.  Now Microsoft has announced that it is to make significant changes to its security strategy.  Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO stated that they will in future issue Windows operating system with its security features installed and switched on by default. 

At the moment, many features, like the “Firewall” built into Windows XP are either not installed at all, or not switched on when the operation system is first installed.  It will also issue software patches at regular monthly intervals, (except for emergency situations) making it easier for users to keep their systems up to date with the latest fixes.  He also added that Microsoft would be issuing a major “security focused” update to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 early in 2004.

Microsoft admits that even with the changes in their strategy, and if all vulnerabilities were fixed tomorrow (which is extremely unlikely) then it would still not solve the problem.  There are (or still will be) 600 million computers that will not have the vulnerabilities patched.  Such is the success of Microsoft!

Facilitators UK have significant experience in helping clients to manage the total security of their PC systems and networks.  If you feel that you are in any way vulnerable, then please call Alan Finch on 01224 697457 and get expert help and guidance.