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Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility List

Richard Hay — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:25:00 +0000

Microsoft has updated their master list of software programs that work – and do not work – with IE8. This can be a handy tool if your troubleshooting an issue and want to just verify whether that program can work with IE8.

The Internet Explorer 8 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals is a Microsoft Office Excel-based spreadsheet listing software applications which are compatible or not compatible with Internet Explorer 8, based on public support statements from software publishers, or statements made to Microsoft from software publishers.

Even though it is labeled for IT professionals anyone can use this as a guide and troubleshooting tool.

Download the Internet Explorer 8 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals

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August 2010 Patch Tuesday Advance Notice Info Published

Richard Hay — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:46:00 +0000

The folks at the MSRC have been busy this week. First they lead off the week with an out of band security update for a critical vulnerability and now they are preparing for next weeks regularly scheduled monthly security related Patch Tuesday.

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Public Service Announcement: I hope you downloaded that patch from this past Monday already – otherwise your system is vulnerable.

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So what should we expect in the way of patches next Tuesday – 10 Aug 2010?

Well according to the advance bulletin this one is a big collection:

14 different bulletins are being addressed
10 are related to Remote Code Execution; 4 are for Elevation of Privilege
12 impact Windows; 2 affect Office; 1 for Silverlight and 1 for Internet Explorer

(Yes I know the last line adds up to more than 14 – the issues overlap software – thus the reason for 16 total programs impacted.)

Microsoft will also release the monthly update to the Malicious Software Removal tool with the above patches.

The MSRC will also host their normal monthly webcast to discuss the updates:

Date: Wednesday August 11
Time: 11:00 a.m. PDT (UTC -7)
Registration: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032454431

We will provide download links and an update to the bulletins once they are released on Tuesday.

If you have Automatic Updates turned on in Windows then you will get these automatically once they are released to Windows Update.

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New Internet Explorer 8 Ad Campaign

Richard Hay — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:10:00 +0000

Microsoft has recently kicked off an ad campaign to show how easy people can be scammed. The intent is to show you anyone is susceptible, even in person, and should protect themselves online as well by using IE8.

To prove how vulnerable your personal information is, Internet Explorer 8 recreated notorious internet scams–live, off the web– in the most street-smart city in world: New York. Watch what happened.

This campaign currently has two commercials that are running.

The Greater Offshore Bank & Trust

The Greater Offshore Bank & Trust – Part 2

Now I know you wouldn’t give up personal information just for $500 would you?

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New Exploring IE Blog

Richard Hay — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:41:00 +0000

Another blog has joined the Windows Team Blog – this time it is the Exploring IE Blog. It’s tag line is A Blog For Internet Explorer Customers.

It says that this site is meant to co-exists alongside the IE Engineering Blog which has been online for about 4 years.

While the engineering blog is there to cover the development of IE, the Exploring IE blog is going to cover a broader range of IE subjects:

The Business of the Browser: where we’ll cover some of the interesting trends and discussion topics that surround the browser business. We’ll also provide our point of view on relevant industry discussion topics – for example the recent privacy discussion that resulted from Facebook’s changes to their privacy controls are a good opportunity to share how we think about privacy with Internet Explorer.

Around Internet Explorer: where we’ll cover what’s going on around the Internet Explorer business. We’ll cover things like our recent partnership with MySpace and let you know when you can find people from Internet Explorer out on the road and at events like TechEd, MIX, SXSW.

Internet Explorer Around the World: the core Internet Explorer team is based in the US but we’ll share some of the neat things happening with Internet Explorer around the world. For example, did you see the IE Experts campaign run recently by our German subsidiary : www.IE8experts.com

Tips and Tricks: where we’ll cover some of the ways you can customize and tweak Internet Explorer.

The consolidation of the Windows Team Blog continues and to tell you the truth it makes a lot of sense to have all of this in one place.

Read the Exploring IE Blog

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Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for June 2010 Patch Tuesday

Richard Hay — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:14:00 +0000

As I previously mentioned yesterday was Patch Tuesday for security updates on your Windows systems. There are several updates that you need to make sure you get downloaded as soon as possible. If you have automatic updates turned on they should have installed during the night – at least based on default settings for Windows Update.

