I’m sure you’ll agree with me that having the biggest or the latest doesn’t exactly mean having the best. There are things which just should not be altered or be reincarnated into something which purports to be a better version of the original.

Of course, I’m talking about software here, although I’m sure you could sew hundreds of threads on this subject without mentioning malware, antivirus, or God-forbid, Microsoft. Going back to my blabber, there are applications that seem to be already perfect as they are, even if they were made during the Reagan administration. Altering them would be unforgivable, while replacing them would be sacrilegious.

Necessary Evil

While I’m one with the nostalgic few in romanticizing 0.2 MB applications, I must admit that software must eventually put on some weight in order to be able to pack a punch that would actually hurt. While keeping it simple may be the way to go as far as keeping everything neat and practical is concerned, such is an ideal that only a handful of software makers are willing to embrace (probably due to lack of resources).

Dual Core, Do More

I’m sure you’re already familiar with Intel’s Core 2 Duo slogan. The chipmaker’s new processor could definitely do more than just run a single program. In fact, it could shuffle applications as big as the marshmallow man with such flamboyance that one might think that one processor would already be enough to power ten PC units.

It would be a shame then, if all those muscles would just go to waste. Naturally, software makers would be encouraged (or tempted) to pack their products with a few more pounds in order to exploit the steroid-enhanced chips that are fast becoming mainstream.

Man’s ideas are infinite. Programs and its functions are products of some geek’s wild but profitable imagination. Ergo, icons illustrating a program’s features or capabilities could clutter the whole user interface. And with the virtually unlimited might of processors today, you can be sure that software designers would not be holding their horses when adding components to their creations.

Security

Not every chowhound application is detestable, though. Many a times, there are valid reasons why programmers choke their creations with hundreds of megabytes.

Malware is one of the leading causes of software bloat. You can’t expect software authors to just let their applications be mangled by viruses. In order to insulate their masterpieces from cyber graffiti, they have to pump in vaccines in the form of additional algorithms or programming instructions in order to ensure that it won’t get easily messed up by any malicious application. While antivirus and anti-spyware programs are already becoming regular mainstays in every PC unit, software makers are still fencing their applications in order to forestall any attack that security suites might not be able to prevent.

Not So Evil After All

The next time Microsoft or Apple announces the arrival of a successor to a popular software of theirs, clip that eyebrow of yours for a sec and see if it deserves your cynicism. While having the biggest or the latest may not always be a good thing, the caveat is also definitely not the general rule.

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Could you survive a day in cyberspace without an anti-virus?

For those of you who haven’t experienced a nasty malware attack yet, you might probably tinker with the thought of answering in the affirmative. I mean, how harmful can surfing at Yahoo! or Google be?

I supported such a theory a few years ago when my Norton Anti-virus licenses expired. I was kind of short back then since I poured a bulk of my savings on a gorgeous NEC LCD. Installing a pirated copy of NAV or McAfee’s Virus Scan was definitely a no no, so I tried running a newly installed XP without the protection.

I haven’t even stretched my fingers yet to type in some of the URLs which I deemed to be virus-free when a message prompted me that my computer is infected with spyware. I was quite shocked at reading the message considering that I’ve been only online for about 10 minutes.

I was so disgusted at the incident that I almost pounded my desktop’s casing. Imagine, just 10 minutes online and my computer is already infected. That meant reformatting my harddrive again and reinstalling XP. Although I could install an anti-virus to get rid of the adware, the obsessive-compulsive side of me forced me to just wipe everything off my hard drive to ensure that the malware has been eradicated. I guess that’s the best thing that anybody could do in such a situation. I’m sure the malicious application has already modified my system’s registry and other critical files.

If you don’t have an anti-virus or a registry cleaner installed on your PC, do not go online. Save yourself from having to reformat and reinstall your OS. Trust me, the headache’s definitely not worth it.

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