Windows 8 será um fracasso nos PCs e tablets, prevê IDC

Para consultoria, novo sistema da Microsoft não traz nenhuma novidade nos desktops e chega muito tarde ao mercado de tablets; Forrester concorda.

 http://cio.uol.com.br/tecnologia/2011/12/07/windows-8-sera-um-fracasso-nos-pcs-e-tablets-preve-idc/

Falha no Skype revela localização e os downloads dos usuários

Segundo pesquisadores, vulnerabilidade é grave e pode ser explorada para, por exemplo, monitorar autoridades e políticos. Microsoft já trabalha na correção.

  http://cio.uol.com.br/noticias/2011/12/05/falha-no-skype-revela-localizacao-e-os-downloads-dos-usuarios/

UEFI and Windows 8: is this bad news for GNU/Linux?

URL: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/uefi_and_windows_8_bad_news_gnu_linux

There are times when I think that there is a special, darkened room at Microsoft peopled by a bunch of guys who seem to have nothing better to do than sit and think up some new wheeze to nobble the opposition. The rap sheet is an inditment in itself: trusted computing, internet driving licenses, DRM, bullying hardware vendors and attempting to strong arm sovereign nation states. You wouldn't think the list could get any bigger. It just has; but then, recidivism in incurable. It may not, as has often proved in the past, come to anything but if it does it would be a problematical for GNU/Linux. The irony is that it may not actually be intentional, but then, the universe is littered with the victims of the law of unintended consequences. So, what's the Hydra's latest head? UEFI. That's what.

Whenever you need to amend the boot order of your computer, say, to configure a newly installed hard drive or to ensure that the CD drive boots your live Ubuntu disk first then you'll be on familiar ground. That of course is the ubiquitous BIOS where you can tweak to your heart's content. If you're adventurous you can risk a flash upgrade. The worst you can say about the BIOS is that, compared to the point-and-click eye candy of today's all singing, all dancing bloated desktops, it looks like it's stuck in a time warp-but at least it does just what it says on the tin.

UEFI: what it is and why Microsoft like it

When you first get your first glimpse of UEFI (United Extensible Firmware Interface. It started life an an Intel specification called just EFI) it looks like somebody dragged the BIOS into the 21st century. Tom's Hardware site has some nice screenshots to give you a flavour. It's point and click pretty and it is claimed that compared to the traditional BIOS it it virtually an instant on boot up. It was also designed to boot large disks (greater than two terabytes), be CPU-architecture independent and modular. So far , so reasonable. However, it still does not solve the problem of the traditional BIOS requiring two drivers-one for the operating system and one for the firmware.

you sense the proprietary wolves beginning to circle and the leader of the opportunistic pack is no other than our old friend Microsoft

It gets interesting however, when you see sense the proprietary wolves beginning to circle and-surprise, surprise-the leader of the opportunistic pack is no other than our old friend Microsoft (a member of the UEFI forum along with Apple). Even if they don't actually innovate a new, restrictive technology they never miss an to opportunity to jump on a bandwagon of one that does. Enter UEFI. So, exactly why would the behemoth of Redmond be so enthusiastic about it? Because mooted changes to the UEFI firmware specification contain the implicit possibility that GNU/Linux would effectively be an "unauthorized" operating system and incapable of booting because those changes would require a digitally signed image derived from a key chain rooted in keys built into a computer and Microsoft would love dearly to make this mandatory. The user could not overide this. Those digitally-signed keys would only be available from Microsoft and the OEMs and GNU/Linux won't boot without them. That would require a signed copy of the keys and while OEMs might play nicely, Microsoft would be sure to decline (whilst also pressuring the OEMs to with hold signed keys to open source operating systems).

This "secure booting" aspect of UEFI presents a potential threat to the open source community and it's inconceivable that Microsoft is unaware of this--despite their own gloss on the matter. You might just be thinking that this is a rerun of the Trusted Computing saga earlier last decade but at least you could run GNU/Linux in that environment.

Cartels aren't popular. Or legal

Much as it galls me to say it, for once Microsoft's motives may not be intentionally sinister. Essentially, the technology is designed to protect against rootkits, malware and other low-level attacks by preventing executables and drivers from being loaded unless they carry a cryptographic signature courtesy of a dedicated UEFI signing key. This would not constitute a specific attack on GNU/Linux as such. After all, secure booting won't allow even Windows users to load Windows 7 either. So, anyone who doesn't want/like Windows 8 won't have the option, unlike predecessors, to revert to an earlier release as people did with Vista and XP. See the electronic landfill sites fill up. (It would be interesting to know if using WUBI or EasyBCD to get the Windows bootloader to dual boot GNU/Linux distros would work with Windows 8. Askubuntu thinks so).

