It was meant to be an operating system that guaranteed a "safe, secure and private computing experience". But for millions of PC users it was more like a case of "here we go again". Microsoft has admitted that its latest operating system - billed as its most secure ever - contains several critical flaws that could leave computer users prone to hacker attacks.
The company confessed that its new operating system Windows XP, launched less than two months ago, contains severe glitches in its code that could allow hackers to take control of computers using the software and connected to the internet.
Microsoft has reacted quickly and released a quick bit of code that it claims will patch up the problem. But their difficulty with hackers is much wider than that. The fact is that many in the hacking communities simply loathe Microsoft and many spend a fair part of their talent attempting to sabotage the company at every opportunity they can.
Most people see hackers as a menace or simply a juvenile nuisance. Many are. Others are simply seeking recognition from their peers or trying to get jobs in the highly lucrative software security market. But some hackers - and writers of computer viruses - consider themselves to be ethical warriors in a war against what they see as the "evil empire" Microsoft. Users of other operating systems like Apple and Linux simply do not come under attack as often. If at all.
Also, many see Microsoft's products as being unnecessarily complicated - rococo pieces of software that force many users to buy into ever more powerful machines. Windows XP has been much criticised. The Observer's John Naughton recently called it "a monstrous, bloated brute that requires a state of the art PC and two gigabytes of hard disk space before it will even say 'hello'. This means any consumer foolish enough to want to run XP will probably have to buy a new PC".
True, Microsoft has admirers. Many of them argue that the company did much to standardise PC use in the early nineties. But anti-trust cases and a certain amount of megalomania from the company bosses has not helped their case. And let's not forget that Microsoft's near-monopoly position makes it the Manchester United of the digital world.
And we have been here before, sadly far too many times. In a remarkably similar case two years ago, a group of hackers known as the Cult of the Dead Cow released a piece of software called Windows Trojan, more often referred to as Back Orifice. This software allowed users to control others computers - without their consent - across the internet.
Will Microsoft ever be rid of the hackers? Probably not, or not at least until its dominance of the software market comes to an end. While it remains top dog, they will cracking their code will always attract more kudos in hacking circles. But many also think that their aggressive marketing strategies do nothing but attract trouble. And XP - with its streaming software aimed at muscling on the RealPlayer's audio market - shows precious little sign of them changing that.
· Microsoft has released a 'patch' for users of XP as well as Windows 98 and Me operating systems. It can be downloaded from here.
