Archive for the ‘Windows’ Category
If Windows 7 doesn’t work, it’s your fault
October 23rd, 2009 | 
Author: When, like Microsoft, you’ve suffered more criticism for your operating system than Tom Cruise has for his height, you have to really think deeply when you launch something new.
You could go out and continue to tell people that you’re very clever. But then they’d be a little more reluctant to believe you.
You could tout Windows 7 as the brainspawn of a whole new generation of terribly clever engineers. But then consumers might have a vision of an operating system created by pot-smoking, pot-bellied youths with the body odor of mousetrapped rats.
So you reach the conclusion that you’ve listened to both the great washed and unwashed out there and designed a new operating system completely according to their needs.
Full story plus video :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10381692-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft’s Windows phones hit the market
After months of talking about Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft is announcing on Tuesday that the first crop of phones to carry the Windows Phone brand are ready to hit the market.
A host of new phones running the new operating system are expected to debut between now and the holidays, with many being announced later on Tuesday. AT&T has already announced two Windows Mobile 6.5-based phones–the Pure and the HTC Tilt 2. In all, Microsoft has said to expect more than 30 phones running the OS by year’s end.
(Credit: Microsoft)With the new operating system, Microsoft hopes to make the case that the devices are not only worthy phones, but also the best option for those who want to take their Windows world with them. The operating system itself features Adobe Flash support, an improved browser, and menus that are easier to navigate with a finger, as opposed to a stylus. Perhaps more interesting are two new services that come along with Windows.
The first, the Windows Marketplace, is Microsoft’s answer to the iPhone‘s App Store. It’s somewhat interesting that Windows Mobile has long had more programs than the iPhone–none of which involved approval from Microsoft. But Microsoft has found itself in the position of having to insert itself as middleman to match Apple’s approach.
Users will still be able to buy and download applications directly from developers, but Microsoft apparently felt it had to mimic the iPhone’s App Store in order to help connect less technically savvy users with the thousands of programs that already exist for its phones.
Full story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10367699-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in cell phone, Communication, Internet, Windows, Windows Mobile | 
Tags: cell phone, Microsoft, Windows, Windows Mobile | 
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Intel’s Moblin 2.1 to compete with Windows
Could Intel’s new Moblin 2.1 OS make a dent against Windows in the mobile and desktop markets?
At this week’s Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the chipmaker debuted a beta version of its Moblin 2.1 open-source operating system targeted to run on a variety of devices, including smartphones, Netbooks, nettops, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and in-car systems.
Moblin 2.1 will compete with other open-source operating systems like Google’s Android and bump up against Microsoft in the burgeoning nettop arena.
Originally developed for Netbooks, Moblin 2.1 (short for mobile Linux) will come in three flavors–one for handhelds, another for Netbooks, and a third for nettops.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10361563-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Intel, Microsoft, Windows, Windows Mobile |
Tags: Intel, Microsoft, MIDa, mobile, Moblin 2.1, Windows |
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Microsoft issues critical Windows patches
Microsoft on Tuesday issued five critical Windows-related updates as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday release.
The five bulletins address eight vulnerabilities. According to Symantec Security Response research manager Ben Greenbaum, the two vulnerabilities most likely to be used by attackers involve the way Windows handles ASF and MP3 media files. “We’ve seen similar exploits in the past and all a user would have to do is visit a compromised Web site hosting one of these malicious files, which could be an MP3, WMA or WMV file, and they could become infected.”
In addition, Microsoft said it is re-releasing a bulletin from last month to address an additional control found to be vulnerable to an issue with the Microsoft Active Template Library.
Greenbaum noted that Microsoft has yet to issue a patch for a zero-day flaw in Internet Information Services that was made public last week. “Until a patch for this is issued, as a temporary workaround we suggest IT administrators using IIS 5.0 and 6.0 turn off anonymous write access immediately,” Greenbaum said. “We also recommend using a firewall and restricting access to creating directories. Those using IIS 7.0 with FTP Service version 6.0 installed should upgrade to FTP Service version 7.5.”
There are already some attacks being seen based on that flaw.
“While the company will not release an update this month, it will do so once it has reached an appropriate level of quality for broad distribution,” Microsoft said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said Tuesday that it is investigating another zero-day issue, this one a reported flaw in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
As for the patches Microsoft did release on Tuesday, Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek noted that some of the bulletins are interesting in that they either affect only newer operating systems or are more critical on later versions–the reverse of what is normally the case. Overall, he said, five Windows patches should keep IT workers busy.
“Due to the criticality of the patches and wide coverage of the operating system, this will be a busy day for IT administrators,” Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek said in an e-mail.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10346665-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows 7 |
Tags: critical updates, Microsoft, Monthly Patch Tuesday |
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Windows 7, Vista zero-day flaw reported
A security researcher has said there is a zero-day vulnerability affecting Windows 7 and Vista.
The flaw in Windows 7 could allow an attack which would cause a critical system error, or “blue screen of death,” according to researcher Laurent Gaffie.
Gaffie wrote in his blog that the flaw lies in a Server Message Block 2 (SMB2) driver.
“SRV2.SYS fails to handle malformed SMB headers for the NEGOTIATE PROTOCOL REQUEST functionality,” wrote Gaffie in a blog post Monday.
Gaffie said he had contacted Microsoft. Comments on his blog by other users said that the flaw could lead not only to denial of service, but could also lead to remote code execution.
Computer security publication “The H” wrote on Tuesday that its German sister publication had tested the proof-of-concept code, and that while the exploit had caused a reboot on Vista, the exploit had not worked on Windows 7.
Metasploit creator HD Moore said in a tweet on Tuesday that an SMB bug appeared to have been introduced into Vista SP1. Coder Josh Goebel said in a blog post that he had added the exploit code to Metasploit.
Microsoft had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10346664-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows 7 |
Tags: blue screen of death, critical system error, exploit, Microsoft, Vista, vulnerability, Windows, Windows 7 |
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