MS Suggests Using Shims For XP-To-Win7 Transition 316
eldavojohn writes "Windows XP (and a lot of MS OS code before that) had a fundamental security flaw whereby the default setting made the ordinary user run as the superuser. Vista & Windows 7 have fixed that and implemented The Correct Paradigm. But what about the pre-Vista applications written to utilize superuser privileges? How do you migrate them forward? Well, running a virtualized instance of XP in Windows 7 is an option we've talked about. But Microsoft is pushing the idea of using 'shims,' which are a way to bypass or trick the code into thinking it's still running as user/superuser mode in Windows XP. This is an old trick that Microsoft has often employed, and it has brought the Windows kernel a long ways, in a duct-tape sort of fashion. At the TechEd conference in LA, Microsoft associate software architect Chris Jackson joked, 'If you walk too loudly down the hall near the [Windows] kernel developers, you'll break 20 to 30 apps.' So for you enterprise developers fretting about transitioning to Windows 7, shims are your suggested solution."
An alternate solution? (Score:2, Funny)
I thought it said "shivs". I guess that would be another way to coerce people into giving up their precious XP.
if youve got to go through a bunch of hacks (Score:5, Funny)
if i were a microsoft public relations flak (Score:4, Funny)
i would downplay this notion of shims, and ballyhoo this notion of duct tape
shims just sound like a lame hack. using a shim means you've given up on elegance and respectability
but duct tape is awesome! if you use duct tape to solve a problem you are a manly mcgyveresque resourceful type
windows 7: the duct tape os, is a mark of pride dude!
Re:I know you slashdotters hate to hear it (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Win kernel devs + loud noises = broken apps (Score:2, Funny)
Why "Woooooooohoooooooo!?" He could just as easily run around shouting "Developers, developers, developers, developers!"
Re:I know you slashdotters hate to hear it (Score:4, Funny)
I dunno, does your computer play 'whoosh' sounds at you when you scroll down or anything? If it's confusing you, you should turn that off.
Re:SysInternals BGInfo for the win (Score:1, Funny)
Re:I know you slashdotters hate to hear it (Score:5, Funny)
Funny, Apple was able to make the transition from insecure, single-user based OS to more secure, multi-user OS without too much trouble and keeping a compatibility layer for older apps. Why can't Microsoft do the same?
When you only have about 20 apps for the platform, it's easy.
Re:I know you slashdotters hate to hear it (Score:4, Funny)
That's why I refuse to get one of those newfangled autoMObiles until it knows what Giddap and Woah mean. I tried on once, but no matter how much I yelled or whipped it, it just wouldn't move.