Technology Notebook

The Microsoft Conspiracy

I've never bought into the belief that Microsoft is a plague on the earth sent by satan. I believe most Microsoft "issues" (mildly put) stem from greed and technical oversight and maybe sometimes intentional technical oversight serving the interest of greed.
"Microsoft's Really Hidden Files" http://www.windows-sucks.com/content/ms-hidden-files.shtml is a very interesting article at: http://www.windows-sucks.com/
I'm using W2K Professional and IE6 patched and patched and patched and patched. I followed those instructions for seeing the IE hidden cache but didn't find much--a couple URL's from yesterday. However, since I had emptied my cache and cleared my history I really should have seen nothing. I doubt there is a "big brother" at Microsoft planning to read through everybodies deleted mail in Outlook Express or purged URL history, but it makes you think. We all have to be mindful that once we store something on a computer it can be very hard to remove.
I once heard a computer forensics analyst say that when she finds evidence that someone tried to wipe freespace on a drive or otherwise destroy evidence that just made her look even harder because she knows there is something to be found -- and often finds it elsewhere in a place nobody thought to try to purge.