Comments on: Longhorn to put squeeze on gadgets

The next version of Windows will let companies block access to iPods and other tiny storage devices, News.com has learned.

[nmcphers]

Bla bla bla

This is what you have to put up with for the next 2-3 years folks. Every two weeks or so, a silly snippet about some possible feature that Longhorn will or might have. All an attempt to keep the name Longhorn in your head.

[alek_nedic]

Longhorn in your head

http://www.analogstereo.com/vacuum/miele_S5_metalic_vacuum.htm

[verucabong]

APPLE ALREADY DOES THIS!

Since last year when Mac OS X Panther Server was released,
Apple has been doing this same exact thing. With Panther (10.3)
Server, you can limit users to what they can connect to the
computers. You can ban all USB and FireWire devices outright if
you wish. While you can't limit specifically iPods, you can ban
FireWire devices, which effectively does the same thing. Plus, if
you're concerned about someone stealing data, you don't want
to allow FireWire drives but disallow iPods. Also, you can limit
weather or not a user can use the computer's CDRW or DVD-RW
drive as well.

ONCE AGAIN, APPLE BEATS MICROSOFT TO THE PUNCH.

[mpotter28]

and you overpaid by how much

The real thing about this is its clearly for paranoid corporate users and in case they haven;t noticed they left all the barn doors open. There are easier ways to steal coporate data .as for religon has it ever occurred to you that we can to a lot better than microsoft,apple or the linux people have acheived on just about every aspect of their os.

[mini2mac]

Server version only

You are talking about the server version of Mac OS X. In a corporate environment hardly any of the employees will be running server software on their desktop computers. So, OS X is not a solution.
Also, how is Bluetooth handled?

Already exists in XP SP2!

I wish folks would do their homework instead of just repeating what a PR person says. You don't have to wait for Longhorn for this. It already exists in Windows XP SP2.

Just query "StorageDevicePolicies" in Google and you will find out how to make USB thumb drives read only. Not sure if this also handles firewire devices like iPods, but I'm guessing most corporate PCs don't have firewire anyway.

[mpotter28]

user manual

wouldn;t it be nice if m$ provided a user mamual that was useful.

[PCCRomeo]

HaHa Apple!

Looks like Apple's gonna get a taste of their own medicine. How will the "worlds leading mp3 player" get through this?

[S R]

Why Apple?

The reason CNET includes iPod as the primary device is that they
want some more hits to their website.

What are we talking about here? People copying documents to
external devices and taking them out of the company. That
external device could be anything (it could even be your cell
phone.. now that we have 1.5GB capacity cell phones).

The company people are so paranoid!! They will buy computers
with data transfer capability!

[Gerald Quaglia]

Turned on by default

Will probably be turned on by default in the name of trustworthy
computing, The setting to turn it off will be buried under 3
layers of menus. The feature will no doubt not apply to M$ USB
devices, which are always trustworthy.

Has everyone forgot about the floppy?

You still have the ability to save that sensitve word doc to a floppy or even send it over the internet... I think there is no fool-proof way to prevent copying of sensitive data.

[RideMan]

Floppies? Easy...

Haven't you heard?

In the latest version of the Microsoft Office products, the
file headers and other housekeeping metadata takes up
1,624,801 bytes so that an empty file won't fit on a floppy.
:)

[avfolk--2008]

iPods safer than ANY Microsoft OS

iPods an instrument of potential security breaches? Maybe in
the wrong hands.

Microsoft OS an instrument of REAL security breaches? YES.
Even with SP2, the windoze platform is rife with security and
other operational issues.

Can iPods be used as instruments of evil? Certainly to far lesser
extent that the OS itself is.

[alek_nedic]

instruments of evil

http://www.analogstereo.com/vacuum/miele_s4510_vacuum.htm