“Microsoft has been taking it on the chin for weeks now, from
critics who say its Outlook e-mail software is partly to blame for
the damage caused by a rash of self-propagating viruses. At first,
the software giant denied it was at fault, saying customers had
asked for the features that were being exploited by hackers.”
“Critics of Microsoft say that while the patches will
prevent viruses like Melissa and the Love Bug, they do little to
address underlying weaknesses in the Microsoft platform. Not
surprisingly, some of the most vocal criticism comes from the Linux
camp.”
“I lay the blame at Microsoft’s feet,” says David Sifry, chief
technology officer at San Francisco-based LinuxCare (www.linuxcare.
com), in reference to the recent outbreaks. “The architecture of
Windows, Exchange and Outlook are fine in a local area
network-centric environment. But in an Internet world, their design
is flawed.”