Hi, I am just curious since Microsoft announced that there will only be one operating system, Windows 10, across all devises, whether Windows viruses will now work on Windows phones when Windows 10 is released?
When you build a Windows Phone app it has a .exe
Apps will always need a starting point.
Viruses don't work the way you're likely imagining them to.But I thought the point of Windows 10 is to make it easier to port software across all devices, so wouldn't it be easy to port viruses just like normal software?
When you build a Windows Phone app it has a .exe
Apps will always need a starting point.
Viruses don't work the way you're likely imagining them to.
Modern apps run in a controlled runtime environment. Such apps are monitored to a far larger extent than traditional Win32 applications are. Getting a piece of software to do something malicious in such an environment is much harder than it is to do in a traditional desktop-like computing environment (like Windows, OSX or Android). Almost none of the mechanisms viruses traditionally use to infect other software work in such controlled runtime environments. The sandboxing is just one of many mechanisms that prevents malicious software from destroying/infecting anything but itself and it's own data.
That means that the only way such software can spread is through the Windows Store, for which Microsoft has screening procedures, would catch and weed out most dubious software long before a user would ever see it, not to mention that the developer could likely expect law enforcement turning up at their doorstep shortly afterwards.
Finally, no Windows 10 and Windows 10 mobile (or whatever it will be called) are not the same thing. Modern apps will be very portable, but Win32 software won't run on W10 phones or tablets, which is where all the Windows related malware dwells.
This will eventually be the case, but we're still years from that happening. Hell, even 2+ years in this still hasn't changed much. Amd the modern app selection is still minimal.
I'm pretty sure that will never be the case- that's a dystopian fear fueled dream. First and foremost Microsoft has their corporate customers, then the end user. Backwards compatibility is king, kernel level development is REQUIRED for any hardware devices you might put in your PC, and lower level development is key in embedded devices which Microsoft has always been a strong benefactor of.
One day, we will use the modernUI apps primarily, however the desktop will never be phased out, simply because the scope of modernUI apps cannot extend to lower level development and still retain its inherent security benefits.
Phones = ARM architecture, which are completely different from what viruses and desktop software require: x86/x64 architecture. There's no way to get anything developed for the latter running on an ARM powered device. And even if someone would invest time and effort to code ARM specific viruses - like they do for Android powered platforms - it wouldn't make any sense at all. WP has all its apps running sandboxed and in isolated storages. There's just no way for these viruses to gain access to other apps or even the OS itself. People may complain about the walled gardens that iOS and WP are as they want, but it's the perfect symbiosis of security and functionality. Android is open and can be customized to death. For an unbearable price: a security nightmare and utter mess.
I have a question. We all know all apps can only be installed on our phones through the store (which is sandboxed) therefore eliminating the chances of getting a virus through installed apps. But what about email attachments? To the best of my knowledge, I know we can't run .exe files on WPs (or am I wrong?) but I'm talking about attachments with legitimate file extensions like PDF but contain scripts that are malicious.
I'm not even sure if these scripts could even be executed, tbh. I seriously doubt it. But even if, they would only be able to perform actions in the very sandbox they're executed from with access to only the according isolated storage. Which means they're potentially useless.
Interesting, I was under the impression that Windows 10 would be one operating system that will run all devices, desktop and mobile. That seemed to be the message Microsoft was conveying. Didn't know that there would be Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.
So in essence, does that mean that there is no major change from the current situation with Windows 10? Currently, we have Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. With Windows 10 we will pretty much have the same situation, except that Microsoft will be calling its phone operating system also as Windows 10.
I disagree. There are far too many companies that depend on in-house application development to just axe the exe,msi,.setup etc types of files.
It might be a more high-tech version of UAC in the mid term future, but you will still be able to code your own apps and distribute them.
Interesting, I was under the impression that Windows 10 would be one operating system that will run all devices, desktop and mobile. That seemed to be the message Microsoft was conveying. Didn't know that there would be Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.
So in essence, does that mean that there is no major change from the current situation with Windows 10? Currently, we have Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. With Windows 10 we will pretty much have the same situation, except that Microsoft will be calling its phone operating system also as Windows 10.
The OS would simply share many similarities but turn on or off various elements dependent on the installed device type.
It seems to me that Microsoft is trying to send two conflicting messages at the same time. To consumers they are trying to say "it's all one OS". This statement is what most of the technically illiterate tech-press jumped on, which is why many understandably have that misconception.
Could you give me an example of what you're thinking of when you say "turn on or off". I can't think of anything which I think would fit that description. The desktop/Win32 environment on mobile devices isn't just turned off. It literally doesn't exist there.
IMO, the features should always be there and just turned off dynamically. For example, desktop makes no sense on a phone UNLESS I "dock" it into a desktop setup (keyboard, mouse, and monitor). In that case, the desktop should appear because I'll want to use the device as a desktop computer.
If they go that route, which is pretty easy really, I think they would have a killer OS. It basically mirrors how Responsive websites work.
I disagree. There are far too many companies that depend on in-house application development to just axe the exe,msi,.setup etc types of files.
It might be a more high-tech version of UAC in the mid term future, but you will still be able to code your own apps and distribute them.