Did you get an e-mail from Microsoft like this!!

On two computers I have with Legal Windows, VISTA on this computer and XP on a netbook
They are both Stuck I dowloaded 7 RC onto a disk legally and ran it sometimes usualy on SUN virtual Box I am also for Legal Software but do I deserve this:
It’s time to upgrade from the Windows 7 Release Candidate

While most people who tested Windows 7 have now moved to the final version, some are still running the Release Candidate. If you haven’t moved yet, it’s time to replace the RC.

Starting on March 1, 2010 your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown.

The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Your PC running the Windows 7 RC will continue shutting down every two hours and your files won’t be saved during shutdown. In addition, your wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on your desktop. You’ll also get periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine. That means your PC may no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.

To avoid interruption, please reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Windows 7. In either case, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. As with any clean installation, you’ll need to back up your data then reinstall your applications and restore the data. For more details about replacing the RC, see the Knowledge Base

Microsoft Warns About 17-Year-Old Windows Bug

Microsoft Warns About 17-Year-Old Windows Bug
By Stuart J. Johnston
January 22, 2010

Microsoft acknowledged that a security researcher has located a 17-year-old hole in Windows that could be used to take over a user's system and said it plans a patch.

However, compromising a user's PC would not be easy, requiring physical access to the machine as well as authenticated password access, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said in a Security Advisory Wednesday.

The hole, which originated with the release of Windows NT back in 1993 and is present in every 32-bit version of Windows since, including Windows 7, was discovered by Tavis Ormandy, a Google security team member in Switzerland.

Ormandy claimed in a posting to the Full Disclosure security mailing list earlier this week that the hole is in a portion of Windows originally meant to enable NT to run 16-bit MS-DOS applications.

The problem lies in what is known as the Virtual DOS Machine or VDM, which is meant to allow NT-based versions of Windows run 16-bit x86 programs. By manipulating what's called the kernel stack, an attacker can elevate his or her user privileges to an administrator’s level in order to take over the user's system.

Ormandy said that he notified Microsoft of the hole in June but, after receiving no response other than an acknowledgement, decided to publish his discussion as well as a proof-of-concept exploit.

That got Microsoft's attention and, on Wednesday, the software giant released the Security Advisory regarding the problem.

Microsoft noted that the proof-of-concept has not triggered any real world attacks so far. Partly, that is related to the requirement that any attack be carried out locally, not remotely. For that reason, the hole is not as dangerous as most zero-day vulnerabilities. Some Windows users are not at any risk

One piece of good news is that users of 64-bit versions of Windows are not affected. Many new PCs sold today are shipped with 64-bit Windows 7 preloaded, meaning they are not at risk, according to Microsoft's Security Advisory.

Microsoft's Security Advisory contains a workaround, which is to disable the use of the 16-bit VDM. That should have little impact on most users since the feature is rarely used today.

Even Ormandy played down how broad the hole's effect might be.

"The primary audience of this advisory is expected to be domain administrators and security professionals," Ormandy's post stated.

Microsoft normally patches zero-day vulnerabilities as quickly as possible, especially if they critically affect users' security.

For example, Microsoft patched a previously unknown zero-day that surfaced last week in attacks on Google China with an "out-of-band" fix Thursday.

Microsoft said it is working on a patch for the problem but hasn’t decided yet whether it will be released as an out-of-band fix or during a regular Patch Tuesday cycle.

However, since it took 17 years to discover the bug in the first place, and the additional requirement that a hacker be physically in control of a PC being attacked, Microsoft's security response team may view the hole as less likely than most to be seriously exploited.

Stuart J. Johnston is a contributing writer at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals

Free Software Foundation Attack MS Windows 7

Windows 7 Sins: The case against Microsoft and proprietary software

from windows7sins.org by FSF

The new version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 7, has the same problem that Vista, XP, and all previous versions have had -- it's proprietary software. Users are not permitted to share or modify the Windows software, or examine how it works inside.

The fact that Windows 7 is proprietary means that Microsoft asserts legal control over its users through a combination of copyrights, contracts, and patents. Microsoft uses this power to abuse computer users. At windows7sins.org, the Free Software Foundation lists seven examples of abuse committed by Microsoft.

1. Poisoning education: Today, most children whose education involves computers are being taught to use one company's product: Microsoft's. Microsoft spends large sums on lobbyists and marketing to corrupt educational departments. An education using the power of computers should be a means to freedom and empowerment, not an avenue for one corporation to instill its monopoly.

2. Invading privacy: Microsoft uses software with backward names like Windows Genuine Advantage to inspect the contents of users' hard drives. The licensing agreement users are required to accept before using Windows warns that Microsoft claims the right to do this without warning.

3. Monopoly behavior: Nearly every computer purchased has Windows pre-installed -- but not by choice. Microsoft dictates requirements to hardware vendors, who will not offer PCs without Windows installed on them, despite many people asking for them. Even computers available with other operating systems like GNU/Linux pre-installed often had Windows on them first.

4. Lock-in: Microsoft regularly attempts to force updates on its users, by removing support for older versions of Windows and Office, and by inflating hardware requirements. For many people, this means having to throw away working computers just because they don't meet the unnecessary requirements for the new Windows versions.

5. Abusing standards: Microsoft has attempted to block free standardization of document formats, because standards like OpenDocument Format would threaten the control they have now over users via proprietary Word formats. They have engaged in underhanded behavior, including bribing officials, in an attempt to stop such efforts.

6. Enforcing Digital Restrictions Management (DRM): With Windows Media Player, Microsoft works in collusion with the big media companies to build restrictions on copying and playing media into their operating system. For example, at the request of NBC, Microsoft was able to prevent Windows users from recording television shows that they have the legal right to record.

7. Threatening user security: Windows has a long history of security vulnerabilities, enabling the spread of viruses and allowing remote users to take over people's computers for use in spam-sending botnets. Because the software is secret, all users are dependent on Microsoft to fix these problems -- but Microsoft has its own security interests at heart, not those of its users.