IEBlog confirmed on May 16, 2005, that the next version of Windows web browser, Internet Explorer 7.0, which is code-named “Rincon“, has tabs.

They also admitted they should have integrated tab browsing feature earlier. :p

Quoted:
Some people have asked why we didn’t put tabs in IE sooner. Initially, we had some concerns around complexity and consistency… will it confuse users more than it benefits them? Is it confusing if IE has tabs, but other core parts of the Windows experience, like Windows Media Player or the shell, don’t have tabs? I think we made the wrong decision here initially, and we’re making the right one now.

Well, who doesn’t make mistake? As long as we learn from it and do the right thing next time. :)

Really looking forward to a better IE to be released end of this year, hopefully.

Microsoft Corp. has already moved its full version of MSN desktop search application out of beta version on May 16, 2005. Microsoft is now emphasizing its ties with the Windows operating system. The old name of MSN desktop search – MSN Search Toolbar – will be renamed to Windows Desktop Search.

Product unit manager for MSN Search, Dane Glasgow, revealed the MSN toolbar will be building tabbed browsing into the Internet Explorer browser.

Quoted:
MSN is announcing plans to release an automatic update to its new toolbar suite within the next few months that adds the ability to open tabs of multiple Web pages inside one browser window and to create routines where multiple sites are opened at once.

Windows Desktop Search appears to be part of Microsoft’s broader desktop search development for Windows, including the next version of Windows, Longhorn release, though company executives have said that MSN’s version of desktop search won’t be directly bundled into Windows.

As for MSN’s new desktop search application, it will be available as a free download in the United States for Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

[Source]

Shin Satellite is set to move iPSTAR, the world’s largest broadband satellite, to the Ariane satellite launch base in French Guiana within the next two weeks following the conclusion of final testing.

After a number of postponements due mainly to technical problems, Shin Satellite passed a final ground test and planned to launch iPSTAR into orbit within the next few months.

[Source]

Yeah, soon we’ll have more options in broadband service !! :)

New York based texting (SMS) service, Dodgeball, has been acquired by search engine giant, Google on May 11th, 2005.

Google confirmed the purchase, but declined to give further details.

[Source]

So, is this a sign we will have SMS service from Google soon ?? :-?

Just a few hours ago written a short article about flaws found in Internet Explorer and Microsost Outlook, now I’ve just read another article regarding vulnerabilities in the Firefox.

According to the article, in the latest incident, a 16-year-old security researcher – who asked only to be identified by his first name, Paul – found three vulnerabilities in the Firefox browser that together could be exploited to run arbitrary code. It seems that now flaw finders are digging up more security holes in Firefox, while vulnerability researchers frequently flogged Microsoft for the number of security holes found in its Internet Explorer browser.

Quoted:
For the last six months of 2004, researchers found more vulnerabilities in Mozilla’s Firefox than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, according to Symantec’s bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report. The report tallied 21 vulnerabilities for Mozilla Firefox versus 13 for Internet Explorer. However, a smaller percentage of the vulnerabilities found in Firefox were considered a severe security threat, said Symantec’s Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager with the company’s security response team.

Anyway, as compared to the number of critical flaws found, Firefox still is having an edge over Internet Explorer. In other words, quantity of flaws found doesn’t necessary reflect the seriousness of the hole in any browser.

Quoted:
“Severe vulnerabilities in general allow for drive-by installs,” he said. “So just by visiting a website, you could have [anything from] spyware to malware to Trojan horses installed on your system.”

Friedrichs stressed that the number of vulnerabilities found by researchers is not necessarily a good indication of product security. He pointed to the Mozilla Firefox’s relatively young age, the browser’s increasing popularity, and commercial software vendors tendency to silently fix vulnerabilities as factors that could affect the vulnerability count.

To reduce flaws, Microsoft changed more than 50 features of Internet Explorer in WinXP SP2. In total, Microsoft changed more than 428 features in Windows XP, including eliminating two classes of vulnerabilities on which the company did not revealed before.

Those changes have made Internet Explorer a tougher target for vulnerability researchers, said one flaw finder.

This makes me wonder, is reducing the features (not 1, but more than 50) in an application a wise move to eliminate flaws?

Anyway, let’s see what’s the progress of fighting secirity flaws between Firefox and Internet Explorer in coming months.

[Source]

Have you ever wonder what is actually inside Windows Xp Service Pack 2, which was released last year to patch all the security flaws found?

Microsoft security chief just revealed that SP2 for Windows XP changed or eliminated more than 400 significant features in the operating system, also eliminating two previously undiscovered classes of security flaws.

Quoted:
Speaking at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Microsoft security strategist Window Snyder [apparently his real name] said the company changed or removed 428 Windows XP features considered security loopholes. 51 of them were in Internet Explorer and 107 were in Windows XP’s networking functions.

Snyder also said in the report that security firm SecurityFocus also discovered two “entire classes of vulnerabilities” that have never been reported outside the company. Snyder said the vulnerability types had been wiped out and declining to provide details.

[Source]