WindowsObserver.com » internet explorer

Internet Explorer 9 Expected to be Revealed for Developers at MIX10

Richard Hay — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:14:04 +0000

As I mentioned yesterday in my Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Live Wave 4 at MIX10 post, it is expected that today’s keynote address at the MIX10 Conference in Las Vegas will be all about Internet Explorer 9.

You will be able to watch the keynote live at the MIX10 website – http://live.visitmix.com – and it is scheduled for 12:00 PM (EDT) and should be about two hours long.

If you need some help deciphering when it will be on in your time zone/location then check out the World Clock – Time Zone Converter.

Having a developer version of IE9 available at the keynote today is a great thing – for developers. However, this version of IE9 is not really made to be installed and used by the general public. If history repeats itself I suspect we will see a public beta of IE9 within the next six months or so.

However, I am also a realist and realize many will download it and put it to use immediately. I am sure the IE9 developer download page will warn you about the risks, unfinished product, etc.

Whatever you do – stay safe and browse smartly.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Related Posts:

Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Live Wave 4 at MIX10

Richard Hay — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:09:53 +0000

As I prepare to watch the first MIX10 Live Keynote at http://live.visitmix.com I am tracking Twitter and all the info flying around from people at the conference. You never know what tidbit you might catch.

Well based on a source I trust tremendously it looks like we will not see any Windows Live Wave 4 announcements during MIX10 however, it does appear that Internet Explorer 9 will be made available in some shape or form this week.

That actually makes a lot of sense as this is a developers conference and IE9 will be the next platform for web development out of Redmond.

On the other hand that is not the case for Windows Live Wave 4. You see Windows Live Wave 4 is a suite of applications and although add ins are developed for Windows Live Writer, one of the programs in the suite, they are not a collection of programs that get developed for.

When will hear anything about Windows Live Wave 4? Your guess is as good as mine at this point.

Update 11:45AM EDT: The Developers Build of IE9 will be made available on 16 March 2010 in and around the Tuesday keynote at MIX10.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Related Posts:

My First Five Steps After installing Windows 7

Richard Hay — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Although Windows 7 has reduced the number of times I choose to do a clean install these days there are still some steps I take to customize the OS to fit my way of using it whenever I do start fresh.

I thought it would be interesting to share those steps here and see if we have anything in common.

Now, before you all give me a hard time about not installing anti-virus software or the like first – that is not what this post is about. These are system tweaks I make in Windows 7, using Windows 7 tools and settings towards usability. Security and protection are automatics before these even happen

Step 1: Customize Folder Options

On the Folder Options General Tab:

Browse folders: Select Open each folder in its own window – I am constantly browsing drives, folders and network shares and prefer that each get their own window instead of replacing some data I may already be looking at.
Click items as follows: Select Single-click to open an item – I just like the idea of a single click to open things. It does save a click each time which must add up eventually

On the Folders Options View tab:

Advanced Settings: Select Show hidden files, folders and drives – I like being able to delve into my system and like being able to see everything on it.
Advanced Settings: Select Hide extensions for known file types – this allows me to see the specific file type instead of just depending on the icon next to the file name. Some malware uses this method to obscure a programs real purpose and so I like it for security as well.

Step 2: Set up Internet Options in IE

On the Internet Options General tab:

Home Page: Select Use blank – this lets IE open up quickly and I can go straight to the page I want instead of wasting time loading a default webpage.

On the Internet Options Content tab:

Auto Complete: Turn on for web forms and passwords. I am the only user on my system and log in so I am OK with this info being saved for me. Speeds things up as well.

On the Internet Options Advanced tab:

Browsing: Uncheck Reuse windows for launching shortcuts. Same reason as in Folder Options for opening each folder in its own window.
Browsing: Select Use inline auto complete (outside of Internet Explorer). This gives me access in the address bar in Windows Explorer to my browsing history.
Multimedia: Select Show image download placeholders. When browsing without graphics turned on this keeps the space reserved based on the size specs for the image in the HTML code. It also keeps your page properly formatted.

Step 3: Desktop Customization

On the Desktop Icons tab:

Select all Desktop icons (Computer, User’s Files, Network, Recycle Bin, Control Panel). I am a fan of a clean desktop but these are vital for me to access their functions easily from the desktop directly.

Step 4: Start Menu

On the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Customize tab:

Uncheck Highlight newly installed programs – I am usually aware that I just installed a new program and prefer not to have the highlighting.
Uncheck Open submenus when I pause on them with the mouse pointer – I ant to control when I move to a submenu myself while browsing the Start Menu.

