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Internet Explorer 9: Next Stop, Public Beta

By Fei on August 6, 2010

By Tony Bradley
August 6, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – With the success of Internet Explorer 8–gaining 1.38 percent market share in the United States to lead the pack with more than 42 percent of the market–it is easy to forget that Microsoft is hard at work developing Internet Explorer 9. Today, Microsoft unleashed the fourth Platform Preview release for developers, and told partners and developers to start preparing–the public beta of IE9 is coming soon.

Internet Explorer 9 is in high demand in the developer community. The IE9 Platform Preview has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, and the Test Drive site has been viewed 20 million times.

The focus of the IE9 team has been on developing a cutting edge Web browser as fast as it is capable. When Microsoft shipped IE8, the Acid3 score was a paltry–perhaps even shameful–20. Responding to feedback from developers who have used the IE9 Platform Preview releases, Microsoft has increased the Acid3 score for IE9 by 40 points. This release has an Acid3 score of 95–almost five times that of IE8.

A post on Microsoft’s IEBlog explains that the IE9 development team is “committed to the right foundation for HTML5 applications, including performance and ensuring the same markup and same script work across browsers. One aspect of doing these things well is integrating the JavaScript engine natively inside the browser, rather than bolting it onto the side to support multiple JavaScript engines as some other browsers do today. How a JavaScript engine is integrated into the browser is as important as the engine itself for real-world HTML5.”

With Microsoft’s new JavaScript engine–codenamed Chakra–Internet Explorer is faster than ever. According to Webkit.org SunSpider, IE9 PP4 comes in at 326 milliseconds–more than 11 times faster than IE8, and even faster than the recently released Safari 5.0 browser from Apple. Check out the IE9 Test Drive site for examples of what IE9 is capable of, or to download Platform Preview 4.

Microsoft has been releasing new updates to IE9 approximately every eight weeks, and now it has begun hinting that the next release could be the public beta. If that is true, it means that the general public might be able to start using the beta version of IE9 by sometime in early October.

The timeline for IE8 from initial beta to official release was about one year–the beta was available in March of 2008 and IE8 officially launched in March of 2009. Assuming a similar timeline, IE9 should be available at least a few months ahead of the rumored release of Windows 8 in late 2011. All of the timelines are pure speculation at this point, though.

A blog post by James Pratt on the Exploring IE blog advises “Between now and the Beta, we encourage developers to test their web sites with PP4 to make sure well they’ll work with the Internet Explorer 9 Beta and begin to reimagine what they can build when they have a browser that is architected to take advantage of your hardware through Windows.”

IE8 has emerged as the leading Web browser in only 18 months. With the improvements Microsoft is making in IE9, it will be interesting to see if it can knock IE8 off of the pedestal even faster.

Solve Internet Explorer 8 Crashes

By Fei on July 23, 2010

By Rick Broida
July 23, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Reader Srinivas is having a problem with Internet Explorer 8:

“Whenever I try to access mail.yahoo.com, the page shows up and immediately IE 8 crashes. It happens with most [other] Web sites, too.”

Browser crashes can be tough to troubleshoot–especially when you don’t provide information about your PC, operating system, etc. (ahem). That’s something everyone should remember when asking for help with system problems: the more details you can provide, the better.

You did mention that these crashes don’t happen in Firefox, meaning you already know the smart short-term workaround for any browser problem: try another browser.

Anyway, you’ve got two likely culprits here: a corrupted add-on or a bad Flash plug-in. I suspect the latter, so let’s start with that.

You’ll need to uninstall the Flash Player plug-in and its ActiveX component, which you can do with a small utility from Adobe. Reboot after you’ve run the utility.

Next, close Internet Explorer and reset it to its default settings (which will also remove any problematic add-ons). Here’s how (for Vista/7 users):

1. Click Start, type Internet Options, and then press Enter.

2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click the Reset button at the bottom of the window. (Do not check the box marked Delete personal settings.) Click Reset to complete the process.