On that reading, Microsoft is spitting in the eye of their own customer base and it occurs to me that Microsoft's secure boot would also prevent Windows users from using recovery and diagnostic software too (though frankly, I can't muster much sympathy for people who pay for the privilege of being persistently shafted. They're being digitally bitch slapped.) Even people who do not use GNU/Linux (or even proselytize for it) will have spotted straight away that European anti-trust laws forbids abuse of market dominance in one area to obtain it elsewhere. Already Linux Australia is considering petitioning the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the basis that it is anti-competitive. OEMs will be in the picture too if they lock down secure booting (even if under duress from Microsoft). Cartels aren't popular. Or legal. It has even be mooted, that "hacking" the UEFI may even breach the DMCA.

Now, the eagle eyed amongst you might say: hang on a minute, why single out Microsoft? They're not the only culprits. True. Google's Chromebooks come with verified boot to prevent malware at boot up but at least Google allow the user the option to disable it by entering developer mode. Another case of trusted boot is the One Laptop per Child XO laptop which will only boot from software signed by a private cryptographic key known only to the OLPC non-profit organization. However, the laptop and the OLPC organization provide a way to disable the restrictions, by requesting a "developer key" unique to that laptop over the Internet, waiting 24 hours to receive it, installing it, and running the firmware command "disable-security". The idea is to deter theft of laptops from children or via distribution channels, by making the laptops refuse to boot, making it hard to reprogram them so they will boot and delaying the release of developer keys to allow time to check whether a laptop requesting keys has been stolen.

To balance up things a bit, it has be argued that this is all an hysterical over reaction; a piece of FUD from the FOSS community. Ed Bott thinks so. He argues that Microsoft has no need to trifle with OSes like GNU/Linux that occupy less than five percent of the market, that it will always be niche and that the inability to boot it under UEFI will generate a deluge of irate calls to hardware vendor's support helplines and thus seriously erode razor-thin profit margins on each PC they sell. I actually think that's a very fair point but it fails to address that fact that if Microsoft insist that vendors will not be able to ship Windows 8 without their logo unless they enable secure boot and lock it down then profit margins really would nosedive. They would evaporate.

Bott's article was interesting and challenging. It was just a pity that he chose to quote part of Microsoft's response, a response which included a line which fairly brightened up a wet, dreary autumn day:"At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. Microsoft's philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves". Priceless. For everything else there's GNU/Linux. The title of Bott's article (Why do Linux fanatics want to make Windows 8 less secure?) rather misses the point. GNU/Linux users (fanatics or otherwise) don't want to make Windows less secure. By and large, they don't want to use it at all. Not using it makes them more secure.

GNU/Linux and UEFI: problems and possible solutions

The first thing that needs to be said is that Ubuntu and Fedora, for example, support both UEFI and BIOS firmwares and have done so for some time. Both Canonical and Red Hat are also members of the UEFI Forum so it is inconceivable that they are not fully aware of the implications of Microsoft's thrust but only Red Hat and Canonical sent representatives to the most recent bi-annual plugfest (held at Redmond). An open source input is critical to ensure that Microsoft or Apple don't exert vendor hardware or proprietary software lock in. That said, Microsoft has the kind of financial clout that can reduce a forum to a mere talking shop, a point made by Red Hat's power management and mobile Linux developer, Matthew Garrett. GNU/Linux vendors simply can't match it and therefore influence whether or not hardware vendors release their UEFIs with secure boot locked or disabled. That's the tactics and strategy side of things. What about the technical end of things?

The nub of the problem is that secure booting with Windows 8 effectively means having to run signed code and that's where the open source nature of FOSS comes in: The problem involves GRUB and GRUB 2 bootloaders. They would need to have a signed key included in the bootloader but that would mean embedding proprietary code in those bootloaders and because they are released under the terms of the GPL such modifications would not be permitted. Has the launch of Kernel 3.0, which incorporates GRUB, changed anything? Well, tinkering with GRUB just isn't on regardless of where it is run from. Even so, the Kernel does include closed binary code (from various vendors) which makes source code unavailable. That includes device drivers and modules. Certain distros, like gNewSense, pride themselves on having exorcised all the binary blobs but secure booting will present problems.

