Ten Years After

Now watch the Windows fanboys try to wiggle out of this one.

Get It Try It

Security is going to be the big buzzword of the next ten years, said Fred Björck in May 2000. Was he ever right.

That prediction came on the tails of the ILOVEYOU attack that crippled the entire Internet, this because of a stupid design decision in Windows, one of innumerable such stupid design decisions, as security gurus were quick to point out.

May 2000 to December 2009: ten long years. During this time the pre-pubescent World Wide Web has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous marketing and Joe Sixpack users have been brainwashed into believing viruses are something you just have to live with.

Their operating system of lack of obvious choice has been a ghetto junkyard of nocturnal creatures attacking their system trays and desktop views, a continual nuisance as files get hacked and corrupted so they need to reinstall everything ALL OVER AGAIN - and they're told to buy not one but MULTIPLE antivirus solutions as no single such product can get at all the bad stuff hidden on their computers.

And all the while the Linux and Mac OS X users sit there, happy and content, no antivirus at all and no attacks either. Ten long years.

It's all because Windows is more prevalent, the fanboys keep saying. As if that'd make one iota of difference anyway. For even in their wacky scenario, Windows is a lot less secure already today. And not just a bit: Microsoft themselves estimate the total number of Windows attacks in the wild to be in excess of one million.

The botnets: millions upon millions of infected Windows boxes run by classical nitwits, boxes spewing out 97% of all the spam on the Internet, spam that today doesn't just sell penis pills but carries payloads as well. Malware today is a multibillion dollar business. It might make NASDAQ and the NYSE.

But now Google - GOOGLE - have indirectly condemned both Windows and the entire Microsoft software arsenal. You can't use Windows. That's the message. We at Google can't use it because it screws us up. A single dumb Windows box and an entire organisation with the reputation of Google can come crumbling down.

That's a lot of PR damage to Microsoft's prestige.

The Windows fanboys are simultaneously busy publishing reports in big fat first page headlines about how fast 'smart' corporations are going to be adopting Windows 7 (compared to V*STA of course) and making sure the news of Google's move stays in small print and buried deep inside the pages and websites.

The denials of media manipulation and control by Microsoft - they're not worth much anymore.

It's not just Windows - it's almost anything Microsoft have marketed. Check the Slashdot thread (linked below) if you want to be reminded how bad it really is.

The fanboy nonsense doesn't really matter anymore anyway. Statistics and Microsoft lies and fanboy hysteria can't wash any longer. All the security-conscious need to do is point to Google.

The fanboys and Microsoft astro-turfers will continue to point away from Windows and Microsoft. They'll accuse the banks of not using 1,001 factor authentication. They'll blame the money mules. They'll point a finger at gay Martians. Just like they've always done. But it won't help anymore. It'll only cause derision. The Google Bomb will annihilate them.

The next time some idiot tries to defend Windows, just say that one word. Google.

'I work for the Googles. Don't you dare claim Windows was my idea.'

See Also
Red Hat Diaries: Google Moving to Mac OS X
Slashdot: Google Reportedly Ditching Windows
FT.com / Technology: Google ditch Windows on security concerns