The First Look at the IE8 Beta 1 Graphical User Interface

Expect little and you won't be disappointed. This has got to be the rule for Internet Explorer Beta 1.

And yes, I did integrate the Beta 1 reference as a way to indicate that, at this stage in the development of the browser, anything beyond reasonable expectations won't be met. At least not when it comes down to the graphical user interface. Traditionally, the UI details are among the last aspect of Microsoft software products that will be implemented before it is finalized. It is the case with Windows and Internet Explorer 8 makes no exception to this rule.


But at the same time, there are anodyne details that do offer a sneak peek at not only the changes but also at what may be coming. In the screenshots integrated with this article, you will be able to get a taste of the IE8 Beta 1 GUI, in comparison to IE7 and Firefox 2.0, courtesy of Long Zheng. And there is one thing that many users have stated when confronted with the first screenshots from Windows 7 Milestone 1 (M1) in comparison to Windows Vista. This is why I thought I would spare you the trouble and note it myself. Yes, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 does look a lot like Internet Explorer 7.

But you have to keep in mind that this is Beta 1, and that the UI will undoubtedly evolve. However, there are a few minute aspects of the user interface that are changed. First off, you will notice that the domain name is now highlighted in respect to the rest of the link in the address bar. This is of course a move to counter phishing attempts. Secondly, there is now a continuity between the Links item and the rest of the toolbar. And of course, the search box in the upper right hand side corner now features an icon of the default search provider. Nothing much else, except that the up has gained a few pixels, but nothing to grab too much screen real estate.

source: news.softpedia.com

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Vista SP1 RTM Slipstream (Integrated ) DVD ISO Image - Leaked to Torrent Websites

While Microsoft continues at a slow pace toward the general availability of Windows Vista SP1 RTM, the service pack has already slipped through the company's fingers, so to speak.

The fact of the matter is that Microsoft never had a tight grip of Windows. And Vista SP1 RTM is no exception to this rule. And if the Redmond company is still half a month away from satisfying the hunger of Vista users with the general availability of the Service Pack, there are alternative sources that offer not only a taste of Vista SP1, but also the actual gold bits.


The final version of Vista SP1 was leaked and ended up on torrent and warez websites immediately following its releasing to manufacturing on February 4, 2008. But that was just the standalone installer. After RTM, Microsoft permitted OEMs, Beta testers, Volume License customers and MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers access to Vista SP1. Out of all the MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers got the sweetest deal, being able to download the slipstream version of Vista SP1. Namely Vista with SP1 integrated into a single DVD ISO image.

Well, the official MSDN build of Vista SP1 RTM Slipstream (Integrated ) DVD ISO Image, but just the 32-bit version, although Microsoft also released the 64-bit variant, was leaked and is now available for download via Torrent trackers. The ISO image, once downloaded via a Torrent client, can subsequently be burned to a DVD and installed. The x86 ISO-9660 DVD ISO image weighs in at 2.9 GB and comes as a file with the following label: en_windows_vista_with_service_pack_1_x86_dvd_x14-29594.iso.

source: news.softpedia.com

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Iran Pulling the Plug on the Internet

The 14th of March will come hammering down a huge decision from the Iranian Government, that to shut the Internet down as a whole. Being ranked fourth in the top of press freedom infringing, after Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, Iran won’t have any type of online covering of the elections day.


The government officially wants to ensure that it has unimpeded internet service for the election, but it just had an upgrade in that direction, according to the
Iranian Students’ Network Agency. It is not the first time the Iranian officials have restricted Internet use; in 2006, download speeds greater than 128 Kbps have been banned, and several sites have been shut down for being religiously or politically not safe. That’s the kind of actions you would expect in a country that ranks so low in press freedom, but shutting the entire Internet flow down takes the game to a totally new level. I’m on a wild spree of bad jokes here, but what if the government decides to do this more often, like hot running water was only allowed between certain hours under many communist regimes? They have the power to, and apparently they’re not shy to use it.

The forthcoming general elections have the Conservatives and Reformists vying for power, with the current president, Mohammad Khatami being a part of the latter, more specifically of the Militant Clerics Society.

Pulling the plug on the Internet is something never done before, to my knowledge, at such high a level, nationwide. The implications involved beneath the see-through thin veil of an excuse are very wide and denote just how much power a single party can have. It might be out there to consider that election fraud will happen, but keeping the public from knowing the results and polls via web is definitely an indication that it might happen.

source : news.softpedia.com

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IE8 and Firefox 3.0 - the Beginning of the End for IE6

Internet Explorer 6 has long been the most popular choice in terms of web browsers worldwide. IE6 was still holding the lion's share of the browser market as of August 2006 with a share of over 80%, according to data made available by Net Applications. Later that year, Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 began eroding IE6's install base and converting its audience. However, it took IE7 well over a year to gain the upper hand against IE6.


