While beta releases of any application or operating system are by definition test versions, the viruses exploit frailties in a central part of Vista’s code: its scripting language.
An Austrian hacker published five sample viruses that would attack Vista’s command line interface, known as the Microsoft Command Shell [MCS]. The Command Line has been central to PC operating systems from the outset of the personal computer revolution and, with the advent of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), the command line prompt is still the preferred means of addressing sticky problems.
MCS replaces forebears cmd.exe and command.com, used in operating systems from Windows 3.1 to Windows XP. The viruses created fort Vista have not yet been given code names.
Though the possibility of command line viruses in Vista was suggested more than a year ago, it is uncertain whether this month’s beta release indicates Microsoft’s plan to release the full version of Vista with MCS.