Step 5: Start Up and Recovery

On the Start Up and Recovery tab:

Under System Failure unselect Automatically restart – this will leave any Blue Screens on your system until you restart the system. I prefer this for troubleshooting so I can read the blue screen. With this box checked the system will restart after the error is shown briefly.

Now your turn – what are the first steps you take to customize Windows to your preferences?

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse , How-to , Story , Desktop , Customization , Personlization

Related Posts:

Bulk Delete RSS Feeds in IE8

Richard Hay — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:49:06 +0000

Back in April of 2008 I wrote a blog entry about how to remove RSS feeds in bulk from Internet Explorer 7 because at the time in IE you could only remove one feed at a time. That can be quite time consuming if you have a lot of feeds like I do.

The RSS feeds are stored in the Windows Common Feed List (WCFL) which is a central storage point for any RSS feeds you subscribe to on your system. If you allowed the RSS list to be synced between IE and Outlook then this WCFL becomes the key area for all the RSS feeds you read each day.

The problem two years ago was that you could bulk delete RSS Feeds from within Outlook, at the time Outlook 2007, but they would still be present in the WCFL and Internet Explorer. This certainly defeats the purpose of syncing the two sources to the WCFL.

Well it seems the same issue exists in IE8 and Outlook 2010. So I went back and used my posting from April 2008 to verify that the same procedures apply to IE8 and Outlook 2010 and they in fact do match up.

So if your looking for a way to bulk delete the RSS feeds in your WCFL the steps below will still get you there:

Deleting IE7 RSS Feeds in Bulk

I recently went and removed 100% of the feeds I was subscribed to in Outlook 2007 – over 50 of them – and yes I know that is small compared to some. Information Overflow was in full force and I needed to create some space to refocus a few different things I do. I found removing all of my RSS feeds in Outlook is very easy:

In the above dialog, which you reach by clicking on the Tools>Account Settings>RSS Feeds Tab, you can select just one feed or multiple feeds – hit the Remove button and they are gone. Simple, straight forward and quick. Now it is well known out there on the Internet and that the Windows Common Feeds introduced with Windows Vista and IE7 list can be accessed by any application that is written to do so – such as Outlook 2007 does. If I subscribe to an RSS feed while browsing the Internet it will also be accessible in Outlook 2007 the next time I start it up. Nice and convenient. It was this feature in fact kept me from moving from IE7 to Safari – I could not add RSS feeds through Safari into the Common Feeds List – bummer by the way because Safari is much faster than IE7. OK – back to the story of this post – so when you remove a feed from Outlook 2007 it DOES NOT remove it from the Windows Common Feed list – just from Outlook 2007. Seems to be a bit of a disconnect as they will sync in one direction – IE7 to Outlook 2007 – but not Outlook 2007 to IE7 – such as in the case of a removal in Outlook 2007. So if I went to Google an answer to this issue – how do I mass remove/delete/unsubscribe from RSS feeds via IE7? The answer was not forthcoming. I even tried to search and find where the Windows Common Feeds data is kept on a Windows Vista computer and had no luck there. So my next step was to experiment and search for myself. It actually took less time then a Google search to find this directory of feeds. First thing I did was allow hidden files to be – well – unhidden:

I then browsed to the following directory C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Feeds\ which contained several files (one for each subscribed RSS feed and a Feeds DataBase file.

With all instances of IE7 closed I simply selected all of the files in this directory and hit the delete button – after a brief confirmation:

They were all gone!

After you get rid of them your feed list in IE7 will look nice and clean:

So after experiencing some frustration with searching the Internet for how to do this I hope you find this blog post via your favorite search engine and save a few minutes in the process of cleaning up your Windows Common Feed list. Oh yeah – make sure you re-hide your hidden files!

