Editorial
Smoking Socks -- The Follow-Up
Aardvark is not the only industry commentator who believes Mr O'Brien's actions are self-defeating and perplexing in the extreme (refer yesterday's edition).

I recommend you read Russell Brown's commentary on the matter -- more excellent stuff from Russell.

If, as stated in Russell's commentary, the ISOCNZ council is sanctioning this defamation suit then it would appear that we can chalk up yet another major PR blunder in their name.

So much for ISOCNZ working in the best interests of the Internet community and industry... when this hits the mainstream media -- and trust me, it will -- not only will those involved be subjected to public ridicule but the entire industry and Internet community will be tarnished by the fallout.

Nice one ISOCNZ!

Windows 2000 -- Be Afraid?
Yes, Windows 2000 is upon us. It slices, it dices, it julienes -- and if you have a Net-capable percolator the chances are that it will even make coffee.

Billed as the Windows you've always wanted, Win2K comes with a raft of new features and functions -- plus it's supposed to be ultra-secure.

So... should you upgrade today or tomorrow? -- that's the question.

Perhaps I can inject a little not of reality into the euphoria surrounding the launch of this stupendous new OS.

Much of the feedback I have received indicates that Win2K is indeed a great improvement on Win98 and even Win-NT. Some, such as Dell, have even been confident enough to embrace it as the platform for their website right from day one.

However... given Microsoft's rather less than stunning record of shipping new products with gaping security holes, I don't think anyone would be well advised to commit to using Win2K for any mission-critical or secure applications just yet.

Let someone else suffer the pain of discovering those few flaws that slipped by final testing -- don't let the burning desire to be on the bleeding edge affect your better judgement.

And as for that new registration system used by Office 2000 -- Microsoft can count me out as a prospective upgrader. I'm not prepared to spend money on any software from a company that is effectively telling me that they think I'm going to pirate their software.

This week might be a good week to look at the ever-increasing number of options out there -- you could be surprised at what you've been missing.

As always, your comments are gladly received.

Aardvark Reviews... IHUG's StarNet Trade & Exchange www.listener.co.nz (Updated 26 Mar) MS Image Composer Sony Mavica FD7 Epson 600 iomega ZIP