Posted by:
Dana Racine, Senior Network Engineer, Executive Office of Consumer Affairs
An operating system that runs on a PC or laptop provides a host of features that we have grown accustomed to, and sometimes take for granted. From a technical standpoint, an operating system manages processes, routes our data, and transmits our communications over the underlying infrastructure. Today more than ever, an operating system is a component of a larger vision of computing, whether it is a thin client or full system, the client operating system provides the place in which the user interacts and performs their work each day.
Upgrading to newer revisions of an operating system can provide new features and security that can deliver a more stable and secure computing environment. In the Commonwealth, as with many other companies, the Windows operating system is the standard, which is currently deployed with Windows XP. However, Windows XP is now almost ten years old, and has an antiquated network stack, limited local firewall capabilities, and slowed growth with hardware vendors’ support. As with many other IT technologies, as other changes occur in the IT space, such as Internet browsers, biometrics, and encryption, so too must the operating system in order to deliver a fully integrated experience for the user.
Windows 7 is the newest iteration of the Microsoft desktop/laptop operating environment. This version of Microsoft’s software provides a host of new features that will ultimately provide value for the Commonwealth from both a technology and business perspective. In the security space especially, Windows 7 will outperform other operating systems “out-of-the-box,” with capabilities that used to require integrating (and purchasing) third party products.
Perhaps the most important feature that Windows 7 will provide to the Commonwealth is in usability and overall user experience. The new interface for Windows 7 is feature rich, and graphically pleasing, utilizing a more refined version of the Aero interface alongside DirectX 11. These API’s allow for hardware vendors who write video drivers for their video chipsets to build applications, including advanced web graphics that run faster, more fluidly, and more intuitively than in the past.
As memory begins to exceed 4GB on desktops and laptops, we are also in need of an operating system that can address this requirement. Windows 7 delivers both a 32-bit and 64-bit version, which is transparent to the user, allowing systems to allocate more than 4GB of memory (via 64-bit). It may be hard to contemplate why a user would need so much memory, especially with many applications moving toward web-based architectures. However, there are new websites that have deployed advanced animation and graphics, using plug-ins such as Flash or Silverlight, which can require 100-200MB of memory for a single browser window. Additionally, there are new desktop widgets, MS Office applications, and media that all contribute to memory utilization. Most of all however, we have seen that as users realize there is more horsepower available, they will take advantage of that horsepower by opening more windows simultaneously. Thus, systems with greater than 4GB will ultimately benefit the user by allowing more multi-tasking.
Despite all of the progress toward web-based programming, there are still a number of legacy applications online that require Windows XP compatibility. There may be a medical device in a lab that is attached to a PC, in which case the vendor does not provide support for Windows 7, or perhaps an old Access 97 database that only serves 10 people, but which nobody can seem to find the time to reprogram. In these instances, Windows 7 offers two solutions. First, there is application compatibility mode, which allows a process to be tricked by Windows 7 into believing it is running in a prior version of Windows. Second, there is a local application virtualization feature which provides a way to create a completely isolated environment for the application to run, but which is transparent to the user.
Discussion of virtualization is outside of the scope of this article, however, the most interesting feature of Windows 7 is that it does not require a backend to run the virtualized environment. If a legacy application requires Windows XP in isolation, the IT admin can, through Active Directory and scripting, create an application virtualization window on the local desktop that looks and acts as though it is just another GUI window within Windows 7. Behind the scenes, however, there is a version of Windows XP actually running, delivering up the application in a way that makes it appear as though it is really running in the Windows 7 operating system.
From the security perspective, Windows 7 delivers a plethora of updates that will help encapsulate the user experience into an isolated environment more than ever. First, there is the updated firewall service. This new firewall has policy or traditional port based rules that can be dynamically assigned remotely or locally via central policy repositories. The new policies can even go so far as creating connection pairs with criteria, where a PC may only be allowed to communicate with a specific IP address only when an authenticated user is logged in.
Security updates are now provided in a more automated fashion, removing the fear of missing updates as they are deployed by Microsoft. Biometrics, including fingerprinting, is now built into the API’s of Windows, allowing for integration into Active Directory and third party applications. Drive-level FIPS compliant encryption is also now standard, with the capability to encrypt local hard drives as well as removable devices such as USB keys.
Finally, there is also an internal process protection system call User Account Control (UAC), which prevents a process from being invoked in super-admin mode; this ultimately stops many worms and malware from propagating using local admin rights. Internet Explorer 8 and secure DNS are two additional features that deliver a secure-computing model using the latest standards in networking.
What I do not understand is why do municipalities not transition to a free/ open-source operating system like Linux? These days it is becoming more and more user friendly, compatible, and is more secure out of the box. Our school still uses XP on nearly every computer (except for the Mac labs in the media department), but a municipality like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could save a fortune on licensing fees (which are a periodic expense) by switching to open source software.
Also, being a student, I know what it is like when a school asks you to purchase a copy of Microsoft Office for homework. Our tax money is going in to software that ultimately costs us more money!
Posted by: Thomas Barrasso | 08/22/2010 at 07:44 PM