Only in December 2007 did IE7's 40.61% share of the browser market
put it ahead of IE6, which had at that point only 35.18% left. Firefox 2.0 of course delivered its own contribution to tilting Internet Explorer 6, growing by the end of 2007 to a market share of no less than 15.80%. Since then, Firefox 2.0 jumped to 16.02% in January and 16.30% at the end of February 2008.

Internet Explorer 7 has increased its market share to 44.03% at the end of the past month, growing from 42.93% in January. But at this rate, it is clear that neither IE7 nor Firefox 2.0 will be able to deliver the final blow to IE6. The two browsers working in tandem did dislodge IE6 from its dominant position, but it looks like Firefox 3.0 and Internet Explorer 8 will finish the job.

The descendant trajectory of IE6's market share is only bound to accentuate with the imminent release of Firefox 3.0 and the upcoming availability of IE8. Mozilla is currently cooking Beta 4 for Firefox 3.0 and it looks like the new milestone for the open source browser will get some company from Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1.

It is clear that a large segment of Windows XP users have failed for over a year to deploy Internet Explorer 7, despite the fact that the browser is offered via Automatic Updates. At the same time, they have also remained loyal to Internet Explorer and not switched to Firefox. But maybe IE8 and Firefox 3.0 will do the trick and signal the end for what is without a trace of a doubt an obsolete browser.

source : news.softpedia.com

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iPhone gets native P2P torrent software

Your iPhone plays audio. Your iPhone plays video. Until now, you had to sync those suckers. Today, the insanely brilliant iPhone Hacker core announced a preliminary version of a Transmission Peer-to-Peer client for iPhone. The code is ported from the Transmission site to run on the iPhone's ARM microprocessor. Tests on downloaded files produced the identical MD5 checksum as downloading via wget.


Now before you start torrenting, there are some important matters you need to know. First: P2P + EDGE do not mix. Let me repeat that for emphasis. They DO. NOT. MIX. That's because EDGE + P2P takes down EDGE faster than toppling a Jenga pile. Update Further testing has gotten 5kb/s over EDGE without crashing but it's an iffy proposition. Use with care.

Second, we are posting this because there are many *legal* torrents, including music and video, available for download. So please don't start getting into a "Torrent Good"/"Torrent Bad" flamewar in the comments.

Third, this is EXTREMELY preliminary software. It will develop over time -- so you probably don't want to grab a copy and start torrenting right away until it becomes more stable.

Fourth, this is a command-line client. As it matures, someone is going to slap a GUI on that baby but at this time, do not look for the software to show up in Installer.app or Cydia.

Finally, be aware that torrenting will wear down your battery faster than, um... toppling a Jenga pile. (C'mon folks. We're really short on family-friendly metaphors here. Suggest your own in the comments.)

Way to go core!

source : tuaw.com

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What’s New in Microsoft Land: 25 – 29 February 2008

The Redmond based company decided that it couldn't wait for an answer from Yahoo! any longer, or for the alternative hostile takeover to finalize all of its proceedings that haven't even started yet. With Google as a target, on Monday Microsoft announced that it will tend to its own advertising program and platform rather than standing around and hopping for the best. The best could only come in half size, as the most talented people are leaving the SUnnyvale based company, like rats do from a sinking ship, after their packages vested early in February.


The new Engagement Mapping that Microsoft brought forth at the very beginning of the week is specially tailored to overhaul the process of managing and measuring the effectiveness of online campaigns. The "last ad clicked" standard, the one currently in use when connecting with customers relating to the success of the online advertising campaign, is obsolete, according to Microsoft. With Engagement Mapping, the measuring is not done by solely taking into account the last ad clicked, but an array of other variables,
such as the online touchpoints and interactions associated with a specific user, that ultimately lead to a sale. "The 'last ad clicked' is an outdated and flawed approach because it essentially ignores all prior interactions the consumer has with a marketer's message," said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) Division at Microsoft. "Our Engagement Mapping approach conveys how each ad exposure - whether display, rich media or search, seen multiple times on multiple sites and across many channels - influenced an eventual purchase. We believe it represents a quantum leap for advertisers and publishers who are seeking to maximize their online spends." Google, beware!