Here are summaries of the issues they address:

MS10-033 – Vulnerabilities in Media Decompression Could Allow Remote Code Execution (979902).

This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted media file or receives specially crafted streaming content from a Web site or any application that delivers Web content. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS10-034 – Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (980195)

This security update addresses two privately reported vulnerabilities for Microsoft software. This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, and Moderate for all supported editions of Windows Server 2003, Windows Server2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.
The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page that instantiates a specific ActiveX control with Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. This update also includes kill bits for four third-party ActiveX controls.

MS10-035 – Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (979559)

This security update resolves two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and one privately reported vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode drivers. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted TrueType font.

MS10-032 – Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (979559)

This security update resolves two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and one privately reported vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode drivers. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted TrueType font.

MS10-036 – Vulnerability in COM Validation in Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution (983235)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in COM validation in Microsoft Office. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel, Word, Visio, Publisher, or PowerPoint file with an affected version of Microsoft Office. The vulnerability cannot be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must open an attachment that is sent in an e-mail message.

MS10-037 – Vulnerability in the OpenType Compact Font Format (CFF) Driver Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (980218)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows OpenType Compact Font Format (CFF) driver. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted CFF font. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users.

MS10-038 – Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2027452)

This security update resolves fourteen privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS10-039 – Vulnerabilities in Microsoft SharePoint Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2028554)

This security update resolves one publicly disclosed and two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft SharePoint. The most severe vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker convinced a user of a targeted SharePoint site to click on a specially crafted link.

MS10-040 – Vulnerability in Internet Information Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (982666)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Internet Information Services (IIS). The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user received a specially crafted HTTP request. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

MS10-041 – Vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework Could Allow Tampering (981343)

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework. The vulnerability could allow data tampering in signed XML content without being detected. In custom applications, the security impact depends on how the signed content is used in the specific application. Scenarios in which signed XML messages are transmitted over a secure channel (such as SSL) are not affected by this vulnerability.

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Windows Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility View List

Richard Hay — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Microsoft has posted the latest IE8 compatibility listing for websites that work better in IE8’s Compatibility View Mode.

Windows Internet Explorer 8 is Microsoft’s latest web browser. Unlike previous versions, Internet Explorer 8 renders content in the most standards-compliant way possible. This means that web pages will be displayed in Internet Explorer 8’s standards mode by default. Through product feedback channels, our users have indicated that, during the beta period, some websites may not have been compatible with Internet Explorer 8 in its default, standards-based mode. As a result, these domains have been added to a list of sites that, for the short-term, are most likely to be displayed better in Compatibility View. All Internet Explorer 8 users are given the choice to use this list, and the subset that chooses to do so will see each listed domain automatically displayed in Compatibility View, without additional user interaction or notice. The sites on this list have high traffic volume (in their regions), and having a compatible website ensures a significant number of Internet Explorer 8 users will have a great experience. This list will be periodically updated and automatically downloaded to Internet Explorer 8 users who have opted-in to use Compatibility View updates from Microsoft. For more information on Compatibility View list updates, please see – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960321.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 3

The Compatibility View list contained within this download is in Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 format. Please ensure you have a compatible application or viewer installed.

It is a massive list as well – 3,207 sites listed in either states of removal or pending removal.

Download IE8 Compatibility Listing from Microsoft Download Center

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June 2010 Patch Tuesday Advance Security Bulletin Notice Released

Richard Hay — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:02:00 +0000

The second Tuesday of the month is almost upon us and that means the security related Patch Tuesday advance notice is out.

This month has 10 bulletins being addressed and this is how they break down:

Three are Critical severity
Seven are Important severity
Seven relate to Windows
Three relate to Office
One involves Internet Explorer
One involves Windows Server Software (SharePoint)

You can read some more at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS10-jun.mspx and this bulleting will be replaced on 08 June 2010 by the actual security bulletin with all the details on these vulnerabilities.

Details for the monthly security bulletin webcast on 09 June 2010:

Microsoft will host a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins on June 9, 2010, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada). Register now for the June Security Bulletin Webcast. After this date, this webcast is available on-demand. For more information, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Summaries and Webcasts.

