Readers pitch on whether Microsoft should change default IP settings amid concerns that Vista's launch could overwhelm the Net.
Among the new features Microsoft is building into Windows Vista is support for IP version 6, which is expected to alleviate a scarcity of Net addresses under the current IP version 4. However, IPv6 isn't universally used yet, meaning that Vista will be set by default to make two DNS (domain name system) requests--one for each version.
With many DNS servers already running close to capacity, that , according to Paul Mockapetris, who is widely credited with inventing DNS.
"If you adopt Vista, your DNS traffic is going to double," Mockapetris said. "You're going to see brownouts. All of a sudden, it is going to be mud season on the Internet, where things will just be kind of slow and gooey."
To find out what people on the street make of it, we asked our Vista Views panel, made up of ordinary readers, these questions: Vista's double lookup of DNS addresses has raised concerns that Internet traffic will become overloaded. To alleviate this, should Microsoft set this feature at "off" by default? In fact, should all optional features be set at "off" by default for non-savvy users?
Kevin Faaborg works in basic hardware and software guidance for a large financial corporation, but he has experience in more computer sales-based jobs.
In the specific case of Vista, it only makes sense for Vista to have IPv4 turned on by default, with the option to turn on IPv6--either by itself or with IPv4 too, which is Vista's current default setting.
The biggest problem with any default settings occurs mostly with security. Having default settings that constantly annoy the user with questions about running a program or allowing an action to occur will get so troublesome that most users will just get in the habit of clicking "Yes" all the time, which defeats the default security settings. However, leaving default security settings off invites malicious attacks, which is what has made Windows so vulnerable in the first place.
When it comes to security, there probably is no "perfect" default setting, because you can't expect a technological solution to solve a people problem like hacker and malware attacks all by itself. But when it comes to other settings in an operating system, the "perfect" default setting should be one that offers the user access to commonly needed features without requiring the user to interact with the operating system at all.
In other words, the best default settings should be the ones that make the operating system transparent to the user.
Wallace Wang is a freelance computer journalist and author whose books include "Microsoft Office for Dummies" and "Steal This Computer Book."
All optional "features" should always be set to OFF by default. If an option is useful to the person using the computer, then he/she can change the setting whenever appropriate.
However, Vista will not appreciably slow down the Web with its current settings. It could have an effect if it was suddenly and widely adopted, but from all indications I've seen, it will at best trickle into use. Thus any increase in traffic will build slowly and give network administrators plenty of time to accommodate the additional traffic.
Mark Casazza is the director of academic information for the City University of New York.
Sounds like the guy is just trying to sell more of his product to me. DNS was in need of an upgrade long before Vista came along. It is an outdated technology that is far too susceptible to attack in the first place.
IPv6 is not going to be an optional feature at some point in the near future, and its benefits far outweigh any supposed downside. It's not Microsoft's problem to deal with DNS availability...That's up to the individual service providers.
Anyways, IPv6 is very easy to shut off in Windows Vista. But shutting off "all optional features" is impractical at best. Who decides what is optional and what isn't? Media Player may seem optional to adults, but is mandatory for most teens. Who decides who is savvy and who isn't? My mom is computer-savvy but doesn't care about the difference between IPv4 and IPv6.
No, it's best that Microsoft leave things the way they are, and not decide for people what is "optional."
Robert McLaws is an IT consultant, community leader and Vista enthusiast. He has been running Vista enthusiast site Longhornblogs.com since 2002.
Also, as I read in several other articles, there are other operating
systems that already support IPv6 (Unix, Mac) and they don't appear to
be affecting things noticeably.
Joe Rud is a computer industry professional from St. Louis Park, Minn.
Microsoft's support of the IPv6 network-addressing standard--the reason
behind the additional lookups--is a great step forward in alleviating
the limits of the current IPv4 system, which is at risk for running out
of available IP addresses for users. Disabling the feature by default
will greatly reduce the positive impact of supporting the new standard
since generally, new features not turned "on" by default are not used by most people. Non-savvy users probably wouldn't know the difference
whether or not this feature was "off" by default--but their network
administrators sure will.
Perry Reed works by day in software QA for a large
home shopping television network, and in his spare time, he hosts The Tablet PC Show podcast.
Overall, I think by turning "off" optional settings by default can only improve the overall quality of the operating system. Giving a user
a choice of what options he or she wants to use is great.
Bill Johnson is a Minnesota-based computer technician and journalist who also runs a Microsoft Windows-related community called AplusDownloads.