3. Restart Internet Explorer and head to Adobe’s Flash Player page. Follow the instructions to install it.
Now try signing into Yahoo (or whatever site was giving you trouble). I’d be very surprised if IE continued to crash. Assuming it doesn’t, reinstall any add-ons that you were using–but do so one at a time, checking to make sure everything still works before proceeding to the next one.

Microsoft to Google: you’re not exactly safe yourself

By Fei on June 3, 2010

By Jeff Bertolucci
June 3, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – It looks like Microsoft isn’t too pleased with Tuesday’s rumors that Google will stop using Windows internally due to security vulnerabilities in the OS. Google reportedly will switch to more secure operating systems, including the Mac OS, Linux, and Google’s upcoming Chrome OS, according to the Financial Times.

Microsoft’s response: Our security is better than you think, and theirs’ really isn’t so great if you look closely enough.

A Tuesday post on The Windows Blog by Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc defends Redmond’s honor in the ongoing security debate. He asserts that when it comes to thwarting malware, Microsoft has stepped up its once sorry game.

“When it comes to security, even hackers admit we’re doing a better job making our products more secure than anyone else. And it’s not just the hackers; third party influentials and industry leaders like Cisco tell us regularly that our focus and investment continues to surpass others,” LeBlanc writes.

Microsoft’s more recent security improvements include: Frequent software updates via Windows Update and Microsoft Update, many of which are pushed to users automatically; BitLocker disc encryption improvements in Windows 7; and various security enhancements in Internet Explorer 8, including the SmartScreen filter to thwart malware and phishing attempts online.

Google, Apple Diss

LeBlanc also accuses Google of being a tad hypocritical about security. He links to a Mashable story from March that states that Yale University had delayed switching to Google’s Gmail due to security concerns. “There is some irony here that is hard to overlook,” he writes.

Apple gets the treatment too. LeBlanc points to an InfoWorld article that discusses how the Mac’s growing popularity may make it (and other Apple devices) more appealing targets for hackers.

LeBlanc’s points are valid, and certainly no operating system is 100-percent secure. And it’s also possible that Google’s alleged plan to dump Windows internally–a report that didn’t originate from an official company mouthpiece–may be a sneaky PR stunt to trumpet the security strengths of Google’s Windows competitors, Android and Chrome.

That said, Microsoft has no one to blame but itself for its bad security rap. Indeed, past versions of Windows and Internet Explorer were a hacker’s dream. And even if Redmond has changed its security-deficient ways, its competitors are bound to exploit its malware-friendly image.

Easily Look Up Words and Phrases in Internet Explorer

By Fei on May 27, 2010

By Rick Broida
May 27, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – Remember Accelerators? They were a much-touted new feature in Internet Explorer 8–but I don’t know a single person who uses them. Personally, I just never took the time to investigate them all that closely.

That may change now that I’ve tried out Define with Bing, an IE accelerator that’s genuinely useful. With just a couple clicks, it looks up definitions of any word or phrase you highlight in the browser.

To install, just visit the link in the preceding paragraph, then click Add to Internet Explorer. Presto, you’re done–you don’t even have to restart IE. (Take that, Firefox!)

Now, when you highlight a word or phrase, you’ll see a little blue-white arrow appear next to it. Click it, then mouse over All Accelerators. In the pop-up list that appears, mouse over Define with Bing–you’ll then see a pop-up box with an abbreviated collection of related information.

Alternately, if you click Define with Bing instead of just mousing over it, IE will open a new tab with a more complete list of definitions (from sources like Encarta, Wikipedia, and the Web at large).

Very handy, no? Actually, this add-on would be a lot handier if it appeared in the primary Accelerators menu, so you didn’t have to navigate into the All Accelerators sub-menu. Here’s how to accomplish that:

In Internet Explorer, click Tools, Manage Add-ons. Click Accelerators, and then click Define with Bing in the list that appears. Now click Set as default, then Close, and you’re done.

