Talk:Microsoft Windows

What's a window (lower case) in Windows (upper case)?

Hi, shouldn't there also be an article for a Windows window? (I mean, how the Windows windows are built, what they consist of etc.? I was looking on the internet about the information and it's really not east to find. Maybe my comment will motivate someone to create a wiki page about Windows windows ;) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.17.240.177 (talk) 15:17, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Are you a troll? Windows "windows" are just an interface for users to interact with programs. They consist of nothing than a few lines of code and graphics. Or even on a lower level, they consist of a sequence of 1's and 0's. Good enough? 2001:5C0:1501:0:F9BA:41C3:3822:C1A4 (talk) 13:25, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

There is something to be talked about here, like the User32 APIs that create windows, the internal data structures that represent them, the window's associated thread and message queue, the GetMessage loop ("message pump"), the exceptions that are called "modal dialogs", etc. However it goes way beyond the scope of a general interest article about an operating system family, particularly as the different Windows families have done this in substantially different ways. I don't think the "general interest" reader can be assumed to know what a thread or a message queue are, or be interested. zI don't know if we have articles on Windows User32 programming but if we do, that's where that stuff would go. Jeh (talk) 19:50, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Article update + An objection

Aren't we going to update the "Windows History" section to include Windows 7?? Besides, I'm not sure about Windows 8. The link mentioned above leads me to Micro Soft Careers, and it has no info about Windows 8. TKhaldi (talk) 10:06, 28 January 2010

reference in Security section isn't formatted correctly

It's showing up in the text as: <refSchneier, Bruce (2005-06-15). "Crypto-Gram Newsletter". Counterpane Internet Security, Inc.. http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0506.html. Retrieved 2007-04-22. </ref>

Known Security Bugs in Windows

There was a bug in Windows XP (I don't know if it was fixed in SP3), that allowed getting system privilages on the computer, by a simple combination of CMD commands: taskkill /f "explorer.exe" /im (killing the explorer) at 0:00 /interactive "explorer.exe" (when 0:00 is a planned time to run a command, to perform the hack you usually set the timer to the current time plus one minute, since there is no option to work with seconds, and there is no way to perform calculations with the variable %time%) After doing it, Windows will generate the desktop for the user.

Another hack is called "MS11-080 Privilege Escalation Exploit", and it works with XP, Vista & 7. It's an exploit wrriten in Python. The scripts generates a shell with system privilages.

Should there be an article about bugs in MS's products? Galzigler (talk) 20:43, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

No seperate article, because none of these work in a current release with User Account Control (UAC) turned on. Starting the explorer with admistrative privileges requires administrative privileges with UAC. Everytime you start a program that requires admistrative privileges it will ask for the Username and Password of an administrator. You can try to put in the Windows XP article. 2001:5C0:1501:0:597D:25E3:BF57:E36F (talk) 12:47, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

If you would start such an article, you would also have to write one about bugs in Linux and MacOS to remain unbiased. Bugs happen. Microsoft is working to fix every issue as soon as possible by releasing constant updates, sometimes even before the public learns about it. So I just don't see what would be so noteworthy about Windows bugs. 2001:5C0:1101:9D00:1D16:75B7:F44D:67 (talk) 01:22, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Windows flag update

Should the Windows flag be updated to the one used in Win8? --176.25.115.91 (talk) 00:01, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Not yet. Wait for release. pcuser42 (talk) 00:12, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Update it. It's been released as of August 1, 2012. It is just not in the store yet. But it's been released to manufacturing (RTM Build 9200) and you can download it from Microsoft. 2001:5C0:1501:0:F9BA:41C3:3822:C1A4 (talk) 13:14, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Windows 8 RTM - Lates Unstable Release?

Since when is Windows 8 NT 6.2 (Build 9200) an unstable release as shown in the info box? Build 9200 is the RTM (release to manufacturing). Why would Microsoft allow an unstable version to go into retail stores? Or does it somehow (wiki)magically become stable ones it is in the store? Where is the source that says Windows 8 RTM is unstable? Windows 8 RTM Build 9200 is the latest stable release and it is already available to anyone with an Internet connection. That also means the screenshot in the info box should be updated as well. 2001:5C0:1501:0:597D:25E3:BF57:E36F (talk) 12:38, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

New Logo and Screenshot

Are we waiting for Windows 8 to be released to the public to change the logo and screenshot? Because technically it has been finished and sent to manufacturers. It's a finish OS and as of August 1, it has been distributed Matt99clancy (talk) 01:35, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Windows Defender update

Hasn't this name been changed to Microsoft Security Essentials? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wendigo17 (talk • contribs) 03:04, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

The two are still separate, and in Windows 8, the opposite seems to happen - Windows Defender is replaced by Microsoft Security Essentials which is then renamed to a new Windows Defender.--Jasper Deng (talk) 03:08, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Latest stable and unstable releases

Right now we're listing Windows 8 RTM as the "latest unstable release" in the infobox. This is a problem because "unstable" doesn't mean the build hasn't been widely released; it means the build isn't considered finished. Windows 8 RTM has been deemed stable. It's the same build that's going to be released to retail, and in fact the Enterprise edition has already been released to SA customers, the only market it will ever be released to. - Josh (talk | contribs) 00:36, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it definitely should be changed. Windows 8 has indeed been stable since August 1 and to list the same build number both stable and unstable is just ridiculous and shows how uneducated the editors are. That no one bothers to change it also shows how messed up this wikiality is. 2001:5C0:1101:9D00:1D16:75B7:F44D:67 (talk) 01:15, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Wine is not an emulator

Wine is an recursive acronym which stands for Wine is not an emulator. ReactOS is an operating system (definitely not an emulator). Nevertheless, the "Emulation Software" section is basically a list containing Wine, its various children, and ReactOS.

In light of this, I suggest that the title of the "Emulation Software" section be changed. Perhaps to "Software Emulation and Compatibility Layers," or "Compatibility Software."

It also may be worth mentioning virtualization software like VMWare and VirtualBox. In which case "Virtualization and Software Compatibility" might be a more appropriate title. Daniel.noland (talk) 09:33, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Please rename "Microsoft Windows" to "Windows (operating system)"

Russian users are begins renaming: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F:%D0%9A_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8E/2_%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8F_2012#Microsoft_Windows_.E2.86.92_Windows Please rename "Microsoft Windows" to "Windows (operating system)" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.121.210.102 (talk) 16:24, 24 October 2012 (UTC)