Thanks Steve! ExtremeTech, reported today that its readers have uncovered a significant flaw in Windows Millennium Edition (Windows ME). The flaw -- a memory leak -- could put millions of users at risk of frequent crashes. According to the report, Microsoft support has confirmed that the problem exists and that they are currently researching a solution. The memory leak occurs when users open large programs or files in Windows ME and then later close them. By design Windows is supposed to "recover" the amount of free memory available to the system for other tasks. However, due to this leak, Windows ME never actually manages its free memory properly, thereby leaving a system unstable and highly vulnerable to freezes, crashes and "blue screens of death." The problem does not affect any other version of the operating system. The Windows ME flaw first surfaced earlier this week when ExtremeTech reader Matt Vlasaty, a Chicago-based electrical engineer, brought the issue to the forefront on the site's discussion boards. When others on the boards voiced similar complaints, Vlasaty and ExtremeTech's editors worked together to reproduce the leak on a clean system, thereby confirming the problem.
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