WebProNews

Tag: Internet Explorer

  • Google Apps Ends Support For Internet Explorer 9

    Are you still using Internet Explorer 9? It’s not exactly a dead browser yet as Microsoft still officially supports it, but Google Apps has turned its back on it.

    In an announcement today on the Google Apps blog, the company says that it is officially ending support for Internet Explorer 9. It’s nothing personal as Google says it only supports the current and prior major releases of Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer.

    Despite only launching last year, Internet Explorer 10 is no longer the newest IE on the block as Microsoft recently released Internet Explorer 11 with Windows 8.1. Windows users may not be used to such a quick upgrade for Internet Explorer, but it is what it is. As such, Google Apps will no longer be supported on the browser that many Windows 7 users still use.

    If you’re using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, you already have Internet Explorer 10 or 11. If you let updates download and install automatically on your Windows 7 machine, you probably already have Internet Explorer 10 as well. If not, you can grab Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 here.

    As for Internet Explorer 11, there’s currently a release preview for Windows 7. It brings with it a number of new enhancements, including official support for WebGL. As Google and Microsoft both increasingly leverage Web technologies like HMTL5 in their Web apps, browsers like Chrome and Internet Explorer 11 will become more important. It’s not required to use Google Apps, but you’ll be in a much better place if you upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 sooner rather than later.

    If you don’t use Google Apps, you can keep using Internet Explorer 9. Microsoft still issues security updates for the browser and many Web applications still support it. You’ll be missing out on much of what the modern Web has to offer though.

    [Image: internetexplorer/YouTube]

  • Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview Now Available On Windows 7

    For the past few months, Windows 8.1 Release Preview users have been able to test drive the latest Internet Explorer – IE11. Now Windows 7 users are getting that same opportunity.

    Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview is now available on Windows 7. The latest iteration of Microsoft’s browser claims to be 30 percent faster than other browsers. It also supports the latest Web technologies, including native WebGL.

    To coincide with the launch of IE11 Release Preview, Microsoft has released another ad as part of its Browser You Loved To Hate campaign. Unlike previous ads that sought to inject a little humor into Internet Explorer’s past reputation, this latest ad features “what ten people and a dog think about Internet Explorer.” Spoilers: They seem to like it.

    The cynical among you will think that Microsoft just went with those that liked Internet Explorer 11 for your ad, and you would most likely be right. That doesn’t invalidate all the work Microsoft has been putting into Internet Explorer though. With IE11, Microsoft seems to have finally caught up with Chrome and Firefox in terms of HTML5 support with WebGL support being the biggest addition.

    If you want to see how IE11 performs against other browsers for yourself, check out Microsoft’s PirateMarrrk benchmark. It will test your browser’s HTML5, JavaScript and Scalable Vector Graphics performance.

    [Image: Microsoft]

  • Google Analytics Is About To Stop Supporting Your Outdated Browser

    Google announced on Monday that Google Analytics will no longer support IE8 after the end of this year as it keeps its focus on modern browsers.

    In a post on the Google Analytics blog, the company said:

    To focus on supporting modern browsers, we are deprecating official compatibility of Google Analytics with Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) at the end of 2013. We decided to do this to both accelerate the pace at which we can innovate new product features, and to facilitate adoption of newer web technologies in the design of the Google Analytics product. Our ultimate goal is to provide a superior user experience for every GA user. As a note, we’ll of course continue to measure traffic from IE8 browsers to your website.

    We will continue to support the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9 or higher, Safari and other modern browsers.

    Google says it hopes to minimize disruption by giving users three months to upgrade their browsers. It seems like plenty of time considering that IE9 came out in March of 2011. 10 was released last year. 11 is currently available in developer preview, and will launch with Windows 8.1 next month.

    Image: Microsoft

  • Chrome Is Now the Most Popular Browser in the U.S.

    Back in May of 2012, Google’s Chrome browser overtook Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser and became the most popular browser in the world. Now, just a little over a year later, Chrome has finally topped Internet Explorer in the United States.

    As of June, 2013, Chrome is the most used browser in the U.S. The news comes to us from StatCounter, who just published their Internet Wars Report for the past year. It appears that Chrome took most of its users from Internet Explorer, but also sucked a few away from Mozilla’s Firefox.

