Gemal's Psyched Blog: Microsoft

Internet Explorer in Windows Vista turns into IE7+

Tue, 30 May 2006 11:32:05 +0100

With the release of Windows Vista Beta 2, I want to announce that we will be naming the version of IE7 in Windows Vista “Internet Explorer 7+”. While all versions of IE7 are built from the same code base, there are some important differences in IE7+, most significantly the addition of Windows Vista-only features like Protected Mode, Parental Controls, and improved Network Diagnostics. These features take advantage of big changes in Windows Vista and weren’t practical to bring downlevel. The IE7+ naming gives us an easy way to refer to this version.

- IE7+ running on Windows Vista: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)
- IE7 running on Windows XP: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)

Inside Look: Internet Explorer 7, Beta 2

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:34:23 +0100

WindowsDevCenter.com have taken a inside look at Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2. It looks a bit like Firefox but it has some nice features that I like to see in Firefox.

Last year, I wrote a preview of IE 7 Beta 1 when Microsoft released Windows Vista Beta 1. Since then, six months have passed and the IE 7 team has released the second beta of IE 7. This IE 7 Beta 2 Preview is the first public beta designed for IT pros and developers, and it especially targets Windows XP SP2 users. IT pros and developers can use this beta preview to test their toolbars and ActiveX controls. But what about end users? In this article, I will update you on the features in IE 7 Beta 2 and what has changed since the last beta preview. Overall, I am happy with the new Beta 2 of IE 7. I have been using it for the past few days and it works quite well (it has crashed on me only once). Give it a spin and see if it works well for you.

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Microsoft Exec Talks IE7, RSS

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:44:32 +0100

Following a decision to release a standalone version of IE7, browser development at Microsoft has come fast and furious. BetaNews this week sat down with Gary Schare, Director of IE Product Management, to discuss the changes coming in IE7, Firefox's growth, and how Microsoft will bring RSS to the mainstream. When BetaNews last spoke to Schare in late 2004, he explained why Microsoft had no plans to add features like tabbed browsing directly into Internet Explorer or update its CSS support. After much feedback, things changed in early 2005. With a standalone IE7 now feature-complete, Schare delves into the reasoning and gives us a look at what to expect when the browser is released later this year.
Read interview

IE7 will incorporate antivirus technology and enhanced anti-phishing software

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:21:32 +0100

Microsoft has detailed its forthcoming privacy Latest News about privacy and security Latest News about Security plans, which include enhancements to Internet Explorer 7 and the addition of digital rights management software into applications at the document level. Despite earlier plans not to do a browser update until Longhorn's release in 2006, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates confirmed that code for IE 7 will be available this summer in beta and in full by Christmas. The browser will incorporate antivirus technology from recently acquired Sybari, and enhanced anti-phishing software. "Anti-phishing will definitely be built in to IE 7," said Brendon Lynch, senior privacy strategist at Microsoft.
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IE7 Tabbed Browsing Implementation

Fri, 27 May 2005 09:47:38 +0100

A developer on the IE team writes about IE7 tabbed browsing implementation. His role was to re-architect IE to support tabbed browsing. This work began last year and includes building a new frame (top-level window and chrome), sorting out how to host and switch between multiple instances of the browser, and managing communication between the various internal components.
Read the blog posting

Microsoft Needs More than Tabbed Browsing for Internet Explorer

Tue, 24 May 2005 09:56:33 +0100

Microsoft's Internet Explorer Product Unit Manager Dean Hachamovitch recently confirmed in his weblog that Internet Explorer 7.0 would have tabbed browsing integration, a feature that's also available in Mozilla's Firefox browser. One of the many reasons Firefox has become popular is due to tabbed browsing. It was a different concept that let users open numerous windows in a single parent window. It's useful, it's popular, and it works. But I don't see how this is a major feature in need of promotion. While Hachamovitch didn't intentionally promote it himself, he did confirm it as if this is the next thing in browsers.
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Internet Explorer 7.0 = Mozilla Firefox?

Wed, 11 May 2005 08:14:07 +0100

According to a screenshot making its rounds on some forums, Microsoft's answer to Mozilla's Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, might be in its alpha stage. The about IE shows a build of 0719, and another screenshot shows what appears to be tabbed browsing. No mention of a leak yet, but if these screenshots are confirmed to be real, then a leak is definitely inevitable. Read more for screenshots.
See screenshot and comments

People are saying that this is perhaps a fake. A Firefox with some photoshop.

