Upgrade or Not

[Macola10]

For those who have upgraded....are you satisfied? Did you do anything to address the security issues that are being reported?

Thanks!

 

[goombawaho]

The other thing to remember was that hardware was weak (XP grade) when Vista first came out, resulting in some pretty dreadfully under powered computers that would literally take 7 minutes to get to the point where you could click on something and have it open.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[dilettante]

The weak hardware lacking drivers, etc. was only an issue for a tiny minority of users.

Very few people ever "upgraded" Windows without buying a new machine... at least that is until the advent of Windows 10.

DEP and ASLR were available prior to Windows 7. However few progams enforce these things (and more) because so few developers are even aware of their options.

Windows ISV Software Security Defenses is old now but still useful.

 

[cdogg]

Hardware DEP and basic ASLR were both available prior to Windows 7, that's true. However, both were pretty ineffective. ForceASLR debuted with Windows 8 and was later released in an update to Windows 7. It allows better control over how non-ASLR-compatible DLL's are loaded into memory, which under the new model, are forced to randomize by default, even if they're not compatible. DEP support in Windows 8 was also greatly improved on the software side making it harder to exploit. XP, Vista and Windows 7 had relatively weak implementations of DEP with many flaws.

 

[dilettante]

Well given time you'd pretty much hope for improvements, right?

Windows 8 Security Overview goes into some of this.

 

[Macola10]

Thanks all for the good feedback!

 

[dbMark]

I hope most readers here have upgraded to Windows 10 by now. Just so you know, you don't have to use the original July 2015 install files. Always check for the latest install download so you have fewer updates to download from the Windows Update process. So far this is the latest:

Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1511: November 18, 2015

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3118754

If you use WSUS to slipstream your install ISO then this page may help you to use the latest update file. Be aware that these monthly updates are cumulative so you don't keep prior updates in the ISO package. Otherwise your 3.5 GB ISO will (as happened to me) become 4.6 GB and too large to burn to a DVD.

http://www.winbuzzer.com/2015/08/02/how-to-slipstream-windows-10-with-all-existing-updates-xcxwbt/

This site uses WHDownloader or WSUS Offline Update and then NTLite.

Currently each month there is one KB file for the original July 2015 ISO and a different KB for the Nov 2015 ISO. These are cumulative so you don't need the prior update packages from the prior month.

Why am I trying to get it all on one disc? So I can mail it to a friend who doesn't have regular internet access or at least no ability for large downloads.

 

[strongm]

Or you could just download the 1511 ISO

 

[dbMark]

But with the 1511 ISO I wouldn't have any security updates after Nov 2015. That said, I am so happily surprised MS provided that pseudo "service pack".