Microsoft Windows Forum

Not my sentiment but that of Johnathan Nightingale, the Firefox security interface designer no less who has [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-9967829-57.html"]gone on record[/URL] as saying that "we didn't want to put in something that was half baked" when talking about how the privacy button might interact with websites and mashups alike. Which might …

When I opened my mail box today and picked up this month’s [URL="http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=10395&page=1"]Streaming Media Magazine[/URL], [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000325/"]David Caruso[/URL], aka Horatio Caine on [URL="http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi_miami/"]CSI Miami[/URL], stared out at me from the cover in his trademark shades. Not exactly what you expect from a magazine aimed at video geeks, but apparently Caruso is …

Yes, it's Sunday again and you know what that means--Crystal Ball Sunday and new predictions for Linux and Open Source for the coming months. This week I probe application and operating system interoperability. Developers and integrators are going to begin focusing considerable effort on the interoperability of Windows, Linux, and …

Following announcements at the [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/itpro/default.mspx"]Microsoft Tech Ed IT Professionals 2008[/URL] conference in Orlando this week, it would appear that Internet Explorer 8 will concentrate on getting things right for the business user. This means a focus on deployment issues, a focus on improving compatibility and updates to the IE admin …

A few months ago, I did an "On the Desktop" article for Linux Magazine on [I]Getting to Know Konqueror[/I], the default Linux web browser, file manager, and remote protocol client. Until I saw FireFox version 3, I had never really been very impressed with it. I actually submitted a little …

Last month I [URL=http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2473.html]wrote about Xenocode[/URL]’s Virtual Application Studio, which lets you package and launch apps in a portable runtime regardless of what’s installed underneath. But if doing business with an unknown company leaves you feeling faklempt, you might kvell over news this week from VMware. The company best known …

Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General, has been fighting one of those fights that you sadly cannot win: to rid the Internet of child pornography. Believe me, as a father of four I would love to say that it was possible but as a technology journalist with some 20 years …

Where do you want to go in a few months? Windows 7? You'd be better off converting to Vista before holding your breath for that one. The Linux world keeps releasing new versions of its vendor-customized Operating System while the Windows world keeps waiting for more and more promises. While …

There is a really very interesting article in the online edition of Vanity Fair called '[URL="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/internet200807?printable=true&currentPage=all"]How the Web Was Won[/URL]' and subtitled 'An Oral History of the Internet' which recounts through the comments of those involved the first fifty years of Internet history. Sure, you are probably thinking that the …

Microsoft today gave [URL=http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-jun.mspx] advance notice [/URL]of a security bulletin it will release on Tuesday to repair seven vulnerabilities in Windows and Internet Explorer, three of them critical. The three critical warnings involve potential remote code execution, and affect Bluetooth, DirectX and IE. According to reports, the latter patch might …

[I]Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. ~Dylan Thomas. [/I] Every once in a while you come across a blog post from a writer that makes you sit up …

This must truly be the end of days. Like Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters: “Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling…human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.” Microsoft is giving advice on securing its software to Apple. It’s “laughable on …

When [URL="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080222/105312322.shtml"]Bill Gates gave a speech[/URL] last winter and hinted that the need for a keyboard was going to be diminishing, the writer in me scoffed, but I should learn to take Bill’s little hints a bit more seriously because the next version of Windows (aka Windows 7) is going …

Set a Firefox world record on Download Day is [URL="http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2008/05/28/set-a-firefox-world-record/"]the message being trumpeted[/URL] loud and clear from Mozilla HQ as the launch of the Firefox 3.0 web browser gets ever closer. It seems that the Mozilla people are serious as well, with talk of an official Guinness World Record ratification …

So the worst-kept secret is finally out of the bag - the next generation of Windows will [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-9953243-56.html?tag=nefd.lede"]work with touch screens[/URL]. It will be faster than current versions of the system and it will take multiple inputs. I can't help being just a little cynical about this one. Yes, I …

There's an interesting story up at [URL="http://consumerist.com/tag/windows/?i=5010868&t=microsoft-and-the-1632-copy-of-vista"]The Consumerist[/URL] at the moment about some chap called Bill who has been charged $1632 for a single Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade license. It would appear what has happened is that Windows Live Marketplace kept saying to try again later when Bill pressed the …

[URL="http://www.slipperybrick.com/2008/05/iphone-runs-windows-vista-kinda/"]Slippery Brick reports[/URL] that it is now possible to run Windows Vista on your iPhone, well after a fashion at any rate. In fact what you get is a Vista emulator called VistaPerfection 2.0 which provides your iPhone with "wallpapers, sliders, sound effects and over 90 Vista-themed icons for everything …

[URL="http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/21/vole-loses-alcatel-lucent"]According to The Inquirer[/URL] Microsoft has lost the long running Alcatel-Lucent patent case. The US International Trade Commission has ruled against Microsoft in the case which accused Alcatel-Lucent of violating four Microsoft patents concerning IP-based phone software. The ITC concluded that "there is no violation of section 337" which refers …

