Where Do You Go from Here?

Hackers' activity becomes more intense every day. Thus, new security holes are incessantly found in Microsoft's programs, especially in Internet Explorer. Would it be better to migrate to Opera or even to another operating system (such as Linux)? Alas! Microsoft's products are not the only bug-prone ones; other browsers and operating systems also are not free from bugs . However, methods of eliminating them are different. Users of commercial software must wait for patches as though they were favors or, if the developer ceases to support the product, hastily migrate to the new version (even if the one they were using did its job well) or hack the program directly in machine code, spending lots of time and effort.

If source codes are available, the patch can be made almost instantly. The decentralized model of development adopted for the UNIX-like family of the operating systems allows users to forget about the ambitions of individual developer(s). If the patch doesn't appear in time, this isn't a tragedy. Someone will certainly release one. Nevertheless, UNIX and its clones require patches. Furthermore, the quality of optimization of some UNIX clones is far from perfect. Knoppix 3.7 appears a better alternative it normally boots from the CD, need not be installed on the hard disk, connects to the Internet using Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), surfs the Web, checks mail, and opens Microsoft Word and PDF documents. However, it is so slow that, against my will, I start to think is Microsoft as bad as it is painted ?