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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 09:38 Friday, 20th November 2009
Source: Techtree India News

Google's much anticipated Chrome OS has quite some time to go till it is released for you and me. However, as speculated earlier, Google has provided juicy details of the upcoming OS at an event. While it is no Windows Killer by any margin, Chrome OS does give the user the option to boot into a web based OS, anytime, anywhere.

Chrome OS?
That's right. The OS might be named after Google's very own browser for obvious reasons. For once, the OS looks like a browser on steroids as it is almost completely web based. When you boot into Chrome OS, you are basically opening a browser window for running web apps. Unlike "normal" operating systems, you will not be able to install applications in the Chrome OS environment. Instead, it uses HTML5, for bringing an app like experience right within the browser - without the need for installing anything. To make things easier, think of it in this way. The Chrome OS is nothing but a barebones, stripped down version of Linux that is fast and launches like a web browser.

Getting it and Installing it?
While you can install Chrome OS on any X86 machine or using Virtualization, officially, Google will make it available only to select devices that will be "Chrome OS compatible". This might be partly owing to the fact that Chrome OS does not have a driver SDK as of now. Designed to run on a barebones system, most Chrome OS compatible devices will run on Intel and ARM's low powered processors. Google adds that Chrome OS laden devices will work as an "instant on" machine, which will boot itself up in under 20 seconds. Only flash-based storage media will be supported and for the same reasons storage capacities will be on the lower side - especially when compared to hard drive based netbooks. Another facet of the Chrome OS would be its search functionality. The user can use the address bar or the Quick Search box to quickly navigate to personal content stored locally, or on the servers. Of course, the same boxes can be used to search for content on the web as well.

Security Concerns:
Since the OS will run off the web, security will be a major concern since all your data will be stored on a remote server. Getting into your account will be as easy as hacking into your password. However, following the basics will ensure your account stays safe in your hands.

Connectivity:
Now, for a web-based system, it is essential to be Internet ready to be online whenever the user needs it. So, all Chrome OS machines will be Wi-Fi ready and will have the same as the primary connection method. There is a talk of Google taking the OS offline as well. However, little is known about that facet, as of now. While the options for Internet access might vary from one device to another, we think it would make sense to offer a GPRS and 3G ready device as well that will increase the range of the Chrome OS device exponentially. This is somewhat similar to what Nokia has done to its Booklet 3G netbook.

Is it for you?
Well, you might want to try is (just like most others do) since this is coming from Google. However, once the initial fanciness wears off, you will be constantly reminded about the fact that the Chrome OS is after all a stripped down OS that will do just about all the things a modern, self respecting browser of today does. The key for Google is to place this product in such a way that the user does not expect Chrome OS to be a full fledged desktop OS replacement. Apart from all these, pricing Chrome OS laden devices sensibly would make sense. It wouldn't make economic sense for any buyer to invest in a "computer" that basically runs just a web browser and is priced almost similar to a netbook that can do a whole lot more.

When?
While Google has not confirmed on any specific launch dates, the Chrome OS is largely expected to be released sometime in 2010. Now that the source code of the OS is out in the open, development on the OS will be for everyone to see. If you are one of those geeky kinds who can't wait to get your hands on the early builds of this one, you can use Virtual Box to see for yourself, how the OS, in its current avatar functions.

For more on the Chrome OS, you might want to visit the Chromium OS home page here.

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 09:38 Thursday, 19th November 2009
Source: Neowin News

According to an Activision press release, Infinity Ward's highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has passed $550 million in sales in the game's first five days at retail.

The title has now broken a slew of records for entertainment

• The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
• The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
• The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)
• The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
• The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
• The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)

Additionally, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has set a new Xbox

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 09:57 Wednesday, 18th November 2009
Source: Computer World News

Mozilla will add a new lockdown feature to Firefox 3.6 that will prevent developers from sneaking add-ons into the program, the company said.

The new feature, which Mozilla dubbed "component directory lockdown," will bar access to Firefox's "components" directory, where most of the browser's own code is stored. The company has billed the move as a way to boost the stability of its browser.

"We're doing this for stability and user control [reasons]," said Johnathan Nightingale, manager of the Firefox front-end development team, in an e-mail today. "Dropping raw components in this way was never an officially supported way of doing things, which means it lacks things like a way to specify compatibility. When a new version of Firefox comes out that these components aren't compatible with, the result can be a real pain for our shared users.

"Now that those components will be packaged like regular add-ons, they will specify the versions they are compatible with, and Firefox can disable any that it knows are likely to cause problems," Nightingale added.

His mention of "regular add-ons" referred to the new policy that will be enforced by Firefox 3.6, a minor upgrade to last summer's 3.5 that is to ship before the end of the year. Because third-party developers will no longer be able to drop their code into the components directory, they must instead recreate their add-ons as XPI-based files, the standard Firefox extension format. Mozilla has posted information on its developer site to aid programmers who need to migrate add-ons to the XPI format.

Most, but not all, Firefox add-ons are available through Mozilla's Add-On site, which boasts that more than 1.6 billion add-ons have been downloaded by users.

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 21:46 Monday, 16th November 2009
Source: Neowin News

Microsoft has made the latest beta of Office 2010 available to MSDN and TechNet customers.

The release follows news that Office 2010 beta builds have begun leaking from the software giant.

