Microsoft’s fourth quarter revenue reports show that the record company’s record revenues were due largely to Office 2010, Windows 7 and Windows Server sales. A growing number of Windows 7 drivers have made both consumer and corporate adoption more palatable.

Windows 7 Surpasses Windows Vista

In addition, a new survey by Netmarketshare shows that Windows 7 installations now surpass Windows Vista installations by a narrow margin. The number of Windows Vista installations has dropped consistently since October 2009, just after Windows 7 hit the market. Windows Vista market share has dropped from a high of 18.83% in October 2009 to its current level, estimated at 14.34%. While some Windows 7 installations represent upgrades from Vista, the majority of Windows 7 adoptions appear to be new.

Windows XP market share has dropped from 65.89% to 61.87% in the same timeframe, indicating that a small percentage of XP users have adopted Windows 7. The decline in Windows XP use has been gradual but steady since Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 were introduced last September.

Assisting growth in the adoption rate of Windows 7 is the fact that third-party hardware manufacturers have committed to making more Windows 7 drivers than Vista drivers when that operating system was released. Finding compatible drivers for Windows 7 is arguably easier because those manufacturers that did make Windows Vista drivers for their devices had less work to do to provide Windows 7 drivers. In some cases, no driver modifications were required, meaning that hardware vendors got “two for the price of one” in terms of driver development.

Microsoft has worked hard with third-party manufacturers to help them ensure that their hardware drivers are Windows 7 ready. Nonetheless, many hardware manufacturers have yet to produce Windows 7 drivers for their older hardware devices. Without compatible drivers, these devices are either crippled or useless, a situation that Microsoft had hoped to avoid.

For Windows users, the issue of driver management has always been difficult. Microsoft has attempted to automate the process of finding and downloading drivers in its later OS releases, but many users still do not understand how to configure the updater to download driver revisions. Further, Windows sometimes selects the incorrect driver for the user’s PC.

Despite the improvements in driver detection, driver management software is still the order of the day for many PC users. Users rely on software like Driver Detective to help them keep their PC drivers up-to-date and available, if a corruption of some type should occur.

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Security firms are warning of a new Trojan that can affect every version of Windows, including Windows 7 and is being spread through USB devices. The Trojan takes advantage of a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft’s .lnk files, which are shortcut files that can activate an application. The Trojan is able to hide itself on USB drives, and once activated, it installs two Windows drivers on the infected system.

Attack Uses Previously Unknown Exploit

The viral Windows drivers belong to rootkits, which install themselves undetected with the assistance of a legitimately signed driver that belongs to RealTek Semiconductors. The particular attack targets Siemens SCADA WinCC control systems. This niche software is used by power plants, leading security experts to conclude that this particular attack was designed to effect industrial espionage.

VirusBlokAda, a cybersecurity firm located in Belarus, first discovered the attack. The virus poses a serious security risk because it doesn’t rely on an autorun exploit, as most USB-borne attacks do. At the moment, there is no credible way to detect the attack as it is happening, and all Windows computer, even fully patched systems running Windows 7 are vulnerable to the attack.

The attacks are significant for another reason: until now, it was thought that .lnk files had no ability to do anything until the user clicked on the file. In this particular attack, the mere presence of the .lnk file is enough to trigger the infection. Apparently, no user action – other than connecting an infected USB drive to a system that runs Microsoft Explorer – is required to trigger the viral transfer. The malicious files are undetectable on the USB drives, leaving users completely vulnerable to the attack.

Security experts are warning users not to get complacent about the fact that this particular attack is directed toward a niche product. The major danger with this attack is that other hackers can use the same approach that the Trojan uses to target other systems. The likelihood of success is high because there is no inherent protection against this type of attack within Windows OS products at the moment.

This particular attack installs two apparently-legitimate Windows drivers called mrxnet.sys and mrxcls.sys, which in turn install two rootkits, Rootkit.TMPHider and SScope.Rootkit.TmpHider.2. Cybersecurity firms report that infections of these two rootkits have risen since the attacks began, leading them to speculate that the incidence of undetected infections is rising.

