Web Browsers

IE market shares slip under 70 percent; Windows drops below 90 percent

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:03:21 -0500

Internet Explorer's market shares dipped below 70 percent for the first time in the wake of the launch of Google's Chrome web browser, and slightly better showings for Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox web browsers. Internet Explorer 8, which is still in development, isn't expected to turn the tide. This is due to its higher penetration in corporations, which is always slower to change.

At the same time, the market share of Microsoft's Windows operating system plummeted to just below 90 percent of the market. This is a figure not seen since Windows 3.11 (a 15-year low, according to TG Daily). This is in sharp contrast to the peak of 97.5 percent from 2002 to 2003.

The figure comes from a company called Net Applications Inc., which monitors a number of websites for systems powered by Windows. Of course, Net Applications' executive vice president of marketing, Vince Vizzaccarro, noted that the slip in November could be attributed to the higher than average number of non-work days, which could skew the figures toward Macs at home as opposed to the Windows PCs in the office.

More troublesome for the Redmond-based company perhaps, is the fact that the slow gains by Windows Vista do not appear sufficient to regain ground lost by Windows XP, as well as older versions of Windows operating systems. Perhaps this helps to explain Microsoft's apparent effort to accelerate the launch of Windows 7, as well as allowing the venerable Windows XP to be prolonged for Netbook makers.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at TG Daily
- check out this article at ComputerWorld
- check out this article at CNNMoney

Opera preps Opera Mobile 9.5

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

If you follow the world of mobile web browsers, you'll want to take note of the fact that Opera is preparing to release the latest version of its mobile browser software. Opera Mobile 9.5 comes packed with a host of new features, including an all new rendering engine (allegedly making the browser 2.5 times faster than IE while improving support for AJAX/JavaScript-based dynamic web content), full Flash support, browser history text search and more. Opera is expected to demo the new browser at GSMA in Barcelona next week, with public betas expected for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Linux shortly afterward.

For more on the latest version:
- see this Engadget post

Hackers may target your printer

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Spam has a new target, and it's your printer. By using a little-known capability found in most Web browsers, Aaron Weaver, a security manager from Pennsylvania, figured out how to hack into a printer. In a research paper published Tuesday on the Ha.ckers.org Web site, Weaver described how he launched the attack successfully with both the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. And he has found a way out, too. Because the attack works only on network printers, a printer plugged directly into a PC would not be vulnerable.

The attack is possible because most browsers can connect to the networking port used by most printers to look for new print jobs. So, by using the browser as a stepping stone, attackers are able to connect with something they should never be able to reach: a printer on the local area network. While this type of hack attack hasn't gotten any attention and there are no reports that it's infecting computer sites, Weaver's research uses cross-site scripting attacks and vulnerabilities in the way browsers handle the Internet Protocol.

"There is no precedent for [this hack]," said Robert Hansen, CEO of Web security consultancy SecTheory and owner of the Ha.ckers.org Web site. "But...what he did was marry two different concepts that we've been talking about for a long time." This could be the first step in another bad scenario because if hackers figure out how to send information about their print jobs to the Internet, Weaver's experiment could have far greater security implications. So maybe it's a good idea to turn your printers off for the night or when you are out of the office--because one never knows what might happen if they remain on.

For information on hacking printers:
- Check out this ComputerWorld article

Opera Mini 4 released

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

Some phones--like the iPhone or Nokia's high-end Symbian S60-based devices--are blessed with a real web browser right out of the box. Unfortunately, some other phones (namely those whose operating system rhymes with "win doze moe bill") aren't so lucky. Fear not my friend--just because your phone didn't ship with a desktop-class web browser doesn't mean that you're doomed to surf the miniature Internet. Behold: Opera Mini 4, the latest iteration of the much-loved mobile browser. As with previous versions, Opera Mini 4 is a free over-the-air download available from www.operamini.com. Unlike previous versions of Opera Mini, however, this year's model boasts support for Opera Link (a service that allows you to sync preferences between mobile and desktop browsers), custom search (just like on the desktop version of Opera), faster page renders, native BlackBerry menus, a virtual mouse cursor and a landscape mode. Phew, that's a lot of features. Opera Mini 4 is available now for pretty much all Java-enabled phones with the exception of non-BlackBerry Verizon handsets.

For more on Opera Mini 4:
- see this press release

Skype launching branded phone

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Prada has a phone, Giorgio Armani has a phone...why not Skype? Okay well, maybe that wasn't quite the rationale behind the move but Skype has revealed that it's planning to release a Skype-branded phone. The phone will apparently be released on the 3 network in the U.K., Italy, Hong Kong and Australia, with more territories to come. Of course, this thing will support Skype calls over WiFi as well as Skype buddy lists. Other rumored features are 3G support and a built-in web browser, though both of those seem pretty standard in this day and age. No word yet on pricing, though rumor has it that we could be seeing these devices by the end of the month.

