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However, for the type of work I do (writing, web-surfing, etc), this sloth-like antique system does just fine (which is just as well because I won't be able to afford to replace it for quite some time).

There's no way, despite its 256MB of RAM, that this machine would run efficiently with Windows XP, which is why it is currently loaded with Windows 98 (gasp!).

Of course there are some up-sides to not running XP and one of those are that I never had any problems with the Blaster worm or the myriad of other XP-specific bits of malware that have rampaged across the Net in recent times.

Like myself, there are a surprisingly large number of people who simply don't see the need to spend a goodly fistful of money buying newer, faster hardware just so they can upgrade(?) to Windows XP. They're perfectly happy working within the limits that earlier Windows versions impose.

Well it seems that Microsoft may now have spotted a cunning opportunity to rake in a little more revenue -- by forcing those Win98 and other users to upgrade to XP, whether they want to or not.

Just how are they going to do this?

Simple -- just stop issuing security updates for versions of IE that run on those earlier versions of windows.

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If I were an Internet Explorer user (which I'm not), this would concern me on two levels.

Firstly, I would not be at all happy that Microsoft was prepared to say "tough luck, upgrade or risk getting hammered by all manner of malware".

Secondly, I realise that every compromised PC on the Net costs all Net users money and time. Microsoft seems prepared to ignore the fact that by not offering security fixes for its browser to the many millions of older systems on the Net it will be creating a wonderful breeding ground for malware.

Of course the brighter folk running non-XP versions of Windows will simply upgrade their browser to FireFox or Opera and save themselves a mountain of grief -- but let's face it, the IQ of your average Net user has been falling steadily for many years. I'm betting that only a small percentage of those affected will cast their IE aside for a superior product.

Avoiding the churn fee?
As we all know, Telecom has opted to fine those ISPs who attempt to take advantage of the competition its UBS service will bring to the market (eventually).

If you swap from one ISP to another, your new ISP will have to pay a rather stiff "churn fee" to Telecom as punishment for its sins. That the government allows this blatantly anti-competitive fee to exist beggars belief -- but then again we all know that there's a lot more going on in the Telecom-Government relationship than either party will admit to.

But what happens if you get *another* DSL account with a different ISP without relinquishing the first one?

Yes, you can have two separate DSL accounts with two separate ISPs (I've done it) and why should the new ISP have to pay a "churn fee" when the customer still uses the service provided by the first ISP?

Perhaps, by using this tactic, ISPs can defeat the churn fee. Keep your old DSL account for a month after you sign up to the new one and then drop it.

No doubt Telecom will claim that this still constitutes churn -- but I suspect that their dictionary will be a special "telco" edition.

Lighten Up
Almost out of space/time for this week's lighten up so here are some quickies:

It would appear that Microsoft are now making teeshirts. Hands up all those who want to press ctrl-alt-del on this one? :-)

And here's proof that even the homeless are now computer-literate.

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