Archive for category Microsoft
Windows Live Messenger Crashes; Possible Fix
Posted by Brad Rowley in Software, Windows Live on April 7th, 2009
I have the latest build of Windows Live Messenger installed on both my desktop (running Vista) and my ASUS eeePC 900HA (XP). Both crash whenever I try to use the Win-E key combination. At my wit’s end, I Googled for hours on end trying to find a fix.
I ran across a forum thread at Adobe that talks about Vista and Flash being the root cause of the crashes. Hmmm, interesting.
I have been testing a couple of Twitter apps that were built using Adobe’s AIR. (AIR is a cross-platform software runtime that lets developers build rich Internet apps.) Reading the thread got me thinking that maybe it wasn’t Flash et al, but AIR alone. I broke out my eeePC, uninstalled AIR and any AIR apps I had installed… no more Windows Live Messenger crash. I will have to test this out on my Vista desktop when I get home, and post my findings.
Update: April 8, 2009 @ 10:05 AM: Well, no joy on the Vista box. Even after removing AIR and rebooting WLM is still crashing on Vista. Damn Flash dependancy! Back to Googling.
Another Day, Another Opinion on IE8
Posted by Brad Rowley in Microsoft, Security on March 25th, 2009
There seems to be a lot of disagreement over whether or not Internet Explorer 8 is a secure browser or not. Pwn2Own claims the browser was exploited during their annual competition; the Internet Storm Center says it probably would have withstood the exploit had the “Official” release been used. Read the rest of this entry »
IE8, FF Pwned at Pwn2Own
Posted by Brad Rowley in Google, Microsoft, Security, Software on March 20th, 2009
Mere days after the release of Microsoft’s latest browser (Internet Explorer 8), contestants at Pwn2Own tried to “pwn” browsers on several platforms. Day one saw IE8, Firefox and Safari exploited. Day two was uneventful, with no exploits of mobile platforms.
The only browser not exploited (so far) is Google’s Chrome. So, without any futher ado…
Update: March 20, 2009
It looks like the version of IE8 used at Pwn2Own may have not been the final release version. Microsoft has stated on their Security Research and Defense blog that “the final release of Internet Explorer 8 on Windows Vista blocks the .NET DEP+ASLR bypass mechanism from malicious websites on the Internet”. If I am understanding things correctly, the combination of the final release IE8 and Vista is quite secure. The Internet Storm Center questions whether IE8 would have been exploited had the competition been held a day later and the “Official” release been available.
Check out the links and decide for yourself if you’re going to install IE8.
More OpenID news
Posted by Brad Rowley in Google, Microsoft, Trends on March 12th, 2009
Fresh on the heels of my earlier post…
Microsoft has a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the OpenID Window Live Provider that allows you to associate an OpenID alias with your Windows Live login. With Google and Microsoft both heavily supporting OpenID, the reality of having a single signon for all your web accounts is getting closer to reality.
For more information, check out the news releases at OpenID and the Window Live ID blog.