4 ms·
> Microsoft had a "no easter eggs" policy starting in the early 2000s Note that this was in the aftermath of a summer with multiple major XP security issues.
by BeFlatXIII 1y ago
> Microsoft had a "no easter eggs" policy starting in the early 2000s
Note that this was in the aftermath of a summer with multiple major XP security issues.
- baq 1y agocame here to say that, too. imagine your easter egg introduced a vulnerability. a blanket policy like that is literally the first document leadership signs and sends out.
- codys 1y agoWere there any Microsoft XP security issues caused by "Easter eggs" prior to that policy change? Or was this just put in place as a policy because it was easy to put in place?
- Analemma_ 1y agoI don't think there were any specific security issues caused by Easter eggs but the policy was announced as one of the many changes in their "Trustworthy Computing" initiative. It seems kinda harsh but it's important to remember the context: at the time, the security situation in Windows and Office was dire and it was (probably correctly) perceived as an existential threat to the company. I think "no Easter eggs" was as much for optics as for its actual effect on the codebase, a way to signal "we know about and stand behind every line of code that gets written; nothing is unaccounted for".
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- PhasmaFelis 1y agoWasn't it also something to do with supplying government contracts, which require all behavior to be documented?
- reconnecting 1y agoMicrosoft best ever easter eggs was C:\CON\CON