What's really required is the ability to disable 'secure boot' - which could or could not be allowed by the OEMs. You'd need a signed boot loader for Linux and have that key that it is signed with shipped on the system … which is unlikely to happen. Further, Microsoft's new rule for Windows 8 is that any vendor shipping with that logo/device must enable secure boot (but at least, so far, have not insisted that it be locked). I predict that it will only be a matter of time before someone puts up a website listing hardware vendors that offer buyers the option to switch off secure boot (before having their collars felt by the long arm of Redmond).

Ubuntu supports both UEFI and BIOS firmwares

Linux officially support both the UEFI and BIOS firmwares. However Windows supports UEFI only with Vista SP1+ x86_64 and only with GPT partitioning so the open source community is ahead of the game. However, all Dell laptops have bugs in their UEFI firmware preventing them from booting but at least this can be remedied by using the newly released Kernel 3.0 which contains the necessary patches. A problem would arise, potentially, if users wanted to roll their own kernel. Would it automatically include the signed keys? What about booting a GNU/Linux distro running virtually inside a Windows session?

It may also be that the real target is not so much desktops and laptops but smart phones and tablets (at which Windows 8 will be targeted). Given the success of Android on both those platforms it would make sense for Microsoft to try and circumvent anyone attempting to jailbreak those devices to run either their own versions of a GNU/Linux or Android, including dual booting. However, hacking has always been a digital arms race and it is an absolute certainty that whatever locks either Microsoft or hardware vendors invent will be circumvented. That's a given, and whilst it will not deter the seasoned and hardened GNU/Linux users, it will represent yet another obstacle to newcomers adopting it-and all the uber eye candy in the Unity desktop won't get round that initial problem.

The truth of the matter is that this kind of "security through obscurity" just never works

One option to get round all of this is to abandon the GRUB boot loader that uses a GPL license and settle for LiLo (Linux Loader) that uses a BSD license. This enables proprietary code to be incorporated without compromising the terms of the license and although I haven't used LILO since Redhat 9 and early SuSE days, it'still available and under active development. However, although LILO might bypass license issues by using a BSD license rather than the GPL3, it does appear to have significant technical issues with UEFI.

The other option is design a public key for the boot loaders that can be used with the GPL-licensed boot loaders. The computer will be configured to allow these keys but the problem with this approach is that the malware makers will find about this key and the whole idea of secure boot would become non-existent. Don't forget that signed malware is not impossible (for example, the DigiNotar CA compromise. You can envisage a situation where the signed malware gets in, blacklists the official Windows keys and then proceeds to whitelists its own, resulting in a system where you can't remove the virus .. unless you re-jailbreak it. The truth of the matter is that this kind of "security through obscurity" just never works. Sooner or later the code is hacked and they have to build a a better mousetrap.

UEFI is a clear and present danger, intended or otherwise

One final thought: it might not be a bad idea to "stockpile" one very high spec laptop/desktop with a traditional BIOS to temporarily stave off the evil day when you have to bite the UEFI bullet. That should at least future proof matters for quite a few years and if things turn out well the UEFI hurdle will be cleared. I had planned to postpone a purchase of a new laptop until November next year. I might just bring that date forward.

In the meantime I agree with the runes of the blogsphere in the last few weeks. UEFI is a clear and present danger, intended or otherwise. We should be worried but it's not yet quite time to hit the panic alarm and start shouting rape. Not just yet. It all comes down to how the OEMS react so I'm keeping my batteries (and my bank account) fully charged. Just in case.

Category: 

Opinions

Tagging: 

gnu/linux

windows

malware

uefi

bios

booting

Windows 8 Secure Boot Defeated

URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ZVJe5VKjHrQ/windows-8-secure-boot-defeated

jhigh writes "An Austrian security researcher is scheduled to release the first 'bootkit' for Windows 8 at the upcoming MalCon in Mumbai. This exploit loads in the MBR and stays memory resident until Windows loads, resulting in root access to the system. This allegedly defeats the new secure boot features in Windows 8's bootloader."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google: Microsoft is Competing in Mobile by Harassing Customers

URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2011-10-15-004-41-NW-SM-MO

Datamation: Google CEO Larry Page lashes out at Microsoft's legal attacks on Android, as Google revenues continue to grow.

