Interesting article. Saved it just to track when they’ll update WGA again 🙂
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released a revamped version of its Windows Genuine Advantage tool that it hopes will reduce complaints arising from paid-up users of Windows XP caught in the dragnet of the controversial anti-piracy program.
The main change in WGA Notifications is a new category of results for PCs with Windows installations of questionable validity.
Microsoft has announced it will license third-party developers to build applications that have the look and feel of Office 2007 on a royalty-free basis.
The overall concept is to give users the ability to have a common user interface between Microsoft and third-party applications but, if the past is any indication, will also help Microsoft sell Office 2007 in the marketplace. Common UI elements and components means lower training costs and can help customers make an easier transition to the new Office.
High on the list of changes to Office’s interface is the so-called Ribbon that provides users with more contextual control of application operations. But the license also covers other UI features such as galleries and the Mini Toolbar.
Besides the royalty-free license, Microsoft is also going to provide comprehensive design guidelines to help independent software vendors (ISVs) create programs that are consistent with Office 2007, the company said in a statement. However, the company is not licensing any code so ISVs are on their own on that point.
The license will be available as a simple click-through agreement on the licensing Web site, according to Microsoft’s statements.
More information on the royalty-free Office 2007 UI license is available here, although the license itself and the design guidelines have not been posted yet.
The Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the documentation, samples, header files, libraries, and tools you need to develop applications that run on Windows.
The Windows SDK includes content for application development with the APIs in Windows Vista, including the .NET Framework 3.0 technologies:
This new white paper from Microsoft describes in detail the enhancements that have been made to the security in Windows Vista.
Each key area of security is highlighted and further links to in depth technical information on each topic are included.
Click here to read this white paper now!
Microsoft Corp. has no plans to add a controversial Windows Vista antipiracy feature directly to its Office 2007 suite, but will consider offering it as an add-on system, the company said Tuesday. In an e-mail through its public relations firm, Microsoft said although it has not built its Software Protection Platform (SPP) into Office 2007, it is considering adding it to its Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) Program.
Read the original article here.
The Mozilla Foundation, which maintains code for the Firefox browser, has acknowledged that there is a problem with the Firefox Password Manager and has named it bug #360493. Microsoft has also admitted that the newly discovered password bug can affect Internet Explorer as well, but most reports indicate that Firefox is the more likely target because of the way it stores usernames and passwords.
Mozilla’s Firefox 2.0 has long been considered a safer Web browser than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but a new flaw in the Firefox Password Manager, which lets users store usernames and passwords for trusted Web sites, could let hackers steal their login data.
The problem, known as a reverse cross-site request, or RCSR, was first discovered by Robert Chapin, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and I.T, consultant. The RCSR appears on blogs, message boards, or group forums that let users add comments with embedded HTML code.
On sites that allow users to enter code, a hacker can embed a form that tricks the user’s browser into sending its username and password information to the hacker’s computer. Because the form is embedded on a trusted Web site, the browser’s built-in antiphishing protection, which is designed to alert users to fraudulent Web sites, does not detect the problem.
Even worse, hackers can make the deceptive form invisible, meaning users can transmit their private data without even knowing it.
Bug #360493
The Mozilla Foundation, which maintains code for the Firefox browser, has acknowledged the problem and named it bug #360493. Microsoft has also admitted that RCSR attacks can affect Internet Explorer, but most reports indicate that Firefox is the more likely target because of the way it stores usernames and passwords.
Neither Mozilla nor Microsoft has released a patch for the problem, but users can avoid RCSR attacks simply by disabling their browsers’ autosave features for usernames and passwords. In Firefox, the feature is found in the “Options” window under the “Tools” menu.
Mozilla has indicated that it plans a fix in Firefox version 2.0.0.1 or 2.0.0.2.
Battle of the Titans
Most experts agree that Firefox is by and large the safer of the two major Web browsers, largely because Microsoft, on account of its size, draws more attention from hackers.
Indeed, the last two years have seen monthly and sometimes weekly reports of new bugs in Internet Explorer, letting hackers do everything from hijack a user’s computer to corrupt its private data.
But Microsoft released a new version of IE — version 7.0 — in October, and Mozilla quickly followed suit with version 2.0 of Firefox. Both versions boast enhanced security Relevant Products/Services, including antiphishing features that check Web sites against an online database of known frauds. And Internet Exporer 7 also offers much-requested improvements to the interface, such as tabbed browsing.
Strange bedfellows Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have partnered to simplify how webmasters and online publishers submit their sites’ content for indexing in the companies’ search engines.
In a rare collaborative effort, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, which compete directly in Internet search and other online services, plan to announce on Thursday their support for the open-source Sitemap Protocol, based on XML.
This protocol, which Google created and has been using for about 18 months, will be adopted by Yahoo effective Thursday, and the three companies will collaborate to extend and enhance it. Yahoo has been using another protocol, which it will continue to support. Microsoft will stop using its current protocol after it implements Sitemap Protocol in its search engine in early 2007.
A site map is a file that webmasters and publishers put on their sites to guide the search engines’ automated Web crawlers in properly indexing their Web pages.
Site maps are particularly useful in highlighting to crawlers the dynamic Web content that is served up on the fly. Crawlers generally index content contained in static Web pages without problems, but often they have difficulty with dynamic content, such as the one that is generated as a result of a search query.
A site map can be formatted using various protocols, but this means more work for webmasters and publishers, which is why Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are throwing their weight behind the Sitemap Protocol to promote it as a standard.
