Common criticisms of Windows XP
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Microsoft's Windows XP operating system has received considerable amounts of criticism for various problems.
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[edit] Security issues
Security concerns have long been an issue with Microsoft products. Windows XP has been criticized for its susceptibility to buffer overflows, malware, viruses, trojan horses, and worms. Security issues are compounded by the fact that users, by default, receive an administrator account that provides unrestricted access to the underpinnings of the system. If the administrator's account is broken into, there is no limit to the control that can be asserted over the compromised PC. Nicholas Petreley for The Register notes that "Windows XP was the first version of Windows to reflect a serious effort to isolate users from the system, so that users each have their own private files and limited system privileges." [1] Windows XP Home Edition also lacks the ability to administer security policies and denies access to the Local Users and Groups utility.
The Windows operating system has traditionally been a tempting target for virus creators. This is logical due to the fact that the Windows market share is huge. Security holes are often invisible until they are exploited, making preemptive action difficult. Microsoft executives have stated that the release of patches to fix security holes is often what causes the spread of exploits against those very same holes, as crackers figured out what problems the patches fixed, and then launch attacks against unpatched systems.
Many attacks against Windows XP systems come in the form of e-mail trojan horses which are sent by worms. A user who opens the file attachment(s) can unknowingly infect his or her own computer, which then e-mails the worm to more people. Notable worms of this sort that have infected Windows XP systems include Mydoom and Bagle.
In August 2003 the Blaster worm, which became one of the most well known Windows worms, exploited a vulnerability present in every unpatched installation of Windows XP and capable of compromising a system even without user action. Even security-conscious users had trouble with Blaster, since it could infect a computer with a newly installed copy of Windows XP before the user had time to download security fixes [2]. Windows XP was also vulnerable to the Sasser worm, spread by using a buffer overflow in a remote service present on every installation. In May 2004, Sasser quickly spread through computers running Windows XP and Windows 2000. Increasingly widespread use of Service Pack 2, and greater use of personal firewalls, appears to have been making worms like these less of a common occurrence. [3].
Spyware and adware are a continuing problem on Windows XP and other versions of Windows. Spyware is also a concern for Microsoft with regard to service pack updates; Barry Goff, a group product manager at Microsoft, said some spyware could cause computers to freeze up upon installation of Service Pack 2 [4]. In January 2005, Microsoft released a free beta version of Microsoft AntiSpyware which attempts to remove spyware and adware from computers. Microsoft AntiSpyware has since been renamed to Windows Defender.
Windows XP offers some useful security benefits, such as Windows Update, which can be set to install security patches automatically, and a built-in firewall. However, if a user doesn't install the updates for a long time after the Windows Update icon is displayed in the toolbar, Windows will automatically install them and restart the computer on its own. This can lead to the loss of unsaved data if the user is away from the computer when the updates are installed. Service Pack 2 enables the firewall by default. It also adds increased memory protection to let the operating system take advantage of new No eXecute technology built into CPUs such as the AMD64. This allows Windows XP to prevent code from being executed on areas of memory flagged with an NX bit and can stop some buffer overflow exploits from running arbitrary code.
Service Pack 2 attempts to remedy problems with users running untrusted code with the Attachment Execution Service that records the origin of files in alternate data streams attached to files downloaded with Internet Explorer or received as an attachment in Outlook Express. For example if a user tries to run an executable File downloaded from an untrusted security zone, Windows XP with Service Pack 2 will prompt the user with a warning.
[edit] Product activation
While product activation and licensing servers are common for business and industrial software (especially software sold on a per-user basis for large sums of money), Windows XP gave many casual computer users their first introduction to it. The system was introduced by Microsoft to curb illegal distribution of Windows XP [5]. Activation requires the computer or the user to activate with Microsoft within a certain amount of time in order to continue using the operating system. If the user's computer system ever changes — for example, if two or more relevant components (see list below) of the computer itself are upgraded — Windows may refuse to run until the user reactivates with Microsoft.