    “In the United States, IE lost the number one spot in terms of internet usage for the first time in June 2013. Chrome has now taken the number one spot in the US at 34.02% (up from 23.84% 12 months ago). Over the same time frame IE has declined to 32.46% (from 40.89%). Firefox has also lost share in the US, down from 19.83% to 16.86%,” says StatCounter.

    That means that in the last year, Chrome has seen a 42.7% increase from where it was in July of 2012.

    Chrome continues to dominate worldwide, only increasing its lead over Internet Explorer in the past year:

    In other news from StatCounter’s report, Samsung has passed Apple in terms of worldwide mobile internet usage for the first time. Google still dominates the search game, with Bing only making marginal gains in the past year.

  • Google Kills Chrome Frame, Its IE Chrome-ifying Tool

    Google announced today that it is retiring Chrome Frame, its way of “chrome-ifying Internet Explorer”. It was a way to let developers get around the not-modern-enough IE of 2009. The plug-in left beta in 2011.

    Apparently Google considers Microsoft’s browser to be modern enough now so that there is no longer a need for Chrome Frame.

    In a post on Google’s Chromium blog, Chrome engineer Robert Shield writes:

    The main goal of the Chromium project has always been to help unlock the potential of the open web. We work closely with the industry to standardize, implement and evangelize web technologies that help enable completely new types of experiences, and push the leading edge of the web platform forward.

    But in 2009, many people were using browsers that lagged behind the leading edge. In order to reach the broadest base of users, developers often had to either build multiple versions of their applications or not use the new capabilities at all. We created Chrome Frame — a secure plug-in that brings a modern engine to old versions of Internet Explorer — to allow developers to bring better experiences to more users, even those who were unable to move to a more capable browser.

    Google says that today most people are using modern browsers that support the latest web technologies, hence, the need for Chrome Frame has essentially evaporated.

    Google will stop supporting and updating the product in January.

  • DailyBurn Brings Video Workouts To Internet Explorer on Xbox

    Fitness games are still relatively popular, but there’s only so many workouts that can be stored on a DVD. Microsoft foresaw this problem, and has teamed up with DailyBurn to bring its daily workout videos to Internet Explorer on Xbox.

    DailyBurn announced today that it has built a Web app that’s accessible via Internet Explorer for Xbox 360. The Web app features all the workout videos that subscribers enjoy on DailyBurn with the added bonus of a custom experience tailored specifically for Xbox.

    DailyBurn on Xbox already sounds good enough, but the app also features tablet integration that allows users to keep track of their calories burned over the course of the workout. It also keeps track of other stats so you adjust your workout accordingly.

    DailyBurn is now available on Internet Explorer for Xbox. Just hit up the URL and start losing weight with your Xbox.

  • Microsoft Advertises Do Not Track In Internet Explorer

    Microsoft has been one of the strongest proponents of Do Not Track since it announced that Internet Explorer 10 would turn it on by default. Advertisers didn’t exactly like this, and even threatened to ignore all signals from Internet Explorer if Microsoft didn’t back down. Despite the threat, the Redmond giant didn’t back down, and is now even marketing Do Not Track as a key feature of Internet Explorer.

    Microsoft released a new ad for Internet Explorer today that talks about the differences between information you want to share with others and information you want to keep private. It never explicitly states browsing history as the kind of information you want to keep private, but it does say that it keeps your data private with Do Not Track.

    The Do Not Track debate is far more complicated than what Microsoft has presented in its latest ad. Microsoft may have implemented Do Not Track into Internet Explorer, but that doesn’t mean that advertising companies will suddenly stop tracking your online movements. In fact, these companies have even threatened to ignore all Do Not Track signals from Internet Explorer until Microsoft backs down.

    Since then, the Do Not Track debate has grown exponentially with Congress getting in on the action with some Congressmen saying that the government needs to introduce Do Not Track laws. Of course, such debates in Congress will probably fall victim to the same problem plaguing the debate between private companies and privacy advocates – what does Do Not Track actually mean?

    Still, it’s strange to see Microsoft advertising a feature that’s not only very divisive, but also possibly ineffective. There’s no legal mandate stopping advertising firms from ignoring Do Not Track signals, and Microsoft’s insistence that it be the turned on by default may actually do more harm than good until there’s a consensus on what Do Not Track actually means.

  • Microsoft Appeals To Your Inner 90s Kid In Latest Internet Explorer Ad

    I was born in 1989, and I grew up through the decade that we collectively call the 90s. I think we can all agree it was a weird decade populated by weird fashion, weird music and even weirder cartoons. Alongside all of this, Microsoft is hoping you fondly remember something else.

