Posted on 10/18/2006 9:32:00 PM PDT by Eagle9
Microsoft on Wednesday launched the first major update to Internet Explorer in five years, and posted the new browser for Windows XP to a download site.
IE 7, which has was announced in February 2005 by chairman Bill Gates, has been touted by the company as a significant update in the areas of security and usability. The interface has been streamlined and tabs have been added to compete with rivals such as Mozilla's Firefox and Opera's flagship browser. On the security front, IE 7 adds anti-phishing defenses as well as additional features to control ActiveX controls, which historically have been a pain point for Microsoft's browser.
IE 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 can be downloaded from here.
"It's here, it's final, and we're excited," said Margaret Cobb, the group product manager for the browser.
The most controversial aspect of IE 7 has been Microsoft's decision to push the update to all users who have Automatic Updates enabled. Although users can reject IE 7 -- and continue using their current edition of Internet Explorer -- Microsoft will begin rolling out the browser as a "High priority" update next month. In July, when Microsoft offered up a toolkit to indefinitely postpone IE 7's installation, it justified using Automatic Updates, a mechanism for providing patches to Windows, because of the new browser's security implications.
"We've told enterprise customers to be ready [for IE 7] by Nov. 1," said Cobb. "It won't begin Nov. 1, but they should be ready."
The IE 7 update will also not add to the burden of Microsoft's monthly security patch delivery, scheduled for Nov. 14, promised Cobb. "We won't do it on Patch Tuesday."
Microsoft will also throttle back IE 7's delivery to keep the server load under control, she added. "We're starting with English, and then moving to the localized versions as they come available. At first we'll run it very slow, to a low percentage of users." After assessing the impact, Microsoft will increase the amount of traffic from the servers. "I'll have a 10 a.m. call every day to go over the impact on support or services," said Cobb, who can then order downloads to be scaled back or increased.
It will take as long as three months to deliver IE 7 to all users worldwide. "As each localized language comes online, we'll wait a few weeks after posting it for download before delivering it through Automatic Updates."
Microsoft has made one change late in the game. After IE 7 has installed, it will tell the user which search engine is the current default -- grabbed from IE 5 or IE 6 -- and then ask if they want to make a new choice. The process is similar to, but not identical, to the choice that Windows Vista users will face when they upgrade from Windows XP.
"We added this after RC3," said Cobb. "We're letting users know what engine is the default, and asking them if they want to keep it or do they want to switch. We're also going to be supporting IE 7."
Beginning Thursday, Microsoft will open a free, toll-free support line for IE 7. The help desk will be manned Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. PDT, and on weekends from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT.
Internet Explorer's chief rival, Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser, is nearing the final release of version 2.0. Currently on Release Candidate 3 (RC3), Firefox 2.0 should make it out the door before the end of the month.
Users who want to block the download and installation of IE 7 through Automatic Updates, as well as the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites should steer here, where they can retrieve the Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit.
Oops, sorry, here is the full article:
Do we really need Windows Genuine Advantage?
There has been a lot of chatter recently over some of the newer activation and validation schemes that Microsoft may or may not implement with its new Vista operating system. Nobody at Microsoft is saying much, and a lot of bloggers and pundits are all over these alleged schemes, calling them bad news for users. I personally see these developments as bad news for Microsoft, especially if what I'm about to outline actually happens.
As we all know, Microsoft implemented full-throttle activation in Windows XP and managed to dominate the market, with very few complaints from users. Windows XP was generally liberal in the way it dealt with hardware swaps and upgrades. Even when it delivered an activation error—when you added some major system peripheral or rejiggered the system—you could usually get it back up and running with a simple call to the activation center. I did this a couple of times and although it took a little time, it always seemed to work.
I personally do not see why this wouldn't continue to work with Vista. So what's different? The difference is that Microsoft wants to put yet another layer into the mix, and this layer—Windows Genuine Advantage—could become a problem if the layer itself is ever targeted by a virus or Trojan horse.