Privacy fears were raised about the nature of the data transmitted to Microsoft. Microsoft then released details about the nature of the information transmitted [6]. It includes a cryptographic hash of the following ten values:
- Display adapter name
- SCSI adapter name
- IDE adapter name
- Network adapter MAC address
- RAM amount (as a range, e.g. 0–64 MB, 64–128 MB, etc.)
- Processor type
- Processor serial number (if applicable)
- Hard drive device
- Hard drive volume serial number
- CD-ROM/ CD-RW/ DVD-ROM identification
This information is used to seed the generation of a number which, along with the CD Key and country of installation, is transmitted to Microsoft. According to Microsoft, no specific details about the hardware are transmitted. However, as key changers and keygens were soon available on the Internet after Windows XP's release, many users managed to circumvent the product activation process.
There exist volume-licensed copies of Windows XP Professional that do not require Windows Product Activation at all. These copies, intended for use by customers with many PCs, are referred to by some as "Windows XP Corporate Edition". According to Microsoft, 90% of pirated installations of Windows XP use a volume-licensed version to circumvent WPA. The most famous volume license key (VLK) is one beginning with FCKGW, which was released with the first pirated copies of the final version of Windows XP.
[edit] User interface and performance
Critics have claimed that the default Windows XP user interface (Luna) adds visual clutter and wastes screen space while offering no new functionality and running more slowly. Supporters of the new interface praise its task-oriented nature and the automatic grouping of related windows on the taskbar, and automatic hiding of unused system tray icons, to reduce clutter, and point out that the higher nominal system requirements of Windows XP allow it to easily handle the increased processing demand. By changing the start menu and turning off theming it is possible to return to the Windows Classic interface. This is slightly faster but many consider it to be less visually attractive.
CNET's web site lists hundreds of positive and negative reviews of Windows XP Home [7] and Professional [8] from users. David Coursey, Executive Editor of ZDNet's AnchorDesk [9], and Paul Thurrott, who runs SuperSite for Windows [10] have both written positive reviews of the operating system. Steven Garrity has written an excellent article displaying the inconsistencies throughout the user interface [11].
[edit] Antitrust concerns
In light of the United States v. Microsoft case which resulted in Microsoft being convicted for illegally abusing its operating system monopoly to overwhelm competition in other markets, Windows XP has drawn fire for integrating user applications such as Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger into the operating system, as well as for its close ties to the Microsoft Passport Network service.
In 2001, ProComp claimed that the bundling and distribution of Windows Media Player in Windows XP was a continuance of Microsoft's anticompetitive behavior [12], and that the integration of Passport into Windows XP was a further example of Microsoft attempting to gain a monopoly in web services [13]. Both of these claims were rebutted by the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) and the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) [14] [15]. ProComp is a group including several of Microsoft's rivals, including Oracle, Sun, and Netscape. ACT and CompTIA are both partially funded by Microsoft. The battle being fought by fronts for each side was the subject of a heated exchange between Oracle's Larry Ellison and Microsoft's Bill Gates [16].
Microsoft responded on its "Freedom to Innovate" web site, pointing out that in earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft had integrated tools such as disk defragmenters, graphical file managers, and TCP/IP stacks, and there had been no protest that Microsoft was being anti-competitive. Microsoft asserted that these tools had moved from special to general usage and therefore belonged in its operating system.
To avoid the possibility of an injunction, which might have delayed the release of Windows XP, Microsoft changed its licensing terms to allow PC manufacturers to hide access to Internet Explorer (but not remove it). Competitors dismissed this as a trivial gesture [17]. Later, Microsoft released a utility as part of the SP1 which allows icons and other links to bundled software such as Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and MSN Messenger to be removed. The components themselves remain in the system; Microsoft maintains that they are necessary for key Windows functionality (such as the HTML Help system and Windows desktop), and that removing them completely may result in unwanted consequences. One critic, Shane Brooks, has argued that Internet Explorer could be removed without adverse effects, as demonstrated with his product XPLite [18]. Dino Nuhagic created his nLite software to remove many components from XP prior to installation of the product [19].