IPv6 is the future of the Internet and needs to be "on" to have a chance to succeed. This small amount of additional traffic on the DNS servers is a small price to pay and will not "stall Net traffic." Services like Google Video and Youtube are far more likely to impact the Internet than this ever will.
Josh Phillips is an IT professional based in California.
Vista's default settings should be progressive, with a focus on system security. Turning off everything they can by default does nothing to move the computing world into the next century, and we need Microsoft to take us there. As much as the OS X and Linux fans may hate the idea, Microsoft is the biggest force in mainstream adoption of new computing functionality.
So I think they're right in adopting IPv6 as a default feature. While it may be true that immediately switching a billion PCs to IPv6 would strain the world's DNS servers, the world wont be adopting Vista immediately. It will be a gradual growth, which backbone operators should be able to absorb over time.
Brian Scates is the president of Web hosting company Foing.com.
Windows is THE most used OS in the world, bar none. If Vista doesn't come with IPv6 turned on by default, that will be a major roadblock to widespread IPv6 adoption.
And Sidebar should be off by default, because it seems bloated.
If Microsoft makes it load faster, they can leave it on by default.
Brian Clarke, a student at Shippensburg University, says he has reinstalled Windows more times than he cares to remember.
It's bad enough when Windows makes Windows users miserable. The last thing we need is Windows ruining the entire Internet for everybody. Of course they should change it.
John Kneeland is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in international relations and East Asian studies.
The Vista Views panel is being brought together by CNET News.com to discover what people on the street think about Microsoft's new operating system.
We're looking for a range of perspectives--from beta testers to business buyers to home PC owners.
Interested in joining the panel pool? Here's how it works:
Whenever key Vista news breaks, we'll e-mail a question to contributors. Sometimes, we'll ask a yes/no question and use the answers for a simple poll. Other times, we'll look for more in-depth feedback on Vista events. It doesn't matter whether you send us two pages or two sentences--we value your comments. And if you don't have an opinion on a particular story, or you don't have time to respond, that's fine too.
The feedback will often reach our readers. Our writers may quote panel remarks in stories. Or we may pull together comments--your two cents--in an article of their own. Occasionally, we'll ask contributors to take part in a weekly podcast to discuss their views with News.com editors and industry experts.
We want to know what our readers think, as Microsoft gets ready for one of its most important launches in years. If you haven't signed up yet, send an e-mail to us at vista-views@cnet.com.
Design: Gautama Swamy
Production: Kristina Wood
Among the new features Microsoft is building into Windows Vista is support for IP version 6, which is expected to alleviate a scarcity of Net addresses under the current IP version 4. However, IPv6 isn't universally used yet, meaning that Vista will be set by default to make two DNS (domain name system) requests--one for each version.
With many DNS servers already running close to capacity, that , according to Paul Mockapetris, who is widely credited with inventing DNS.
"If you adopt Vista, your DNS traffic is going to double," Mockapetris said. "You're going to see brownouts. All of a sudden, it is going to be mud season on the Internet, where things will just be kind of slow and gooey."
To find out what people on the street make of it, we asked our Vista Views panel, made up of ordinary readers, these questions: Vista's double lookup of DNS addresses has raised concerns that Internet traffic will become overloaded. To alleviate this, should Microsoft set this feature at "off" by default? In fact, should all optional features be set at "off" by default for non-savvy users?
Kevin Faaborg works in basic hardware and software guidance for a large financial corporation, but he has experience in more computer sales-based jobs.
In the specific case of Vista, it only makes sense for Vista to have IPv4 turned on by default, with the option to turn on IPv6--either by itself or with IPv4 too, which is Vista's current default setting.
The biggest problem with any default settings occurs mostly with security. Having default settings that constantly annoy the user with questions about running a program or allowing an action to occur will get so troublesome that most users will just get in the habit of clicking "Yes" all the time, which defeats the default security settings. However, leaving default security settings off invites malicious attacks, which is what has made Windows so vulnerable in the first place.
When it comes to security, there probably is no "perfect" default setting, because you can't expect a technological solution to solve a people problem like hacker and malware attacks all by itself. But when it comes to other settings in an operating system, the "perfect" default setting should be one that offers the user access to commonly needed features without requiring the user to interact with the operating system at all.
In other words, the best default settings should be the ones that make the operating system transparent to the user.
Wallace Wang is a freelance computer journalist and author whose books include "Microsoft Office for Dummies" and "Steal This Computer Book."
All optional "features" should always be set to OFF by default. If an option is useful to the person using the computer, then he/she can change the setting whenever appropriate.
However, Vista will not appreciably slow down the Web with its current settings. It could have an effect if it was suddenly and widely adopted, but from all indications I've seen, it will at best trickle into use. Thus any increase in traffic will build slowly and give network administrators plenty of time to accommodate the additional traffic.
