do it. think it. blog it! ... a twisted world

According to this announcement, Microsoft is releasing it's much awaited Windows Vista, today (priorly known as longhorn) to developers.

Windows Vista beta code is being released into the hands of about 10,000 technical beta participants, which include customers, partners, home users and subscribers of Microsoft Developer Network and TechNet, Sullivan said.

Microsoft also will release another build of Windows Vista to developers at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC). That code that will likely be the result of what Microsoft internally calls integrated developer workstation releases, which will be fashioned into a so-called community technical preview, Sullivan said.

Now, this part of the announcement disturbed me a bit...

Another security feature in the beta is network access protection, a feature that quarantines computers that could have malware or other unauthorized software from a network until patches clearing the offending code can be applied, he said.

From what I understand of "quarantine" procedures, is that one would need to snoop around (using something like nessus ) the computer for malicious applications and assign the machine an IP (with probably a 1,2,3 or even 10 minute lease period) that's from a subnet with restricted access. Once the machine is proven NOT to have any software applications running on it that dont abide by policies setup by individual organizations, it's then that the IP address of the machine would be released and be reassigned a NEW IP in another subnet altogether, which would enable the user to access resources from within the infrastructure; IF NOT then an IP from the "QUARANTINED ZONE" is assigned to the device / machine. (and well, the device is now quarantined) Now for wired networks it may be fine, what about wireless? when a wireless device (like my laptop for example) moves from one organization to the other would it be marked "malicious" just because the applications on the laptop didn't adhere to certain standards within that organization (Some organziations do not like outlook installed and some dont like notes, and some ban opensource apps altogether, the cases vary from organziation to organization) ? And what about privacy ? I'm so so sceptical about this ! lets see what happens ahead... guess I just gotto wait and see... UPDATE : Another thing I also remembered is that, Vista seems to have rolled back it's authentication and authorization structure, of authorizing prior to authenticating. Now what I mean by that is that an IP address is assigned to a device during startup by the DHCP server (prior to authenticating the user). IF a device / machine is first assigned a IP from a quarantined zone, then a "decision" is made based on factors that determine if the device / machine is "authorized" to be allowed onto the network, ain't that authorizaton PRIOR to authentication ? once a user authenticates, additional authorization rulesets may be applied.. I like the idea behind authroization PRIOR to authentication and have been advocating that workflow for a while (sadly nobody listened to me) and if Vista DOES do Authorization prior to Authentication, I feel good about that ONE fact. It's the privacy factor (feature) that bothers me. UPDATE II: XeroCool reports that Windows Vista may be facing legal trouble already. Vista, a Redmond, Wash., company, has stated they may sue Microsoft over the name Windows Vista. Dont you think that Microsoft may have noticed that company just down the street from their HQ ? [Read The Full Report from nwsource]