For more on the coming Skype phone:
- see this TechCrunch article

Adobe demos web-based Photoshop

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 06:59:53 -0400

Back in March, we reported that Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen hoped to launch a free, web-based version of Photoshop within six months. It seemed like a pretty audacious claim at the time but it now looks like the company just might pull it off. At this week's Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas, John Loiacono, senior vice president of Adobe's Creative Solutions Business Unit, gave visitors a brief demonstration of Photoshop Express, which will be aimed at the low-end consumer market. "It's a new member of the Photoshop family that's meant to make Adobe imaging technology immediately accessible... to large numbers of people," Photoshop product manager John Nack wrote in a blog post yesterday. Photoshop Express is a flash application that runs directly in a web-browser; Adobe hasn't yet commented on the product's release date, other than to stress that the app is "still in development".

For more on Photoshop Express:
- see this CNET article

Mossberg gives thumbs down to Dell Vostro line

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Remember Dell's Vostro line of desktops and laptops tailor-made for the SMB market? Perhaps you've found yourself wondering how the machines stack up when compared to offerings from other vendors, or even when compared to the rest of Dell's lineup. The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg apparently found himself wondering the same thing and decided to take the Vostro 1500 laptop for a test drive. His thoughts? The machine apparently offers "nothing special, nothing particularly tailored for small business at all," with the lappie itself being characterized as "a Plain Jane, rather bulky and heavy laptop". What's more, Dell shipped the 1500 with no security software and the bug-ridden IE6 ("about the least secure web browser you can buy"), for no explicable reason. So, is there anything good about these machines? Mossberg plainly states that Dell's SMB support network is "just about the only small business innovation" to be found here, though he admits that "only time will tell" whether or not the support is up to snuff for SMBs.

Tell us how you really feel, Walt:
- check out this scathing video review

Schedule tasks in OS X without the aid of Unix

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:01:32 -0400

Sure, we showed you how to automate a backup process using SSH yesterday. But maybe all that command line mumbo-jumbo scared you off. Well, good news...if you're a Mac user. CronniX is a little piece of freeware that sticks a nice, friendly GUI on top of all that Unix stuff, so that you can schedule any task--from backups to a web browser sporting your favorite site--without breaking a sweat.

Vista: the last Windows on the desktop? Not likely.

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:01:34 -0500

Gartner, those wily analysts who seem to always court controversy and bait Microsoft, are at it again. Their latest prediction? Vista will be the last major update to the Windows operating system as we know it. If Gartner's report is to be believed, future versions of Windows will consist of modules, stitched together using the magic of hardware-supported virtualization. "Once Windows includes virtualization at its core, we expect OS development to change direction from integration to modularization." According to Gartner, such a modular architecture would make the migration and installation process less complicated for IT departments and would speed up the development of patches and updates from Microsoft. ZDnet's Tom Foremski agreed with Gartner's predictions, though his comments struck a markedly different tone: "It will be the last because Vista runs a web browser, which overlays Vista--paper covers rock."

Might the next version of Windows be not only modular but delivered via the web? I say no. Historically, Microsoft has proven anything but quick to adapt its business model to new technologies and the web is a prime example of that. And even if Microsoft was somehow ahead of the pack this time, we're still years away from using a web browser as our primary interface--especially considering the state of broadband internet penetration in the U.S. While Web 2.0 is an exciting concept and certainly offers a lot of promise, it's going to take time for the average user, not to mention the enterprise, to make the transition to a web-oriented environment.

Now here's what may happen: There have been some rumblings that Microsoft may follow up Vista with a massive overhaul--by dumping the majority of Windows' bloated code and essentially starting from scratch. It would certainly be a wise move, as the huge amounts of legacy code that exist in modern versions of Windows are likely the cause of numerous security and stability woes and also increased development time. What would happen if Microsoft went back to the drawing board with Windows? Think about what happened when Apple made the transition from OS 9 to OS X. Sure, those first few months when you couldn't even get OS X to support your optical drive were rough but after a few years of finesse, Mac users ended up with what is, for my money, the most elegant, stable and fun operating system on the market. Everyone is expecting new Windows head Steven Sinofsky to shake things up at the Windows team and if he's wise, he'll give Windows the massive overhaul that it sorely needs. Is a modularized version of Windows the answer? It could be, especially considering that today's dual and quad-core chips are optimized for virtualization applications.

In conclusion, the next version of Windows may not be called "Windows". It may not look like Windows. And it may not run like Windows. It might even consist of a number of small, independent applications running in parallel, as Gartner has predicted. But whatever it is, I'm willing to bet that it will still be a desktop operating system.

For more on the future of Windows:
- this article from Techworld
- this article at Neowin.net
- and Tom Foremski's ZDnet blog

Proof of concept adware app targets OS X

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:01:40 -0500

While it's true that the Mac remains, for all intents and purposes, a platform that is seldom the target of security exploits, a number of security companies seem intent on tarnishing OS X's "bug free" reputation--if only to prove that Macs aren't somehow invincible. The latest to join the fray is Finnish security vendor F-Secure, whose iAdware has been called "the first example of adware for Macs." Interestingly enough, the program doesn't even require admin-level privileges to install itself on a user's hard drive as a System Library. "In theory, this program could be silently installed to your user account and hooked to each application you use," says the F-Secure blog. "This particular sample successfully launched the Mac's Web browser when we used any of a number of applications."

For more on the proof-of-concept exploit:
- see this ZDnet article