[ Thanks to Shareef
Haque for this link. ]
“But the PC… was created for a single user. Efficient usage
meant that much of the function of the operating system was hidden
from the user, who really didn’t need to know what was going on
within the system. Also, in the interest of ease of use, the
different applications became more tightly integrated with each
other and within the file system. The outcome, of course, was the
Microsoft-driven computer of today where the word processor, spread
sheet, e-mail package, web browser and file system are intimately
connected.”
“As a result, it is difficult today to figure out exactly what
is going on inside your own computer. The integration of processes
obfuscates the operating system. A good example can be found in the
famous ‘blue screen of death’ that functions like a ‘service
engine’ light. It tells you that you are in trouble, but doesn?t
tell you why. The inability of the Microsoft Operating System (OS)
to tell the user what is wrong is a feature, not a bug, as they
say. The OS frequently doesn?t have any idea what has failed. The
complexity of the system itself makes transparency impossible.”
“Security requires a complete re-engineering of the
operating system to permit rapid diagnosis through complete
transparency. It will not be easy to evolve Windows or NT in this
direction. It seems that officials may want to deal with this
problem. After all, the real threat from rogue states won’t be
nuclear attack, but cyber attack. Rogue states won’t launch nuclear
attack for fear of the counterattack. But how do we retaliate
against a virus attack? We depend on computers. They don’t.”