Well,

1. I don't believe in security through obscurity as a general principle.
2. I will certainly stay where the money is (Microsoft).
3. What makes you think that Linux is any better?..............if I have physical access and a password you are owned.

Do you still run 16bit applications?...............I do, and have Windows 3.11, 98, 98SE and ME boxes for that. They are mostly games that won't work in compatibility mode anyway, because they want to directly access the hardware and do other things that 2000, XP, Vista and 7 don't allow.

This is the fix:

1.
Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
This opens the Group Policy console.
1.
Expand the Administrative Templates folder, and then click Windows Components.
2.
Click the Application Compatibility folder.
3.
In the details pane, double click the Prevent access to 16-bit applications policy setting. By default, this is set to Not Configured.
4.
Change the policy setting to Enabled, and then click OK.
Impact of Workaround: Users will not be able to run 16-bit applications.


REMEMBER: You have to make the change in both User and Computer settings. If it isn't turned off in Computer settings it will be allowed because they override the User settings


No big deal as far as I am concerned.