Maybe the third time’s the charm for Napster. The peer-to-peer pioneer has again emerged, and this time looks to have its sights set on Apple. The company on Tuesday launched a new Web site and music store, claiming to offer six million titles in unprotected MP3 format, as many songs …

Even though the guy missed, Steve Ballmer might still end up with egg on his face. If the Microsoft CEO fails again to acquire Yahoo, he might do well to open his own diner since he always seems to have a ready supply of eggs. This time they came his …

In the past few weeks, we have seen Microsoft trying to acquire Yahoo! for some $46-odd billion dollars. They failed. So, moving on, they are [URL="http://furrier.org/2008/05/19/silicon-valley-rumor-microsoft-to-buy-yahoo-search-and-then-facebook/"]trying to acquire Facebook now[/URL]. Mark Zuckerberg is standing firm on this one though. They are decisively saying "no" to the acquisition. [URL="http://www.ginside.com/2008/1589/google-to-buy-facebook/"]Facebook is not …

[I]Fool if you think it's over 'Cause you said goodbye Fool if you think it's over I'll tell you why ~Chris Rea, Fool (If You Think It's Over). [/I] Those two crazy kids, Microsoft and Yahoo! are talking again. I know. I know. You thought it was over. Everyone did. …

You have to admire a guy who would walk away from a successful project of global proportions purely on principle. Walter Bender, co-founder of One Laptop Per Child, has reemerged and launched [URL= http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Main_Page]SugarLabs[/URL], a not-for-profit foundation that will continue the work of developing the Sugar open-source UI that runs …

The Mozilla team says its latest browser is stable, and has posted [Firefox 3 RC 1](http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-rc.html) on Saturday. Apart from more than 900 enhancements the team claimed were [delivered in beta 4](http://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2008/03/10/firefox-3-beta-4-now-available-for-download/), Firefox 3 RC1 also includes the so-called AwesomeBar, a beefed-up location bar that anticipates destinations as you type …

Before I tell you about Bill Gates’ speech at CEO Summit 2008 today, I’d like to share one more story from my trip to Orlando for STAR EAST last week. And then I’ll tie the two together. In [my May 10 post](http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2434.html) from the conference, I mentioned “Testing Dialogues—In the …

Microsoft continues to reach out and touch mobile device makers and their carriers. The company today announced a deal with Research in Motion that will enhance integration between Microsoft’s Windows Live services and Blackberry 7000 and 8000 series devices as well as the [URL= http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2443.html]BlackBerry Bold[/URL], a brand-new model unveiled …

Research in Motion has thrown its BlackBerry hat into the iPhone ring with [URL= http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/] BlackBerry Bold[/URL], the latest version of the company’s line of sleek, multimedia savvy smartphones. According to a RIM [URL=http://www.rim.com/news/press/2008/pr-12_05_2008-01.shtml]press release[/URL], the new unit is “crafted from premium materials inside and out, that radiate elegance with …

[I]Well there’s nothing to lose And there’s nothing to prove I’ll be dancing with myself ~Billy Idol, Dancing with Myself.[/I] Microsoft is 30-something and that’s an elder statesman in personal computing terms, and maybe it’s feeling a bit old. The desktop is so yesterday. The future is on the web, …

The Opera client used to be universally recognized as the alternative browser to Internet Explorer, and then along came Firefox and stole all the alternative browser thunder - and how. But the fat lady is still singing, and to prove it has released the [URL="http://www.opera.com/dragonfly/"]Opera Dragonfly[/URL] to debug web pages, …

Is the Yahoo deal done yet? The stock market thinks so, slicing Yahoo’s financial value by 15% in the last two trading sessions. If the deal were still alive, then the stock would be moving the other way around. Yahoo’s chief Jerry Yang says the $37-per-share demand wasn’t etched in …

There’s a better-than-even chance that you’re using Microsoft Outlook for e-mail. And if you’re like me, you’re not too happy about it. But there’s a free plug-in available today that brings some much needed relief from some of what ails the world’s most popular e-mail client. I tried it today …

Okay, let the finger-pointing begin. Should Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer take the heat for the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo merger falling apart? After all, didn't he say that Microsoft wouldn't raise its $45.7 billion bid for Yahoo, then weeks later, say he'd raise the bid, from $31 per share to $33 per …

I’ve never liked Steve Ballmer very much as president of Microsoft. I don’t know the man personally, of course, and I could never quite put my finger on my reasons for disliking him. Until today, that is, when I read an [URL= http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlWMAaojPTn9VWib6NSyXZ5A3ntQD90F02SO0]Associated Press story[/URL] that included allegations that the …