“The benefit for publishers is that they’ll get more of their content indexed more rapidly,” said Tim Mayer, Yahoo’s senior director of global search.
Meanwhile, the three companies believe the common protocol will improve site maps in general and along the way make their search engine crawlers more comprehensive in their indexing, a benefit that will trickle down to end users.
“Ultimately, what we care about is the best results for searchers and making things easy for site owners. This really does that,” said Vanessa Fox, product manager for Google’s Webmaster Central.
In addition to listing Web pages available for indexing, the Sitemap Protocol also lets publishers and webmasters include other relevant information, like when a page was last updated, how frequently it changes and what its importance level is on the site. All of this leads to more precise and effective crawling, the officials said.
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo will encourage other search engine operators, as well as makers of related software, like content management systems vendors, to support the protocol, they said.
Offered under the terms of the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License, the protocol will be publicly available here starting Thursday.
In a statement of the bleeding obvious given Microsoft’s foray into the world of Windows Genuine Activation, making the act of pirating Windows XP or Vista almost pointless, Microsoft has advised customers wanting Vista not to use a pirated copy but to wait for the real thing.
While nothing will ever stop the pirates from getting whatever content they want and making it available for download from the Internet, including Microsoft’s latest Windows Vista, Microsoft has come out with a statement telling users they’re flattered by all the attention, but that pirated copies of Vista aren’t worth it and won’t last very long even if you can install it.
“Microsoft is happy that customers are eager to begin using Windows Vista; however, the copies available for download are not final code and users should avoid unauthorized copies which could be incomplete or tampered”.
They continue by saying that “This unauthorized download relies on the use of pre-RTM activation keys that will be blocked using Microsoft’s Software Protection Platform. Consequently, these downloads will be of limited value.”
Now, some pirates would readily argue that they do indeed have the final code and are using it with some kind of crack to get around Microsoft’s protections, we can hardly be surprised that Microsoft is saying that the copies floating on the Internet aren’t the real deal.
The possibility of other malware, keyloggers or another net nasties waiting to pounce on you in an act of almost instant karma is real, and along with all the checks Microsoft do on a regular basis, it’s just not worth it if you’re a regular everyday computer user.
This is also going to continue the war between the pirates and hackers trying to break Microsoft’s protections, with Microsoft no doubt analyzing all of the latest discoveries as they are posted onto the Internet, basically so they’d be able to block the new Vista activation work-arounds very quickly.
Anyone that’s ever needing to re-install an operating system, then load their other software and transfer all of their data, knows that it’s a right royal pain the backside to have to go through this procedure time after time.
So… it will definitely be fun to watch the war unfold, but in the meantime, don’t risk any production computers – the one or ones you use to earn money and perform your important work with until you can get your hands on the final code.
Until then, it’s timely to remember that bad pirates often ended up walking the plank!
Computer server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. said Monday that it had begun to make its Java technology an open-source software project available for free on the Internet.
The announcement represents one of the largest additions of computer code to the open-source community — and it marks a major shift for a company that had once fiercely protected the source code used in 3.8 billion cell phones, supercomputers, medical devices and other gadgets.
Santa Clara-based Sun said it is making nearly all of Java’s source code — excluding small pockets of code that aren’t owned by Sun — available under the GNU General Public License. The same type of license also covers the distribution of the core, or kernel, of the popular open-source operating system Linux, which competes against Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system.
Making Java an open-source project allows programmers from around the world to examine, modify, fix bugs and contribute new features in Java’s underlying code. It requires that any changes be made public.
Sun, a formerly high-flying dot-com that has lost billions of dollars since the stock market collapse of 2000, has hitched its rebound strategy in part to the growing open source movement.
Rich Green, Sun’s executive vice president of software, said the company hopes to turn more developers into Java programmers, who may then create additional software to support Sun products.
“The open-sourcing of this really means more — more richness of offerings, more capability, more applications that consumers will get to use,” Green said. “The platform itself will become a place for innovation.”
All the Java source code is expected to be released by March 2007, Green said. The move covers all Java technology, which includes software that runs on handheld devices, personal computers and servers.
Analysts said the decision would likely extend the life of Java, which was released more than a decade ago, and boost business for the company.
“Sun profits from the Java ecosystem thriving,” said Michael Cote, an analyst with RedMonk. “Whether it’s their hardware sales or their service sales, by open-sourcing Java they’re hoping to ensure its longer life and ensure it’s what the community wants it to be.”
Eighty-six percent of IT decision makers say they plan to adopt Windows Vista, and 20 percent say they will move to the new operating system within the next year, according to a new tracking poll sponsored by CDW Corp.
Other results from the survey of 761 IT decision makers show that 51 percent say at least half of their existing hardware will need to be upgraded or replaced in order to run Vista. Still, only 14 percent say they are postponing hardware purchases or IT decisions in anticipation of Vista’s release.
High on the list of those who will need to replace the most hardware are state and local governments — 24 percent said they will have to replace 91 percent to 100 percent of existing PCs in order to make the Vista switch.
Overall, 75 percent of respondents cited improved security as a key benefit of Windows Vista, while 63 percent cited improved performance. Of those who have been beta testing Windows Vista, nine percent said they have formed a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion, while 70 percent formed somewhat or very favorable impressions of the system.
The poll was conducted by Walker Information between Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, CDW said in a statement. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence.
CDW said that the survey was the first of three tracking polls it plans to commission over the next six months.
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