How Microsoft Can Lock Linux Off Windows 8 PCs

URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/FYI1Dd_13d0/How-Microsoft-Can-Lock-Linux-Off-Windows-8-PCs

Julie188 writes "Windows 8 PCs will use the next-generation booting specification known as Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). In fact, Windows 8 logo devices will be required to use the secure boot portion of the new spec. Secure UEFI is intended to thwart rootkit infections by using PKI authentication before allowing executables or drivers to be loaded onto the device. Problem is, unless the device manufacturer gives a key to the device owner, it can also be used to keep the PC's owner from wiping out the current OS and installing another option, such as Linux."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft é processada por sistema que rastreia usuários de smartphones

URL: http://exame.abril.com.br/tecnologia/noticias/microsoft-e-processada-por-sistema-que-rastreia-usuarios-de-smartphones

O sistema operacional Windows 7 avisa a posição dos usuários, mesmo que eles não queiram ser rastreados

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (47951 bytes)

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (47951 bytes)

"New Windows 8" Interface is Nothing But Win7 Skin, Rumor Deflated

URL: http://www.dailytech.com/New+Windows+8+Interface+is+Nothing+But+Win7+Skin+Rumor+Deflated/article22576.htm

Note, the interface is clearly an early build and will likely change

Microsoft ganha patente para "tecnologia espiã" no Skype

URL: http://rss.idgnow.com.br/c/32184/f/499646/s/1647b656/l/0Lct0Bidg0N0Bbr0Ccgi0Ebin0Credirector0Bcgi0Drnd0F0A0Guid0F96e0A2583d636c0Ae52565be0A6248be5370Gsite0Fidgnow0Gorigem0Fidgnow0Cinternet0Gurl0Fhttp0J3A0C0Cidgnow0Buol0N0Bbr0Cinternet0C20A110C0A60C290Cmicrosoft0Eganha0Epatente0Epara0Etecnologia0Eespia0Eno0Eskype0Gtitle0FMicrosoft0J20Aganha0J20Apatente0J20Apara0J20A0J22tecnologia0J20Aespi0JE30J220J20Ano0J20ASkype0Gtype0FRSS/story01.htm

Legal Intercept permitiria à empresa "grampear" conversas de usuários; empresa comprou o serviço de VoIP em maio, por US$ 8,5 bilhões.

Executivos deixam a Skype após a venda para a Microsoft

URL: http://rss.idgnow.com.br/c/32184/f/499646/s/1608e172/l/0Lct0Bidg0N0Bbr0Ccgi0Ebin0Credirector0Bcgi0Drnd0F0A0Guid0Fbcd79f5393346a8d2fa615a6bdd490Aef0Gsite0Fidgnow0Gorigem0Fidgnow0Cinternet0Gurl0Fhttp0J3A0C0Cidgnow0Buol0N0Bbr0Cinternet0C20A110C0A60C20A0Cexecutivos0Edeixam0Ea0Eskype0Eapos0Ea0Evenda0Epara0Ea0Emicrosoft0Gtitle0FExecutivos0J20Adeixam0J20Aa0J20ASkype0J20Aap0JF3s0J20Aa0J20Avenda0J20Apara0J20Aa0J20AMicrosoft0Gtype0FRSS/story01.htm

O porta-voz da empresa não disse se os oito funcionários foram demitidos ou pediram demissão.

Conselho da Microsoft apoia presidente contra investidor

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/921741-conselho-da-microsoft-apoia-presidente-contra-investidor.shtml

O conselho de administração da Microsoft expressou apoio ao presidente-executivo Steve Ballmer, defendendo o veterano líder da companhia depois que o influente administrador de fundos de hedge David Einhorn deu início a um debate ao pedir sua demissão. O administrador de fundos, que ganhou fama ao alertar sobre a saúde financeira do Lehman Brothers antes do colapso do banco de investimentos, acusou Ballmer na quarta-feira de estar preso ao passado, lançando o mais vigoroso ataque já empreendido por um investidor importante contra a liderança da companhia. Os comentários de Einhorn, que ecoam opiniões particulares expressas há anos por alguns investidores, causaram agito em Wall Street e ajudaram as ações da Microsoft a subir 2% na quinta-feira, para US$ 24,67. Leia mais (27/05/2011 - 12h40)

Administrador de fundos pede saída de presidente da Microsoft

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/921347-administrador-de-fundos-pede-saida-de-presidente-da-microsoft.shtml

