Security acpects aside, although there is supposed to be an option to return to the "classic" windows layout for your desktop, it doesn't seem to work properly. IE users around the world who have tried as a last resort to remove (de-install) IE4 (to go back to a previous version - say IE3) have frequently found the process creates so much havok to their system they have had to completely re-install their 95 or NT from scratch.

Anyone who has both IE V4 and Netscape's Communicator V4 working flawlessly on the same computer should consider themselves fortunate. According to the US DOJ investigators and US OEM's things get "pretty ugly" with both browsers installed. Welcome to the front line in the War of the Browsers!

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Sidenotes: 95 seems to have about 75-85% of the PC operating system market. NT and Win3.11 have about the same (6-7%) each. 95/98 officially only has about 12-18 months left before it is supposedly replaced by NT5 (consumer version). Microsoft have put back release dates of all their upcomming products by at least 3 months, and the release date for NT5 has been replaced with a TBD (to be determined).

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On the grapevine: Some people have a dream run with 95. For others it seems to be a constant nightmare. A large national business organisation has recently replaced all their pc's with identical 95 machines. Identical hardware, software etc. Some pc's are working great, some are being erratic, others just won't work properly at all. Sources are at a loss to explain why.

One US Educational facility has recently had similar problems with an NT installation on a network of identical machines.

Insider info has it that Microsoft themselves use a combination of Unix and Novelle servers for all their "mission critical" installations and applications.

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This REALLY happened!! Many US government sites including NASA had over 5,000 their 95/NT machines shut down early this year as a result of an internet bourne attack. The attack, supposedly from a juvenile, may have shut down in excess of 10,000 95/NT PC across the US, possible many more. A spokesperson on security matters claimed many home users connected to the internet at the time may have been affected without knowing it - machines crashing is not unusual. Office situations with all machines crashing at the same time is what alerted many to the presence of the attack.

The security spokesperson's concern is that these days, anyone can find and use the various scripts scattered around the net, no longer does it require a "hacker" with inside knowledge of machine workings to bring systems down.

Microsoft countered that the attack could have been prevented if their latest patches had been applied (yet the Microsoft official policy is while they do release "hot patches" they do not support their use - their official recommendation is to update with the full service or upgrade releases). A government spokesperson was quoted saying that with the large number of machines involved - time, limited skilled personnel and cost constraints prevent many large organisations from updating patches immediately, preferring to wait for an official upgrade release.

Full stories can be found at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/msnb/0304/291270.html

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"You're all doomed ... unless" Poor Bill Gates is trying to rally support for embattled Microsoft. First MS was caught buying favourable press through PR companies and fake letters to the editor ... now Bill's saying that if the US Government delays the release of Windows 98 the computing industry and the US economy will be "adversely affected".
Full story at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/pcwo/0505/313566.html