Related Posts:

What a Week in the Tech World

Richard Hay — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:54:42 +0000

Well it has been almost a week since we left for Europe and our vacation. Of course the timing is such that there has been a ton of tech news in the past week with me not being connected to the Internet the way I am usually am. Now I have had connectivity everywhere we have been with wireless access everywhere but it is hard to keep up with some news without having regular dedicated access. No complaints though for the most part because it is vacation

So going back to last week at E3 and Microsoft’s big announcement about Project Natal. If you have not heard of this it is an interface device that plugs into your Xbox360 and reads your motions, emotions, facial expressions and allows you to interact with your Xbox360 interface and games. It has also been reported that Steven Spielberg is involved in the development which adds a lot of credibility to the device and project. The folks from Engadget were given an opportunity to interact with it at the announcement and filed this story about it and their reaction to it. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here. I can only imagine that it will take some additional computing power to help with the interface to the Xbox360 though – to do that many calculations and then pass them along to the Xbox360 console and the game the console will need some help. Why do I think this? Well check out this story about the Xbox360 being maxed out according to an EA VP.

In another area of great interest for so many websites is the upcoming release of WordPress 2.8. The next version of WordPress has already seen Beta 1 and 2 releases and now the first Release Candidate of WordPress 2.8 is available to download and try out. Word on the streets is that the final version of it will be released on the 10th of June to everyone.

Some additional resources to get ready for this new release are:

I have not decided 100% yet but I will likely try the automatic upgrade to WordPress 2.8 with my family website to see how that goes. I am a little leery of doing it away from home and especially as we are on vacation. The site is where we post for family and friends during our travels and I would not want to lose that ability out here on the road.

Just a reminder about this Tuesday and the release of 10 updates to everyone running Windows, Microsoft Office, and Internet Explorer. You can see more details at my earlier blog post about those updates here at June 2009 Security Updates Advance Notification.

Stay safe out there on the Internet and make sure your antivirus software is up to date!

Related Posts:

June 2009 Security Updates Advance Notification

Richard Hay — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:11:49 +0000

One of the largest updates in the past year is being prepared for release on Update Tuesday, 09 June 2009. This batch of update is made up of 6 Windows updates and 4 updates for other Microsoft programs (IE, Word, Excel and Microsoft Office).

Six of them are considered critical; three important and one is moderate. All of the critical issues are due to the possibility of remote code execution; the important ones relate to the elevation of privileges and the one moderate issue is related to the information disclosure.

You can read more info about these bulletins and sign up for your own copy of the advance notices at the Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification page.

These bulletins are a terrific way to stay up to date on security updates to your Microsoft software.

Related Posts:

New IE Icon Behavior on Taskbar in Windows 7 Build 7068 And Beyond?

Richard Hay — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:29:43 +0000

I was just watching my Twitter Stream and saw this posting and had to write about it because I think this is a significant change to the default behavior in Windows 7 and for me personally a welcome one if it sticks in the final release.

in the public build of Windows 7 (Build 7000) you would click on the IE icon on the taskbar to open your initial IE window. A subsequent click on that taskbar icon would simply open up the current window or show you the preview for all open IE windows.

In order to open a blank IE window you either had to Right Click for a jumplist or click with the middle button of your mouse (usually your scroll wheel).

At the Windows Seven Forums – this entry shows a new behavior for that IE icon on the taskbar in build 7068 which has been reported leaked over the last few days.

Here is the picture that user dirk digler posted:

Thanks for sharing the screenshot dirk – I guess we will have to wait and see if it is a final change or a test.

Related Posts:

Lets Talk Old Web Browsers and Online Safety

Richard Hay — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:24:06 +0000

I recently started using a very slick plug-in on my website to track stats – it is called StatPress Reloaded. I have only had it running for a couple of days but an interesting thing has popped out of the details:

Almost half of the visits I have had in the last couple of days are from users on Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). Now please do not get me wrong – I LOVE MY VISITORS!

However, I am concerned about your online safety. According to the website Secunia there are 22 un-patched vulnerabilities in IE6. Please do me a favor – go upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer, currently IE7 is the latest final release with IE8 close to being done, then come back and keep on visiting – but upgrade your web browser.

Hey – I am even OK with you using Firefox or any other web browser and visiting my site – just get into something a little safer for online browsing!

Related Posts:

IE8 Release Candidate 1 Released to Web

Richard Hay — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:39:28 +0000

In and amongst all of the recent hoopla with the Windows 7 Beta the IE Team has been plugging away at the eighth edition of Internet Explorer and have made available the Release Candidate (also known as RC) of IE8.

Release candidate means it is just a step or two away from final state or gold as the say in the business

So if you want to see the features of this new version head on over to the IE page for direct links to the download or you can also get some more details as the Windows Team Blog.

