Posts Tagged ‘internet’
Internet Explorer 9 Launch
The latest web browser from Microsoft, Internet Explorer 9 was launched overnight, and in true tech fashion, a launch party was held in Texas, USA to make a spectacle of the event.
Beta and pre-launch versions of the current version have already been downloaded by over 40 million users, whilst there are over 900 Million users of earlier versions of the popular browser.
Microsoft’s new web browser focuses on improved privacy settings, tighter integration with Windows 7, and a more graphic rich experience, taking advantage of graphics hardware acceleration in newer computers for enhanced online gaming and smoother high definition video.
Microsoft’s message for Internet Explorer 9, is the web can be fast, and beautiful, with the official launch site being titled “beauty of the web”. Microsoft has also partnered with major online channels to deliver this message, such as Facebook and Yahoo!
A new feature to Internet Explorer, named “pinned websites” is similar to a bookmark that can be added to your Windows’ start bar, allowing quick, immediate access to the websites you frequently acces, without the need to first launch your browser and type in the web address. This feature is sure to be a hit amongst Facebook addicts.
It is said the release of “IE9” was brought forward in light of recent heavy advertising campaigns from Google Chrome, which has been boasting faster load times, and improved security.
Microsoft has lost market share in recent years to competitive browsers such as the ever popular Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari and of late, Google Chrome.
As users of IE9 for almost a year now, we can report that Internet Explorer 9 is a fairly reliable web browser, which seems to load quicker than Firefox, but doesn’t go a great way to enhance or improve the browsing experience. Simple tasks are fine, but power users would prefer Chrome or Firefox.
A time may come where it is the preferred browser of converts to alternatives due to “IE9 optimised sites” working better, but with a big push for standards compliance, that path doesn’t seem likely.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 is available as a free download for computers running Windows Vista and Windows 7 from http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/
Microsoft MHTML Security Vunerability
Microsoft Security Vulnerability potentially affecting 900 Million + Users
Microsoft has announced a security vulnerability directed at users of Internet Explorer. The vulnerability affects several versions of Internet Explorer installed on computers running Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows 7, as well as server versions of it’s operating system.
The vulnerability could expose Internet users to have their personal and other sensitive information retrieved by hackers when visiting websites that are designed to exploit the vulnerability.
There are up to 900 Million users of the popular web browsing application worldwide.
According to Microsoft, there is no current exploits active on the internet, however it has provided the work around as an interim measure, with security fixes being worked on, which can be applied through future Windows Updates.
Microsoft’s advisory bulletin on the vunerability can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2501696.mspx
A temporary fix can be downloaded from the Microsoft Website:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2501696
For assistance or support, contact Microsoft on 13 20 58 (Australian users only)
NOTE: One accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of this article, or any potential damage or inconvenience caused by the use of information contained on this article, or the sites linked from this article. You should refer to a computer security expert if you are uncomfortable with any of the suggested solutions provided in the Microsoft article, or seek assistance from Microsoft support.
Rock Melt
There is an interesting new web browser out called RockMelt, developed by the creators of Netspace.
The new browser is geared towards modern day users and common web browser usage, for activities such as searching information on Google, and interacting with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Given the Netspace influence, it will be very interesting to see what sort of reaction the community has to this browser. Netspace was one of the first graphical web browsers used mostly in the 90s, before Microsoft started bundling Internet Explorer into Windows, and got themselves into a world of trouble with anti-trust suits.
Given a substantial capital investment of $10 million by Marc Andreessen’s company (the creator of Netscape Navigator), and the current dominance held by Microsoft (60%), and substantial competition from Mozilla (Firefox holds approx 20%) and Google (Chrome browser holds approx 9% market share), it would seem that Andreesen is confident his browser will have moderate success, and will provide a different experience to the rest.
Free download of Rock Melt is by Invitation only. See http://www.rockmelt.com/ for more.