NewsMost Enterprises Intend to Skip Vista All Together: Survey
Posted 08/17/08 at 05:52:07 PM by Pulkit Chandna
A survey conducted by Ziff Davis Enterprise Research has revealed that 72% of the enterprises plan to abstain from Windows Vista despite the release of Service Pack 1. This comes at a time when most analysts expect enterprises to adopt Vista en masse.
Vista almost seems to be an anathema, for about 3/4th of the enterprises are so unequivocal in their dislike for Vista that they don’t even intend to adopt the OS three years down the line. Around 28% envisage a move to the OS anywhere between late 2008 and 2010. Half of those surveyed are not fazed by the end of XP’s retail sales and OEM distribution.
Lesson for Microsoft: The Mojave Experiment hasn’t been able to fool incredulous enterprises and it's time that MS devoted more time to addressing Vista’s glaring performance issues. Address their grievances, the tide will surely turn.
NewsAugust's Patch Tuesday Brings Lots of Security Updates Your Way
Posted 08/12/08 at 10:17:16 PM by Mark Edward Soper
It's a super-sized Patch Tuesday this month, and here's what to expect Windows Update to be sending you in the next day or so (if not already). Follow the links if you prefer to install the updates immediately.
Critical updates include:
- A fix for a remote code execution vulnerability in Windows Image Color Management affects users running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 SP4 (Windows Vista users can breathe easy on this one).
- A fix for a sextet of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 5.01, 6, and 7 affects users of Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.
- A fix for a remote code execution vulnerability in the ActiveX control for Microsoft Access's snapshot viewer affects Office 2000 SP3, Office XP SP3, and Office 2003 SP2 and SP3 (Office 2007 users, you ducked this one).
- A fix for a quartet of privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel. Versions from Office 2000 SP3 all the way through Office 2007 as well as viewers, Share Point Server, and compatibility packs are affected.
- A fix for a trio of privately reported remote code execution vulnerabilities in PowerPoint and PowerPoint Viewer affects PowerPoint XP, PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint Viewer 2007, as well as Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for MacOS.
- A fix for five privately reported major vulnerabilities in handling image files in some versions of Office affects Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 SP2, Project 2002 SP1, MS Office Converter Pack, and MS Works 8.
NewsGood News for Lonely Geeks, Bad News For Vista: How To Impress Girls With Browser Memory Protection Bypasses
Posted 08/11/08 at 07:59:58 PM by Mark Edward Soper
As we told you last week, Microsoft rolled out two new security programs, Microsoft Active Protections Program and Microsoft Exploitability Index, during the Black Hat USA 2008 Conference. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the same conference saw a presentation by security experts Mark Dowd and Alexander Sotirov that renders these and other protections for Windows Vista, including its much-touted Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Protection (DEP) features, effectively null and void.
Dowd and Sotirov's presentation, How To Impress Girls With Browser Memory Protection Bypasses, made their point by beginning their presentation with a live exploit against IE7 on Windows Vista. And, as the photo at the top of this article suggests (from page 40 of the presentation), it does seem to impress the girls!
How did they do it? The full presentation (available here in PDF format) is quite technical, but here's the short version. according to SC Magazine:
In explaining the problem, the researchers said that most memory protection mechanisms are based on two things: detecting corruption and stopping common exploit patterns, and attempts to reinforce these are integral to Vista. But in many cases, some of the built-in protection mechanisms in Vista are not enabled by default for compatibility reasons.
“At the desktop level, compromises had to be made because of compatibility issues. Exploiters have a lot more control over browsers,” Sotirov said.
And in many cases, third-party applications are not compiled to use the Vista memory protections. For example, Java and Flash are not compiled using the critical protection called ASLR.
What can be done? My take: Microsoft needs to rethink the balance of compatibility versus protection, do a better job of informing users of what's protected and what's not, and get third-party application vendors to take advantage of the protection features in Vista. What about ordinary users like us? Watch out for compromised legitimate websites, and, as always, as our own Will Smith says, think before you click.
What's your take on Vista and other browser security issues? See us after the jump for your chance to sound off.
NewsAdobe Lightroom 2 Adds 64-Bit Support, Better Interface, and More
Posted 07/30/08 at 09:18:56 AM by Mark Edward Soper
Adobe has released Lightroom 2. Lightroom enables users to view large numbers of RAW or other format photos at a time and to work with photos in groups for editing, tagging, printing, or exporting.