In addition, the first release of Windows XP, the "Buy Music Online" feature always used Microsoft's Internet Explorer rather than any other web browser that the user may have set as his/her default. Whether this flaw was intentional or simply an oversight is unclear. Under pressure from the United States Department of Justice, Microsoft released a patch in early 2004, which corrected the problem [20].
[edit] Software compatibility
16 bit applications are incompatible with 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. Additionally, not all applications designed for earlier versions of Windows will work correctly [21].
[edit] Temporary File Clutter
The hard drive "cleanup" tools fail to remove temporary files from all locations from the hard drive such as
- 1) The contents of the \WINDOWS\TEMP folder
- 2) redundant .tmp, .chk, .bak, .000, .dmp, *.old, ~*.*, *.~*, *.$$$, , *.?~?, *.aps, *.bk?, *.bsc, *.ilk, *.pch, *.rws, *.sbr, backup*.wbk, *.ncb, *.~mp, *.da0, *.fts, *.gid, *.mtx, *.nch, *.ftg, *.$db, *.db$ files
- 3) All the temporary files, cookies and cached files from Internet Explorer.
In addition the Disk Cleanup tool can be very slow to run as it spends a lot of time calculating how much old files can be compressed by, even when the user does not require this option. (NTFS only)
[edit] Poor design of Setup Process
Many computer engineers (and others who have to regularly perform windows installations) intensely dislike the Windows Set-up for the following reasons:
- 1) there being no less than five places where the country/language/Keyboard layout has to be set. With most versions of Linux it is usual for the country to be specified early in the install process and then the user is asked to confirm this choice (Instead of selecting from a long dropdown list) when it comes to specifying language, Keyboard layout etc. The regional settings section is also very poorly laid out and inexperienced users (Which means most people since an average user rarely perform a windows reinstallation) often don’t realise that the country selection has to be made several times and end up with a computer set for "US English" keyboard layout even when they live outside the USA.
- 2) The choice of default timezone setting (UTC -8 which coincidentally is the timezone of the US state where Microsoft's head office is based) When UTC or even the most populous timezone of the country the computer is to be used in (which is specified earlier in the install process) would be a far more logical default option.
- 3) The choice of "Letter" rather than "A4" as a default printer setting even when the Installation is configured for use outside the USA.
- 4) The long gaps in the process between specifying various settings and other user prompts rather than simply specifying the setting early in the process and then allowing the installation to continue unattended.
- 5) Persistent "US English". Even when Windows XP after installed in a language other than US English, Windows has an underlying bias towards it. For example, Visual Studio classifies text copied and pasted from it as US English[1], incompatible with spellcheckers for other languages or dialects of English. However a developer hardcoding a preference for their dialect isn't unique to Microsoft. The Swedish MySQL AB Company attracted criticism when they changed their underlying language of MySQL 4 from English to Swedish[2], causing problems for non-Swedish users.
[edit] Backward Compatiblity
Some users switching from Windows 9x to XP dislike it's lack of DOS support. Although XP comes with the ability to run programs in a backward compatibility mode, as well as a command program which is more like a 9x "Dos Box" than CMD, XP still has trouble running many old DOS programs. This is largly due to the fact that it is NT based and does not use DOS as a base OS. There are work arounds such as the open source DOSBox and FreeDOS.
[edit] Personal Web Server
Windows XP Home Edition is intended to be the successor to the home Windows 9x operating systems, however there is no web server such as Microsoft Internet Information Services or Personal Web Server included into a default installation. Win98 included the stand-alone web server Personal Web Server but it was removed with the introduction of Windows Me.
Personal Web Server does not work on Windows XP Home Edition and cannot even be installed through the "Add/Remove Windows Components" wizard.