In other words, what happens if Windows Genuine Advantage is itself corrupted? Windows Genuine Advantage is the layer we really do not need. There is no reason, as far as I can tell, to add a watchdog program to Windows to make sure users are not running bootleg versions of the OS. There has to be a better way.
Now I can understand how this happened. It happened in a committee inside Microsoft when someone came up with the brilliant idea of essentially creating a virtual policeman to watch over the operating system to make sure it has the right "papers." This is an interesting idea, but who watches and authenticates the policeman?
I suspect the policeman will actually be hacked before the OS. It might actually be easier for the pirates to create a fake cop that constantly authenticates fake versions of Vista than it will be to create a Vista imitation that can pretend to be a legitimate version. There is some irony to that idea. But that's none of my concern. I'm more worried about some joker creating a virus or exploit that turns the good cop into a bad cop, and I can only imagine the destruction and hassle that will ensue.
First of all, this policeman program is also a traffic cop. Aside from having the potential ability to turn your operating system off so that it cannot work at all, it is the program that allows your OS to be upgraded. There will be no patches for an exploit against the program that turns off upgrades. Once a virus that makes the cop refuse to authenticate Vista hits the Net, then how can the problem be fixed? By definition and the way I see it, this will be an impossibility.
This concept of hacking the policeman is not new. If you recall some of the viruses from a few years back, many of them would first attack antivirus software to render it useless.
I do not even want to think of the consequences of Vista turning itself off in enterprise situations such as airline reservations or a hospital full of patients on life support. A serious collapse of the authentication network that could not be fixed without sending out discs or one-by-one-downloads will end up in the courts, and you can be certain that the shrink-wrap license agreement that holds Microsoft blameless will be tossed out as bogus.
Of course Vista isn't shipping yet, and a lot of final decisions have not been made. But Windows Genuine Advantage has already been test-marketed on Windows XP users. Why anyone running Win XP would ever install it is somewhat mysterious, but let's face it, most people are trusting, gullible, and naïve when it comes to big corporations pushing them around.
All I can say is that Microsoft's strategy could become a tremendous nightmare if the black-hat brigades target the Windows Genuine Advantage scheme with an answer of their own. Stay tuned. It could get ugly.
oh scary.. LOL
If Micro$oft has their way, they would charge us monthly for the rights to use their OS.
or they could be like Apple and charge you Over $100 per year to have the latest and greatest...
At least Apple delivers a stable product each time that isn't a hacker's playground.
When people realize this scam, Microsoft won't know what hit them.
When I add a SATA drive to my machine, I'm gonna load Ubuntu on as my second system.
I'd suggest PCLinuxOS or MEPIS.. I like KDE better than Gnome... but thats just me.
but KDE isn't the only reason why i like those 2 distros.
"I suggest you take your complaints up with your copyleftist buddies like FLAMING DEATH that only post on open source topics and like you have a foul mouth and attitude. I'm just here to point you anarchists out, which isn't that hard either, since you're both prone to instant simultaneous combustion whenever I present the actual facts in any discussion."
Golden Eagle, you are a master baiter, you just want to draw people into discussion so you can call them a communist for using open source. So sad, the world is passing you by.
Now you're starting to show your ignorance, since Microsoft doesn't setup automatic updates by default, it is simply offered to the user, who must accept them at initial system config.
It is not their choice if they don't know what, if anything, to change.
If most users were as outraged as you seem to be they could easily change, Apple runs commercials all day every day and is still stuck down at 5%.
However, you can sit there, smug in your lame-ss attitude, happy you know how to care for yourself.
Actually I would recommend all users accept the upgrade, it increases security and breaks little for the home user. The point is it isn't being forced, as you seem intent to insist, so even though it is recommended by anyone who knows anything about security, it is still an option.
I can relate. I get really tired of the resident tech thread troll though.