IBM and Microsoft Corp. have come together on Tuesday and announced that they will be delivering a powerful Windows Embedded-based plug-and-play solution to help make it faster and easier for retailers and hospitality organizations to deliver information and services to time-conscious, empowered consumers. It will be fairly easy to get your hands on Microsoft's Windows Embedded for Points of Service operating system, as it will come pre-loaded on IBM point-of-sale, self-checkout and self-service kiosks offerings.

"This is about helping our clients win in the marketplace by providing them a choice of solutions to enable them to more efficiently manage their businesses, and better serve increasingly demanding consumers," said Alan Outlaw, business line executive, IBM Point-of-Sale Solutions. "Windows Embedded for Point of Service gives us yet another option for clients who want to add Windows as part of their IT infrastructure." The WEPS has its platform based on Microsoft Windows technologies that have been optimized for the retail industry. What makes it special is that it is the very first point-of-service operating system that provides plug-and-play functionality for retail device peripherals.

"Retail and hospitality organizations globally are keenly focused on making the in-store shopping experience compelling for consumers while also looking for ways to drive down costs through improved efficiencies," said Ilya Bukshteyn, director of marketing for Windows Embedded at Microsoft. "This demand signals the need for technology solutions that deliver a smart, connected service-oriented experience. Microsoft’s collaboration with IBM is a terrific example of the positive response to our embedded point-of-service retail and hospitality strategy."

Wednesday was both a glory and troublesome day for the Redmond based company. It brought forth from its labs the next generation of infrastructure and application platform products, Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 being the jewels of its crown. The domains targeted with this so-to-say update are varying from security, web and virtualization to business intelligence, all improved with the latest versions of the all-so-popular by now products. The event thrown in the launch's honor had a "Heroes happen here" theme, and highlighted the outstanding work that IT professionals, developers and partners do every day to create solutions and cutting-edge applications that keep global commerce and industry running.

"IT professionals and developers tell us they spend too much time and money managing existing systems and not enough investing in new capabilities that create strategic advantage," Ballmer said. "That feedback is at the core of the innovations in this new wave of products. Already, the overwhelming response from thousands of IT professionals and developers around the world is that this is the most secure enterprise platform we have ever delivered, and that it will simplify management and enable them to focus more on driving their businesses forward."

But then again, when everything was looking pink and fuzzy for Microsoft, the European Union slapped a $1.4 billion fine against the Redmond based company for failing to comply with previous directions. The story is as old as Matusalem and has very well been documented so i won't give further detail. Nevertheless, that must have cut into the bidding money, should Tahoo! decide on a whim to accept.

Who likes a sale? Everybody does, including Microsoft, as it reduced the price on several retail stand alone versions of Windows Vista. Because the company wants the transition from Windows XP to Vista to happen as soon as possible and as quick as possible, the finance people decided to make it less expensive to buy the latest operating system on retail, in an attempt to double the rate at which the change is happening. Windows Vista was primarily made available to customers via the sale of new PCs, with the stand-alone market being almost unattended to.

"Windows Vista has been on the market for more than a year now, with more than 100 million licenses sold in its first year. While this is great progress, we see an opportunity to grow our business even more with some of the new editions we introduced with Windows Vista. Today, the vast majority of Windows licenses are sold with PCs; retail stand-alone sales, in contrast, have been primarily from customers who value being early adopters and those building their own machines. We’ve observed market behavior, however, that suggests an opportunity to expand Windows stand-alone sales to other segments of the consumer market," Brad Broks, corporate vice president for Windows Consumer Product Marketing, said.

The price-cut will be available for everyone to benefit from as soon as Windows Vista SP 1 hits the market, later this year.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 was announced as a fact on Friday, when the Redmond based company officially confirmed that testers have already begun joining the limited technical beta program for the browser. The invitations started flying last week. While knowing that IE8 is just around the corner, most likely the whole wide world will be able to catch a glimpse of it at MIX08 next week, where it is said to be the star product. What good will leaking screenshots and information about the browser will now do? A Microsoft spokesperson told Softpedia, via email, that "We are beginning to invite testers into the IE8 TechBeta program. We will also be opening IE8 Beta 1 to the public in the future, but have no more information on that at this time." Luckily, it won't be a long wait.

source : news.softpedia.com

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Will Vista SP1 Go Where Vista Never Went? Even with XP SP3 and Windows 7?

Throughout 2007, it became painfully clear to Microsoft that the main competitor for Windows Vista was not Apple's Mac OS X or even the open source Linux operating system but Windows XP, and, in fact, specifically XP SP2.


Vista sales climbed slowly, with the operating system hitting an install base of 100 million by the end of 2007, a performance which culminated, only coincidentally claims Microsoft, with the departure of G. Michael Sievert former corporate vice president for Windows Product Marketing as of February 2008. Sievert was responsible with overseeing global marketing for Windows Vista.

