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Windows 7 cleans up

Posted on 16 Jun 2009 at 00:00

While welcoming the arrival of a virtual windows xp in windows 7, Jon Honeyball still fears that Microsoft isn't being brave enough.

USB sticks on Windows 7

There have been a number of new security measures in Windows 7 that are worth taking into account when you deploy the final code. First a moan - the BitLocker technology that enables you to encrypt a hard disk is still available as part of business versions of the platform, but there's nothing there for advanced home users, because it's been left out of the Home Premium package. I find this somewhat annoying, as there are plenty of home-based users who don't have their own domain and would benefit from encrypting their hard disk. Research students with important notes and results are one group that spring to mind, or small business users who might have a laptop that travels around as a shared item, where BitLocker could be a lifesaver if said laptop was left on the backseat of the proverbial taxi. The Install wizard has been improved to help shrink the volumes and shuffle them around appropriately to ensure everything fits. If I was buying laptops today and thinking of security in a proper fashion, then I'd make sure that those laptops had the appropriate hardware unit to support BitLocker, and then I'd encrypt the hard disk just to be sure.

Another improvement that's very welcome, but long overdue, is the ability to encrypt removable media, and this should be almost mandatory for USB sticks that are proliferating like wildfire throughout the nation's businesses. I just bought a 128GB device from Fry's Electronics, and you can get an awful lot of corporate data onto a stick that size, so BitLocker encryption would be a good idea.

MSDN

For as long as I can remember Microsoft UK has kindly supplied me (and other UK journalists) with a free MSDN subscription, and as I've commented here before this is worth its weight in gold, simply for the sheer breadth and depth of products, development tools and online documentation that you get, although much of it is available for free. My sub ran out at the end of last year, and Microsoft has decided not to offer this package to us anymore in the prevailing awful financial climate. This is fine, as it was a freebie and such things must eventually come to an end.

I decided to see just how long I could last without an MSDN subscription, rather like seeing how long you could hold your breath underwater while swimming. I lasted just until the end of April before I finally caved in. More than £1,500 is a lot of money, but I'm still firmly of the opinion that it represents good value even at that price (and it's good to be able to look up a licence key for a full server build in a test environment).

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