Tag: update
The latest release of the Compatibility View list update for Internet Explorer 8 went live earlier this week and is now available for download. In an effort to maintain compatibility between IE8 and website developers for IE6 and IE7, Microsoft introduced the Compatibility View feature in the browser.
The Redmond-based company also maintains a list of websites that fail to play nice with the gold version of Internet Explorer 8. For this specific content, IE8 doesn’t use the latest version of its rendering engine, tailored to modern web standards, but rather behaves like older releases of the browser.
“An update for the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility View list that is dated June 23, 2009, is available. This Compatibility View list update makes Web sites that are designed for older browsers look better in Internet Explorer 8. When you install Internet Explorer 8, you can decide whether the sites that you browse should be displayed in Compatibility View. After you install this update, you may have to restart Internet Explorer,” Microsoft informed.
Read More»
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
Addressing users of an iPod shuffle (1st and 2nd generation), or iPod shuffle (3rd generation), Apple has updated its Support section with new information on how to update your player’s software.
Apple outlines that it is very important to understand the difference between “update” and “restore.” Failing to do this may result in losing all your songs, or whatever data you have stored on your iPod shuffle. Update does not affect your settings or songs, but only installs the software that controls iPod shuffle.
However, the restore action erases the disk and restores iPod shuffle to its original factory condition. According to the iPod maker, you should use the computer where music is normally synced, if you only need to update iPod shuffle. “Updating on another computer will result in all songs being removed from the iPod shuffle,” the company warns. Additionally, users should make sure to back up the contents of their iPod shuffle. Everything can be synced back to the device, if the items are part of your iTunes Library. Read More»
Posted in Mac, Windows XP | No Comments »
Microsoft is gearing up to start serving automatic upgrades to Internet Explorer 8. Fact is that the Redmond company has already debuted the Automatic distribution of its latest iteration of IE. In this regard, the software giant confirmed that IE8 RTW (release to web) was already offered via Automatic Update/Windows Update to all users running pre-release versions of IE8. Next in line are users of Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, which should start seeing IE8 served through WU/AU by the end of this month.
“We released IE8 via Automatic Update to users still running pre-release versions of IE8 (Beta 2 or Release Candidate 1). The goal was to make sure users who chose to install IE8 have the latest up-to-date version,” revealed Eric Hebenstreit, IE lead program manager. It is important to note that automatic upgrades to IE8 are not synonymous with automatic installations of the browser.
Microsoft underlined that end users would need to opt-in in order to install Internet Explorer 8. In this regard, the gold version of IE8, offered through WU/AU, will come with three options: Ask later, Install and Don’t Install, allowing users to postpone the installation, give it green light, or simply block it through the Redmond company’s update infrastructure. Read More»
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
February 19, 2009 by
Jason
An issue originally associated with Windows Vista upgrades has come back to haunt Windows 7, as the operating system was released in Beta stage to the general public at the start of January 2009. According to Microsoft’s Nanda Lella, upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 is a process that will kill more than just the Ultimate Extras additions, if in fact the end users run the high-end edition of Windows XP’s successor. Lella revealed that the Vista to Windows 7 Beta upgrade would cause the RSS feeds associated with Internet Explorer to no longer update.
This is by no means a new issue. In fact, approximately a couple of years back, Vista users were running into the same issue. The context however, was a tad different. At that time IE feeds were killed by Vista to Vista upgrades. “Our investigations show that these tend to occur after upgrades from one pre-release build of Windows Vista to another version. If you’re encountering this issue, first make sure that the feed URL is still valid by manually updating the feed (press F5 while viewing the feed in IE7),” explained Walter vonKoch, Microsoft program manager. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
January 13, 2009 by
Jason
Mozilla introduced Firefox Snowl in the first half of August 2008, and the open source project evolved into its next stage as of January 12, 2009. Mozilla Labs unveiled Firefox Snowl 0.2, moving onward with the development of the solution, from the initial release, which was, by all means, an extremely primitive prototype. With version 0.2 of its experiment with messaging in the browser, Mozilla Labs has in fact taken the conversing capabilities of the project a step further.
“We’re pleased to announce Snowl 0.2. This version of the messaging-in-the-browser experiment builds on the first release with an updated river view, a new stream view for keeping track of messages in a sidebar while you do other things, the ability to send tweets, and support for multiple Twitter accounts,” Mozilla’s Myk Melez revealed.
