Microsoft Corp is developing a feature in its new operating system that allows users to turn off Internet Explorer and other key Microsoft programs.
The new feature is a major step for the world's largest software company, which has been accused by competitors and regulators of forcing consumers to run its own software, squeezing rivals' offerings out of the marketplace. "In addition to the features that were already available to turn on or off in Windows Vista
, we've added the following features to the list in Windows 7," said a Microsoft blog published on Friday, listing Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player and a host of other Microsoft programs.
The publicly available blog was written by Jack Mayo, a manager in the team developing Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vistaearly next year. The new design will make it easier for users to remove any traces of Internet Explorer from their desktop, although the software will remain installed on the computer, and allow them to run other browsers more smoothly.
Last month Google Inc, which recently launched its own Chrome browser, joined the Mozilla foundation, producer of the Firefox Web browser, and Norway's Opera, in protesting Microsoft's dominance in the browser market. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95 percent of the world's personal computers. In the past decade, Microsoft has fallen afoul of both U.S. and European antitrust regulators for bundling key programs with its operating system.
The new feature is a major step for the world's largest software company, which has been accused by competitors and regulators of forcing consumers to run its own software, squeezing rivals' offerings out of the marketplace. "In addition to the features that were already available to turn on or off in Windows Vista
, we've added the following features to the list in Windows 7," said a Microsoft blog published on Friday, listing Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player and a host of other Microsoft programs.
The publicly available blog was written by Jack Mayo, a manager in the team developing Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vistaearly next year. The new design will make it easier for users to remove any traces of Internet Explorer from their desktop, although the software will remain installed on the computer, and allow them to run other browsers more smoothly.
Last month Google Inc, which recently launched its own Chrome browser, joined the Mozilla foundation, producer of the Firefox Web browser, and Norway's Opera, in protesting Microsoft's dominance in the browser market. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95 percent of the world's personal computers. In the past decade, Microsoft has fallen afoul of both U.S. and European antitrust regulators for bundling key programs with its operating system.
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A faster javascript engine, a new tab-switching effect and geolocation features round up the feature-listE-Mail Print
Mozilla has released Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 for the Firefox fans and has taken yet another step towards the final release. You can download the beta from here.
Here are our impressions of the Beta on a Windows machine. First impression is that it is really fast! Our very own Tech Skill page loaded in less than 2 seconds which takes more than 4 on any other browser (results may differ on various Internet connections). This is due thanks to the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine that uses tracing optimization for snazzy performance delivery. TraceMonkey makes this release faster than Google Chrome's V8 as claimed earlier. Note however that the engine is not turned on by default and needs a bit of elbow grease to get it going. Needless to say though, Mozilla developers are planning to further optimize the engine.
To activate the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, type "about:config" into the address bar. Then type "javascript.options.jit.content" into the filter. Toggle the boolean setting from "false" to "true". Close the window and restart the browser.We found an almost 50 percent boost in the browser speed, after making that tweak.
Mozilla has also implemented W3C Geolocation Specification as mentioned on Geode release. We couldn't make Geode 1.5 work but Ubiquity 0.1.1 worked smoothly for us.
The most interesting feature included is a 3D-like tab switching interface that shows a preview of a tab's content. Press CTRL+Tab to trigger this tab switching interface. Keep them pressed to see how fast the browser rotates the tabs. Hey, it's fun...
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Barely five hours into the release of Firefox 3, the browser had garnered nearly 1.6 million downloads -- a number achieved by its very own predecessor - Firefox 2 - only
at the end of one entire day. The Mozilla Web site continued under pressure, 9,000 free copies per minute and rearing to go -- to break that all new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.
Some place else though, Tipping Point's Zero Day Initiative announced finding the very first vulnerability -- also within five hours of the browser's release. The traditionbeing not to disclose specifics of a vulnerability until the vendor has had a chance to patch the same, yet, Tipping Point verified the vulnerability and rated it as 'critical'. A blog post said the vulnerability that also affects Firefox 2, could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code if explored.
Tipping Point promptly reported the vulnerability to the Mozilla team, and the latter is said to be working on a fix for the same.
Vulnerability or no vulnerability, Firefox 3 has managed to break a new record, registering 8.3 million downloads in the very first day. Perhaps it's time for one more cake, is the Microsoft IE team listening?
at the end of one entire day. The Mozilla Web site continued under pressure, 9,000 free copies per minute and rearing to go -- to break that all new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.Some place else though, Tipping Point's Zero Day Initiative announced finding the very first vulnerability -- also within five hours of the browser's release. The traditionbeing not to disclose specifics of a vulnerability until the vendor has had a chance to patch the same, yet, Tipping Point verified the vulnerability and rated it as 'critical'. A blog post said the vulnerability that also affects Firefox 2, could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code if explored.
Tipping Point promptly reported the vulnerability to the Mozilla team, and the latter is said to be working on a fix for the same.
