Microsoft

BitDefender Launches Free Malware Removal Tool

“Backdoor.Lavandos.A steals personal data from accounts on the infected computer after setting up a ‘setupapi.dll’ in the installation root folder for Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer,” according to SC Magazine. esecurityplanet.com

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Changes to Search Engine Plugins Coming

Starting with most likely the next Firefox 3.6.x update (currently scheduled for mid-October) the default set of Search Engine plugins shipping with Firefox will be changing. Microsoft’s Bing will now be included (user had to manually install this search engine plugin prior). Answers.com and Creative Commons are being removed, but can be installed manually by clicking the links here. Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay and Wikipedia are staying put along with any other search engines the user has manually installed on their profile. New Default Search Engines installed with Firefox 3.6 Source: Mozilla Links

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Internet Explorer Turns 15!

The summer of 1995 we saw the release of Windows 95, which introduced the paradox of clicking ‘Start’ to turn-off your computer. But more importantly, that summer was also the release of Internet Explorer 1.0 which forever changed the way people accessed the Internet. Yes, there was the Netscape browser but in 1995 the Internet access was still fairly ‘controlled’ by online providers such as AOL which offered a “walled-off version of the Internet.” Internet Explorer was the biggest success for Microsoft, especially when IE4 was released in late 1997. This was the version that Microsoft bundled with Windows 98,…

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WTF is HTML5 and why should we care

For those unfamiliar with HTML5, it is going to be the next big update for the HTML coding standard. Some of the new elements in HTML5 include: Canvas Element: allows rendering of graphics (including those used in games) on the fly. What is nice about Canvas is this is done without the need for troublesome plugins such as Flash. On a side note about Flash, Apple CEO Steve Jobs hates Flash and loves HTML5 Video Element: allows embedding of video without the need for clunky plugins such as the open source Adobe Flash and Apple’s QuickTime. HTML5 is going to…

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Microsoft hides mystery Firefox extension

Get one of these? ” As part of its regular Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released an update for its various toolbars, and this update came with more than just documented fixes. The update also installs an add-on for Internet Explorer and an extension for Mozilla Firefox, both without the user’s permission…It’s also not really clear what the installed extension actually does. “ Microsoft hides mystery Firefox extension in toolbar update Source: Microsoft hides mystery Firefox extension in toolbar update Rest of story   http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/06/microsoft-slips-ie-firefox-add-on-into-toolbar-update.ars    Gary   

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Win XP Users: IE Can Be Hazardous to Firefox

Below is part of an article Gareon had posted on Go Firefox! Although I live in Windows, I avoid Internet Explorer – its the Defensive Computing thing to do. My approach is the same as Steve Gibson’s, we run IE once a month to install Microsoft patches, then ignore it until next month. Not too long ago, on his Security Now! podcast, Gibson suggested further protection from IE by setting both the Internet and Intranet zones to “High” security levels. What the heck, I figured, an extra bit of safety can’t hurt. But it did hurt, and thus, this blog…

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IE Market Share slipped in 2009

From The Microsoft Blog: In one short year, Google’s Chrome Web browser tripled its market share. In December, it overtook Apple Safari as the third-place browser as the reigning leader, Microsoft Internet Explorer, continued slipping during 2009. According to Net Applications, Chrome ended 2009 with a claim on 4.63 percent of the market, after starting out at just 1.52 percent. During the same period, Safari and Mozilla Firefox also each gained market share, chipping away at IE’s still-dominant hold on the browser market. In January 2009, Internet Explorer had a 69.72 percent share. By the end of December, its market…

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Firefox 3.5 is world’s most popular browser

Firefox 3.5 is world’s most popular browser, StatCounter says Mozilla Firefox 3.5 has passed up Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 to become the world’s most popular Web browser, according to analysis firm StatCounter. Depending on your point of view, this could be huge news. Firefox finally edging out IE7 as the most-used browser? Holy cow. But remember, Microsoft is up to Internet Explorer 8, and StatCounter reported nearly as many IE8 users as Firefox 3.5 users. Source: The Microsoft Blog

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First Run Firefox 3.6b1 & Microsoft .NET Framework

While I did download the Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 release last night, I have finally got around to getting it installed. My system has been a bit problematic for the better part of the day. I also was having some issues with FEBE as well, but those seemed to be related to my profile which I had carried over from Firefox…well I have no idea what Firefox version I started this profile with. I’ve got all my add-ons, passwords, bookmarks and a couple other (except I don’t think my about:config settings carry) items backed up ready to import. So with…

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Mozilla Blocks Microsoft Plugin & Add-on

You would think Microsoft would have learned its lesson after all the negative backlash with the Microsoft .NET Spyware Extension. But this is Microsoft we are talking about. Earlier today I got an odd pop-up window from Firefox: The Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in has been disabled for your protection. Several people on Go Firefox! have reported getting the same message. From what I have read this plug-in that allows the embedding of XAML applications (an XML-based UI technology) in web pages, called XBAP and is part of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a security hole was…

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