It's widely expected that a public beta build of Office 2010 will be available this week. Microsoft has kept quiet on the reports but has hinted on the official Office twitter account "MS Office team has some exiting news to tell at PDC. This is a must attend event. Stay tuned!" and a follow up post hints at possible social networking features in Outlook, "would you like your inbox to talk to your social networks? Useful integration or distraction?". Stay tuned for all the PDC 2009 information as Neowin will be live in Los Angeles this week.

Update: The build 14.0.4514.1004 is available to MSDN/TechNet customers. 14.0.4536.1000 is the correct build number.

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 21:42 Monday, 16th November 2009
Source: Computer World News

Hackers have figured out how to sidestep Windows 7's activation process, continuing a long-running battle with Microsoft, which has blocked such tactics in the past.

According to an article published more than a week ago on My Digital Life, hackers have devised a pair of methods that circumvent the new operating system's product activation, a key component of Microsoft's antipiracy technologies.

Microsoft said it knew about the hacks and was looking into ways to block them. "We're aware of this workaround and are already working to address it," a company spokeswoman said today.

Two utilities, called "RemoveWAT" and "Chew-WGA," remove the activation technologies or prevent them from running, said My Digital Life. Both hacking tools trick Windows 7 into reporting that it has been properly activated, preventing the nagging on-screen displays and other visual cues from appearing that Microsoft has built into its software to mark counterfeit software.

With Windows 7, Microsoft dropped the "Windows Genuine Advantage" (WGA) name for its integrated antipiracy software, and replaced it with "Windows Activation Technologies" (WAT). The end result on users' screens, however, remained similar to what Vista displayed. The most evident change to Windows 7 was the discarding of a delay during log-in on a machine with an inactivated copy of Windows. Under Vista's scheme, users had to wait 15 seconds before clicking the "Activate Later" button to proceed to the desktop. In Windows 7, users can click that button immediately.

Microsoft made dramatic changes to Vista's illegitimate software warnings nearly two years ago, then followed those with nearly identical modifications to the older Windows XP. In both operating systems, the company dumped the reduced functionality mode that essentially made the machine unusable, and instead boosted the number of on-screen messages and planted a black background on the desktop.

Microsoft has blocked anti-activation hacks in the past, using Windows Update to push changes to users. In early 2008, for example, the company stymied a pair of activation cracks with just such an update, then rolled the crack detection code into Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) a month later. It issued another update in February 2009 to block another crack that affected Vista Ultimate.

The post on My Digital Life acknowledged that Microsoft might take the same tack with the Windows 7 workarounds. "As [the] cracks based on removal of activation component involves patching, changes and modification to many system files, it's likely to be easily detected and nullified by Microsoft, especially in [the] next WGA update or Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2," My Digital Life reported.

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 19:07 Sunday, 15th November 2009
Source: Dark Reading News

Researchers have discovered a new attack that exploits the way browsers operate with Adobe Flash -- and there's no simple patch for it.

The attack can occur on Websites that accept user-generated content -- anything from Webmail to social networking sites. An attacker basically takes advantage of the fact that a Flash object can be loaded as content onto a site and then can execute malware from that site to infect and steal information from visitors who view that content by clicking it.

"Everyone is vulnerable to this, and there's nothing anyone can do to fix it by themselves," says Michael Murray, CSO for Foreground Security, which today posted demonstrations of such an attack against Gmail, SquirrelMail, and cPanel's File Manager. "We're hoping to get a message out to IT adminstrators and CIOs to start fixing their sites one at a time."

An attacker could upload malicious code via a Flash file attachment or an image, for instance, and infect any user that clicks on that item to view it. "If I can trick a system to let me upload anything, I can run code in any browser, and Adobe can't fix this," Murray says. "If I can upload a picture to a site and append it with Flash code to make it look like an image, once a user views that, the code executes and I can steal your cookies and credentials."

The only thing close to a "fix" is for the Website to move its user-generated content to a different server, according to Michael Bailey, the senior researcher for Foreground Security who discovered the attack. Facebook already does this, he says, which makes the popular social networking site immune to hosting this type of attack.

Bailey says the attack is similar to a cross-site scripting attack. "This is very easy to perform," he says.

The researchers don't expect Adobe to issue any fixes to Flash's origin policy, mainly because it would affect so many applications. Adobe offers security information for developers using Flash.

Web application developers could help prevent the attack by denying Flash content by default, which isn't a very realistic option: "Doing that will break a lot of applications," Bailey says. "And that's the problem."

For end users, the Firefox browser add-in NoScript provides some protection from this attack, as does Toggle Flash for Internet Explorer, the researchers say.

"This is ubiquitous. Almost every file upload has some amount of risk. If I were running a site, I would take a look at this," Murray says.

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Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 18:52 Sunday, 15th November 2009
Source: Neowin News

Previously said to launch in the fall, rumors are circulating that Google's Chrome OS will launch within the next week. While Google is mum on the launch of their new OS they have been known to launch projects in beta form ahead of schedule in the past.

It is expected the the first release of Google OS will not run on standard laptop and desktop computers, but will run on set of Google OS endorsed devices such as select netbooks. Google has previously said they are working with Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba on the Chrome OS project.

Only time will tell if this release rumor pans out, but if true the next week should be interesting if Google does in fact launch their operating system

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