    A new ad going out today as part of Microsoft’s “Browser You Loved To Hate” campaign appeals directly to the 90s kid in all the 20-somethings in the world today. I remember using Internet Explorer on my Windows 98 machine, but do I look back on those memories fondly? Microsoft isn’t betting on it, but it is betting that you’ll get a kick out of Internet Explorer 10.

    Will this latest ad, unlike all the others, get people to start using Internet Explorer again? Probably not, but at least the ad let me live in my nostalgia-ridden brain for a few minutes. If anything, I thank Microsoft for reminding me that Pump shoes never worked and that Pogs were a waste of money.

    Man, the 90s really were weird.

  • Internet Explorer Use and Murder Rates Have an Interesting Relationship

    Correlation (n.) – the state or relation of being correlated; specifically : a relation existing between phenomena or things or between mathematical or statistical variables which tend to vary, be associated, or occur together in a way not expected on the basis of chance alone (Merriam-Webster)

    Causation (n.) – a.) the act or process of causing b.) the act or agency which produces an effect (Merriam-Webster)

    You decide.

    (image)

    [Altonncf via ILoveCharts, Tumblr]
    [Lead Image source]

  • Internet Explorer 8 Zero-Day Exploit Gets Fixed Today

    Earlier this month, Internet Explorer 8 was hit with a pretty nasty zero-day exploit. Microsoft sprung to action with a quick fix, but there wasn’t a permanent patch solution available just yet. That day has finally come with the patch hitting Windows PCs later today.

    The Microsoft Security Response Center reported on Sunday that a patch for Internet Explorer 8 and below would be hitting Windows Update at 10 a.m. PST today. The company said that only a few users have been affected by the issue, but encourage all Windows users to download the update. Of course, those who are using Internet Explorer 9 and 10 need not worry as those browsers have better built-in security protections that prevented this latest attack.

    Microsoft also says that those who downloaded the quick fix released earlier this month will want to download this latest patch. In good news, however, you won’t have to uninstall the fix to apply the latest patch.

    The zero-day exploit that hit Internet Explorer was just the beginning to an already eventful 2013 in malware and Web exploits. Java was recently hit yet again with a zero-day exploit that Oracle has just fixed. It followed a report from AVG that said 2013 was going to be another big year for Web-based exploits with Java and Internet Explorer both cited as major security risks.

    Those who want to know more about the exploit and how Microsoft fixed it, the company’s security team will be holding a live Webcast later today at 1 p.m. PST. You can register for it here.

  • Use Internet Explorer 8? You’ll Want This Zero-Day Exploit Fix

    Microsoft would love it if you used Internet Explorer 9, or IE10 on Windows 8. That’s not going to happen, however, as many users are still on Windows XP where Internet Explorer 8 reigns supreme. Those users are now under attack as a zero-day exploit has been found.

    The security researchers at FireEye discovered a zero-day exploit in Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 in late December that allows malware to be installed on PCs running these older versions of Microsoft’s browsers. Microsoft is now working on a comprehensive fix, but has pushed out a small emergency fix for the time being. It’s highly recommended that you download the fix until Microsoft can finish its current investigation.

    Thankfully, the exploit doesn’t appear to be that widespread. Only a small number of sites have been found to be hosting the exploit, and a fix is already present. Of course, Microsoft’s investigation may show that the exploit has been around much longer than anybody previously thought. A report out of Sophos indicates that the exploit may have been in place as early as December 7. Thus, the exploit could have been infecting computers for almost a month without anybody’s knowledge.

    Even with the emergency fix, it’s recommend that you upgrade to Internet Explorer 9 if you can. If you’re on Windows XP and can’t, you can always take Twitter’s advice and switch to another browser. Microsoft even makes it easy for you with the European Browser Choice site. Opera, Chrome and Firefox are all presumably immune to the IE8 exploit and you’ll probably have a better browsing experience anyway.

    [h/t: The Register]

  • Internet Explorer Exploit Lets Hackers Track Your Mouse Movements

    With Windows 8, Microsoft promises that Internet Explorer is good again. The latest release, IE10, is being promoted through a self-deprecating ad campaign that encourages good will through humor. It’s looking like Microsoft is starting to take its browser seriously, but a recent exploit shows that that might not be the case.