Vulnerability or no vulnerability, Firefox 3 has managed to break a new record, registering 8.3 million downloads in the very first day. Perhaps it's time for one more cake, is the Microsoft IE team listening?
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Congratulatory cake delivered to Mozilla, Microsoft's IE (Internet Explorer) team might want to eat this!Five odd hours into the release of Mozilla's latest "Firefox 3" Internet browser, and the newbie seems to have garnered as many as 1.6 million downloads -- a number its predecessor 'Firefox 2' saw only at the end of one whole day, claim developers of Firefox 3. The opening hours alone recorded as many as 9,000 free copies being distributed on a per minute basis. Downloads continued well into the next day with Mozilla rallying support of its fans in trying to break an all new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours -- a difficult but not impossible task.Possibly the same kind of enthusiasm was responsible for a delayed release earlier on Tuesday when traffic to the MozillaWeb site (http://www.getfirefox.com) overwhelmed Firefox Web servers causing the Web site to crash and remain slow or worse - unreachable - for a good two hours. Free downloads of Firefox 3 began only after the problem was solved.
About Firefox 3: Mozilla claims the newest iteration of its browser allows for fast, secure, and easy-to-customize Internet surfing. Firefox 3 is being made available in 50 languages, and according to Mozilla, is "at least twice as fast as its predecessor" besides boasting "15,000 improvements" that include malware protection. Firefox 3 is available as a free download for computers running Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems.
Since the launch of the very first Firefox in November of 2004, Mozilla claims the browser has spread to over 175 million users and 230 coutries, so much so that it now comes a close second to Microsoft's ubiquitous Internet Explorer. Although many would counter that saying Firefox is the best!
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Five Firefox Tricks
It’s been so long since I've written about everyone’s favorite Web browser of Firefox! This time, instead of talking about how you can install such and such application to customize such and such feature to increase functionality by 200 percent, etc., etc., I thought I’d just write about five quick tips you can use in Firefox. Here we go!
1.) Keyboard Navigation
Do you get sick of moving your arm to get ahold of the mouse just so you can click on a different tab in Firefox? Well, I sure do! Luckily, the same thing can be done using keyboard shortcuts. By using Ctrl + Tab, you can move through all of the open tabs from left to right. If you want to go directly to a tab, all you have to do is press Ctrl + the number of the tab you want from the left. For example, hit Ctrl + 2 for the second tab from the left. Cool, huh?!
2.) Delete a URL
Ever find yourself at a loss when you want to delete the address of a particular Web site from your history? Well, you know you can open the history sidebar and delete everything, but what if you also want to delete it from the drop down menu on the address bar? Well, all you have to do to delete an address from the address bar menu is highlight it and press Delete. Poof! The evidence is destroyed! 3.) Download Page Media.
Let's say you visit a Web page and you want to download a certain embedded component, such as a Shockwave file, an image or an animation. What do you do? Well, let’s also say that the page is protected and it doesn’t even let you right click anywhere. How would you be able to download anything from that page then? For this, just go to Tools, Page Info. That should open up a new dialogue box. In that box, click on the tab that says Media.
It’s been so long since I've written about everyone’s favorite Web browser of Firefox! This time, instead of talking about how you can install such and such application to customize such and such feature to increase functionality by 200 percent, etc., etc., I thought I’d just write about five quick tips you can use in Firefox. Here we go!
1.) Keyboard Navigation
Do you get sick of moving your arm to get ahold of the mouse just so you can click on a different tab in Firefox? Well, I sure do! Luckily, the same thing can be done using keyboard shortcuts. By using Ctrl + Tab, you can move through all of the open tabs from left to right. If you want to go directly to a tab, all you have to do is press Ctrl + the number of the tab you want from the left. For example, hit Ctrl + 2 for the second tab from the left. Cool, huh?!
2.) Delete a URL
Ever find yourself at a loss when you want to delete the address of a particular Web site from your history? Well, you know you can open the history sidebar and delete everything, but what if you also want to delete it from the drop down menu on the address bar? Well, all you have to do to delete an address from the address bar menu is highlight it and press Delete. Poof! The evidence is destroyed! 3.) Download Page Media.
Let's say you visit a Web page and you want to download a certain embedded component, such as a Shockwave file, an image or an animation. What do you do? Well, let’s also say that the page is protected and it doesn’t even let you right click anywhere. How would you be able to download anything from that page then? For this, just go to Tools, Page Info. That should open up a new dialogue box. In that box, click on the tab that says Media.
4.) Get More Screen Space
To free up more space on your screen, you can make your icons smaller. To do that, just go to View, Toolbars, Customize. You will then see a little checkbox that says Use Small Icons. Checkmark that and bada bing, you’re done!
5.) Instant Search
To search for any text on a particular Web page, you probably usually use Ctrl + F, right? Well, now you can do that even faster by pressing the "forward slash" key (it's the same one as the question mark key) on your keyboard. That will highlight the Quickfind window. So, to recap, you press the forward slash key, which activates the window, and you type in the text you want to search for. It's so quick and easy!
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