What's New in Lightroom 2
Lightroom 2 adds the following features to the original Lightroom, according to CNet:
- Panorama creation and merge to HDR when used on a system that also runs Photoshop CS3
- New metadata API that permits third-party applications like Flickr to work with Lightroom metadata
- Styles to create JPEG-like images from RAW files
- Dual-monitor support
- Metadata filtering to help find photos faster
- Improved image-sharpening technology licensed from PhotoKit that improves picture quality for printing
- Smart Collections uses tags to create photos by rating and tags
Additional new and enhanced features listed on the Adobe Lightroom 2 website include:
- New local adjustment brush (touch up specific areas of a photo)
- New extensible architecture through plugins
- New volume management enables you to work with high-resolution previews even when the original images are offline
- New print package support
- Enhanced nondestructive photo editing and batch processing
However, the biggest news is 64-bit Windows Vista and MacOS X support.
To learn more about Lightroom 2 and how it relates to other Adobe software, see the Lightroom FAQ page.
Cha-Ching! How Much to Buy (and Try) Lightroom 2
First-time buyers will pay $299 for Lightroom 2. Upgrading from Lightroom 1.x is $99. A free 30-day trial is also available.
NewsCan't Believe the "Mojave Experiment"? See It for Yourself
Posted 07/29/08 at 05:41:21 PM by Mark Edward Soper
The results of Microsoft's Project Mojave, in which Microsoft demoed Windows Vista under a code name for 120 Vista skeptics in the San Francisco area, are now avaiable online, the Windows Vista blog reported today, and also explained some test details:
- The focus group took place over three days in San Francisco and was conducted earlier this month.
- All participants were either Mac, Linux, or users of versions of Windows that came before Windows Vista.
- Respondents were chosen from the focus group organizer's database, called at random, but then selected based on having a low perception of Vista (<5 rating on a scale of 1-10).
- The participants were given a demo by a trained retail salesperson - geared towards the experiences they seemed most interested in following a series of interviews. While the retail salesperson drove the demo, it was geared by the interests and direction of the participant.
- We did not use some geeked out or custom built PC. We used an HP Pavilion DV2500. It had 2GB of RAM and was running an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz. The OS was a 32 bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate.
- Of the 120 respondents* polled, on a scale of 1:10 where 10 was the highest rating, the average pre-rating for Windows Vista was 4.4. After they saw the demo, respondents rated Mojave an average of 8.5.
*84% of respondents use Windows XP; 22% use MacOS; 14% use versions of Windows before XP; 1% use Linux.
To see the interviews for yourself, head over to the Mojave Experiment website.
To learn more about the history of hidden-camera marketing campaigns, and to find out who might have suggested it first, see us after the jump.
NewsWindows 7 On Track, Vista Acceptance Up, Redmond Says
Posted 07/25/08 at 10:29:04 PM by Mark Edward Soper
CNet reports that the development of Windows 7 is going well. According to Windows unit head Bill Veghte:
The product is tracking very, very well. We are committed and looking good, relative to our commitment--[shipping Windows 7] three years from general availability of Windows Vista.
That wasn't the only good news for Windows fans in Veghte's talk, though. The Mojave Project, which provides Windows XP users a chance to "taste-test" Vista under the code name Mojave, is making inroads (read our take here). Veghte also cited recent internal figures showint that 89% of users are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Windows Vista, and 83% would recommend Vista to friends or family.
Veghte also states that Internet Explorer 8, which we told you about earlier this year, will be available in final form later this year.
What are your plans for Windows Vista or Windows 7? See us after the jump for a chance to talk back!
NewsWindows Vista Compatibility Center Helps Users Determine What Works
Posted 07/14/08 at 04:32:42 PM by Mark Edward Soper
Microsoft has long offered hardware compatibility information for different versions of Windows, including Windows Vista. Remember the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)? Until now, though, Microsoft has dropped the ball on making software compatibility easy to determine. With a renewed emphasis on marketing and customer satisfaction this summer, Microsoft has now created an easy-to-use one-stop shop for determining which hardware and software products will work with Windows Vista, the Windows Vista Compatibility Center.
For a quick tour of the WVCC, and to learn how you can make it even better, see us after the jump.
NewsMicrosoft Rolls Out One-on-One Coaching, Special Helps for Some New Vista Users
Posted 07/10/08 at 08:25:24 PM by Mark Edward Soper
Microsoft is going to extraordinary lengths this summer to make some of its customers satisfied with Windows Vista - or else. If they don't love Vista, Microsoft will help them downgrade to Windows XP. How much does this new customer-satisfaction blitz cost? For you, special price: nothing!
However, not everybody gets the special Microsoft Vista schmooze. To find out who gets the special love from Redmond, and how long they get primo treatment, you know what to do. We'll see you after the break.
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