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Windows Operating Systems Software Security IT

Security Vulnerabilities Discovered in WinXP SP2 343

Posted by CowboyNeal from the holes-in-the-dike dept.
SoTuA writes "Few months after SP2 hit windowsupdate.com, Finjan Software reports that security flaws have been found in WinXP SP2, including malicous code execution without user intervention. Finjian has turned over the findings, along with proof-of-concept, to Microsoft."
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Security Vulnerabilities Discovered in WinXP SP2 More

Security Vulnerabilities Discovered in WinXP SP2

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  • Well, users can... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:27AM (#10806697)
    Just upgrade to Windows XP SP2.

    Oh... wait...
    • Just upgrade to Windows XP SP2.

      hell, i'd love to be able to do even that.
      my windows machine at work cannot be upgraded to SP2, since we have pretty conclusively determined that a piece of software/hardware that is critical to my job cannot be used with sp2 (Agilent LogicWave logic analyser + XP-SP2 = instant crash). so now mine (and most others in the office) windows machines are no longer able to keep up with windows patches and do our jobs at the same time, and the exploits keep coming out on schedule.

      • Re:Well, users can... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by JustOK ( 667959 )
        ...and its not the fault of Agilent LogicWave logic analyser because?????
      • If this software is some expensive corporate software and you are paying big licensing money for it, you should just request an update from Agilent. If this is not an option, just isolate the systems running this software from the net, in a secured area. A lot of systems in the world are unpatched and old for various reasons, but they do their job without being breaked, just because they are isolated well enough. If you require internet access, just put a second PC on your desk, with SP2 and no Agilent.
      • ...then carefully remove as much Microsoft software from your machine as possible.

        Start with MSIE and MS Outlook, then MS-Office (replace them with FireFox [mozilla.org], ThunderBird [mozilla.org] and OpenOffice [openoffice.org], respectively). Really dig in and make sure every trace of them has been removed [litepc.com], don't stop at believing what the MS uninstaller tells you about MS Outlook.

        Don't offer any shares, even to the LAN (get people to dump stuff elsewhere on the LAN and you pick it up from there), connect to the minimum number of shares (zero if possible) and for the shortest reasonable time.

        Run a good firewall [diamondcs.com.au].

        Pray a lot.

        One more option: if you have a modern Linux box around, throw LogicWave at WINE on that and see how far it gets. If it doesn't work outright, maybe you can hack up an interface to the actual analyser in WINE. That'd be a lot of effort for one workstation, but if you have 20 or so it might be worthwhile.

  • Not supprising (Score:2, Insightful)

    by lightdarkness ( 791960 )
    It was only a matter of time until a major vuneribility was found in SP2. I'm sure there will be others, but at least they are being found before they are taken advantage of.

    • Re:Not supprising (Score:5, Insightful)

      by BeerAndLoathing ( 810465 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:43AM (#10806771)
      Security holes being found isn't usually the issue with microsoft though, it's how long it takes for fixes to arrive.

      • Re:Not supprising (Score:5, Interesting)

        by sumdumass ( 711423 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:19PM (#10806940) Journal
        Not only is it "the matter of time to get the fix", it is if the fix will be held for no other reason then to include it into some package that has somethign to disable pirated copies of thier software. It is unbelivable that a couple of severe threats that could have been Patched before was held over 11 weeks for a service pack release durring SP1 erra.
      • Security holes being found isn't usually the issue with microsoft though, it's how long it takes for fixes to arrive.

        Well, consider this the "ping" waiting for the "pong".

        Anyone at Microsoft awake?
    • As far as you know.. We really wont know if somone has taken advantage of something 'secret', unless they either get caught, or boast about it..

      THOSE are the scary ones..

  • Then Billy Gates.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:29AM (#10806706)
    waves his hand mysteriously and says "These are not the exploits you are looking for."

    • ...and Clippy sez... (Score:5, Funny)

      by mangu ( 126918 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:34AM (#10806733)
      "I see you are looking for an exploit..."

      • Re:...and Clippy sez... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Neil Blender ( 555885 ) <neilblender@gmail.com> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:07PM (#10806870)
        ?"I see you are looking for an exploit..."