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Last week, Microsoft said that its research shows that nearly half of all Windows 7 installations are the company’s 64-bit version of the OS. That’s up from just 11% for Windows Vista installations and less than 1% of Windows XP installations. What’s the reason for the shift? The cost of compatible hardware, the cost of RAM, and the availability of 64-bit drivers are being credited for enticing users to make the switch.

What Makes The 64-Bit Version Of Windows Different?

Is there a substantial difference between the performance of a 32-bit system and a 64-bit system? The short answer is yes. The big advantage of the 64-bit system is that it can address more RAM. The more RAM you have available, the faster your computer can work (to a point) and the more simultaneous tasks it can manage (to a point). You may also benefit from having a 64-bit system if you use very computation-intense software, like engineering design software, graphic software, or gaming software.

The downside of running a 64-bit system is that you need to have 64-bit drivers for your hardware. If the manufacturer of a piece of hardware makes a 64-bit version of the driver you need, you’re in luck. Carry on!

On the other hand, if the manufacturer of a piece of hardware has made only a 32-bit driver, you’re pretty much out of luck. 32-bit and 64-bit drivers aren’t interchangeable. They’re not even a little bit compatible, either. 32-bit is 32-bit and 64-bit is 64-bit, and “never the twain shall meet,” so to speak. Microsoft does maintain a compatibility list, which has a comprehensive (though probably not exhaustive) list of 64-bit compatible devices. You can find this list at The Windows 7 Compatibility Center.

The site is divided into two tabs: Software and Hardware. The Software tab contains major functions (e.g., gaming, communications, graphics and printing, etc), so you may have to do a bit of guesswork to figure out how Microsoft views the software you’re looking for. Each major group also has a dropdown menu that activates when you “mouse over” the category heading.
The hardware tab, which is where you’d be looking for device drivers, is divided into major device types. You can also search the site using keywords, and limiting your text searches to hardware or software. You can also filter your search results by system type (64-bit or32-bit), and manufacturer. Microsoft even has some information on devices that are not currently 64-bit compatible, but will have a 64-bit driver in the near future. If your device isn’t on the list and Microsoft has no information about the device’s future 64-bit status, check with the manufacturer to see if they have a 64-bit driver, or if a 64-bit driver is in the works.

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Although it’s not a surprise, Microsoft has announced that it will terminate support for Windows XP installations that have not installed Service Pack 3. The support for XP computer running Service Pack 2 will end July 13, 2010. The loss of support means that there will be no more driver updates, security patches, bug fixes and other modifications. Users who still run Windows XP must install Service Pack 3 to maintain support.

Unsupported OS Can Be Tricky

Running an unsupported OS can be tricky, since users won’t be able to get patches and revisions. Although development on the XP OS ended long ago, Microsoft was still providing maintenance releases that closed holes and kept the system as up-to-date as possible.

According to Microsoft, Service Pack 3 can be applied only to computers running the 32-bit version of Windows XP. Prior to installing Service Pack 3, the computer must also have Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 1(a) installed. These service packs are still available from the Microsoft Web site.

If you’re not sure whether your computer is a 32-bit or 64-bit system, you can find out by taking the following steps.
Go to Start > Run
Enter sysdm.cpl and click OK.
This will open a dialog box that will provide additional information about your system. Within the dialog box, select the General tab. If your system is a 32- bit system, you’ll see the words “Windows XP Professional Version XXXX under System. XXXX will be a date, expressed as a year.
If your system is a 64-bit system, you’ll see a slightly different set of words under System: “Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Version XXXX.” Again XXXX represents a year.

Service Pack 3 isn’t used with 64-bit systems, so it’s important to know whether you need the service pack or not. Do not install Service Pack 3 if you have a 64-bit system. Microsoft has provided a different method for patching and updating 64-bit versions of the XP operating system.
The installed user base for Windows XP is still quite large, however more users are adopting Windows 7. Importantly, many of the new adopters are Microsoft’s corporate customers, most of whom have been working with XP for nearly 10 years. In the coming year, Microsoft will likely examine its plan to drop support for Windows XP altogether.

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