    Spider.io, a Web analytics platform, reports that they found an exploit in Internet Explorer 6-10 that allowed hackers to track a user’s mouse movement. This exploit was reported to Microsoft at the beginning of October, but no action was taken beyond admitting that the exploit existed. In an attempt to get Microsoft moving towards a fix, the company has gone public with its original report.

    So, why is it so bad for hackers to track your mouse movements? The team at Spider.io explains the security risks in its original letter to Microsoft:

    A security vulnerability in Internet Explorer, versions 6–10, allows your mouse cursor to be tracked anywhere on the screen, even if the Internet Explorer window is inactive, unfocused or minimised. The vulnerability is notable because it compromises the security of virtual keyboards and virtual keypads.

    As a user of Internet Explorer, your mouse movements can be recorded by an attacker even if you are security conscious and you never install any untoward software. An attacker can get access to your mouse movements simply by buying a display ad slot on any webpage you visit. This is not restricted to lowbrow porn and file-sharing sites. Through today’s ad exchanges, any site from YouTube to the New York Times is a possible attack vector. Indeed, the vulnerability is already being exploited by at least two display ad analytics companies across billions of webpage impressions each month. As long as the page with the exploitative advertiser’s ad stays open—even if you push the page to a background tab or, indeed, even if you minimise Internet Explorer—your mouse cursor can be tracked across your entire display.

    For those who prefer a visual example, here’s a video of the exploit in action:

    The real danger here is that the virtual keypad was created to combat the already widely in use keylogger that hackers use to steal passwords and other information entered via keyboard. Now with this hack, no password is safe until Microsoft patches it up. Unfortunately, it’s looking like Microsoft has no plans to do so.

    It’s ridiculous that a company that so adamantly supported Do Not Track is blatantly allowing ad companies to track IE users with an exploit. It’s also reminiscent of a major security flaw found in Java that Oracle refused to patch until its next scheduled patch Tuesday. In the end, the company patched the exploit after enough people raised a stink. By going public, it’s obvious that Spider.io wants people to complain and push Microsoft into fixing this potentially dangerous exploit.

    Until Microsoft fixes the exploit, I’d suggest using any one of the other browsers available, especially if you use virtual keypads. Who knows? You might even like it enough to stay. It’s obvious that Microsoft doesn’t care about its users if it doesn’t fix an exploit this dangerous.

    [h/t: Wired UK]

  • Microsoft Brings SkyDrive To Xbox 360

    Microsoft Brings SkyDrive To Xbox 360

    The Xbox 360 is quickly turning into a bastion of Microsoft products and services. The gaming console already has Internet Explorer and Bing, but now it’s getting Microsoft’s cloud service – SkyDrive.

    Microsoft announced this morning that SkyDrive will be available on Xbox 360 later today. Much like the SkyDrive app for Windows 8, the Xbox 360 app puts the focus on photos and videos. It’s for the rare creature that wants to share their photos on their large HDTV for the whole family to see. It’s a modern rendition of going to your aunt’s house to see her vacation slides, but now you can play some Halo 4 deathmatch with her after the slideshow is over.

    Microsoft lists three key features that it feels make SkyDrive for Xbox 360 a perfect fit for the living room:

    Shared photos & videos. Share a meaningful event with your friends or family by viewing photos & videos on your TV, or view photos & videos others have shared with you through SkyDrive. Imagine being able to view cherished photos and videos shared by friends and family —like a musical performance, a kid’s birthday, or baby’s first steps—on your TV.

    Snap and see. For Windows Phone users, snap a picture and see it appear almost immediately in your camera roll on the big screen. This feels like magic! For example, you could take a quick snapshot of your child making a funny face, fire up the SkyDrive app on your Xbox, and view it right away on your 50” screen. Just make sure you’re using the same Microsoft account sign-in for both Xbox LIVE and your Windows Phone.

    Party slide show. Plan a great slide show to play in the background of a dinner party. For example, you could start a slide show of a recent trip for friends, or have holiday-themed photos and videos playing during a holiday party.

    The “Snap and see” feature is only available on Windows Phone at the moment, but it’s likely that Microsoft will patch in support for Android and iOS at a later date. It ported SmartGlass to the other two mobile operating systems shortly after it hit Windows Phone so the wait shouldn’t be that long.

    There’s been a strong push lately to turn the Xbox 360 into more of an entertainment machine. Microsoft wants to take over the living room and have its console be the only device that you’ll ever need. Not everybody will use SkyDrive, but it’s just one more step towards having a fully functional PC in the living room that just so happens to only use Microsoft products and services.