What do you think? If you like the cut of Define with Bing’s jib, maybe it’s finally time you checked out all IE8′s Accelerators.

Twitter Phishing Scam: Blame Browsers and Users

By Fei on March 1, 2010

By Jared Newman
March 1, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO – With banks, newspapers, and politicians in Britain overrun by a blatant Twitter phishing scam, it’s time to point some fingers. Most disappointing are browsers and users, both of which failed to recognize an obvious ruse.

Specifically, I’m calling out Firefox and old browsers. After receiving a malicious “This you????” link from a follower, I tried it with all the browsers at my disposal, including Firefox 3, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and mobile Safari for the iPhone. Firefox was the only one that didn’t throw up a warning page when I tried to visit the link.

In fairness, Firefox is usually better than this. A report by NSS Labs last year found that Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 blocked 80 percent and 83 percent of phishing sites, respectively — far superior to the competition. But what good are those numbers if you don’t block the big one? It’s like batting with the highest average during the regular season and choking in the playoffs.

I imagine that older versions of browsers fell prey to the attacks as well, but I couldn’t test those out. After all, Internet Explorer 8 was the first version to include a phishing filter, so older versions might not have warned users.
It’s also hard to believe that so many Twitter users fell for the phishing scam. This one had all the telltale signs: A shortened URL, an actual URL hosted on a different domain (kevanshome.org) and a login page that doesn’t quite follow Twitter’s format, but has all the same graphics. And if you’re already signed in to Twitter, there’s no reason you’d need to sign in again.

As with any phishing attack on a social network, Twitter shoulders some of the blame for merely letting it go on for too long, but I understand that Web services get attacked often, and the major ones aren’t immune. In the end it comes down to having a browser that’s got your back and some computer smarts when all else fails. Apparently some high-profile people across the pond had neither.

Microsoft Pulls Gross-Out Ad for IE8

By Jon on July 2, 2009

By Ian Paul

It looks like the image of a woman throwing up after inadvertently viewing pornography was too controversial for Microsoft. As of this morning, the online-only ad forInternet Explorer 8 called O.M.G.I.G.P. — oh my God! I’m gonna puke–has been pulled from all Microsoft and third-party video Web sites–including the dedicated IE8 site, Browser for the Better.

A few days ago Microsoft’s IE8 ad campaign started making headlines with its four online only ads featuring former Superman Dean Cain. Two of the ads–F.O.M.S. and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.–had been up since June 10, but the ad campaign only caught media attention earlier this week. The most outrageous spot was O.M.G.I.G.P., which depicted a woman who couldn’t stop vomiting after inadvertently viewing hardcore pornography on her husband’s computer. Dean Cain then walked into the scene and suggested this situation could have been avoided by using IE8′s private browsing feature.

So why did Microsoft pull the video spot? True, O.M.G.I.G.P. was a little on the disgusting side, but it was hardly controversial or subversive for the online world of 2009.

Here’s what a Microsoft spokesperson said via e-mail: “We make a point of listening to our customers. We created the OMGIGP video as a tongue-in-cheek look at the InPrivate Browsing feature of Internet Explorer 8, using the same irreverent humor that our customers told us they liked about other components of the Internet Explorer 8 marketing campaign. While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it.”

Behind the Ad
The ads were developed by the Indiana-based advertising firm Bradley and Montgomery, and were directed by former Police Academy star and standup comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. Since his acting days, Goldthwait has turned to directing including stints on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Man Show, and several of his own movie projects. The Internet Explorer ads were his first shot at commercials, and were created in consultation with the creative team at BAM, according to a Brandweek interview with Goldthwait.

When I first discovered that Goldthwait directed the IE8 ads, I was amused but not particularly surprised. O.M.G.I.G.P. feels like the type of humor that would appeal to Goldthwait. Not necessarily because of the puking scene, but because of the honesty behind the suggestion that the private browsing feature found on many Web browsers is ideal for keeping your online porn habits a secret from other people who might share your computer. Private browsing temporarily stops your Web browser from recording your online history and erases any tracking cookies from your online session.