Microsoft has put the brakes on Windows XP Service Pack 3, which was supposed to be available yesterday through the [URL=http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us]Windows Update Website[/URL]. A [URL=http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3262170&SiteID=17]Tuesday post[/URL] on its TechNet site said a “compatibility issue” between Microsoft’s Dynamics Retail Management System point-of-sale application and SP3 has caused the delay. The same …

[I]Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger Sometimes you're the ball ~Mark Knopfler, The Bug[/I] Technology moves so quickly it's a bit like the weather in New England. If you don't like it, wait five minutes. To prove this, not long after I published my post last week, [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2351.html"]Microsoft Misses the Boat …

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Microsoft bid to acquire Yahoo was a bust—and I hope it stays that way. I shudder to think of the consequences of a company like Microsoft acquiring Google-like power. Microsoft already has too much power and control over my life. I …

Microsoft is not old by corporate standards, but in the world of technology it is down-right staid. That’s why it takes a while for it to make major changes (or five years to roll out an OS). A few years ago when Bill Gates was still in charge, he recognized …

With the lackluster adoption of Vista, perhaps Microsoft plans to migrate XP users by attrition—one service pack at a time. The company today released Windows XP SP3, which enables in XP a slew of features, many native to Vista. Available now as a stand-alone [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68c48dad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&displaylang=en"]installer pack[/URL], the update brings XP …

I'm no Microsoft basher, but I've never hidden my personal loathing for Vista. Yet even I was surprised to learn this week just how cynical Microsoft appears to be regarding Vista. It started the other day when a Steve Ballmer speech to the [URL="http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/"]Microsoft MVPs [/URL]leaked out. According to several …

[URL="http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11463"]Reports are emerging[/URL] that according to a Gartner analysis, albeit a controversial one, Windows is on the verge of collapse. The conclusion being that unless something is done soon then it is only a matter of time before a competitor that is more able to tackle the problems it has …

Today's trading was flat, with most of the tech news coming from the Yahoo & Microsoft camps. Microsoft seems to be getting all Tony Soprano-like on the Yahoo board, issuing a pointed letter that emphasized an April 26 deadline for accepting its $44.6 billion takeover bid for the mega-web portal. …

According to [URL="http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9911470-56.html?tag=cnetfd.blogs.item"]reports[/URL] it looks possible that the next big upgrade to the Windows OS, the fabled Windows 7, could arrive much earlier than expected. Within the next 12 months even. And who is responsible for making this prediction? None other than Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates himself, apparently. If this …

It should come as no surprise that the upcoming 'Patch Tuesday' from Microsoft should include critical patches covering the likes of VBScript and Jscript implementation in Windows 2000, XP and 2003. However, [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/184764/not-even-vista-sp1-escapes-next-patch-tuesday.html"]some reporters[/URL] have expressed just a little astonishment that both Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1 are also …

Wordpress 2.5 has been under development for 6 months. This past weekend, [URL="http://ma.tt/"]Matt Mullenweg[/URL] [URL="http://wordpress.org/development/2008/03/wordpress-25-brecker/"]announced[/URL] the release of Wordpress 2.5 at his keynote during [URL="http://dallas.wordcamp.org/"]WordCamp Dallas[/URL] 2008. You can read more about [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress"]Wordpress on Wikipedia[/URL]. You can get your copy here: [URL="http://wordpress.org/download/"]click here[/URL] But most of all, a huge congrats …

Hello! Since installing the shiny new Vista first service pack; I had been getting some problems browsing - although I hadn't actually changed anything apart from installed SP1. It was mainly websites that were running on flash or those that used ActiveX controls that seemed to be having problems loading. …

[URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/181083/microsoft-offers-free-vista-sp1-support.html"]According to IT Pro[/URL] Microsoft has done a u-turn when it comes to charging users for installation or compatibility support with regard to Vista SP1. It says that Microsoft is now "offering free support to any Windows Vista SP1 user experiencing problems." Quoting Microsoft MVP Brandon LeBlanc, it reports "you …

Evening everyone! As most of you will proberbly already be aware that the first service pack for MS Vista is looming. Although the final version won't be available on MS update until proberbly next month - it is available as a download (roughly about 450Mb) direct from MS. I decided …

Kind of a quiet week in the technology corner of the stock market. That's not so bad, as people can exhale and figure out if the latest Federal Reserve move to cut the Fed Funds rate by .75 points signals the bottom (finally) of the bearish stock market. if so, …

Ever wondered just how smart a smartcard is, from the security perspective? Obviously there are problems as detailed in a DaniWeb blog posting last month which described how hackers can [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2115.html"]exploit hardware RFID weaknesses to access credit card account data[/URL] for example. But now a former member of the team …

[URL="http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/03/15/gates-predicts-big-technological-leaps"]Speaking[/URL] to the Northern Virginia Technology Council this week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made the distinctly predictable prediction that during the next ten years there will be even greater technological advances than during the previous decade. Amongst the advances that Gates suggests are likely to be of most importance were …