  • Still Hate Internet Explorer? You’re Just A Troll

    One of the better ad campaigns of the past year has been Microsoft’s “The Browser You Loved To Hate” campaign for Internet Explorer. It was a rare kind of self-deprecatory humor that’s not often seen in a tech industry that’s focused more on glamourous reviews instead of pointing out its own flaws. Now the ad campaign is back as Microsoft shifts its focus to Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8.

    The ad is simply called “Do you know this guy?” and it encapsulates pretty much every person who has ever hated on Internet Explorer. Despite signs that IE was improving, these people would go onto various social media networks to lambast the browser. Well, Microsoft has had enough, and it goes to great lengths to shut down this particular troll every step of the way.

    Obviously, the ad is funny. Microsoft has been on a roll lately with its advertisements, but it remains to be seen if they’re effective. Sure, people like Super Bowl ads, but do they actually buy the products in question? Are people really going to start using Internet Explorer after getting a chuckle out of this ad?

    The point remains, however, that Internet Explorer is getting better all the time. It may be the only browser available on Windows RT, but at least it’s a decent enough browser to use now. The same couldn’t be said of Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8. That being said, I don’t think Internet Explorer usage is going to skyrocket anytime soon. Microsoft still has a lot of work ahead of itself to shake off the stigma that its browser has earned over the years. These admittedly funny ads are a good first step.

  • Internet Explorer 10 Is Now Available On Windows 7

    Internet Explorer 10 is an interesting beast. It was built with Windows 8, and touch, in mind. It launched with Microsoft’s new operating system last month, but now it’s available on the decidedly less-touch friendly Windows 7.

    Microsoft announced today that the release preview of Internet Explorer 10 is now available on Windows 7. It features a number of HTML5 and CSS enhancements that any IE stalwarts will want to upgrade for. It also should make it easier for developers to make apps work across all the different browsers now that IE10 is catching up to the strides made by Mozilla and Google with Firefox and Chrome respectively.

    Those interested in trying out Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 will also be happy to know that Microsoft will turn the controversial “Do Not Track” signal on by default when you first install it. It might not do you any good, however, as advertisers have already made it a point to ignore any DNT signals sent by IE10.

    A study from last week found that Internet Explorer is actually the fastest browser on Windows. Microsoft is dead set on keeping that distinction with Internet Explorer 10 and performed a number of benchmark tests to prove it.

    Internet Explorer 10 Now On Windows 7

    Microsoft attributes IE10’s performance enhancements to its “powerful HTML5 engine.” Users and developers can now take advantage of the following enhancements:

    Rich Visual Effects: CSS Text Shadow, CSS 3D Transforms, CSS3 Transitions and Animations, CSS3 Gradient, SVG Filter Effects

    Sophisticated Page Layouts: CSS3 for publication quality page layouts and application UI (CSS3 grid, flexbox, multi-column, positioned floats, regions, and hyphenation), HTML5 Forms, input controls, and validation

    Enhanced Web Programming Model: Better offline applications through local storage with IndexedDB and the HTML5 Application Cache; Web Sockets, HTML5 History, Async scripts, HTML5 File APIs, HTML5 Drag-drop, HTML5 Sandboxing, Web workers, ES5 Strict mode support.

    Windows 7 users can download the IE10 release preview today. IE9 was already pretty good, so users of that particular browser may want to upgrade to IE10 when they get the chance. The performance and security improvements are probably worth the few minutes it takes to install.

  • Yahoo Says Microsoft Is Making It Hard To Deliver Its Value Proposition To Users

    Yahoo slammed Microsoft today over its use of “Do Not Track” by default in Internet Explorer 10. This is interesting on several levels, but most notably because Yahoo and MIcrosoft are partners in search and advertising. Together, they have put together the Yahoo Bing Network. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

    This close relationship the two companies have developed in recent years (officially called a “search alliance”) has not stopped Yahoo from taking a public shot at its partner in a post on its Privacy blog (h/t: Kara Swisher).

    “At Yahoo!, we aspire to make the world’s daily habits more inspiring and entertaining,” the post begins. “Our users have come to expect a personalized Yahoo! experience tailor-made for their lives — whether they’re checking local weather, sports scores, stock quotes, daily news, or viewing ads on our site. We fundamentally believe that the online experience is better when it is personalized.”

