Even though Microsoft seems increasingly reticent to say the “V” word (Vista), some users still do care. I’ve had several readers ask me when the Redmondians are going to release Vista SP2 on the Microsoft Download site.
The answer, from Microsoft, is no answer (beyond the already-stated “some time in the second calendar quarter of this year”).
Gartner analysts Michael Silver and Stephen Kleynhans have released an advisory recommending that businesses skip Vista in favor of Windows 7. Windows 7 is currently on schedule and is expected to hit the market as a finished product just before this year's holiday season. Their recommendation includes organizations that have already finished planning for a deployment of Windows Vista--as long as they have not yet started deployment.
Microsoft will launch new additions to its Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) programme today, designed to enable all software developers to integrate the SDL more tightly into the development process, and ultimately create a more secure software ecosystem.
A free Visual Studio process template has been made available to download from MSDN, integrating SDL 4.1 into the software development environment for organisations using Visual Studio Team System.
Despite the positive reception of Windows 7 thus far, many businesses still don't plan to deploy Windows 7 anytime soon due to budgetary constraints and compatibility fears. Many IT pros say that they plan to ride out Windows XP as the economy slowly improves.
But early adopters of Windows 7 are out there, eagerly planning to utilize the user interface enhancements and the "under the hood" networking features such as DirectAccess and BranchCache.
Microsoft officials said last week that the company would release a new test build of its Office 2010 suite in July. But it looks like some testers got it at the end of this week and subsequently leaked it to the Web.
Microsoft's advance notifications of patching are putting Mac users at risk. Speaking to Computer World, Swa Frantzen, an analyst at SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, criticised Microsoft for issuing patches that fix the Windows versions of PowerPoint while announcing that patches for the same flaws in the Mac editions would not be released until June.
Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new software development kit (SDK) for testers interested in building apps in PHP for the Azure cloud.
Microsoft made the announcement at TechEd India this week — a show running simultaneously with TechEd 2009 in Los Angeles. Microsoft collaborated on the PHP SDK with RealDolmen. Microsoft provided the funding for the development of the SDK (like it is doing with a Java SDK for Azure being developed by Schakra).
A security researcher has called foul on Microsoft for doing exactly what it has thrashed hackers over for years: revealing information that can be used to hijack computers before a patch is available.
Swa Frantzen, one of the analysts at SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center (ISC) criticized Microsoft for issuing patches yesterday that fix the Windows versions of PowerPoint while announcing that patches for the same flaws in the Mac editions would not be released until June.
I hate anti-virus. There, I said it. And it felt good. For many years, I chose not to use AV on my personal systems, choosing vigilance about my downloads, e-mail attachments and application and OS updates over relying on a third-party solution to keep me free from infection.
However, once drive-by-downloads and hijacked Websites became more prevalent, I lost faith in my ability to avoid such covert trouble. I caved in and installed AV on most of my systems, and began a journey of frustration and lost productivity.
As expected, Microsoft today patched a six week-old critical vulnerability in PowerPoint, the presentation maker that's part of the popular Office suite. A fix for Mac versions is coming in June.
As expected, Microsoft today patched a six week-old critical vulnerability in PowerPoint, the presentation maker that's part of the popular Office suite, using a single security update. But that one update patched 14 separate vulnerabilities, 11 of which were rated "critical," Microsoft highest threat ranking.
