Images by John 'K'

Random rant number 4: Do computer manufacturers assume everyone is computer literate?

I work in the computer storage industry, and have previously worked in the PC support industry, and I have a reasonable grasp of what is needed to make sure a computer is updated, secured, and safe. I just purchased some new computers for my family so they have something actually worth using when they get here in the US, and I was amazed that for a newly built/configured system that there was so much extra work to do.

The systems were shipped with XP Home and SP2, and an install CD for Norton Antivirus 2004, and just getting these fully installed and updated resulted in 8 distinct update/reboot actions with a lot of downloading (thank heaven for broadband). To get the systems fully secured and updated such that I’d let my family loose on the web with them took about 3 hours per system from start to finish!

I can understand why hackers and spammers do what they do, as there must be a huge number of badly secured systems out there – I can’t see the average home user doing things properly!