    “That said, we also believe that there should be an easy and transparent way for users to express their privacy preferences to Yahoo!,” it continues. “That’s why we offer our own tools and resources such as Ad Interest Manager, to give users more control over personalized advertising on Yahoo!, and why we participate in industry-wide programs such as AdChoices, which allows users to learn why they’ve been shown an ad.”

    Then the calling out begins.

    “Yahoo! has been working with our partners in the Internet industry to come up with a standard that allows users to opt out of certain website analytics and ad targeting,” Yahoo says. “In principle, we support ‘Do Not Track’ (DNT). Unfortunately, because discussions have not yet resulted in a final standard for how to implement DNT, the current DNT signal can easily be abused. Recently, Microsoft unilaterally decided to turn on DNT in Internet Explorer 10 by default, rather than at users’ direction. In our view, this degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them. It basically means that the DNT signal from IE10 doesn’t express user intent.” Emphasis ours.

    “Ultimately, we believe that DNT must map to user intent — not to the intent of one browser creator, plug-in writer, or third-party software service,” says Yahoo. “Therefore, although Yahoo! will continue to offer Ad Interest Manager and other tools, we will not recognize IE10’s default DNT signal on Yahoo! properties at this time.

    Partners can have disagreements and continue to work together, but you have to wonder if the relationship between these two companies is going south. There were already rumors going around that the their partnership might not last for its entire decade run.

  • Xbox 360 Update Means Goodbye to Facebook, Twitter Apps

    Microsoft is currently in the process of pushing their newest Xbox 360 dashboard update to users. As you probably know, one of the most-desired additions to the Xbox experience is shipping along with this update: a true Internet Explorer browser.

    If you’ve already received the update, you may or may not have noticed a small change in the apps offered in the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The Verge is reporting that both the Facebook and Twitter apps are gone and according to sources, Microsoft made the move to promote use of the new Internet Explorer browser.

    From Microsoft’s perspective, it makes sense. If users can’t access Facebook or Twitter via a designated app, they’ll have to open up Internet Explorer and visit the sites that way. For users, it might be a bit of an annoyance that they can’t download specific apps for each service.

    Note that I said download. Although the Facebook and Twitter apps are gone from the app marketplace, users that had previously downloaded the apps before the update was shipped can still use them.

    The new Xbox 360 dashboard not only feature Internet Explorer, but also sports a new UI, recommendations and ratings, pinning, a new Xbox video (formerly Zune Marketplace), and enhanced voice search. The Xbox 360 was also the first device to get the new Xbox Music streaming service. Microsoft says that the initial push hit about 3 million consoles. If you haven’t yet received the update, your wait should only be a about a week or two.

  • Xbox 360 Launches New Dashboard, Finally Offers Internet Explorer

    We’ve known it was coming for some time (and some users have already participated in the public beta period), but today we learn that Microsoft is finally beginning the global rollout of the all new Xbox 360 dashboard.

    The update ships with plenty of new features, but one of the most-anticipated has to be Internet Explorer. This will finally turn your console/HDTV into a capable web browser. “With Internet Explorer on Xbox, you can easily find and view internet content on the biggest screen in the house, including HTML5 videos,” says the Major Nelson blog.

    Here’s a full list of the updates:

    • Refreshed Xbox 360 Dashboard. We’ve updated the UI with a few things, including an updated layout with more tiles, a combined TV & Movies channel and, in the US, a Sports destination.
    • Internet Explorer for Xbox. With Internet Explorer on Xbox, you can easily find and view internet content on the biggest screen in the house, including HTML5 videos.
    • Recommendations and Ratings. Recommendations will allow you to discover new favorites, generated based on a number of variables including the content you previously viewed, what your friends are consuming and what is most relevant and popular with our Xbox community. You can now rate content yourself and also see Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
    • Pinning. Pinning lets you personalize the dashboard by saving your favorite movies, TV shows, games, music, videos and websites right to the home screen. It’s as easy as opening an app or a favorite movie and clicking “pin.”
    • Xbox Video. Formerly called Zune Video Marketplace, Xbox Video offers hundreds of thousands of TV shows and movies for buying or renting in instant HD streaming.
    • Recent. Previously called Quick Play, the Recent view gives you a list of movies, games, apps or other types of content that you most recently accessed on the console.
    • Enhanced Search. The last Xbox LIVE update brought Bing voice search to Xbox so you could use voice to search for movies, TV shows, actors, directors and artists. This year we added genre search to the list, so now you can search for action, comedy, romance, drama or sci-fi. Bing voice search now includes results for video across the Web, including YouTube.
    • International Expansion of Voice Search. We’ve expanded our Kinect voice search capabilities to 9 new countries – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ireland.