O influente administrador de fundos de hedge David Einhorn pediu que o presidente-executivo da Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, renuncie ao cargo, afirmando que o líder da maior produtora mundial de software está preso ao passado. "Sua presença continuada representa a maior influência adversa sobre as ações da Microsoft", disse Einhorn sobre Ballmer. Os comentários de Einhorn, um executivo conhecido pela franqueza e que ganhou fama ao alertar quanto à saúde financeira precária do Lehman Brothers antes do colapso do banco de investimento, são os mais negativos que um grande investidor já realizou sobre a liderança da Microsoft. Leia mais (26/05/2011 - 17h50)

Falha no Internet Explorer permite "sequestro de cookies"

URL: http://exame.abril.com.br/tecnologia/noticias/falha-no-internet-explorer-permite-sequestro-de-cookies

Sequestro de dados permite que invasores consigam senhas de acesso ao Facebook, Twitter e outros sites acessados pelo usuário

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (38504 bytes)

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (38504 bytes)

Microsoft Kills Skype For Asterisk

URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/x030OPz8O3E/Microsoft-Kills-Skype-For-Asterisk

Avalon73 writes "I've been using Skype for Asterisk (Digium's native Skype client for their PBX software) since it was in beta 2 years ago. Today, I received an email from Digium stating that Skype (read: Microsoft) has decided to end the agreement that made the integration possible, and Digium will stop selling the module on July 26th. Support for us existing users will be there for the next 2 years, with Skype's option to renew at that time, but I'll believe that when I see it. So much for Microsoft's promise not to screw over the existing Skype user base."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

WP7 Users Who Obtained Unofficial Updates Now Stuck, MS Says "We Warned You"

URL: http://www.dailytech.com/WP7+Users+Who+Obtained+Unofficial+Updates+Now+Stuck+MS+Says+We+Warned+You/article21550.htm

Microsoft says that using unsupported methods to get WP7 updates is more trouble than it's worth

Microsoft Windows, Promoting Mediocrity Since 1985

URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2011-04-29-004-41-OP-MS

ERACC Web Log: We don't particularly care for Windows and here are a few reasons why.

Bill Gates deixa o Brasil após sua equipe ser detida pela PF por falta de vistos

URL: http://rss.idgnow.com.br/c/32184/f/499646/s/144e8184/l/0Lct0Bidg0N0Bbr0Ccgi0Ebin0Credirector0Bcgi0Drnd0F0A0Guid0Fb290A10Aa5ada7c60A9f1dbe7560Aab9a6ed0Gsite0Fidgnow0Gorigem0Fidgnow0Cinternet0Gurl0Fhttp0J3A0C0Cidgnow0Buol0N0Bbr0Cinternet0C20A110C0A40C190Cbill0Egates0Edeixa0Eo0Ebrasil0Eapos0Esua0Eequipe0Eser0Edetida0Epela0Epf0Epor0Efalta0Ede0Evistos0Gtitle0FBill0J20AGates0J20Adeixa0J20Ao0J20ABrasil0J20Aap0JF3s0J20Asua0J20Aequipe0J20Aser0J20Adetida0J20Apela0J20APF0J20Apor0J20Afalta0J20Ade0J20Avistos0Gtype0FRSS/story01.htm

O grupo, com sete pessoas, foi detido na última sexta (15) pela PF durante passeio de barco no rio Negro, próximo a Manaus.

Microsoft develops new Xbox 360 disc - not Bluray

URL: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/39365/microsoft-new-xbox-360-disc

Adds 1GB storage capacity

Microsoft has been developing a new disc format for use with the Xbox 360 of late. However, before you say "yay, Blu-ray's finally coming to my favourite console a good three years after HD-DVD upped and died", it's not Blu-ray. Sorry.

Instead, it's essentially exactly the same disc format that's been improved by unlocking an extra 1GB of space that was previously reserved for DVD-Video and anti-piracy measures.

Currently, games have to fit into 6.8GB on a 7.95GB disc, with the rest being a locked-off partition. However, beta tests are presently underway in the US, with participants trying out copies of Halo: Reach that take up an additional 1GB of disc space. It's unknown whether there is additional content or if the game has just been?decompacted?to make up the shortfall.

Either way, if successful, a full roll-out is expected, with a dashboard upgrade to all Xbox 360s globally that will allow them to access the extra information.

