Microsoft to Kill Windows 7 Beta on Feb. 10

Computer enthusiasts who want to get their hands on the trial version of Microsoft’s next operating system have just two more weeks to do so.

The company says it will end availability of Windows 7 Beta on Feb. 10.

There are a couple of loopholes, however. Users who started to download the OS before that date will have until Feb. 12 to complete the process. Also, Microsoft will continue to distribute product keys beyond Feb. 12 to users who have previously downloaded Windows 7 Beta but have yet to obtain a key.

“We are at a point where we have more than enough beta testers and feedback coming in to meet our engineering needs, so we are beginning to plan the end of general availability for Windows 7 Beta,” said Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft’s in-house Windows blogger, in a post Friday.

Microsoft will post warnings on its Web site that the download program for Windows 7 is about to end starting Tuesday. A final version of Windows 7, Microsoft’s follow-up to Windows Vista, is expected to be available in late 2009 or early 2010.

Perhaps due to Vista’s unpopularity, computer users have been downloading Windows 7 Beta in droves. Microsoft dropped limits on the number of available copies of the software after a crush of download requests for the new operating system brought the company’s servers to a halt during the first weekend of availability earlier this month.

Windows 7 offers numerous new features, including native support for touch-screen interfaces and more than 20 hotkey combinations designed to simplify use.

Microsoft needs Windows 7 to be a hit. Vista has failed to catch on with mainstream computer users and businesses have shunned it outright. Many users have complained about Vista’s hardware requirements, intrusive security measures, and lack of compatibility with older applications.

Dissatisfaction with Vista has allowed Apple to gain share against Microsoft in the computer operating system market in recent months. Windows’ market share in November fell below 90% for the first time in years while Mac OS is now flirting with the 10% mark, according to market watcher Net Applications.

It’s all taking a toll on Microsoft’s bottom line. Last week, the company said second quarter profits tumbled 11%. It also announced a restructuring plan that will see it lay off 5,000 full-time employees and an additional 5,000 contract workers.

Clock ticking on worm attack code

Experts are warning that hackers have yet to activate the payload of the Conficker virus.

The worm is spreading through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without current security updates.

The malicious program – also known as Downadup or Kido – was first discovered in October 2008.

Although the spread of the worm appears to be levelling off, there are fears someone could easily take control of any and all of the 9.5m infected PCs.

Speaking to the BBC, F-Secure’s chief research officer, Mikko Hypponen, said there was still a real risk to users.

“Total infections appear to be peaking. That said, a full count is hard, because we also don’t know how many machines are being cleaned. But we estimate there are still more than 9m infected PCs world wide.

“It is scary thinking about how much control they [a hacker] could have over all these computers. They would have access to millions of machines with full administrator rights.

“But they haven’t done that yet, maybe they’re scared. That’s good news. But there is also the scenario that someone else figures out how to activate this worm. That is a worrying prospect.”

Experts say users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft’s MS08-067 patch. The patch is known as KB958644.

Speaking to the BBC, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with anti-virus firm Sophos, said the outbreak was of a scale they had not seen for some time.

“Microsoft did a good job of updating people’s home computers, but the virus continues to infect business who have ignored the patch update.

“A shortage of IT staff during the holiday break didn’t help and rolling out a patch over a large number of computers isn’t easy.

“What’s more, if your users are using weak passwords – 12345, QWERTY, etc – then the virus can crack them in short order,” he added.

“But as the virus can be spread with USB memory sticks, even having the Windows patch won’t keep you safe. You need anti-virus software for that.”

Method
According to Microsoft, the worm works by searching for a Windows executable file called “services.exe” and then becomes part of that code.

It then copies itself into the Windows system folder as a random file of a type known as a “dll”. It gives itself a 5-8 character name, such as piftoc.dll, and then modifies the Registry, which lists key Windows settings, to run the infected dll file as a service.

Once the worm is up and running, it creates an HTTP server, resets a machine’s System Restore point (making it far harder to recover the infected system) and then downloads files from the hacker’s web site.

Most malware uses one of a handful of sites to download files from, making them fairly easy to locate, target, and shut down.

But Conficker does things differently.

