Microsoft is bad       Vista is seriously evil!

Microsoft Vista is not funky and it's certainly lacking the Wow factor!

This site aims to provide educational and technical material in order to help convince people that installing Vista is a very bad idea and they should instead stick with Windows XP or alternatively look at alternatives such as Linux, Mac OS or RISC OS.

As we uncover new issues we will add new sections below.

[Business]

When will business take the plunge? - Six months after the launch of Windows Vista businesses remain cautious about Microsoft's latest operating system. Although Microsoft has painted a rosy picture of adoption of its new operating system, analysts say the decision to upgrade hasn't been quick or simple for enterprises. (17th May 2007)

[Support]		Microsoft Hit By U.S. DOT Ban On Windows Vista, Explorer 7, and Office 2007 - Tens of thousands of federal workers are prohibited from upgrading to the latest versions, according to memos seen by InformationWeek. (2nd Mar 2007)
[Security]		Microsoft Vista Hacked, Brute Force Keygen Opens Pandora's Box - Finding the secret keys to the kingdom has become an international sport, and now we're hearing that the mighty product activation for Microsoft Windows Vista has already been compromised. Using a brute force technique of checking 20,000 possibilities an hour, it might take a few days to find a valid product key, but it works. (2nd Mar 2007)
[Support]		Falling into the Vista trap - Microsoft promises to wow people who are upgrading from Windows XP to its new operating system, but with the joys of Windows Vista comes plenty of pain. (2nd Mar 2007)
[Security]		Vista activation cracked by brute force - It looks like Microsoft's unhackable OS activation malware has been hacked. (1st Mar 2007)
[Support]		Net firms tackle Vista headache - Windows Vista is causing problems for some new PC owners hooking up their machine to a broadband connection. Some old installation discs that simplify the task of configuring a PC for broadband have refused to work on machines loaded with Vista. (1st Mar 2007)

[Cost]		How green was my Vista? - Of the many claims made for Vista, its promised credentials for green computing rank with the most fanciful. (28th Feb 2007)
[Cost]		'Vista rip-off': UK customers cry foul over US prices - The UK pricing for Microsoft Windows Vista has been attacked this week by silicon.com readers. Consumers cried foul over the price difference between buying Microsoft's latest operating system in the UK and buying it in the US. (28th Feb 2007)
[Support]		More Vista upgrade woes - Yellowcave, an IT manager in Dorset, has posted an interesting Talkback detailing his company's experience with Vista uprgade. (27th Feb 2007)
[Security]		Vista security overhaul questioned - Security researchers have taken issue with Microsoft's implementation of a security feature in Vista that is designed to stop users from routinely running systems in admin mode. (19th Feb 2007)
[DRM]		A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection - An extensive analysis by security researcher Peter Gutmann. (18th Feb 2007)
[Miscellaneous]		Vista upgrade workaround exposed - An IT professional claims to have discovered a way of upgrading to a full version of Vista from scratch, while only paying the cost of an upgrade for an earlier version of Windows. (15th Feb 2007)
[DRM]		DRM in Windows Vista - Security expert Bruce Schneier discusses Vista issues and advises users not to upgrade to Vista. (12th Feb 2007)
[Patents]		Microsoft Patent for OS Policing of DRM - System and method for authenticating an operating system to a central processing unit, providing the CPU/OS with secure storage, and authenticating the CPU/OS to a third party. (6th Feb 2007)
[Security]		Security watchers lambast Vista - Windows Vista has only just left the starting blocks but security watchers have wasted no time in challenging claims that it provides improved security defences. (5th Feb 2007)

[DRM]

Vista DRM broken already? - Two controversial aspects of Microsoft's Vista were conspicuous by their absence at yesterday's launch event - neither digital rights management nor the way Microsoft will shut down or reduce the functionality of software it considers to be an illegal copy were mentioned. (31st Jan 2007)

[Hacks/Exploits]		MS sees out year with another Vista attack - Hackers have posted an exploit which might be used by local users to gain admin privileges on Windows boxes, including machines running Vista. However the bug is not as serious as it might be because initial analysis suggests it can only be exploited locally and not remotely across the internet. (28th Dec 2006)
[DRM]		Windows DRM is the 'longest suicide note in history' - Copy-protection features in Windows Vista make the operating system more bloated while giving few benefits to end users, according to a new security paper. (27th Dec 2006)

[Bugs]

Vista kernel fix 'worse than useless' - Microsoft has modified Windows Vista to prevent a high-profile exploit demonstrated at security conferences this summer but the fix creates as many problems as it solves, according to the security researcher who identified the original problem. (24th Oct 2006)

[Hacks/Exploits]		Stealth attack undermines Vista defences - Researchers have demonstrated how to bypass security protections in order to inject potentially hostile code into the kernel of prototype versions of Windows. (7th Aug 2006)
[Security]		Symantec highlights Windows Vista user vulnerabilities - Symantec has shed more light on potential vulnerabilities in Windows Vista that could circumvent new security measures and leave users vulnerable to attack. (2nd Aug 2006)

If you have any additional information or would like to help inform the public of Vista problems or reasons to boycott Vista, please let us know.