        And Open Office sez: Hey, hey, I'm a lightbulb!! Lower right hand corner? HELLO? LIGHTBULB HERE! That means I have an idea to make your life better...HEY LOOK AT ME! HAHA preferences - they mean nothing. Just try and turn me off! YOU CAN'T! Oh, let me capitalize that first letter for you in your spreadsheet. WHAT? You don't like that? Preferences you say? Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time.

        • OpenOffice.org: enhanced annoyances on par with MS (Score:5, Interesting)

          by KWTm ( 808824 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:36PM (#10807040) Journal
          Thank you! That struck a chord with me. It blows my mind how the OpenOffice.org suite (in particular OOo Writer) has painstakingly reproduced the frustration in using MS Word. Spelling "corrections" are automatically made, tables contents are automatically assigned different fonts and line spacing, and that bloody lightbulb keeps popping up like some Web ad.

          And that splash screen when it starts up, subbornly staying on top and covering the other windows --is Sun *trying* to advertise how bloody long it takes to start up the program?

          But you know what the clincher is? I bought the "OpenOffice.org 1.0 Resource Kit", a manual written by Solveig Haugland, and there was this fairly common feature (I forget which one --maybe inserting a static date as text?) that she COULDN'T FIGURE OUT how to do. She basically says, "So far we haven't figured out how to do this yet." This is from someone who's writing a manual for the software.

          Good God, Sun, why don't you just get bought out by Microsoft already. Maybe it's time to take another look at AbiWord, see how they're doing on their tables support, and break out the GNOME libraries...

          • Re:OpenOffice.org: enhanced annoyances on par with (Score:4, Interesting)

            by mangu ( 126918 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:53PM (#10807139)
            Maybe it's time to take another look at AbiWord


            That's what I did after feeling for the n'th time the problems you mention. AbiWord isn't perfect, but it loads in a fraction of a second and handles well about 99% of my MS-Word documents.


            What's the problem with Star/OpenOffice taking so long to load, anyhow? Is it Java, or is it just badly written software?

            • What's the problem with Star/OpenOffice taking so long to load, anyhow? Is it Java, or is it just badly written software?
              It's a good (as in "few differences") copy of a badly designed program with a bloated feature list badly written in a badly designed, memory-hog of a language.
      • "I sense a soul in search of exploits."

        Chris Mattern

        • Re:...and Clippy sez... (Score:3, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          "I felt a great disturbance in the net, as if millions of PCs suddenly exploited in terror and were turned into spam spewing bots."

  • Love the article (Score:5, Funny)

    by the_Bionic_lemming ( 446569 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:29AM (#10806709)
    "Browsing a web page" can cause you to lose the machine to a malicious hacker.

    What - they just discovered Gator?

  • Who'd have thought it (Score:5, Funny)

    by TykeClone ( 668449 ) * <TykeClone@gmail.com> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:30AM (#10806714) Homepage Journal
    Security vulnerabilities in a 250MB update? Never would have guessed!
    • Yeah, that's exactly the problem with Windows.

      With all the service packs you have to do an "all or nothing" approach, which causes lots of wasted time and money because you have to test, test, test before deploying a SP.

      On Linux, when there is a problem with package X version y, I can just upgrade to version y+1.

      I also don't need to set up a test machine because I can go back to version y if version y+1 doesn't work for some reason. (ha, try to go back a service pack. You can't, it's reinstall-time)

  • Hmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by northcat ( 827059 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:30AM (#10806715) Journal
    "Security vulnerability discovered in Windows" has become as common as "Britney Spears gets married".

  • So surprising.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SlayerofGods ( 682938 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:31AM (#10806718)
    At what point does a story become so routine that it no longer counts as news?

  • As usual, working and playing well with others.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by originalhack ( 142366 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:34AM (#10806730)
    Step 1: Be polite to Microsoft:
    Finjan has notified Microsoft of the vulnerabilities and has shared all relevant technical details with the company.
    Step 2: Be polite to Microsoft:
    Per its usual policy, Finjan has no plans to go public with details of the flaws until Microsoft has patches available for them.
    Step 3: Reap benefits of being polite to Microsoft:
    "Our early analysis indicates that Finjan's claims are potentially misleading and possibly erroneous regarding the breadth and severity of the alleged vulnerabilities in Windows XP SP2," the Microsoft statement said.