Anti-virus firm F-Secure says that the worm uses a complicated algorithm to generate hundreds of different domain names every day, such as mphtfrxs.net, imctaef.cc, and hcweu.org. Only one of these will actually be the site used to download the hackers’ files. On the face of it, tracing this one site is almost impossible.

Variant
Speaking to the BBC, Kaspersky Lab’s security analyst Eddy Willems said that a new strain of the worm was complicating matters.

“There was a new variant released less than two weeks ago and that’s the one causing most of the problems,” said Mr Willems

“The replication methods are quite good. It’s using multiple mechanisms, including USB sticks, so if someone got an infection from one company and then takes his USB stick to another firm, it could infect that network too. It also downloads lots of content and creating new variants though this mechanism.

“Of course, the real problem is that people haven’t patched their software,” he added.

Microsoft says that the malware has infected computers in many different parts of the world, with machines in China, Brazil, Russia, and India having the highest number of victims.

Report: Gmail about one-third as expensive as hosted e-mail

What does it cost to host an e-mail account? It seems like a simple question, but a remarkable number of enterprises surveyed by Forrester had no idea of how to answer that question. A new report by the research company has taken a look under the hood of both in-house and commercial e-mail services, and put some numbers on the per-user costs associated with a variety of options. The surprise result was not so much that Google’s corporate services come out ahead, but rather how large a lead it has on every other option.

The title of the report, “Should Your e-mail Live In The Cloud? A Comparative Cost Analysis,” is actually somewhat misleading. The cloud implies a diffuse network of servers that hold partially redundant copies of information. Some of the services examined by the report don’t necessarily offer that sort of setup, although the report frequently refers to any off-site service as “the cloud.”

Semantics aside, Forrester surveyed over 50 IT workers at major enterprise companies to see how they handle e-mail, contacts, and calendaring services. They also discussed options and costs with 21 vendors of these services, and created some rough estimates of how much each portion of the various services cost.

One of the things they discovered is that the business community is largely unaware of the costs of running an e-mail account. Many of those surveyed gave guesses from $2 to $11 per user, although a detailed accounting showed that the costs were often several times that (Forrester came up with $25.18 per month, compared with $8.47 for Gmail). Part of the problem is that costs are often split among several cost centers, with software licenses part of a different department’s budget from the salaries of the people that support it. In some cases, the e-mail system was running on older hardware that had initially been bought for a different purpose and had been depreciated.

Despite the confusion, a lot of companies realize that e-mail has become expensive for two simple reasons: spam and malware. Nearly half of those surveyed were evaluating off-site solutions because e-mail costs had risen, while another 30 percent were performing the evaluation as part of an upgrade or service consolidation process. Fully 85 percent of these companies were leaning towards moving some of the services off-site.

The biggest reason for doing this seemed to be so that someone else could deal with staying on top of spam and malware; over half of those surveyed were planning on implementing a hybrid system where an external service filtered mail on its way into and/or out of the company’s internal servers. Reasons cited include the challenges of staying on top of the threats and up-to-date with the software, as well as the resource-intensive nature of combating mal-mail. Another 30 percent were leaning towards a complete outsourcing of the service, presumably in part because of these costs.

The author of the report calculated the monthly costs for the components of various systems, such as storage and client software. The biggest cost was clearly archiving, which is often legally required for a lot of positions. Beyond that, the software and filtering costs all came in at roughly 10 to 15 percent of the costs when they’re needed—off-site services, for example, eliminate separate purchases of server and filtering software, and lower staff costs in exchange for a monthly subscription. The overall conclusion is that any company with an employee count of under 15,000 would probably benefit from using off-site services.

The two examples of actual cloud services, Microsoft’s Exchange Online and Google Apps for Business, came out significantly ahead. Exchange Online provided significantly lower costs until somewhere above 30,000 seats, while Google Apps’ monthly cost consistently came in at half the cost of others, in part because its subscription cost is so low, and in part because the “client software” is a free web browser.

The author of the report cautions that there are a lot of variables to consider, such as how often the company adds and removes users, the frequency of large attachments, and the archiving requirements. Still, the results make it clear that Microsoft is now undercutting most of other services available, including those that rely on Exchange itself. But Google has managed to significantly undercut Microsoft. Although its solution is nowhere near as integrated as Exchange, an increasing percentage of the workforce is getting comfortable with managing their life and e-mail through a web browser.