Oh by the way – all of you who are diligently trying out the Windows 7 Beta – this is not for us. This release is only for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server. The version of IE8 that is in Windows 7 is a pre-Release Candidate of IE8 and can not be upgraded to the actual RC of IE8. We will have to wait until the next update of the Windows 7 beta to get the release candidate of IE8 on there.

Related Posts:

IE8 Beta 2 UI Update

Richard Hay — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:20:51 +0000

Just noticed a slightly different UI box when I clicked on the upper right hand X to close IE (with multiple tabs):

Previously IE7 and I believe IE8 Beta 1 just gave you the option to close all tabs. To just close the one tab you meant to you have to exit this dialog and then select the individual tab.

One additional feature in this UI is the button to always close all tabs.

Anyone see anything else updated?

Related Posts:

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Released

Richard Hay — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:36:43 +0000

Microsoft and the IE8 team have announced the released of IE8 Beta 2 – this one is geared towards the consumers now instead of just developers like Beta 1 was. This one has not only got all the bugs from the Beta 1 taken care of but they have added a few new features as well as enhancing some others:

They have also posted some videos to help explain and communicate this Beta 2 update.

Internet Explorer 8 for Consumers

Join Shola Aluko as he explains why Internet Explorer 8 is the best browser for what you do on the web every day. You’ll see what makes the new browser faster, safer, and more reliable than ever.

Internet Explorer 8 for the Enterprise

See why Internet Explorer 8 is the best browser choice for your business as James Pratt showcases new features to help ITPros with deployment, security and privacy, and productivity.

Internet Explorer 8 for Developers

Watch Jefferson Fletcher reveal the improvements Internet Explorer 8 has in store for those who build the web—including new developer tools, compatibility advances, CSS improvements, and much more.

Internet Explorer 8 Privacy & Security

Watch Craig Spiezle demonstrate innovative new features in Internet Explorer 8 that will help keep your browsing experiences safer and more private than ever.

Of course the most important piece is the link to the download page – IE8 Beta 2 Worldwide Download Site.

Related Posts:

Windows Update Tuesday The August 08 Edition

Richard Hay — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:08:18 +0000

Wow – a serious bumper crop of updates out there today for Microsoft’s operating system and other software programs of their making.

11 total updates of which 6 are critical and 5 are important.

Critical Updates

• MS08-041 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Access (KB 955617)

• MS08-043 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Excel (KB 954066)

• MS08-044 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Office (KB 924090)

• MS08-045 – addresses a vulnerability in Internet Explorer (KB 953838)

• MS08-046 – addresses a vulnerability in Windows (KB 952954)

• MS09-051 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint (KB 949785)

Important Updates

• MS08-042 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Word (KB 955048)

• MS08-047 – addresses a vulnerability in Windows (KB 953733)

• MS08-048 – addresses a vulnerability in Outlook Express (KB 951066)

• MS08-049 – addresses a vulnerability in Windows (KB 950974)

• MS08-050 – addresses a vulnerability in Windows Messenger (KB 955702)

You can read the entire August 2008 Security Bulletin for yourself to get all the specific details on the above vulnerabilities. And when you have a moment check out all of the thank you’s that Microsoft included for this months fixes:

• ISC/SANS for reporting an issue described in MS08-042

• VeriSign iDefense VCP for reporting an issue described in MS08-043

• TippingPoint and the Zero Day Initiative for reporting an issue described in MS08-043

• Jeremy Funk for reporting an issue described in MS08-043

• Shaun Colley of NGS Software for reporting an issue described in MS08-044

• Damian Put, working with the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), for reporting an issue described in MS08-044

• An anonymous researcher working with the iDefense VCP for reporting an issue described in MS08-044

• Damian Put, working with the iDefense VCP, for reporting an issue described in MS08-044

• Yamata Li of Palo Alto Networks for reporting an issue described in MS08-045

• Tavis Ormandy of the Google Security Team for reporting an issue described in MS08-045

• Sam Thomas, working with TippingPoint and the Zero Day Initiative, for reporting an issue described in MS08-045

• TippingPoint and the Zero Day Initiative for reporting an issue described in MS08-045

• Jun Mao of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting an issue described in MS08-046

• Jorge Luis Alvarez Medina of Core Security Technologies for reporting an issue described in MS08-048

• Yamata Li of Palo Alto Networks for reporting an issue described in MS08-049

• Haifei Li of Fortinet’s FortiGuard Global Security Research Team for reporting an issue described in MS08-050

• Ruben Santamarta of Reversemode.com, working with iDefense Labs, for reporting an issue described in MS08-051

• ADLab of Venustech for reporting an issue described in MS08-051

18 total – certainly clears up why there were so many fixes this month.