  • Internet Explorer Again? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ralinx ( 305484 ) <ralinx@gmail.com> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:34AM (#10806736)
    from the article:
    "By exploiting all vulnerabilities discovered in SP2 by Finjan, attackers can silently and remotely take over an SP2 machine when the user simply browses a Web page,"

    gee... why am i not surprised that Internet Explorer once again introduces huge security problems?

    in the meantime, a patch can be downloaded here [mozilla.org]

    allthough i must admit... SP2 has had a good run... most of the recent security problems in XP/IE were non-issues in SP2. Too bad it couldn't last longer.

  • Does this apply to firefox? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by broothal ( 186066 ) <christian@fabel.dk> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:37AM (#10806751) Homepage Journal
    What they said: By exploiting all vulnerabilities discovered in SP2 by Finjan, attackers can silently and remotely take over an SP2 machine when the user simply browses a Web page"

    What they meant: By exploiting all vulnerabilities discovered in SP2 by Finjan, attackers can silently and remotely take over an SP2 machine when the user simply browses a Web page with Internet Explorer

  • You missed the part about Finjan (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LO0G ( 606364 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:41AM (#10806762)
    Using these vulnerabilities to shill it's products.

    This isn't to say that the vulnerabilities aren't real, they might be.

    But this is a marketing ploy for Finjan

    • Re:You missed the part about Finjan (Score:5, Interesting)

      by (H)elix1 ( 231155 ) <slashdot.helix@nOSPaM.gmail.com> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:33PM (#10807015) Homepage Journal
      Using these vulnerabilities to shill it's products.

      This isn't to say that the vulnerabilities aren't real, they might be.

      But this is a marketing ploy for Finjan

      Back in the NT4 days I happened on a major IIS exploit. I did what I could for our code, then reported it to Microsoft. A few email exchanges - reported the bug, gave a few code examples to show the remote privilege escalation (guest to admin), then silence. Noticed the issue was fixed two service packs later.

      Not so much as an email saying thank you after providing drivers to demonstrate the issue, much less any type of 'reward'. For those who wear a white hat (even accidentally) I have no problems with these guys showing how clever they are and using it for marketing purposes. That is about all the payback you get when you find something that does not behave like it should.

  • What? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lisandro ( 799651 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:46AM (#10806784)
    It's that time of the month already?

  • Let me be the first... (Score:3, Funny)

    by tod_miller ( 792541 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:51AM (#10806798) Journal
    ...to express my suprise and dismay at this unprecedented event.

    *re-reads story*

    Oh, *this* counts as news? :-)

    I say companies can make a good name for themselves dealing with M$ and patches, and then use his name to consult security to companies.

    but M$ will start thier own company, find thier own holes, and consult security out...

    erm... shiiiiiit you know they will do this, or already have!!!

  • Exploit code sample (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ingolfke ( 515826 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:52AM (#10806808) Journal
    This is another example of Microsoft offering too much in the WinAPI without doing adequate security checking. The exploit utilizes a function in VBScript, unique to IE, intended for system administration scripts. A sample is provided below.
    'Sample will provide a handle back to the local box. The object provides several methods for manipulating the box.
    <script language="vbscript">
    objMyBox = TakeOverXPBoxen(me)
    objMyBox.RunArbitraryCode("...")
    </script>
    What is really concerning is that the 'TakeOverXPBoxen' function accepts hostname or IP address strings.

    I hate to rant, but this type of poor security checking is pathetic. Surely they should have known that all they would have needed to do was check the evil bit on the remote transfers to see if the data was safe or not. Someone in the OS community would have done this.

    You do have to hand it to Microsoft though, the code is very easy to implement and quite elegant if you ask me.
  • The more complex the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the works!
    • > The more complex the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the works!

      Long live 98SE!

      98SE + Mozilla + 5 minutes of tweaks to kill NetBIOS = no open ports, and therefore no remote exploits.