The beginning of 2008 is synonymous with a unprecedented move from Microsoft, designed to accompany the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. The Redmond company revealed that it plans price cuts for a few flavors of its operating system to coincide with the worldwide availability of Vista SP1. Historically, the first service pack is regarded as a maturity milestone for Microsoft products, and signals an acceleration in uptake, especially with a customer segment that has been lagging to adopt – the corporate customers.

Microsoft's decision to slash the prices of some of the retail standalone versions of Vista comes at a time when Windows users are dividing their focus between Vista SP1, the upcoming Windows XP SP3 and the first taste of Windows 7. Still, as far as Microsoft is concerned, the slice of standalone retail Vista packages is only a fraction of the overall Windows market that is dominated by OEM sales. The Redmond company closely correlates revenue growth for the Client Business division with sales of OEM PCs which feature pre-installed versions of Windows. Overall, no less than 80% of the total Client (Windows) revenue comes from copies of the operating system pre-loaded on new machines.

Vista Price Cut Details
The price cuts are inevitably going to generate additional success for Vista, but an adoption explosion will not be the case. Microsoft has been crunching numbers of Vista's uptake throughout 2008 and decided that the new pricing strategy that will be implemented simultaneously with the delivery of Vista SP1 can only deliver a positive impact. The company was reticent in providing details of the actual price cuts. When I contacted Microsoft, a spokesperson stated that the reductions will impact exclusively the consumer versions of Vista, but the specific percentages will vary by region, being tailored in accordance to different markets around the world.

"In emerging markets, we are going to package the upgrade version of both Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Home Basic with the full version, so there will only be one choice. Developed markets will still have upgrade versions, as our research has borne out that there is a healthy market for upgrades as well as full versions. Since the majority of consumers in emerging markets are looking for that full version on Windows Vista, packaging them together helps them purchase the version they are looking for the first time," a Microsoft spokesperson revealed in an email to Softpedia. "As we mentioned, the most notable changes customers in developed markets will see will be to the new editions we introduced in 2007 - Home Premium and Ultimate. However, some developed markets will see some adjustments to Home Basic based on feedback we saw from promotions run in specific markets."

The new prices will ultimately favor emerging markets over developed countries. The move is designed to counter both a higher rate of piracy in these regions across the world as well as an increasing adoption of the open source Linux operating system. Microsoft only placed an emphasis on offering users around the world the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of genuine software. There was absolutely no reference being made to Linux.

"The vast majority of our retail customers - especially those in developed markets - may not notice anything different from the promotions they've already seen in their region. After all, the changes we're introducing are based on promotions we've run with several partners already in order to continue to grow our retail business," the Microsoft spokesperson added.

Microsoft Has Been Testing Vista Promotions in 2007
According to the company, price changes will not be limited to the new editions of Vista SP1 that will come out on the market, but also to the existent Vista RTM editions. Microsoft has given clues of what pricing cuts it plans to implement over the past year through promotions run in collaboration with its partners. Fore developed markets the price drop will be reflected by the Ultimate and Home Premium SKUs of the operating system, where reductions will be in place. Emerging markets will also see changes in the way Home Basic and Home Premium upgrade and full retail packages are being marketed.

"A number of our retail partners already have promotions in place that are the equivalent of the price changes we're talking about - that's part of what provided the feedback that some customers are interested in stand-alone versions of Windows at lower price points. For example, in the UK, retailers have been running promotions on a variety of upgrade versions of Windows Vista that informed the changes we're announcing today," the Microsoft spokesperson noted. "Also, as we mentioned, we know several of our retail partners are already offering special promotions even before SP1 is released at retail in different markets. These changes just extend that practice more broadly, though the specific price adjustments vary depending on the market."

The beginning of 2008 represents for Microsoft not only the launch of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 but also the continual survival of Windows XP through XP SP3. The third and final service pack for XP is officially planned to drop by the first half of 2008, but it could be released earlier based on customer impact. Right now, Microsoft has made available XP SP3 RC2 to the general public. At the same time, the Redmond company has to deal with an early halo of Windows 7 that has is getting an increased contour on the back of the details leaked with the Milestone 1 release of the next Windows iteration. The price drop associated with Vista retail standalone editions got the focus back on the latest Windows client just ahead of the general availability of SP1 in mid-March, but it will be interesting to see how Microsoft will deal with the remaining items of the equation, namely XP SP3 and Windows 7. The company denied preparing additional price cuts for the Vista copies sold through the OEM and Volume License channels.

source: news.softpedia.com

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