    This new dashboard update isn’t the only thing Microsoft is launching this week. Today is also the big debut of Xbox Music, their Spotify-like streaming service that comes to the 360 today and all Windows 8 PCs and tablets on October 26th (as the new OS launches).

    Unfortunately, everyone will not be receiving the update at the same time. The first batch of users to get it will total around 3 million. So, if you’re not in the initial deployment – just sit tight. Microsoft says that everyone should have it within the next couple of weeks. This is to “ensure a stable release,” they say.

  • This Internet Explorer 9 Commercial Might Be Too Honest

    Microsoft has made some decent commercials for its Internet Explorer 9 browser. The latest was an artsy tour-de-force that featured rave reviews from multiple publications praising the browser’s ease of use and beautiful simplicity. What if all that praise was just hyperbole, or worse, paid off? What if the commercial was actually honest about the product it was selling?

    The fine folks at WorldWideInterweb have answered this exact question by producing an honest version of the Internet Explorer 9 ad that Microsoft runs on television these days. As the random RedTube user says, “It’s surprisingly bad for porn.”

    The funny thing is that Microsoft actually acknowledges the stigma towards Internet Explorer. The company even created a self-deprecating Web site that mocks Internet Explorer while also trying to convince people that it’s really not all that bad.

    Truth be told, Internet Explorer 9 isn’t that bad from a user perspective. It’s actually kind of neat, but it still isn’t quite as good as Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome browsers. Microsoft may have a hit on its hands with Internet Explorer 10, however, as the Windows 8 preview has shown it to be responsive and even, dare I say, fun to use.

    [h/t: TechCrunch]

  • Zero-Day Exploit Hits Internet Explorer

    It’s kind of cliche these days to make fun of Internet Explorer and its numerous security problems. Microsoft has put a lot of effort into the latest iterations of their Internet browser, and IE10 is by all accounts really secure. Unfortunately, older versions of the browser aren’t so lucky.

    Researchers at AlientVault have found a zero day exploit that affects Internet Explorer 7 and 8, and can be easily executed on Windows XP. It’s encouraged that folks using Windows XP, Vista or 7 stop using Internet Explorer right now. A lot of Windows users are safe inside their Chrome or Firefox bunkers, but there’s still quite a few people out there who don’t know any better.

    The researchers at Rapid 7 took it a step further and proved that the exploit could be performed on IE 7,8 and 9. That means that Windows XP, Vista and 7 are at risk. They point out that the current zero day exploit affects over 41 percent of Internet users in the United States and 32 percent around the world. This exploit has the potential to wreck a lot of lives. Unfortunately, we don’t really know what it does just yet.

    We do, however, know that this exploit most likely comes from the same team who created the zero day exploit in Java from just a few weeks ago. If it’s anything like that, the current exploit hopes to turn your PC into a bot. In essence, they want to take over your PC and use it to advance their own nefarious deeds.

    So, what can you do to protect yourself from this potentially damaging zero-day exploit? First and foremost, stop using Internet Explorer. It’s hard to let go of what you’re familiar with, but it’s for the best. Microsoft told Ars Technica that they’re working on a solution, but it could take days for an official fix. Switch over to Firefox, Chrome or Opera for now, and we’ll let you know when it’s safe to switch back. By that point, you may even find yourself liking one of the alternative browsers even more.

    [Image Source: Rapid 7]

  • Google Apps Will Soon Stop Supporting Internet Explorer 8

    Google announced today that it will soon stop supporting IE 8, so if you’re an Internet Explorer user who also uses Google Apps, you might want to consider upgrading soon.

    “As we announced last year, we support the latest version of Google Chrome (which automatically updates whenever it detects that a new version of the browser is available) as well as the current and prior major release of Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis,” Google said in a blog post. “Each time a new version of one of these browsers is released, we begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version.”

    Google made the initial announcement in June of 2011, and started the practice on August 1, 2011.

    IE 10 launches on October 26, and Google will stop supporting IE 8 on November 15. At that point, Google says IE 8 users will see a message recommending they upgrade their browser.

    This goes for Google Apps, Google Apps For Business and Education and Government editions.