      Take a Ghost image (oh, no product activation either!), throw in a software firewall as an early warning system for spyware printer drivers, and the only really interesting hole is the JPEG GDI exploit from a few months back, because you can never be sure whether any particular closed-source application is pack

  • Windows needs a rewrite (Score:5, Insightful)

    by linguae ( 763922 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:01PM (#10806850)

    I believe that with Linux's usability improving each and every year, and Mac OS X's increasing appeal to computer users, sooner or later, Microsoft will be in deep trouble. No OS is completely secure, but Linux and Mac OS X doesn't suffer from the one main problem that faces Windows security: the integration of web browsers (Internet Exploder), media players (Windows Media Player), and e-mail clients (Outlook Express). Windows has a lot of other security issues too, due to huge amounts of legacy code, a horrible system of user management (why must a user be logged in as Administrator to play a game?), insecure services running, and more.

    Windows needs a rewrite. The kernel is fine, but there should be a new set of APIs (get rid of legacy stuff), a better command line (with the option of booting into it), disintegration of IE, WMA, and OE (make them separate programs that can be uninstalled), better user management (similar to Unix's user management), and finally, a secure "blue box" that runs "classic" Win32 and Win16 programs (similar to Mac OS X's classic mode). If Microsoft does this, they'll finally have a secure and stable OS, and who knows, I might even recommend Windows to users. But until then, I'm sticking with FreeBSD.

    • While I am somewhat inclined to agree with you, MS won't do this because of the time required. Users are too impatient for a new OS release to wait for an entire rewrite. Even with Longhorn, MS has been cutting features to stick to a realistic deadline. And MS is not likely to allow MSIE to be uninstalled unless forced to by legal authority because if they did, it would make them look like hiporcrits after claiming they can't remove MSIE because it is part of the OS. I do beleive MS will continue to add sec
    • I agree 100%, but you know what?

      They won't. Not anytime soon, atleast.

      It's not because it's impossible (just take a look at Apple), but becase the mess that it's Windows nowadays is the result of having backwards compatibility prioritized over everything else. Gates and co. are not stupid; they know that the applications are what make the OS. If you introduce a new Windows that need new apps and supports older ones with a VM (performance hit and issues waiting there), all of the sudden other optio
    • Yes, it needs these things...but what makes you think we're going to get them?
    • why must a user be logged in as Administrator to play a game?

      Because clueless devs and shitty game copy prevention tools require it.

      Ever played a Microsoft game, say Dungeon Siege? Admin rights are not required, and all per-user stuff (save games, settings, etc) go in your own file area (eg C:\Documents and Settings\username\...)

      Compare that with most other games, that often require admin access just so they can use some copy prevention mechanism. That was certainly the case with the original Sims - if
    • Windows pocket pc 2003 was re-reitten from scratch, and it's shit.
      As an example, by default is saves documents in volitile ram so you loose them when the battery goes flat.

      It keeps applications running but can only display one at once and has no way to efficiently switch between them (menu/settings/memorytab/runningapplication/activ a te)

      It installs appliations in vram.

      Basicly, it's crap.
      If it were running linux I could make sure everything (except tmp) was stored on nvram and I could evens swapon to giv

  • Good work (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheRealFixer ( 552803 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:15PM (#10806921)
    I have to hand it to Microsoft. I remember all those virus hoaxes I used to get in my email. "Don't even open this email or you'll get a virus!" Don't look at this image, or your machine will get hacked!" "Don't visit this web page, or your drive will get formatted!" And I used to think, "Gee, why *can't* I hose my machine by doing those things? That sounds like it would be so cool to see!"

    Well, thanks to Microsoft and their brilliant innovation, tireless effort, and boundless resources, they finally made all those mid-to-late-90s virus hoaxes a reality. I raise my glass to them.

  • Finjan scaring up some buisness (Score:3, Informative)

    by smashin234 ( 555465 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:17PM (#10806926) Journal
    I did some searching and discovered this:
    http://news.com.com/Finjan+Warning+users+or +scarin g+up+business/2100-1002_3-5449269.html

    And this quote by the Finjan CEO pretty much sums up what I thought this was:
    "By using Finjan's proactive security solutions...users can enjoy a secure environment that protects them from such vulnerabilities."

    Its just a ploy to scare up buisness for this security company. But lets not jump to conclusions, those 10 errors may exist, but the truth is that this security company may not have followed the industry guidelines.