I've seen you on the MAC threads. I don't use a mac, myself, and have never really used one much, but I'm glad they are out there to keep pressure on MS (and Linux for that matter). I think a monoculture in the computer world is dangerous, and like the competition between groups. Having Apple, Linux, and Microsoft battling it out is good for us all.
Poor conflicted coyote, criticizes Microsoft for not being free, then still bitches when they give something away.
If you'd find other interests on this forum, you might get better responses from people here. Noone likes you here. Everyone who sees you operate for any length of time realizes you're nothing but a pitiful troll. Even those who prefer using windows are put off by your constant thread hijacking and boorish behavior.
You haven't ruined my night at all, though I know that the only reason you post here is to harass people who use the very software that this webserver is hosted on. You're a loser and I quite enjoy reiterating that fact.
blah blah blah, more endless hate from you. Just admit again you don't use Microsoft products, you know nothing about them, you're one of the 2% of people in this country who have irrational hatred for an American staple, and are so fanatical about it you'd rather use foreign products. China's got a new version of Linux out today, go ahead and admit you'd much rather use it than Windows, as ridiculous as that obviously is.
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2430101335.html
Look, it is the default upon installing. They need to go back and undo it to try this automatic download and they can't do that if they don't know about it.
Get over yourself.
I've been using Firefox for a little over three years and have had the same positive experience as you. When I first started using it, I would switch back and forth between it and Internet Explorer, then scan with anti-virus and anti-malware programs after using each browser. It was obvious to me that IE was not as secure as Firefox. Since then, malware has increased dramatically and I only use IE for Windows security updates. Then there's all the Firefox extensions that make so many things easier and more convenient than IE. I'm no tech expert, I just choose to use Firefox.
I have never stepped into an argument on FR before, but I have decided to step in here, just to humbly offer you an opinion of how this exchange looks to someone just 'passing by' and deciding to read the thread for information purposes. IMHO, this appears to me to have gotten a little viscious and a little bit juvenile on the part of those of you ganging up and hammering on Golden Eagle. It looks to me to have gone way beyond simple expressions of 'differences of opinion'.
You know, there are some of us on FR who are not IT guys but who are semi-geeks in that we do our own maintenance on several Windows machines in our own households (such as myself), and occasionally run into a snag. On those occasions, sometimes a fellow FReeper will be kind enough to provide some free tech assistance. Golden Eagle recently did that for me on a forum here, and he was very helpful, and polite too. I know he is quite capable of defending himself, but I decided to comment, as I observed what had been a thread providing a lot of good tech information, seem to degrade into mostly a series of personal attacks on one poster. It's not really very "FReeper-like", at least in the sense of the high standards most of his conservatives respect and admire, IMHO. So now I've had my say, and I'm signing off. If your inclination is to flame away on me now, I'm not concerned, but I won't be responding. Thanks for listening ...
Agreed.
You are so freaking lame. I knew you couldn't make it though an entire thread without mentioning China. As a troll, you're not even origional.
I'm glad that GE was of some assistance to someone here on FreeRepublic.
I think that if you'd take a few minutes to look through his posting history though, you'll see why he is such a reviled figure in these threads. You can look back three thousand posts and find not a single comment upon any thread that is not a thread concerning computers. Most of his comments are aimed at spreading microsoft FUD, or disparaging comments about 1) Open source, in general and Linux in particular 2) Apple, 3) IBM. You'll also find a common theme of equating anyone who uses or encourages the use of open source software to leftists or communists.
You've been a registered user here on FreeRepublic for about 6 years. Could you imagine with all that is going on in the world, that you couldn't find time to comment upon anything else but the above for quite literally years? I'm sorry, but that's the very definition of a troll. I calls them likes I sees them, and I'm tired of him dive bombing into threads and hijacking them with his crap.
He's been on several forced vacations due to the moderators, and I can tell you that these threads are much more civil and useful when he's not here. The regulars may well strongly disagree about things, but it is generally civil.
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