Microsoft has recently updated a test release of its new Internet Explorer 9 browser with a seventh platform preview, this time showing off developer related enhancements in features like Java Script. Microsoft say that the new release which is available to download from the Internet Explorer Test Drive site, is geared up to provide ‘real-world’ performance improvements to sites across the web. Ke features include a new user interface and support from HTML5 and CSS3
These real world improvements were revealed by Dean Hachamovitch, corporate Vice President for Internet Explorer, to be developments in Microsoft’s Java Script engine, Chakra. He stated that engineers have been tuning Chakra to corroborate more with the patterns found in real-world sites, observing attentively the way web sites actually use JavaScript in response to input from users, relocate objects and manipulate strings. What we might be asking though, is why weren’t these improvements, which sound more like commonsense than innovation, implemented much earlier.
Although Microsoft have again declined to announce even an approximate date of release for the new browser it is reported that there have been over 13 million downloads of IE 9 beta since it was released in mid-September.
What also transpired within the last few days was that Microsoft has already added stability fixes to the download. One update provides stability fixes and the second is said to address issues with the user feedback tool of Windows-Live-Essentials 11 on 64-bit machines.
Consumers have expressed particular appreciation for the new user interface in what have so far been largely developer based previews of the platform. Users with automatic updates can sit back and wait for the updates to be automatically installed. As for the short term future IE9, watch this space, insiders have stated that a launch could be set to coincide with the International Consumer Electronics Show in early January next year.
Now users of Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, who number well over 350 million are capable of enhancing the security of their entire Hotmail session with HTTPS data encryption, via SSL, a feature which is already used to help bolster the Hotmail sign-in process. This update coincides with a series of recent security based improvements to the Hotmail service, which included the purging of hijackers from legitimate accounts that had been compromised and legal action against domains frequented by hijackers. It is hoped that the increased IT support will not only help to prevent hijackers gaining access to Hotmail login details, but ensure that in such a case a more secure recovery path will be available for you to regain control of your account.
Also included in the initiative are Windows Live SkyDrive, Photos, Docs, and Devices pages which will all automatically be equipped to transfer their data via HTTPS. Microsoft is hopeful that this overhaul will give users more confidence that their accounts will be secure as popularity in rival email services, particularly Google’s Gmail continues to grow.
To activate HTTPS security for your Hotmail account go to your account live login and search for Manage SSL. Once this feature is enabled all of the connections you make in future will be delivered by SSL. The upgrade does not cover all connections though, including Outlook Hotmail Connector, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live app for Windows Mobile.
Once the changes have been in use for a reasonable period and proven stable Windows may decide to make HTTPS encryption a default setting for Hotmail Live accounts. The update has not been without its bugs though, with some customers complaining that they are having trouble accessing their mailbox
It was revealed recently, to no real surprise, that the popularity of Apple’s iPad tablet PC has sky rocketed since it’s launch in April of this year to take a 95 percent stranglehold over the tablet PC market.
Overall the market interest in tablet PCs seems to be undeniably on the increase, recent reports suggesting that shipments of tablet related products rose by 26 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.
The main reason for the iPad’s dominance has to really come down to a lack of viable competition; like the company’s release of the iPod in late 2001, which today sees other industries bending over backwards to utilise the AAC audio format used by the devices, very few other products have become available to consumers as a rival to Apple’s multimedia tool.
Recently, Dutch company Ambiance technology launched their own 3G tablet, a move that hailed a congratulatory phone call from Microsoft bosses because the product, dubbed the AT Tablet, is the first 3G tablet PC to support Windows 7 Home premium software. With specifications that include 3G mobile broadband connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ports for USB, card reader, mini-VGA and LAN, an impressive 160 GB hard drive and, unlike the iPad a camera, albeit only 1.3 mega pixels. The Dutch outfit believes that allowing customers to enjoy the same Windows software they use on their home computers with the freedom of the portable tablet should appeal more than having to get to grips Android based alternatives. Samsung’s own Galaxy tab , released recently with the Android 2.2 operating system has been widely received with average to good reviews.
Whether or not the AT or the Galaxy tab can topple Apple’s newest flagship product remains to be seen. More of a reason for the iPad to be looking over its shoulder is not however specific rivals in the market place but the sheer volume of Android based products that are to be unveiled in the near future. Although according to research currently Android systems share a lowly 2 percent of the tablet PC market, with new releases planned by the likes of Hewlett-Packard, ViewSonic and Research in Motion the selling ground for these portable devices could become considerably more competitive. With the overall sale of tablet PCs predicted to rise to over 54 million in 2011 and Christmas just around the corner it will be down to consumers themselves to speak with their hard earned cash, whether or not the iPad’s market dominance can be challenged.