Mark Casazza is the director of academic information for the City University of New York.
Sounds like the guy is just trying to sell more of his product to me. DNS was in need of an upgrade long before Vista came along. It is an outdated technology that is far too susceptible to attack in the first place.
IPv6 is not going to be an optional feature at some point in the near future, and its benefits far outweigh any supposed downside. It's not Microsoft's problem to deal with DNS availability...That's up to the individual service providers.
Anyways, IPv6 is very easy to shut off in Windows Vista. But shutting off "all optional features" is impractical at best. Who decides what is optional and what isn't? Media Player may seem optional to adults, but is mandatory for most teens. Who decides who is savvy and who isn't? My mom is computer-savvy but doesn't care about the difference between IPv4 and IPv6.
No, it's best that Microsoft leave things the way they are, and not decide for people what is "optional."
Robert McLaws is an IT consultant, community leader and Vista enthusiast. He has been running Vista enthusiast site Longhornblogs.com since 2002.
Also, as I read in several other articles, there are other operating
systems that already support IPv6 (Unix, Mac) and they don't appear to
be affecting things noticeably.
Joe Rud is a computer industry professional from St. Louis Park, Minn.
Microsoft's support of the IPv6 network-addressing standard--the reason
behind the additional lookups--is a great step forward in alleviating
the limits of the current IPv4 system, which is at risk for running out
of available IP addresses for users. Disabling the feature by default
will greatly reduce the positive impact of supporting the new standard
since generally, new features not turned "on" by default are not used by most people. Non-savvy users probably wouldn't know the difference
whether or not this feature was "off" by default--but their network
administrators sure will.
Perry Reed works by day in software QA for a large
home shopping television network, and in his spare time, he hosts The Tablet PC Show podcast.
Overall, I think by turning "off" optional settings by default can only improve the overall quality of the operating system. Giving a user
a choice of what options he or she wants to use is great.
Bill Johnson is a Minnesota-based computer technician and journalist who also runs a Microsoft Windows-related community called AplusDownloads.
IPv6 is the future of the Internet and needs to be "on" to have a chance to succeed. This small amount of additional traffic on the DNS servers is a small price to pay and will not "stall Net traffic." Services like Google Video and Youtube are far more likely to impact the Internet than this ever will.
Josh Phillips is an IT professional based in California.
Vista's default settings should be progressive, with a focus on system security. Turning off everything they can by default does nothing to move the computing world into the next century, and we need Microsoft to take us there. As much as the OS X and Linux fans may hate the idea, Microsoft is the biggest force in mainstream adoption of new computing functionality.
So I think they're right in adopting IPv6 as a default feature. While it may be true that immediately switching a billion PCs to IPv6 would strain the world's DNS servers, the world wont be adopting Vista immediately. It will be a gradual growth, which backbone operators should be able to absorb over time.
Brian Scates is the president of Web hosting company Foing.com.
Windows is THE most used OS in the world, bar none. If Vista doesn't come with IPv6 turned on by default, that will be a major roadblock to widespread IPv6 adoption.
And Sidebar should be off by default, because it seems bloated.
If Microsoft makes it load faster, they can leave it on by default.
Brian Clarke, a student at Shippensburg University, says he has reinstalled Windows more times than he cares to remember.
It's bad enough when Windows makes Windows users miserable. The last thing we need is Windows ruining the entire Internet for everybody. Of course they should change it.
John Kneeland is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in international relations and East Asian studies.
The Vista Views panel is being brought together by CNET News.com to discover what people on the street think about Microsoft's new operating system.
We're looking for a range of perspectives--from beta testers to business buyers to home PC owners.
Interested in joining the panel pool? Here's how it works:
Whenever key Vista news breaks, we'll e-mail a question to contributors. Sometimes, we'll ask a yes/no question and use the answers for a simple poll. Other times, we'll look for more in-depth feedback on Vista events. It doesn't matter whether you send us two pages or two sentences--we value your comments. And if you don't have an opinion on a particular story, or you don't have time to respond, that's fine too.
The feedback will often reach our readers. Our writers may quote panel remarks in stories. Or we may pull together comments--your two cents--in an article of their own. Occasionally, we'll ask contributors to take part in a weekly podcast to discuss their views with News.com editors and industry experts.
We want to know what our readers think, as Microsoft gets ready for one of its most important launches in years. If you haven't signed up yet, send an e-mail to us at vista-views@cnet.com.
Design: Gautama Swamy
Production: Kristina Wood