Hang-ups with Hangul Vista

[sarcle]

A Hangul version of Microsoft Vista is slated for release on January 31 but, apparently, it won't be much use to many Korean online banks, portals, games sites and malls.


It, "doesn't play well with a software program called Active-X that is widely used in Korean Internet sites," says the Digital Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200701/200701240013.html). "Without support for Active-X, online services that Koreans use everyday like banking, stock trading, and shopping won't be available."


Vista users will also have trouble with government sites in applying for, and printing, documents and certificates, it states, going on:


"The trouble is set to begin when PC users buy new computers with the new OS installed or upgrade to Vista from their current Windows systems. Most PCs from major brands sold since October come with an option to upgrade to the new OS. In February, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will start mailing upgrade programs to their PC customers so they can install Vista. The number of upgraders in Korea is estimated at 700,000. Computer experts advise that Internet users check with their online banks or portals before installing Vista."


Net portals are also affected, says the Digital Chosun Ilbo, as are some software applications. For example, "Part of software maker Haansoft's 'Hangul,' a Korean-language word processor, is not functioning in Vista."
Meanwhile, it seems the South Korean government is going to do Microsoft's work for it.


"The Ministry of Information and Communication said it will publish on its homepage (http://www.mic.go.kr/) a timetable to show when major portals, games, and shopping malls, become Vista-compatible," adds the story.


http://www.p2pnet.net/story/11132

700,000 upgraders on the first day alone and that's just pre-purchases. WOW! Korea better get on the ball and fast no wonder Microsoft pushed back the Asian IE7 versions. I wonder what other countries pre-upgrade stats are.

[xxbossmanxx]

Ya but this activx bit sux, Half of my sites functionality is activx based and the other half gets blocked by the retarded surfers pop up blocker.

[domainguru]

The problem is that Active-X has always been a huge security hole in Windows ....

[blastfromthepast]

:)

[Rubber Duck]

It would seem there has been bugger all research done by MS in Far East before IE7 release.

People who have updated, it would seem, have lost access to bank accounts. Nobody expected this because nobody did any research.

Microsoft have had to pull Auto Updates in the Far East for fear of crashing the whole online banking system.

Did they explain to everyone what the problem was and what they they were doing to rectify it, or did we just get a cock and bull story instead?

[sarcle]

or did we just get a cock and bull story instead?

That's exactly what we got. Citing their blog response. "We have postponed IE7 until spring for Japan, China, and Korea due to unique customer problems in Asia."

What like the majority of their websites are still using activex and will not work on IE7? So now the truth comes out right before the release of Vista. I don't understand why they just didn't explain the situation.

I love this a reporter actually used "willy nilly".


South Korea warns against willy nilly Vista upgrades

So, you've saved up your won for one of those overpriced Vista (http://www.engadget.com/tag/Vista) Ultimate upgrades, or maybe even scraped together enough change to grab yourself a spankin' new Vista-based box come January 31st, but the South Korean government doesn't recommend you pull the trigger just yet. See, South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication, Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, and Financial Supervisory Service have all come out against widespread Vista upgrades, advising Joe Consumer -- er, Kim Consumer -- to hold off on upgrading until ActiveX compatibility issues can be worked out. Apparently banks, portals, online games and online shops have relied a bit too heavily on the sometimes insecure ActiveX controls, and are scrambling to make their sites compatible with Windows Vista's new approach to ActiveX. Microsoft has been working with banking services and others to promote compatibility, but the changes are taking longer than it expected, and its not delaying the OS further to appease the stragglers. So the best the South Korean institutions can do is issue said warnings and hope for the best when the 31st rolls around.


http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/24/south-korea-warns-against-willy-nilly-vista-upgrades/

Here's another story.


Why South Korea Is Shackled To Windows

99.9% of S. Korea uses Windows (http://www.kanai.net/weblog/archive/2007/01/26/00h53m55s#003095). This amazing tale began in 1998 when Korea decided it couldn't wait for SSL to be standardized (which it was in 1999) and commissioned an ActiveX control for secure Web transactions. At first there was a secure Netscape plugin too, but we know how that story ended. Quoting: "This nation is a place where Apple Macintosh users cannot bank online, make any purchases online, or interact with any of the nation's e-government sites online. In fact, Linux users, Mozilla Firefox users, and Opera users are also banned from any of these types of transactions..." Now that Microsoft has made ActiveX more secure in Vista, every Web site in S. Korea is scrambling to get things working again and the government is advising citizens not to install Vista. At the end of all this work, they will still be a monoculture in thrall to Microsoft, with millions of users sitting behind some of the fattest pipes in the world.


http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/01/26/1455224.shtml



OpenWeb to sue Korean agencies

A non-profit body that lobbies for fair Internet practices and access has announced its intention to sue the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) and South Korean Ministry of Government and Home Affairs (MOGHA).
The announcement by OpenWeb (http://www.openweb.or.kr/), made on Jan. 18, comes just over a week before Vista is due to be launched in the consumer market (http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,61971507,00.htm).