While Google Chrome is far from the most widely used browser, it is steadily gaining market share. Many people who use it are Google enthusiasts or are simply after a smoother, faster browsing experience which Chrome purports to offer. These are the same people who are happy to learn new tips and tricks, so I hope that you’ll find something useful here today. If you’ve never used Chrome before, perhaps these will provide you with an incentive to download it and give it a play today.
Let us know in the comments if any of these tips help you use Google Chrome! Stop by next week for browser tips on Internet Explorer.
If you use the same browser every day, you tend to get stuck in certain patterns. Just like any other aspect of your life, you’ll find you often do things the same way without really thinking about whether you could do them better. You’ll often find, however, that there are a few time saving and efficient tips that could help you tighten up your use of various browsers. Today we’re focusing on Firefox and a few relatively little known features that can make it easier for you to use the popular browser.
We hope these tips will help you use Firefox more effectively; stay tuned for the following weeks when we can cover Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Even if you think you know what’s wrong with your PC, it’s important to take steps to ensure that you don’t harm yourself or the computer through your efforts. This guide will not include instructions on what to repair or how to repair it, simply a few tips to keep you from causing more harm than you’d like when you’d prefer to repair your own computer rather than calling an IT support company.
Whenever you repair your PC yourself (a fantastic idea), keep these safety tips in mind so that both you and your PC can keep running for a long time to come.
It’s difficult to find a laptop with a battery that lasts more than a few hours. In most cases, it’s difficult to find a laptop with a battery that can get through just one hour, especially after the laptop and battery have aged over the course of a year or two. This makes laptops increasingly pointless; if it needs to be plugged into the wall all the time, you might as well just invest in a desktop instead.
While you can’t realistically extend your laptop’s battery life into the stratosphere, you certainly can make it last just that much longer, and in many cases that little bit of time is enough to finish whatever project you happen to be working on at the time. Here are a few of my favourite top tips to extend your battery’s life wherever you are.
Buy a spare battery. While this doesn’t count as extending your battery life, if you really need your laptop to last more than an hour or two it’s well worth investing in an extra battery to carry along with you. You’ll probably find that your new battery lasts longer than your old one and as such can really help you to make the maximum use of your laptop while out and about.Most importantly, keep a realistic view of what you’re doing and how you’re draining your battery. If you’re simply browsing the web, checking your email, or using word processing software, you should expect reasonable battery life. If you’re watching a DVD or playing a game, though, your battery will drain very quickly (which is only logical). If you manage your expectations of your battery’s life realistically, you should be able to determine how long your battery should last and what you should then do about it.
If you’re a computer novice, it can be difficult to train yourself or call upon your IT support to train you to use another program to edit and customise your images, and it’s very likely that you’ve wished for one place where you can prepare all aspects of a document, spreadsheet, or presentation. Microsoft Office has never really provided that functionality beyond the basics – and sometimes not even those. In Office 2010, however, Microsoft have changed their game and added in some image editing choices and effects to help users make professional and customised images without heading to another program first. This post will focus solely on the addition of effects to Office documents.
For minor tweaks, Office now offers the ability to sharpen or blur images. Their new layout is incredibly convenient if you’re pressed for time or not really that fussed with perfection. When you choose the option to edit your photo from the pop-up toolbar, only accessible once you’ve actually imported the image, you’re presented with a range of thumbnails with your image sharpened or blurred to varying degrees. You can preview these to find the right one or choose to go in a little bit deeper and adjust a variety of sliders yourself to achieve precisely the correct level of effect.
Office also newly includes a variety of artistic and picture effects. You can apply surprisingly good looking sketch effects to your photos, for example, with a simple click of the mouse. Again, Office will pop up a range of choices, allowing you to choose which thumbnail suits you best, or allows you to fine tune the details yourself either from the original picture or the slightly edited version. You can also look at all the effects at once, deciding at a glance which best fits your document.
You’re even able to correct picture colouring or just play with the saturation and tone. If you’ve taken a picture of a particular shade of flower, you can use the recolouring tool to change it to another one. You can then go even further by using the background removal tool to get rid of the now improperly coloured background and import your new image back onto your old one – changing the colour of the flowers without disturbing any grass or sky that might surround it.
Office’s new photo editing features clearly enhance their bid to get everyone using Office – and Office only. These in no way surpass the capabilities of Adobe’s Photoshop, which has a price tag to match what it can do, but if these abilities prove popular, Microsoft could easily drive out lower cost software with less functionality. After all, most people have Microsoft Office somewhere, whether it be at work or home or both, and these features make it much easier to perform tasks frequently done elsewhere in the past.
Have you used Office 2010’s photo editing features? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.