If you have automatic updates turned on then you will get these updates on Tuesday when they are released. Otherwise make sure you run Windows Update to get them sometime Tuesday afternoon.

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Solutions for Virtualizing Internet Explorer

Richard Hay — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Microsoft has posted a new white paper at their download site that is intended to help IT professionals decide what the best options are for them using Internet Explorer in a virtual environment.

The Windows® 7 operating system and its default browser, Windows® Internet Explorer® 8, offer many exciting new features and benefits. However, organizations may find that some of the older applications they rely on are not yet functional or supported in the new Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft provides several alternate ways to create a virtual operating environment on which you can run earlier versions of Internet Explorer. This white paper provides information to help you select the virtualization alternative that is appropriate for your organization.

Solutions for Virtualizing Internet Explorer Download

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Internet Explorer 8 Feature Webcasts

Richard Hay — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:09:00 +0000

Check out these TechNet video webcasts about Internet Explorer 8:

TechNet Video: How Do I? Internet Explorer 8 Security – InPrivate Browsing (Level 200)

In this video, Matt Hester discusses the new Internet Explorer 8 InPrivate Browsing feature and how it helps protect user information and business resources by providing users with increased choice and control over how their data is shared and stored on a machine.

TechNet Video: How Do I? Internet Explorer 8 Security – Protected Mode (Level 200)

In this video, Matt Hester demonstrates Internet Explorer 8 and its protected mode which provides enhanced security for Windows Vista users by helping to defend against elevation of privilege attacks.

TechNet Video: How Do I? Internet Explorer 8 – Authenticated RSS Feeds (Level 200)

In this video, Matt Hester shows Internet Explorer 8′s full support for authenticated RSS feeds.

TechNet Video: How Do I? Internet Explorer 8 – Create and use Accelerators (Level 200)

In this video, Matt Hester demonstrates Internet Explorer 8′s Accelerators – technology that allows users to access services from another web site without the need to navigate away from their current page. The video will show how to create and use Accelerators.

TechNet Video: How Do I? Internet Explorer 8 – Web Slices (Level 200)

In this video, Matt Hester demonstrates Internet Explorer 8′s Web Slices – a technology that allow users to subscribe to snippets of any page and view them by using the Favorites toolbar. The video will show how to create and use Web Slices.

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Internet Explorer Compatibility Virtual PC Images Updated

Richard Hay — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:04:00 +0000

Looking for an easy way to test your websites with previous versions of Internet Explorer? Virtual PC and these updated images can help with that.

This download page contains different VPC images, depending on what you want to test.

IE6-on-XP-SP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE6 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010

IE7-on-XP-SP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE7 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010

IE8-on-XP-SP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE8 VHD file. Expires July 1, 2010

IE7-VIS1.exe+IE7-VIS2.rar+IE7-VIS3.rar contain a Vista Image with IE7 VHD file. Expires 120 days after first run.

IE8-VIS1.exe+IE8-VIS2.rar+IE8-VIS3.rar+IE8-VIS4.rar contain a Vista Image with IE8 VHD file. Expires 120 days after first run.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista; Windows XP

The download notes also indicate that you will need a minimum of 1.5 Gig hard drive space free to expand the VHD file. Should not be an issue in these days of inexpensive bulk storage for our computers!

Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse , story , Windows 7 , Virtual PC , Internet Explorer , compatibility

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Internet Explorer Out of Band Update Released

Richard Hay — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:20:05 +0000

As expected, Microsoft has released an update for IE6 and IE7 which they considered serious enough to get out ahead of the normal monthly Patch Tuesday scheduled for April. That is a fix for Security Advisory 981374.

Also included in today’s update is a collection of routine fixes that were due to be released in April on Patch Tuesday that deal with security vulnerabilities and if you are running IE8 then you do need to grab this because it contains all of those updates that were in the process of being addressed when the Out of Band release was made.

Yesterday I mentioned in my Internet Explorer Cumulative Update Expected on 30 March 2010 posting that IE8 was unaffected by the security issue that prompted the Out of Band release and that is still true. However, IE8 users on Windows Clients need to go to Windows Update and grab the other updates that do impact IE8.

Bottom line – run Windows Update today and get protected.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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