The details of the 1GB extension were discovered by Xbox 360 scene hacker, commodore4ever, who tweeted: "MS will introduce xgd3 – this will add more ap checks, cvi (content integerity) checks, increase the disc size and adds a new layer for protection issues – all in the 20500 sdk! bring it on".

There's currently no word on when the change-over might occur.

Read

Tags: Xbox 360GamingMicrosoftBlu-ray

Microsoft develops new Xbox 360 disc - not Bluray originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:21:00 +0100

Paul Allen, cofundador da Microsoft, acusa Gates de traição em autobiografia

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/896108-paul-allen-cofundador-da-microsoft-acusa-gates-de-traicao-em-autobiografia.shtml

O cofundador da Microsoft, Paul Allen, acusou Bill Gates de traição em sua autobiografia, segundo uma análise da obra publicada nesta quarta-feira pelo "Wall Street Journal". O conteúdo e o tom do livro, intitulado "Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft", causou certa surpresa na empresa onde se acreditava que Allen e Gates mantinham uma relação de amizade que começou quando eram crianças.

Divulgação

Paul Allen (à esq.) e Bill Gates, em 1981, depois da assinatura de um grande contrato com a IBM para desenvolver softwares

Leia mais (30/03/2011 - 18h02)

MS Removes HTTPS From Hotmail For Troubled Nations

URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/lKMVZpdER_I/MS-Removes-HTTPS-From-Hotmail-For-Troubled-Nations

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has removed HTTPS from Hotmail for many US-embargoed or otherwise troubled countries. The current list of countries for which they no longer enable HTTPS is known to include Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Journalists and others whose lives may be in danger due oppressive net monitoring in those countries may wish to use HTTPS everywhere and are also encouraged to migrate to non-Microsoft email providers, like Yahoo and Google." Update: 03/26 17:08 GMT by T : Reader Steve Gula adds the caveat that "Yahoo! only does HTTPS for authentication unless you're a paying member."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Modernizado, Internet Explorer 9 não funciona no Windows XP

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/889565-modernizado-internet-explorer-9-nao-funciona-no-windows-xp.shtml

Com sua versão 9, o Internet Explorer talvez reconquiste usuários que o execravam pela instabilidade, pelos problemas de segurança e pela falta de compatibilidade com padrões de desenvolvimento da web.Em uma interface elegante, o navegador reúne em uma linha só a barra de endereços (que também serve para busca), botões e abas (que a Microsoft chama de guias).O resultado disso é mais espaço para a exibição da página, mas menos espaço para alocar abas -se você costuma trabalhar com muitas delas ao mesmo tempo, é melhor configurar o navegador para mostrá-las em uma linha separada.Leia mais (16/03/2011 - 16h22)

Microsoft descontinuará o mal-sucedido player Zune

URL: http://exame.abril.com.br/tecnologia/noticias/microsoft-descontinuara-o-mal-sucedido-player-zune

A decisão de não continuar desenvolvendo o aparelho portátil encerra efetivamente a tentativa de 4 anos e meio da Microsoft de desbancar o iPod, da Apple

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (285601 bytes)

Attached media file [image/jpeg] (285601 bytes)

Microsoft Bans Its Own License

URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2011-02-18-020-35-NW-MS-LL

Computerworld UK: "The rules for Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace appear to mean that even Microsoft's own MS-RL open source license is banned. And perhaps Nokia should worry too."

"Microsoft é uma porcaria", diz diretor do Firefox; leia frases da semana

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/873885-microsoft-e-uma-porcaria-diz-diretor-do-firefox-leia-frases-da-semana.shtml

A equipe de Tec da Folha publica nesta sexta-feira (11) uma seleção de frases que foram destaque no mundo da tecnologia.

*

	Roland Tanglao - 8.ago.2005
	Asa Dotzler, diretor de desenvolvimento comunitário do Mozilla Firefox

Leia mais (11/02/2011 - 11h23)

Italian consumer group sues Microsoft over "Windows Tax"

URL: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/index/~3/EvzwGfovv38/italian-consumer-group-sues-microsoft-over-windows-tax.ars

Complaining that it is too hard to get a refund for unwanted preinstalled copies of Windows, an Italian consumer group, Associazion per i diritti degli utenti e consumatori (ADUC), has filed a suit against Microsoft. The suit acknowledges that hardware manufacturers share some part of the blame, but claims that the primary problem is Microsoft.