    That is the key question, did Finjan give MS these errors 30 days ago like traditionally is done? If they did, then they have every right to publicize the problem, but if not, they are engaging in questionable buisness practices.
  • "Stuff that matters?"

  • Leave some holes, charge cash to plug 'em (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Japong ( 793982 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:21PM (#10806949)

    I find it disgusting that Microsoft has plans to sell anti-virus software to plug up the holes they stupidly left in their OS. Shouldn't developers be forced to make secure products?

    If it's discovered my model of car has a set of brakes that have a chance of not working after a certain gear shift combination, the car company issues a recall - they don't tell everyone "oh it's not a big deal, if you want go to a mechanic and buy a new set of brakes."

    We get patches for free (well kinda...after paying for the software) but they only seem to fix one problem *at best) for a hole found in the wild by people outside MS anyway. That doesn't even begin to cover spyware and viruses.

  • No Security Issues in Win XP SP1 for me! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by BoRegardless ( 721219 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:33PM (#10807008)
    It is really very very simple. My Win XP machine has been totally 100% protected from virii, et al. I will let my secret out, which I have withheld from the whole world for years, and unlike the software companies selling protection software and services, I am going to give the solution away for free! Here goes... I NEVER LET MY WINTEL BOX ON THE INTERNET! I didn't have to listenup much to understand early on that my Mac did all the internet work I needed without the constant worry and hassle of the MS OS problems. Life is so simple this way.
  • So how exposed is a Firefox user with javacsript enabled, running zonealarm, with a hardware stateful firewall/nat device?

    I only use Windows for a particular printer driver, visio and a couple of games.

    Just wondering how exposed I am when popping out to the web for a quick Doom hint..

  • It's all clear now (Score:5, Funny)

    by HangingChad ( 677530 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:58PM (#10807164) Homepage
    1. Sell buggy insecure software
    2. Sell still more software to make the original software marginally safe
    3. Profit!!!!

  • Exploits work as limited users? With firewall on? (Score:3, Informative)

    by gfecyk ( 117430 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:59PM (#10807173) Homepage Journal
    "By exploiting all vulnerabilities discovered in SP2 by Finjan, attackers can silently and remotely take over an SP2 machine when the user simply browses a Web page..."

    So if you're silly enough to surf with will administrator access, you can let someone else take over your machine. No mention if the exploits work as limited users... probably because they don't.

    No mention of flaws in background services, but even if there were, what effect would they have with the firewall turned on?

    Sounds like a simple enough fix to me: Create a limited user account for yourself and do your work there.

  • Microsoft's gratitude (Score:3, Insightful)

    by iamacat ( 583406 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @12:59PM (#10807178)
    Per its usual policy, Finjan has no plans to go public with details of the flaws until Microsoft has patches available for them

    and

    Our early analysis indicates that Finjan's claims are potentially misleading and possibly erroneous regarding the breadth and severity of the alleged vulnerabilities in Windows XP SP2

    Why should people who are trying to help just get insulated? It's time to release the exploits to all of us after all, so that we can decide for ourselves who is making erroneous statements.
  • Seriously, everything as large as 'windows' will have holes in it.

    Its a fact of life, its time to stop blaming and start adusjsting how to minimize the risks.

    Same goes for OSS stuff too, instead of worrying about 'what hole is next' lets figure out a ways that the holes will not really matter...

  • Please don't post these stories on the weekend (Score:5, Funny)

    by Edmund Blackadder ( 559735 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @01:40PM (#10807399)
    Dear slashdot.

    Why must you post these stories on the weekend? You have just ruined the saturday of the whole MS marketing department. Now everyone of them has to cancel their plans, log on slashdot and start making posts about how "no OS is secure" and "it is all the users' fault" and "these guys are just trying to scare up some business". And the ever favourite "if Linux was that popular it would have just as many security flaws".

    Well that is their job and they do it well, but why must you force them to do it on the weekend? Why can't they be with their families. Even marketoids have lives (I hear).

  • Conspiracy Theory (Score:3, Interesting)

    by oktokie ( 459163 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @02:44PM (#10807712)
    I must say that there is reason for Microsoft's operating system keeps breaking down...