Cloud hangs over Macworld opening

Macworld, the annual tech gathering for the Apple faithful in San Francisco, opens with a cloud hanging over it.

In a surprise move, the company recently shocked fans by announcing this year’s event is its last.

It also revealed that chief executive Steve Jobs would not present the keynote address, reigniting speculation his health has deteriorated following pancreatic cancer surgery in 2004.

Some analysts, however, see Mr Jobs’ decision as part of a succession plan.

“Steve is clearly beginning to share the spotlight with some other executives and sooner or later someone has to step up to the CEO role,” said Van Baker, vice-president of research for IT consulting firm Gartner.

“I don’t think this is about Steve’s health. I think he is trying to back off from being a ‘one man band’ and he is trying to make way for a possible succession and spread the wealth among the executive team that Apple has,” explained Mr Baker to BBC News.

Apple has said the reason for pulling out of future shows is because it feels the forum does not provide value for money.

In an earlier statement, the company said that “every week 3.5m people visit our retail stores. And like many companies, trade shows are a minor part of how Apple reaches its customers”.

Rumour mill
With Apple refusing to answer questions about Mr Jobs’ health, concern and rumour continues to take on a life of its own. Much of it was sparked off in the middle of last year when he appeared at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference looking very thin and gaunt.

Just last week Gizmodo.com, a popular tech and gadget website, posted a report from an anonymous source who said Mr Jobs’ health was “rapidly declining”.

Within minutes, Apple stock dipped from $87.92 (£60.60) to $84.72 (£58.42). It rallied at the end of the day but this demonstrates how sensitive the market is to the issue.

Mr Baker, however, believes there really is nothing to worry about when it comes to either the health of Apple’s boss or that of the company he has been credited with turning into such a dominant force.

“I think it’s much ado about nothing, to be honest with you. Of course I could be wrong, but I think if he had anything that was truly life threatening there is an onus on the board and on him to share that with shareholders,” stated Mr Baker.

However, some analysts believe that Apple will suffer without Mr Jobs at the helm.

“Apple can’t survive the way it is without Steve Jobs,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told the San Jose Mercury News.

“It will have to change dramatically because it’s been so designed around Steve.”

That view is upheld by LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, who asks what he calls the crass question – “What is Apple Inc’s plan if CEO Steve Jobs dies?”

Mr Hiltzik wrote: “I hope the day when Apple has to contemplate life without Steve Jobs stays far, far in the future. But the value of the company and the perception of its future are now tied, at least in the short term, to the public perception of his future.”

Silent protest
Mr Jobs’ decision not to present Tuesday’s keynote speech now means the spotlight will be turned on Apple’s senior vice-president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Shiller, who will stand in.

The presentation has in the past been likened to that of a rock concert, with the audience cheering every announcement. It has also been a highly visible platform for Steve Jobs, who has delighted the Mac fans by giving them a first glimpse of new products such as the iPhone, the iPod and the Mac Air book among others.

“This really feels like we are making a pilgrimage to the mother ship to see what Steve is going to give us for the next year,” explained Lesa Snider King, who met her husband at Macworld and planned the wedding around the expo in 2006.

As a long time Mac user, regular Macworld attendee, and Mac training instructor, Ms Snider King told the BBC she was so disappointed at Apple’s decision to pull out of future shows that she had organised a protest. She has called on the Mac community to stay silent during Mr Shiller’s keynote address.

“I don’t want anybody to be rude, or throw things or heckle or anything. Our anger will speak volumes by us not saying anything. This isn’t personal against Mr Shiller but it’s aimed at sending a message to Apple,” Ms Snider King explained.

“There is a whole ecosystem that centres around Macworld and it’s not just about Apple. There are hundreds of mom-and-pop companies who will be adversely affected,” she said.

Ms Snider King added that while she has had a lot of positive response, there has been something of a backlash to her idea.

“There have been quite a number of very vile, mean personal attacks over it which I have found shocking. I never dreamt in a million years that I would have people calling me names that I don’t dare repeat. But this is important. Apple pulling out of Macworld has the potential to kill the show.

“Apple have always had this thing about eating their young and I feel that is what they have done here,” said Ms Snider King.