Explaining the grounds of intent to file civil lawsuits this week, OpenWeb claimed that KFTC issues security certificates only to those using Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser, and MOGHA engaged in "monopolistic endorsement" of the Microsoft IE for its e-government services, optimized exclusively for IE browser users.

One key security feature in Windows Vista is User Account Control (http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,61980362,00.htm) (UAC), which restricts user privileges so that malicious code fwould not be able to do as much damage as it would on a machine running in administrator mode. The UAC has the ability to block out ActiveX Control, a feature most Korean Web sites with 128-bit key block algorithm. As a result, the new OS could have an averse effect on online games or Web services sites.

Citizen's Action Network, an activists group for the public and citizen's rights, criticized the situation in Korea, saying that all other possibilities are blocked due to the issues with ActiveX Control. In contrast, Netscape's SSL (secure socket layer) "does not require any royalties" as an international standard practice utilized by businesses such as eBay and Amazon, it pointed out.
The network claims that government officials are trying to protect the ActiveX, and that authorities have been working on partial patch for the ActiveX in past few months.

"Korean government has taken the equality issue completely [out of the hands] of Linux or Mac OS users, not to mention compromising the security issues," it said. "Public Web sites and e-government homepages are the absolute proofs."

OpenWeb said it has considered postponing the suit until the end of year as the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication had announced that it will work toward finding a solution for fair SSL service for all users. "But now, there is no more excuse; we will proceed with the lawsuit," it said. The organization is now seeking a law firm to represent them.

OpenWeb said it is also considering bringing up additional charges against the KFTC to expose its possible antitrust law violations.
When contacted, a MOGHA official said the ministry has not learnt of any suit from OpenWeb, adding that its security team "is working to solve the issues at hand with Vista".



http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,61983952,00.htm
I really had no idea this was going on or what the reason for the hold-up of IE7 was. This explains a lot.

[Rubber Duck]

Yes, no doubt our bloodhound detectives based in the the two major economies of the Far East will belatedly explain to us how this affects the rollout of IE7 in both Japan and China.

[sarcle]

Yes, no doubt our bloodhound detectives based in the the two major economies of the Far East will belatedly explain to us how this affects the rollout of IE7 in both Japan and China.

This doesn't explain the Japan and China delay, but the Japanese reasoning is simple. It's pure greed.


Huston said that based on PC turnover in Japan, more computers would be equipped with Vista than the current XP operating system within two to three years.


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-japan-vista-os-japan/story.aspx?guid=%7B9B1616B5-4272-41B8-B99D-480AB692A381%7D

Why give them something for free when they are just going to buy it in the next year or so anyways would seem to be Microsoft's logic.

The other intersting thing is the sales price of Vista in Korea vs. Japan. It's 60% more expensive to buy Vista in Korea than Japan. Microsoft is I guess hoping to reduce the number of casualties on opening day when all they are really doing is opening the door to piracy.

http://photo.hankooki.com/newsphoto/2007/01/26/kt2200701261829460ms.jpg


``Have you ever seen a Korean buying a boxed package of Windows? I doubt it,’’ a public relations official of Microsoft Korea said.



Though most admit that software piracy is abundant in Korea, some criticize Microsoft’s price policy for making the situation worse by giving people reasons to make illegal copies.

``If the price was more affordable, people may feel a little more guilty about using pirated Windows,’’ one said at Naver portal site. ``But with this ridiculous price, Microsoft is actually encouraging software piracy in Korea.’’


http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200701/kt2007012618202953460.htm

[Rubber Duck]

From the sketchy information I seen to date and despite a total lack of comment from our Japan and Microsoft insiders, it would seem that this is the very concern that pulled the plug on the Auto Updates in Japan and China.

