We have been informed that Internet Explorer 8 is right around the corner, and Microsoft has released the beta of the new browser. Internet Explorer 8 is available from Microsoft’s Beta pages, and is compatible with Windows Vista x64 and x86, Windows XP SP2 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The installation appears to overwrite the IE7 install, it can be later removed, and a reboot is required before the installation is complete.
So what novelties does Internet Explorer 8 bring to the table? Microsoft lists a good number of new features, including a new favorites bar, contextual “Activities” menus, “WebSlices” (chunks of content sites can serve to users’ link bars), an improved phishing filter, “domain highlighting”, new developer tools, and functionality to help users transition from other browsers. For instance, IE8 can import Firefox bookmarks and even look for extensions similar to those a user might have installed in Mozilla’s browser.
While it is definitely true that some add-ons get a wider coverage and more downloads than others it is still a fact that each Firefox user had his own share of add-ons that he considers essential. This can be mostly attributed to different motives in using Firefox. A web developers is using a different set of add-ons than someone who loves to surf on video portals or social networks.
There is still some common ground, add-ons that are used by most of the Firefox community, or at least the part that knows that add-ons are available to extent the browser. Most users would call them essential but there will be some who will question the addition of one or the other add-on in the list.
Changing file associations in Windows XP and Windows Vista can be a tedious task. You first have to load the Folder Options in the Tools menu, select the File Types tab afterward, wait for the list to load, scroll down until you find the file type that you want to change, click on the change button to change the file association and browse the computer for the new application. You better take a day off if you want to change the associations of several file types.
Types on the other hand is a lightweight portable Open-Source software that runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista that makes it a tad easier to change file associations in both operating systems. It comes with a window that can actually be changed in size which means that it is possible to display virtually all file extensions on
the screen at the same time.
It took me a little while to adapt, but I soon grew to find the Vista start menu far more useful and productive then XP’s ever was. Granted I’ve read the comments of a lot of people who disagree, but I personally think the integrated search has again made the Windows start menu my main point of access to all my programs.
Previously I had used a whole combination of toolbars and application launchers so it was a welcome change to remove some of this clutter.
One of the notable alternatives to pop up was the Vista Start Menu, a replacement for both the XP and Vista menus. Developer Dennis Nazarenko created it becuase he says:
“I have always found the Start Menu in Windows to be inconvenient to use. In the new Windows Vista it’s been made more attractive but more inconvenient than even before!”
His replacement is definitely a more useful option for XP but I would never recommend using it in Vista, it would be somewhat of a step backwards. Continue reading The Windows Start Menu→
Torrentfreak are reporting that two vulnerabilities have been discovered in VLC Player which allow execution of arbitrary code. The second vulnerability has already been fixed in the newest version of VLC which is available for download on the developers homepage. The first vulnerability however can be exploited to cause stack-based buffer overflows when loading subtitles in VLC.
The solution given by the security company that discovered the vulnerability is to load only subtitles from trusted source or no subtitles at all until an official fix has been posted by the developers ov VLC.
Another option would be to switch to another player for the time being. SMPlayer , my favorite player, is another good choice which does not have this vulnerability.
Yesterday, on June 30 2008, Microsoft officially ceased sales of Windows XP to all major retailers and PC manufactures like Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.
Sadly even the great Save XP movement couldn’t bring about any change in Microsoft’s decision to prolong
Windows XP lifetime so the question now is whether if Windows XP is really going to disappear after June 30?