Despite the fact that it feels like Windows 7 came out only yesterday, details about Microsoft’s plans for Windows 8 were recently leaked. The details not only seem legitimate with Microsoft branding across the images but are set to logically progress the operating system in a natural and relevant direction.
Microsoft seem to have taken a page out of Apple’s book, with a slide devoted to precisely what appeals to consumers about them. Apple’s products look good, work well, and encourage brand loyalty through those two factors. They’ve also included an Apple-esque design for a new PC, with all the hardware behind the screen.
They also have a few plans for the new features included. One of the most exciting is the ability to recognise users based on their appearance; Microsoft assumes that most Windows 8 users will have webcams by 2012, otherwise they would not be able to access the functionality. When you’re at your computer, it will automatically recognise your presence and log you in. Their goal is to make it easier to switch between user accounts; the accounts may also carry the ability to be attached to the cloud and seamlessly transfer information from the PC to the internet. You’ll also have the ability to carry your user account with you as you go, so you’ll be able to save your settings and take them with you to public or friends’ computers.
The company also plans to focus on security and speed, goals that Microsoft has been aiming towards for a number of years. They’re aiming to keep the speedy start up and shut down that Windows 7 boasts and make it even faster if possible. They’re going to assume every computer is connected to the internet and thus provide a robust combined solution of online services and software to protect users and give them access to all the programs they might need in a variety of different ways. This provides the potential for a Windows app store, which also seems to be part of their plans.
Microsoft similarly has specific goals to target both computing enthusiasts and ordinary users; at the moment it seems that evangelists (their term) target alternating operating systems, like Linux or Mac, to recommend to all of their friends. They’d like to catapult Windows 8 into that sphere of must-have programs.
We think that Microsoft will have some trouble with this goal; too many users have very good long term memory, and Windows is moreover the default, less-than-cool choice simply because of its market dominance. Regardless, their improvements look reasonably cool, and we can hardly doubt that we’ll still be using Windows 8 when it comes out, as will most London IT support.
What do you think about the proposed improvements to Microsoft Windows?
When you start up your brand new computer, you’ll have a choice of browsers warring for your use when you browse the internet. If you’ve gone with Windows 7, you’ll automatically have Internet Explorer 8 installed and it will be your default temporarily. If you have a Mac, you’ll have Safari pre-installed. If you’ve gone with Linux, you’ll have to choose and download your browser before you can start using the internet. Unfortunately, if you’re at work, you may not have a choice; your IT support might have determined the browser safest for use or the one which has programs written for it. For those of us with a choice, however, we’ll talk about the biggest four: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.
Internet Explorer is most frequently regarded as a bloated dinosaur that few people who have any knowledge about computers would use. It has widely publicised security holes, loads far slower than any other browser, and seems to always be the last to offer the latest feature. Its worst instalment, IE 6, well known for bugs and hacks, is finally fading from mainstream use. IE8 offers a bevy of new features, including enhanced security, but it still lags behind other browsers on extendable functionality, speed, and site appearance. Many websites that work just fine in Firefox or Chrome will break in IE8 for no particular reason. At present, we don’t recommend that you stick with this browser, unless you don’t mind missing out on functionality or speed.
Firefox has been the most popular browser with geeks and the well-informed internet users for years now. They were the first to offer tabbed browsing, which compared to IE6 was absolutely revolutionary; you could for the first time see everything you had open easily and quickly. This is standard now, but Firefox still represents advanced features for many users. The vast number of extensions available for the browser mean that it’s suitable for almost any task, whether you just want your music player in your browser or if you need to tweak source code to see how a website would look if you took away a margin. Many have begun to complain that Firefox has slowed down and it has lately been hit by a few bugs, but by and large it’s a solid choice for functionality and design.
Chrome, Google’s first outing into the browser wars, is the up and coming choice for tech geeks and developers. Chrome has been proven to be the fastest of all the choices and also natively has crash protection; if one tab crashes, the rest of the open tabs remain as they were. Since it’s fairly new, some websites don’t yet work properly, but on the whole sites are less likely to break than they are in IE8. Chrome also offers a Google search from the address bar and a smaller but growing library of extensions and themes for developers and ordinary people alike.
Safari is Apple’s standard browser on Macs. Most people who own Macs do tend to choose Firefox instead because it typically functions much better and, as previously mentioned, has a huge library of extensions and themes for easy customisation. Apple has done their part to change this perception with their latest offering, Safari 5. Safari now has extensions, the highest level of compliance with websites (which means they’re unlikely to break or lose functionality) and increased security. Safari currently has the smallest marketshare of all browsers listed, so if you don’t choose this browser, you’re not alone.
Which browser are you using?