Windows Vista is more susceptible to malware vulnerabilities than its eight-year-old predecessor Windows 2000, according to a recent independent study conducted by PC Tools.

With the public re-release of Vista Service Pack 1 comes a host of new updates including the retirement of the Reduced Functionality Mode.

With all the problems surrounding Vista, it’s been suggested that Vista could actually be more along the lines of beta software than the final version. Microsoft spent five years developing Vista but half of that was spent with Longhorn which was trashed about half way through and Vista was built, at least partially, from the ground up.

Microsoft might be maligned for other things such as releasing an operating system that wasn’t ready for prime time and irritating its customers to no end with useless features but never let it be said that issues go unaddressed.  A new study reveals that Microsoft is fastest to release patches for its operating system, Sun and Apple lag behind the great software giant.

The recent hullaballoo over the exploit that opens up Vista through Adobe Flash has the hacking community grinning from metaphorical ear to ear.  The same can’t be said for Adobe, and what’s less of a surprise in the midst of the controversy is that Adobe is now claiming it knew about the exploit all along.

Security programs from well-known security firms have failed the VB100 (Virus Bulletin) tests for Vista specific security solutions.  The latest tests looked at 37 made-for Vista security programs to see which could attain the level of threat detection required for the “VB100″ certification.  Out of those tested, 17 managed to fail the test including software from big names like McAfee, Sophos and Trend Micro.

Ok, ok, we can all laugh and joke about some of the rather humorous ends eBay has gone to in the interest of protecting its customers, but there’s a real chance that the latest caper moves from lighthearted humor to rather arguable controversy.  Ebay has removed a laptop that contains an attack code used to crack Vista in the interesting of its buyers’ “safety.” 

Those crazy Japanese are at it again.  Microsoft’s subsidiary in Japan decided to release a copy of Vista Home Premium bundled with Windows Live OneCare but with a twist; it comes in a nice pretty pink box ala Hello Kitty.

I think we can all agree at this point in time that Microsoft is sitting not-so-pretty in a pot of boiling water over the whole “Vista-capable” debacle.  Though the bundle of corporate emails originally seemed to indicate that Intel was the bully responsible for the early release of Vista and the ensuing disaster of a marketing strategy, continued research has shown that graphical giant Nvidia has had the most adverse affect on Vista operating systems thus far.

The list of users who are experiencing more than a little difficulty with the new Service Pack 1 grows longer every day; it seems more and more users who boot multiple operating systems are experiencing grief as well.  Before installing Vista Service Pack 1, be sure to check out the boot systems you’re currently using if you use Windows Vista Enterprise or Vista Ultimate, otherwise your PC might end up the victim of a faulty SP1 install.

Windows Vista users, count your blessings.  Though the operating system may be flawed, sluggish in some areas and have issues with installing the new service pack; it is not vulnerable to a new flaw exposed in the Microsoft Jet Database Engine which could allow remote code execution.

That’s right, its finally here — the salvation for sinners, the roof for the homeless, the bread for the hungry — service pack 1 for Microsoft’s acclaimed Vista operating system is here.  But is it too late?  Is SP1 showing up to a party that’s already been busted?

The much-anticipated 8th version of Microsoft Internet Explorer has finally been released in Beta to the public.  Internet Explorer 8 comes with quite a few new and nifty features that all Vista and XP users should look forward to.

Microsoft recently published a list of “interoperability” principles that are to be the new focus of Microsoft’s software and internet directions; with that in mind, Microsoft has  announced that Internet Explorer 8 will aim to interpret web content in the most “standards-compliant” way possible.

PCTools produces several programs including, firewalls, anti-virus but the company is probably most well known for its SpywareDoctor software.  SpywareDoctor has won plenty of awards for its detection rates, low false positives and fast updates for new threats.  Previously, only pay versions of the program were available but partnering with Google, there is now a free “starter edition.”