Citing affordability and ease-of-maintenance thanks to off-the-shelf parts, he British Royal Navy is rolling out a customized version of Windows XP on its nuclear submarine fleet. The move will save UK taxpayers up to $32 million over ten years and has cut installation time down to about two and a half weeks per submarine.
Training time is expected to be much shorter, too, given the prevalence of Windows outside of the Navy. Hacking is a concern, although BAE Systems — the company that designed the setup — claims that things have been modified enough to prevent unauthorized access.
[via CNET]
Control-Alt-Drown
:D
This reminds me of the Bill G. scene from the South Park movie that came out back in ‘99 or something…
LOL!
A first class military OS is supposed to be ideally a totally CUSTOM OS and have nothing to do with anything on the consumer market.
If they must install something off the shelf they freaking pick windows? LOL! I would think you would NOT WANT a blue screen of death at 2500 feet below the water the moment before you try to blow the ballast tanks!
Actually, a Custom OS would be ANYTHING but ideal, despite how every computer seems to run a custom OS in the movies.
A custom os made from scratch that can compare to a modern os would take millions and years to make.
Not to mention it would have a rediculus amount of bugs thanks to being a completely brand new operating system that was never used before, and it would be diffiuclt and expensive to develop software for it since it would all have to be custom made.
Not to mention everybody would have to learn how to use it.
There is a REASON that pretty much every embedded device runs on a variation of the Symbian, Windows Kernel, or Linux Kernel.
Its just not practical and dosen’t make sense to make your own custom os for everything.
If they want I can install Linux for then.. But Windows?
Hacking is a concern.. And is gonna be a concern forever!
Imagine someone hacking a nuclear submarine.. It is going to be the hell.. LOL
And how exactly would one accomplish this?
Its not as if the sub will be connected to the internet, at least not to a public WAN if ANY network connection at all.
The majority of Windows systems get hacked because the people using them are total idiots who click “Yes” and “I Accept” to everything and know nothing about using protection software or keeping their system secure.
Plus this isn’t exactly going to be a desktop.
Oh yeah… Like the International Space Station, right? That thing is impenetrable!!!!
Lose USB’s can sink ships? BSoD now with more D!
Ah the British sense of humor is GREAT!
They are going to use XP for the next 10 years…
What will that be like?
Beware the blue cruise missile of death!
Full speed ahead!
Man the BSOD jokes!
I just want to know if the default install on these nuke boats is going to have solitaire and MS paint?
That, my friend, is the ultimate question.
…and I hope that they can’t install Messenger.
Doesn’t the British Navy know better?
It will crash, it will freeze OMG