    Remember, IBM wanted make OS/2 bullet proof because OS market wasn't their main source of profit for the big blue. For a microsoft, it makes sense to have keep putting out the half rotten fish on the plate. If restaurant were right next hospital where owners of both restaurant and hospitals were good pals.

    Operating system seldom has real reason for going from verion 1.x to 2.x, and usually companies don't charge for going from version x.1 to x.2(ie. um...patch or service pack - that's something companies put out for it's own good because they've messed up somehow), because innovations which requires entire facelift of the operating system does not happen that often. I would say from dos to windows95 were big milestone and from windows95 to windows 2000. Everything else should have been free...except bill needed more money to burn in his research lab(Whatever happened to Cairo?).

    Also, there were unexpected positive side effect from putting out half rotten fish. Often people got problem with windowsblue screen of death or some clever - more or less obvious hack to the huge hole hackers often drove train through), which made microsoft in the public view(headline of lots of media)...got unexpected media coverage. Under the normal business circumstances, this kind of follies would have surly sent company dead in the water for good, but like someone else in the slashdot community porinted, that people just don't care about the security flow or the ever slowing down / memory hungry deranged monster operating system of today's era. Other side effect would be that OS had so much problem that tech support firms and microsoft support actually profit from taking tech support calls from its customer and companies who's often found working together to create stuffs which works with windows.

    Bottome line is that microsoft is doing it in purpose so people can keep waiting for that perfect OS which will not break down under normal circumstances like just browsing the web and checking e-mail. That's all my dad does and why did his computer break down with error message the other day? i don't see my father's VCR or Radio stop working with blue screen of death!!!

    Um..not to menstion that they must willfully bloat it's os with so much stuffs that eventually their friend intel will be able to happly sell new upcoming pentium 5 running at 6Ghz. First time I bought my ps, standard memory size was at 4MB. Today's standard memory size is something like 256MB and it's on it's way to becoming 512MB... I wonder if 4GB memroy will ever become standard on consumer pc....

    Oktokie

    PS: can someone tell me why my windows swap when I have 1GB of memory onboard and my windows 2000 things my 750MB or physical memory not being used isn't good for any use....so it goes and merrily creates 200-300MB of virtual memory. This is just too funny.

    • Re:Conspiracy Theory (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Foolhardy ( 664051 ) <`csmith32' `at' `gmail.com'> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @05:04PM (#10808524)
      Windows 9x and NT are two seperate code bases. 95 is version 4.0 of the old dos-based Windows. 98 is 4.1 and ME is 4.2. Version 4.0 really did deserve a major revision with serious 32 bit support, a rewritten multimedia layer (DirectX), Plug+Play, power management, and an entirely new shell envrionment.

      The first version of NT was numbered 3.1 so it would be aligned with the other Windows (I guess marketing thought it was a good idea). NT started with a completely fresh code base, so it should have been called 1.0. That would make NT4 version 2.0, Windows 2000 version 3.0, XP 3.1, and 2003 3.2. So, the NT line has only gone through two major revisions. NT4 added 95's shell environment, some DirectX and moved Win32 into kernel mode. I don't know if it deserved a major rev. alone, but compared to NT3.1, it does. Windows 2000 (NT5.0) uses Active Directory, a new version of NTFS, Plug+Play, all of DirectX, USB support, and many small improvements. It definately deserves a major revision.

      The 'Available Memory' field in Task Manager does not mean 'Free Memory'. It is the amount free plus the standby list. See here [microsoft.com]. Basically, memory is agressively moved into the standby list. Memory on the standby list is in limbo: it is still in memory, but a copy is also written to the pagefile. That way, if it needs to go back, no disk access is needed because it is still in memory and if the memory is needed for something else, it can be discarded without disk access because a copy is already in the pagefile. It avoids disk access during light-moderate memory requests by doing it ahead of time. It avoids the condition of loading something into memory while trying to page something else out to make room; hard disks don't handle multiple simultaneous IO requests at the same time efficently because of all the seek overhead.
      The pagefile is still used to make copies of memory that hasn't been used recently, even when you have lots available because it would be a waste to keep unused pages of memory resident. It could be put to better use in a cache or made available in case it's needed later. This is true no matter how much memory you have.
      'Available Memory' is the amount of memory that you can allocate without having to write anything new to the pagefile, mostly because a copy is already there.

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