The best of 'Reader Comments': Microsoft's hack, and the old/new economy

Each week silicon.com is inundated with comments from you, our readers. Here are the best from the last seven days, kicking off with some feedback about a certain software giant's hacker trouble (see http://www.silicon.com/a40472 )...

--The Microsoft hack: It's Redmond's fault...
From Rob Levine
Most Microsoft products appear to ship with security disabled (e.g. default security on NTFS drives, UDP port 139 wide open, etc). It seems to me that their philosophy is 'enable everything and then try to switch off the holes you don't want open'. Personally I think good security starts the other way round. --The Microsoft hack: It's not Microsoft's fault
From Nick Russell, consultant
I don't believe it's up to Microsoft to nanny people. The route to a well secure system is well documented, and it's supposed to be our job to sort it out. Microsoft cannot possible sell a `secure from the start system` as most installations require a different approach. Stop slagging Microsoft off, and do your job properly! Not that I'm especially pro-Microsoft, I just think people should be realistic about their own responsibilities! --Hackers are always one step ahead
From Des Lekerman, Eurodata Systems
It just shows that not keeping up to date with new hack software can affect just about anybody - even Microsoft! We wrote about a Gartner Group/Cisco survey on Thursday, which claimed that the European internet economy will be worth $1.2tr by 2004, with old economy companies expected to drive the expansion. But the news is not so good for dot-coms, with up to 95 per cent destined to disappear over the next few years (see http://www.silicon.com/a40452). This is what you had to say about that... --What about the 'old' start-ups?
From Gillian Mason
One of the advantages of being an 'old' economy company is that you already have 'clout' in the marketplace. You have a track record, and all investors like that. The problems facing dot-coms are the same as any new company - lack of capital. It would be interesting to see how many 'ordinary' new companies fail in comparison to dot-coms. --Analysing the analysts
From Mark Harold
Why is it that 'industry analysts' always think they can predict things like this? How many of them predicted the world wide web in 1985? Surely the last ten years have taught us that an idea can go from quirky concept to world domination without any trouble. If you're uncertain about the future, don't just pretend you can predict it, run at it and make it your own. Suits, eh? I predict 95 per cent of them will be miserable by the time they're 50. Eighty-five per cent already are so I think this one's a safe bet. --The more things change...
From Jamie Kerr Elliot
As predicted by Oracle the old economy will become the new economy will become THE economy. My company (NetPartnering) works with both start-ups and internet arms of `old` economy companies and from my experience the latter have scale, resource, market clout and are now starting to act just like the new economy up-starts. I agree with the statement that there will be no new/old, merely fast/slow, innovative/luddite, and there are plenty of dot-coms that fall into the second category.