Users should make no mistake about it, as even at version 0.2 Snowl is still in very early development stages, making them more testers than actual users. However, the program does increase the level of Twitter integration. The solution now supports sending messages through Twitter, but also the ability for users to both receive and send Tweets from multiple accounts that they first need to subscribe to. Read More»
Posted in Firefox | No Comments »
December 28, 2008 by
Jason
This December Microsoft has prioritized the update releases for Windows Embedded operating system. In this context, the company delivered the patches for security vulnerabilities in the platforms, but did not offer the package of optional refreshes. The explanation offered by the Redmond company indicated that the work poured into the finalization of Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 3 and Windows Embedded Standard 2009 caused the optional updates for December to be discontinued, according to Gina Bentley, the Servicing and Support program manager for the Vertical Industries and Embedded Windows (VIEW) group.
“We are putting the final touches on the December Security roll-ups to bring these products up to date with all security releases since they went into code freeze,” Bentley explained on December 12. “We want you to have everything you need to start creating your new device images built with Windows Embedded Standard 2009! We gave extra consideration to this roll-up release, and that, combined with holiday schedules, means that we opted to take a break and not release an Optional Update package for December.” Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | 1 Comment »
December 17, 2008 by
Jason
There’s no easy way to secure IE against similar flaws that will inevitably be discovered and used by hackers to their advantage in the future. For this reason and in response to pleas for help by many Pctipsbox readers here’s my recommendation on the best way to surf the Web more securely:
Step 1: Switch to Firefox, Opera, Chrome, or another contender and configure it to be your default browser. Use IE only to visit sites that require Microsoft-specific technology probably because they rely on ActiveX to function. (For example, you need to use IE to download patches at the Windows Update site.) I recommend Firefox because of the numerous add-ons available for that browser, some of which I describe in Steps 2 and 3.
Step 2: Install the Firefox add-ons known as User Agent Switcher (see UAS’s download page) and IE Tab (download page).
User Agent Switcher lets you change your browser’s identity. If a Web site demands the use of IE but actually works fine with other browsers, you can change the name of the operating system and browser the site thinks you’re using. Many “IE only” sites render perfectly well in Firefox and other browsers. Read More»
Posted in Firefox, Internet | No Comments »
December 11, 2008 by
Jason
On December 9, Microsoft made available for download the last bouquet of security updates for 2008. the company released no less than eight security bulletins, six of them Critical and two rated as Important. Hot on the heels of the last round of patches for the year hitting Windows Update, the December 2008 Security Release ISO Image went live on the Microsoft Download Center. Via the Security Release ISO Image for the current month, the software giant is providing a single package for all the security updates designed for its Windows client and server operating systems, including Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3.
“As far as vulnerability counts go, this is the largest patch release since Microsoft started the ‘Patch Tuesday’ program back in late 2003. The release contains eight bulletins covering 28 vulnerabilities,” Symantec’s Robert Keith revealed.
“Of those issues, 23 are rated ‘Critical’ and affect Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Visual Basic ActiveX controls, GDI, Windows Search, and Excel. All of the ‘Critical’ issues this month require some sort of user interaction, whether visiting a Web page that contains malicious content or viewing a malicious file. The remaining issues affect GDI, Windows Search, SharePoint, and Windows Explorer; they range in importance from ‘Important’ to ‘Moderate.’” Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
December 07, 2008 by
Jason
For Firefox users, Windows Update usually becomes the only time we are forced to run Internet Explorer. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Since Windows Update requires an ActiveX control in order to run, it’s impossible to exclude Internet Explorer completely, so you will need to install IETab first, the magical Firefox extension that lets you open a web page with Internet Explorer within Firefox in a couple of clicks.
Once it is installed, you will need to replace the Windows Update shortcut in the All Programs menu. To do this:
- Press Start. Select All Programs.
- Right-click on Windows Update menu item and select Properties.
- In the properties window, enter “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” http://update.microsoft.com in the Target field. Make sure you enter the correct path for your Firefox install and if the path contains any blank space, enclose the path in double quotes. Read More»
Posted in Firefox | No Comments »
September 09, 2008 by
Jason
From the perspective of a platform developer, Microsoft has to maintain an equilibrium between the innovation it introduces with its software products and support for legacy applications. Both Windows Vista and Internet Explore 8 offer an ample example of the Redmond giant struggling to achieve such a balance. This is why the company is lending a helping hand to customers migrating to its latest products. In this regard, the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 is designed to sniff out and permit the mitigation of incompatibility issues. The collection of tools, as well as the adjacent documentation included in the toolkit, are tailored to Windows Vista releases via Windows Update and Internet Explorer.
“ACT helps customers lower their costs for application compatibility testing, prioritize their applications, and deploy Windows Vista more quickly. You can use the ACT features to: verify an application’s compatibility with a new version of the Windows operating system, or a Windows Update, including determining your risk assessment; become involved in the ACT Community, including sharing your risk assessment with other ACT users; and test your Web applications and Web sites for compatibility with new releases and security updates to the Windows Internet Explorer Internet browser,” reads an excerpt from the toolkit’s description. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 1 Comment »