Microsoft Lets Loose a Few More IE 7.0 Tidbits

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 22:27:42 +0100

Internet Explorer 7.0 won't run just on Windows XP Service Pack 2, according to a new posting on Microsoft's "IE Blog." It also will work on follow-ons to SP2, which include Windows XP Professional x64 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, both of which are due out in the next couple of months. Still no word on whether the updated version of Microsoft's browser will run on older versions of Windows, too (specifically Windows 2000). Microsoft better get the lead out, though; IE's market share dipped below 90 percent for the first time, according to February data from WebSideStory.
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Next IE update divorced from Windows

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:36:04 +0100

A beta, or test, version of Internet Explorer 7 will debut this summer, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect said in a keynote address at the RSA Conference 2005 here. The company had said that it would not ship a new IE version before the next major update to Windows, code-named Longhorn, arrives next year. In a reversal of policy, Microsoft will ship the next update of Internet Explorer separately from the next version of Windows.
Read more, more and more and even more about it

Dave Massy Talks Internet Explorer

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 15:22:00 +0100

I sent an email to Dave Massy, chief developer on the Internet Explorer (IE) Team at Microsoft, asking him what Microsoft had in store for the next release of IE. The next major update is expected in 2006 with the release of Longhorn. I put it to him that IE may need to see some major updates and features in order to catch up with more popular (and free) alternative web browsers, like FireFox. His reply, although giving little new away, did sum up the current Microsoft position - the fact that 'it will get better'. Dave offered thought about just what Microsoft can actually do with IE to satisfy consumers and yet keep competitors from filing law suits similar to the Netscape debacle in the 90s.
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IFRAME without src attribute on HTTPS in Internet Explorer

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:37:28 +0100

This took me quite some time to debug. Once again it made me realize why I hate hate hate Internet Explorer.

If you have a webpage on a HTTPS server with the following iframe code where you leave the src out:

and you view the page in Internet Explorer you'll get the following very descriptive warning.

Clicking on the More Info button doesn't give you which items it's referring to, but just a help file.

Mozilla Firefox correctly doesn't produce this error.

Leaving the src attribute out of the iframe is common, when you want to fill the src attribute programmatically.

The solution you ask? Create a blank.html page and then write:

The blank.html only contains

The State of Windows Security

Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:48:20 +0100

Soon, I took the plunge, reinstalled Windows XP, and created a limited user for my day-to-day activities. This was indeed a drastic switch from the administrative privileges I was use to. Even changing the date and time required logging in as administrator. However, using the "Run As" feature, I am able to install most software simply by right-clicking the setup program, choosing "Run As," and typing my password to launch the installation as administrator.

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MSN Gets Ready to Expand RSS Support

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 21:39:08 +0100

Syndication feeds are gaining more mainstream support from portals and search engines as Microsoft Corp. ramps up a set of new RSS features. The company's MSN unit is planning to release a beta of a Really Simple Syndication aggregation feature for users of its My MSN personalized home-page service, an MSN spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. The beta was rumored to be ready for release by late Wednesday, according to Weblog postings from MSN officials. But MSN officially declined to provide specifics other than to say it would come out "soon." Meanwhile, MSN Search has started an experimental feature for subscribing to search queries using RSS, MSN confirmed. MSN quietly began testing the service when it released a beta of its search engine in November, but earlier this week a series of bloggers discovered the capability.
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Bill Gates calls free culture advocates communists

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:14:56 +0100

In an interview on news.com, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates described free culture advocates as a "modern-day sort of communists".

Q: In recent years, there's been a lot of people clamoring to reform and restrict intellectual-property rights. It started out with just a few people, but now there are a bunch of advocates saying, "We've got to look at patents, we've got to look at copyrights." What's driving this, and do you think intellectual-property laws need to be reformed?

A: No, I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist.

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Read Dan Gilmors blog entry
More...

It just gets worse and worse for IE users

Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:04:17 +0100

Beware of CoolWebSearch, a program that can change Microsoft Internet Explorer's security settings and wreak havoc on computers.

Anti-spyware company Webroot Software said Tuesday that CoolWebSearch self-installs malicious HTML applications and exploits security flaws in IE. "This has vexed all of us," said Nick Lewis, managing director of Boulder, Colo.-based Webroot. "For consumers, CoolWebSearch is probably one of the most vicious programs in terms of how nasty it is. It completely hijacks the browser so you can't do anything."
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Perhaps it has to get real bad before it gets good:
- Microsoft Prepares to Dash Malware with "A1"
- Microsoft Readies 'A1' Security Subscription Service
- Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta Due 6th January