Can it even tell?

Post #276,830 by static 12/27/06 8:03:20 PM Reply	Can it even tell? It'd be the Windows-on-DR-DOS thing all over again. Wade "Don't give up!" [link\|http://staticsan.livejournal.com/\|blog] · [link\|http://yceran.org/\|website]
Post #276,841 by pwhysall 12/28/06 4:31:54 AM Reply	Yes, I believe it can. There are ways to detect whether you've been virtualised or not. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator] [image\|http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/pwhysall/Misc/saveus.png\|0\|Darwinia\|\|]
Post #276,855 by JayMehaffey 12/28/06 12:00:44 PM Reply	It will be interesting to find out In theory a OS running in a virtual hardware system should not be able to tell, that is the whole idea of virtualizing the hardware. To let every OS think it has total control of the hardware. In practice, there are probably clues that a system could use to try and judge if it is running in a virtual system or not. The configuration of memory, results of sending commands to motherboard components and other low level hardware interaction is liable to contain signs of modification by the virtualization system. PC hardware is not designed for virtualization and there are some parts that don't handle it well. Jay
Post #276,897 by jb4 12/28/06 10:01:15 PM Reply	Here's how it will work (or, more accurately, NOT work): 1) Micros~1 will hear "through the grapevine" of some system successfully virtualizing Vista. (The "grapevine" being some bigmouth blogger who just cant resist shooting of its mouth, or a hit on a bot that trolls eBay looking for someone selling virtualization solutions). 2) Micros~1 will then buy a copy for $pittance of said virtualization software. 3) When they determine that said virtualization software does indeed work, they will then figure out its fingerprint in much the same way that anti-virus makers detect a virus's fingerprint. 4) Micros~1 will then deliver countermeasures through their automatic-update-that-you-cannot-shut-off-without-violating-the-eula-remember-all-your-hardware-are-belong-to-us "facility". Suddenly, said virtualization fails to work. (and probabaly downloads your MAC address to Microsoft through their phone-home-that-you-cannot-shut-off-without-violating-the-eula-remember-all-your-hardware-are-belong-to-us "facility".) (If they were smart [don't we all wish], they'd delay their de-virtualization patch activation until some time later than the download that actually bombs the virtualizer, so that one couldn't easily associate which download contained the bomb.... jb4 "When the final history is written in Iraq, [link\|http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmate/2006/tmate060926.gif\|it'll look just like a comma.]" — George W. Bush, 24 Sep 06
Post #276,907 by JayMehaffey 12/28/06 11:08:47 PM Reply	And then we are off to the races Because as soon as Microsoft blocks their software, they will update their software to change it's signature and make Vista run again. The question becomes one of their ability to keep ahead of Microsoft, and how willing Microsoft is to risk breaking systems to play with low level hardware and BIOS calls. Those things are a very black magic and the whole point of large parts of Vista* is to avoid them. I don't know enough about virtualization on PC to make a guess who is going to win that race. Jay *And Linux, and every OS since Windows 3.1 for that matter.
Post #277,570 by jb4 3/7/07 8:18:57 AM Reply	My guess of the winner will be: (K)Ubuntu, with Open Office. jb4 "It's hard for me, you know, living in this beautiful White House, to give you a firsthand assessment." — George W. Bush, when asked if he believed Iraq was in a state of civil war (Newsweek, 26 Feb 07)

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