Related Posts:

IE8 Released

Richard Hay — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:07:30 +0000

The web is buzzing about the release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1:

IE8 and CSS 2.1 Testing – View article…
IE8 and Jscript – View article…
Activities and WebSlices in Internet Explorer 8 – View article…
Lukewarm reaction to first IE8 beta – View article…
Internet Explorer 8 Beta Launches At Mix – View article…
Internet Explorer 8 Has Arrived – View article…
Here comes IE 8 Beta 1 (now available) – View article…
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 Download & Features Revealed – View article…

Have you grabbed your copy yet?

Related Posts:

Internet Explorer 7 Time Out Over!

Richard Hay — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:30:48 +0000

Well I previously mentioned that I had taken a break from using IE7 on my main computer at home beacuse it caused two problems for me. One was breaking the link to webpages from within Outlook Express. It would open a Windows Explorer window at the C drive instead of the webpage. The other was that my Tiger Woods 2006 would not go online and thus prevented me from playing online matches.

Well today my wait is over! As I posted earlier today an update to the Internet Explorer Beta 2 Preview was posted for download. So I headed over when I got home from work and grabbed it for a quick installation.

Well to my pleasure my Tiger Woods 2006 runs like a champ and I am once again able to log on and play some online matches! WooHoo! Thanks very much IE Team!

As for the other error I kept having – the OE link breakage – the jury is still out. But for now it is still working! I will let you know if anything changes.

Related Posts:

Pausing with IE7 Beta 2 Preview

Richard Hay — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:33:35 +0000

Well as I posted in an earlier entry, I have been giving the IE7 Preview a run. I really enjoy the tabbed browsing, integrated RSS reader and other features however, I am having to abandon it for now.

Twice now it has broken my ability to click links in OE to the web. I did an uninstall/re-installation and it was fixed but has since stopped working again.

So for now I will just revert back to IE6 and wait to see what happens with the final Beta 2 version that comes out.

One aspect of reverting – I get to play my Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 again online as it was not compatible with IE7.

Related Posts:

IE7 Beta 2 Preview

Richard Hay — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 12:41:59 +0000

From MS website:

Thank you for choosing Microsoft and for trying this pre-release software. Everyone on the Internet Explorer team wants to make your web browsing experience safer and easier. We welcome your feedback.

IE7 Beta Download

I started using this Beta 2 Preview last week when it came out this past week and so far I have not had any significant crashes.

The new minimal interface – read reduced and reconfigured toolbars – does take some getting used to. Buttons are in a few different spots but I am slowly adapting as I use it more.

Toolbars can be modified some however, they do not currently hold their new position after you close the browser. One big thing I am having a hard time with is getting used to browsing with tabs – I keep wanting to exit the whole window and I keep forgetting to open new pages in new tabs instead of new windows. Unfortunately I can find no setting to automatically open new links in a new tab so I have to remember to right click to do that.

There is the Phishing Filter which can check websites you visit to see if they have been reported as malicous sites. Just like the SPAM programs that use Black and White lists – this will only be as good as the information it uses.

The browser does not support CSS2 – I can tell this because of a WordPress plug in I use called Tiger Admin. It uses CSS2 to create a new interface to the WP Dashboard and in this beta preview it does not work. In Firefox it works very well. Hopefully MS will be able to get IE7 working properly with CSS2.

I will close with what I call a cool feature – the Quick Tab function. When more than one tab is open a small button appears to the left of the tab listing. Here is what you get when you push that button:

Quicktabs

Related Posts:

WindowsObserver.com » internet explorer

Internet Explorer 9 Expected to be Revealed for Developers at MIX10

Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Live Wave 4 at MIX10

My First Five Steps After installing Windows 7

Bulk Delete RSS Feeds in IE8

What a Week in the Tech World

June 2009 Security Updates Advance Notification

New IE Icon Behavior on Taskbar in Windows 7 Build 7068 And Beyond?

Lets Talk Old Web Browsers and Online Safety

IE8 Release Candidate 1 Released to Web

IE8 Beta 2 UI Update

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Released

Windows Update Tuesday The August 08 Edition

IE8 Released

The web is buzzing about the release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1:

Internet Explorer 7 Time Out Over!

Pausing with IE7 Beta 2 Preview

IE7 Beta 2 Preview