This is not the first time ADUC has taken to the courts over Windows preinstalls. In 2007, the group successfully sued HP after it failed to abide by the terms of the Microsoft End User License Agreement, which explicitly permits a user to refuse to accept the terms and receive a full refund.

The group claims that although the terms of the EULA are clear enough and include a provision for the refund, actually obtaining one is harder than it should be: PC manufacturers are failing to abide by their contractual obligation. These failures are claimed to be a result of Microsoft using its market position to unlawfully promote its products, to the detriment of users.

ADUC is calling on Italian computer buyers who have bought computers with unwanted and unused Microsoft software to join the suit, arguing that said users should be entitled to a refund.

Read the comments on this post

Usuários reclamam de envio de "dados fantasmas" de smartphones com sistema da Microsoft

URL: http://redir.folha.com.br/redir/online/tec/rss091/*http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/859478-usuarios-reclamam-de-envio-de-dados-fantasmas-de-smartphones-com-sistema-da-microsoft.shtml

Relatos de usuários do Windows Phone 7, novo sistema operacional da Microsoft para smartphones, indicam que o software está enviando e recebendo "dados fantasmas", segundo informações do jornal britânico "The Telegraph" de terça-feira (11).O Windows Phone 7 foi lançado em outubro pela companhia. Não há previsão sobre quando o sistema operacional para celulares vai chegar ao Brasil.A falha faz com que aparelhos com o sistema da Microsoft enviem por volta de 50 Mbytes de dados pelas redes 3G --o que provoca o excedimento de uso no tráfego dos dados mensais, segundo a companhia.Leia mais (12/01/2011 - 16h41)

Wikileaks publica documento com planos de organização para frear software livre na União Europeia

URL: http://softwarelivre.org/portal/internacional/wikileaks-publica-documento-com-planos-de-organizacao-para-frear-software-livre-na-uniao-europeia

"O documento publicado pela Wikileaks mostra que Jonathan Zuck, presidente da Association for Competitive Technology, uma organização com fortes laços com a Microsoft, influenciou mudanças em documentos de trabalho da União Europeia.

Entre as modificações feitas por Zuck estão a grande ênfase sobre a mistura de softwares livres e proprietários (a armadilha do "núcleo aberto"), a eliminação da crítica das patentes de software e ameaças de processos judiciais frívolos por detentores de patentes e o enfraquecimento dos argumentos a favor dos direitos de desenvolvedores de software livre livremente aplicarem os padrões." [referência: blog.javier-carrete.com]

Enviado por André Machado (andreferreiramachadoΘgmail·com):

Microsoft divulga vulnerabilidade no Windows Graphics - IT Web

URL: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEpZKhEx0DjtJBsYNOf66HO34hiLg&url=http://www.itweb.com.br/noticias/index.asp?cod%3D74741

Sol

Microsoft divulga vulnerabilidade no Windows Graphics IT Web A Microsoft emitiu, nesta terça-feira (04/01), um aviso de segurança reportando uma vulnerabilidade no Windows Graphics Rendering Engine, avisando que a efetivação dessa deficiência permite a execução de códigos arbitrários com permissão garantida pela ... Windows é vulnerável a novo tipo de ataqueO Globo A Microsoft já tem um fabuloso 0-day no IEComputerworld Microsoft Alerta para Novas Falhas de Segurança no WindowsUnder-Linux.Org Sol todos os 12 artigos »

Surpresa de ano novo: Bug deleta e-mails de usuários do Hotmail

URL: http://rss.idgnow.com.br/c/32184/f/499646/s/1138759e/l/0Lct0Bidg0N0Bbr0Ccgi0Ebin0Credirector0Bcgi0Drnd0F0A0Guid0Fab58457f261d1338be5a4bac5c1294c50Gsite0Fidgnow0Gorigem0Fidgnow0Cinternet0Gurl0Fhttp0J3A0C0Cidgnow0Buol0N0Bbr0Cinternet0C20A110C0A10C0A30Csurpresa0Ede0Eano0Enovo0Ebug0Edeleta0Ee0Emails0Ede0Eusuarios0Edo0Ehotmail0Gtitle0FSurpresa0J20Ade0J20Aano0J20Anovo0J3A0J20ABug0J20Adeleta0J20Ae0Emails0J20Ade0J20Ausu0JE1rios0J20Ado0J20AHotmail0Gtype0FRSS/story01.htm

Após a virada de ano, usuários tiveram e-mails, listas de contato e pastas pessoais subitamente apagados; para Microsoft, problema é limitado.