User Outrage? Really?
I’m surprised that Microsoft pulled the ad due to user outrage. Microsoft itself admitted that user reaction to the ad was fairly lighthearted, although some people said it was mildly disgusting. So where could the outrage over O.M.G.I.G.P. be coming from? Well, the online spots were also tied to a larger campaign on the ‘Browser for the Better’ Web site. Microsoft promised to donate eight meals to Feeding America–a domestic hunger charity–for every user download of IE8 that came frombrowserforthebetter.com. Is it possible the plug was pulled because there was negative reaction to associating a puking scene with a hunger charity? I asked Microsoft for further clarification, but they declined to comment on my theory. That doesn’t mean I’m right mind you, but it’s possible. Why do you think it was pulled?

Microsoft pushes IE8 with ads that are actually funny

By Jon on June 30, 2009

By Ian Paul

Microsoft has done it again: the company has released another set of baffling and mystifying ads, but this time they’re actually funny. The software giant released four new ads to promote Internet Explorer 8 starring Lois and Clark’s Dean Cain as a 1960′s style ad man–no doubt inspired by AMC’s Mad Men. So far the new ad campaign is an online-only affair, and uses the tagline ‘Browse Better.’

The ads highlight IE8 features using mock situations and cutesy acronyms like F.O.M.S.–fear of missing something–for IE8s web slices, and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.–sharing heavily, yet not enough sharing still–for the browser’s accelerator feature. But the king of all four ads is O.M.G.I.G.P.–oh my God! I’m gonna puke–for IE8sprivate browsing feature; private browsing temporarily stops your browser from recording your online activities including your Web history and tracking cookies.

O.M.G.I.G.P. is the most honest ad we’ve seen from Redmond in a long time. Microsoft openly acknowledges in the spot the most common reason to use private browsing: hiding your online porn tracks. I’m not going to go into detail about what happens in the ad, but let’s just say the title O.M.G.I.G.P. is taken very literally.

The new campaign is also tied to Microsoft’s dedicated IE8 Web site called, Browser for the Better. For every copy of Internet Explorer 8 downloaded from the new site between now and August 8, Microsoft will donate eight meals to Feeding America, a domestic hunger-relief charity.

Since the launch of Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft’s browser has struggled with dwindling popularity, as users turn to other Web browsing alternatives like Mozilla’s Firefox and Opera. Will this new campaign help turn IE8′s fortunes around? Check out the ads below and judge for yourself.

S.H.Y.N.E.S.S

F.O.M.S.

G.R.I.P.E.S.

O.M.G.I.G.P.

Use IE 8 to access multiple Gmail accounts

By blogadmin on June 5, 2009

By Rick Broida
PC World (US)

Here’s a little-known advantage to using Internet Explorer 8: It lets you access multiple Gmail accounts simultaneously and independently.

This is accomplished via the New Session option, which makes it possible to log onto Web sites that track your identity across different tabs–like Gmail.

In Firefox, for instance, you can’t have multiple Gmail accounts open in multiple tabs or Windows. If you sign into a second one, you’ll get signed out of the first one when you try to do anything.

Here’s how to take advantage of this IE8 perk:

1. Run Internet Explorer 8 and open Gmail. Make sure theRemember Meoption is unchecked when you sign in.

2. Press Alt-F, I, and then hitEnter. This will open a new Internet Explorer session (which for all intents and purposes is the same as a new IE window).

3. Open Gmail and sign into your second account, again making sure to uncheck Remember Me.

That’s all there is to it! This should work with other Webmail accounts and services that don’t like multiple sessions running simultaneously.

I know it’s not a perfect solution, especially if you prefer Gmail to remember your username and password from one session to the next. Here’s hoping Microsoft will further tweak IE’s New Session feature to support this option.