It would seem that both countries would be afffected in a similar way, although not to the same degree as Korean, which is obviously now in a state of panic, despite Auto Updates being withdrawn. It is difficult to evaluate how bad the situation is Japan, but it would seem that it was serious enough, as this was where things were first pulled after the release of the manual version of IE7.

I guess Japan must be getting back on track otherwise we might have expected a similar response for the Japanese Government, at this time. It would seem that due to lack of market research, Microsoft is probably just about as in the dark as we are, but is prepared to gamble with the integrity of the Japanese, Chinese and Korean Internets in the name of a fast buck. Hopefully, the gamble of being seen to have misled the World on the eve of one the biggest product launches in its history will pay off, and clear the way for the roll out of IE7.

If not the fall out could be inestimable. I think Korea for one would be very reluctant to put all its eggs in the Microsoft basket again. It may well be that this will be the trigger that is require to pursuade the PRC that it own national security's best interest would be best served by developing and marketing an alternative to Windows. It is not impossible that Japan or Korea, might be involved in such a move. Revenge is often a dish best served cold.

Anyway, thanks to all of you out there who have been on top of this story and kept us in the picture.

[sarcle]

Hopefully, the gamble of being seen to have mislead the World on the eve of one the biggest product launches in its history will pay off, and clear the way for the roll out of IE7.

If not the fall out could be inestimable.

We are about to find out. It's early Sunday morning in Japan already. Less than two days to go before Vista "officially" hits the streets. Think there are any Divison Managers that are waking up in cold sweats?

[Rubber Duck]

We are about to find out. It's early Sunday morning in Japan already. Less than two days to go before Vista "officially" hits the streets. Think there are any Divison Managers that are waking up in cold sweats?

No, they are almost certainly out getting entertainment laid on by DonWebCorleone.

[touchring]

The problem is that Active-X has always been a huge security hole in Windows ....


wat's this activex about? what does it look like? does it work on ff? i can't imagine a major bank or portal today that doesn't have a website that works for both ff and ie.

[Rubber Duck]

wat's this activex about? what does it look like? does it work on ff? i can't imagine a major bank or portal today that doesn't have a website that works for both ff and ie.

Secure sites in Korea would only support IE6, not IE7 nor Firefox nor Opera nor Mac Safari. This problem has also affected Japan and China to a lesser degree, which is why Auto Updates was pulled. It would seem the Korean Government wanted Vista pulled as well.

All the information we have been given to date by Microsoft has been completely misleading, but this may have been agreed at a very high level to avoid spooking the stock markets.

It would seem a lot of people are working extremely hard to rectify the situation. Anyway we should know in the next couple of days, how serious things are. I guess due to the lack of noise Japan is now ready for IE7. I have no idea what the situation is in China.

[domainguru]

wat's this activex about? what does it look like? does it work on ff? i can't imagine a major bank or portal today that doesn't have a website that works for both ff and ie.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11403

In security terms, ActiveX has been a complete disaster for the last 10 years. It has been exploited to death by hackers, and will have been responsible for millions of PCs being hacked, trojaned.

[touchring]

The onus is on banks to update their sites for IE7 - i can't imagine a bank CIO that can sit securely on his job without ensuring that the bank's website is compatible with IE7 by the time AU kicks in.

All this noise is probably to ensure the laggards catch up.

[bwhhisc]

Maybe many "endusers" have been sitting on their hands instead of getting their websites compliant.
More articles in general about Vista release in Korea

http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/01/26/1455224.shtml

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6125751.html

http://cws.internet.com/article/3424-.htm

[touchring]

Maybe many "endusers" have been sitting on their hands instead of getting their websites compliant.
More articles in general about Vista release in Korea

http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/01/26/1455224.shtml

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6125751.html

http://cws.internet.com/article/3424-.htm


Well, they got to do it sooner or later. IE7 is here for good. I don't see a permanent problem, and most sites should be compatible once IE7 takeup takes off.

I would foresee a bigger problem when many can't pass the Windows genuity checks to upgrade IE7.

[Drewbert]

"Net pioneer predicts overwhelming botnet surge"

http://news.com.com/Net+pioneer+predicts+overwhelming+botnet+surge/2100-7348_3-6154221.html

Strangely enough, no mention of the name of software actually causing this problem.

[blastfromthepast]

Wotnet (http://www.idnforums.com/forums/8270-japanese-botnets.html?highlight=Wotnet) is here to meet the challenge.