Although computers running the Windows operating system Vista are significantly less likely to be infected with malicious code than those running Windows XP, the latest operating system continues to be threatened by Microsoft ActiveX technologies, according to a report by the company.

In the last biannual report, Microsoft says that PCs running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) were three times more likely to be infected with malware than computers running Windows Vista SP1. The last update to the Security Peter XP SP3, were two times more susceptible to infections.
According to Microsoft, in the first six months of the year Malitious Software Tool (MSRT) has removed malware on only three computers with Windows Vista SP1 to a thousand rolling. In the same period, MSRT found and removed the malicious code on 10 Windows XP SP2 systems and eight PCs XP SP3 to a thousand executions. Microsoft updateaza and automatically distributes the software tool Windows users every month by Patch Tuesday.

Vista has been attacked by bugs in the ActiveX controllers from third party companies.
Vulnerabilities in ActiveX, Microsoft technology used to create add-ins for Internet Explorer (IE), were 8 of 10 attacks against Vista in the first half of 2008.

Windows 7

There are many options for a Windows user when it comes to free software that can be run from a portable drive such as an usb stick. Two of the best choices are already explained in the previous post. But, what are the options for a Mac user? Are there any portable applications he may use on his flash drive?

We scanned the internet and we found it. It’s called FreeSmug (http://www.freesmug.org/portableapps/) and offers a wide range of portable software, most of them open source.

Here’s the list:
Portable Firefox OS X
Portable Thunderbird OS X
Portable Adium
Portable AbiWord OS X
Portable Nvu OS X
Portable Sunbird OS X
Portable Cyberduck
Portable Check Off
Portable Gimp.app
Portable Newspeak
Portable Inkscape OS X
Portable VLC OS X
Portable Audacity OS X
Portable OpenOffice.org OS X
Portable RSSOwl
Portable Feed
Portable X-Chat Aqua
Portable Camino
Portable Vienna
Portable Celtx

Portable Safari
Portable Mail
Portable iCal
Portable Address Book
Portable iChat
SyncPAppX

The other option suitable for Mac Users is the well known PortableApps.com which offers a USB version of OS X that can be installed and run on a usb stick device. The documentation and all the FAQ’s can be found on the owner’s site, www.portableapps.com.