Tag Archives: Windows XP
Will People Actually Want to Move Away From Windows?
Posted on 14. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 
0 Comments
Maybe Windows is horrible, or could just be enough for people to get by. ITPro’s Simon Brew has an article talking about alternatives to using the Windows operating system. Of course, there are open source alternatives in Linux and Chrome OS was brought up, but the main question brought to mind is this: are users actually going to want to switch from Windows?
On example of this is the fact that Microsoft is still trying to get users off of Windows XP, which debuted in 2001. If a user does get off of XP, their alternative now is going to be to start using Windows 7 which to some people may not be any different than the classic XP. It starts to make one wonder how much market share Google can really take from Windows, especially since probably the only ones buying a Chrome OS system will be those who are actually seeking out the device.
So, with that logic, maybe those who actively hate Windows will go out and look for a Google alternative when it arrives, but the fact of the matter is that Microsoft holds a dominating ninety percent share of a profitable market, and they are not going to lose out very quickly to upstart operating systems.
An example of Microsoft’s stronghold is that somehow, Internet Explorer, known to be an inferior browser through technical tests, still commands a sixty percent share across its three versions. Anyone can download one of the better alternatives, but either they don’t know they can or can do what they need to with a Microsoft product. And that’s the problem.
thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/7/10
Posted on 07. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Chrome 6 is coming, a revision posted by Anthony Laforge at the Chromium site says “Update VERSION Major to 6″.
The dev version of Chrome browser has had a stream of updates since yesterday, including many user interface changes.
University of California – Davis has decided to scrap its Gmail system that was being used by employees out of privacy concerns with the system.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 will not support Windows XP – and that makes some at Google a bit angry.
There is an extension now available called ChromeTouch that allows users to have touch functionality in Chrome browser.
Chrome 5 for Mac Adds Translation, Other Updates
Posted on 26. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
Good news for all you Mac users: the newest update to Chrome 5 will offer the Translate feature that those of us on the Windows version have been able to enjoy for the past couple of weeks. If you’ve never used Google translate, you probably don’t know what you’re missing. I have a piece out there already that pretty much outlines what I’m talking about, and you can check it out here.
Here are the new updates to Chrome 5 Beta for Mac:
- Translate feature has been added
- Greater control over privacy (learn more here)
- Full screen mode by using Shift-CMD-F (Thanks Nick!)
- Forced reload, instead of using cache by using Shift+Reload
Already have Chrome 5 Beta for Mac? You will be automatically updated. If you don’t have Chrome 5, get it here.
With the news that Safari was the first browser successfully hacked at this year’s Pwn2Own competition, those of you out there who like using Apple products may want to consider giving Chrome 5 a try. An earlier version that is in stable release, Chrome 4, has yet to go down at the competition where hackers (they’re called “researchers” these days) try to compromise operating systems, browsers and mobile phones.
Apple comes out with great products. There is no doubt about that. But one big problem is that they aren’t nearly as ubiquitous as Windows products, and therefore have not been as susceptible to attack by those with malicious intentions. Unfortunately that landscape is changing. Check out this graph that shows the correlation between the prevalence of Apple stores and adoption of their products:
So while Apple has been building its own retail stores around the world they have increased their market share from 3.5% to almost 10% in a span of seven years. That means more Macs and more of them means the potential to attack them increases. As an example of how much work needs to done to protect Macs, Apple added data execution protection (DEP) to Snow Leopard which was something adopted by Windows in XP SP2 which came out in 2003.
So this post may have gone off on a tangent from its original theme, but I hope it has been informative nonetheless.
Chrome Still Standing at Pwn2Own
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments
Yesterday’s first day for the Pwn2Own contest came and went literally for the Chrome browser. The competition, which pits security minded hackers against web browsers, operating systems and mobile phone platforms did however do a number on Apple products. Apple’s Safari browser was hacked on both Snow Leopard and the iPhone, while Charlie Miller, a previous winner, snagged ten grand by remotely taking control of Safari on a MacBook Pro. Miller is the one who was quoted a while ago saying that Chrome 4 without Flash on Windows 7 was the most secure computing environment out there today.
Also, IE8 on Windows 7 was successfully hacked on the first day of Pwn2Own, with researcher Peter Vreugdenhil getting past Windows 7′s data execution protection (DEP) and address space layout representation (ASLR) to exploit IE8. An hour after that, a freelancer named Nils was also able to use those same Windows vulnerabilities to also hack Firefox 3.6.
Yesterday was the day for Windows 7, and today the competition will face Vista, with tomorrow highlighting XP. Will Chrome fall on a less secure system? We shall see. Here is the complete three day schedule for Pwn2Own:
Day 1
The target pairings for day one are:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7
- Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows 7
- Google Chrome 4 on Windows 7
- Apple Safari 4 on MacOS X Snow Leopard
Day 2
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista
- Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows Vista
- Google Chrome 4 on Windows Vista
- Apple Safari 4 on MacOS X Snow Leopard
Day 3
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP
- Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows XP
- Google Chrome 4 on Windows XP
- Apple Safari 4 on MacOS X Snow Leopard
Most top prizes are in the $10,000 range, plus the hardware that is hacked on is also awarded. There is also a focus on these mobile platforms (and as we said that the iPhone has already been hacked):
- Apple iPhone 3GS
- RIM Blackberry Bold 9700
- Nokia E72 device running Symbian
- HTC Nexus One running Android
We’ll keep you posted, especially on the Google-related products.
Can Cydle Release a $199 Chrome OS Tablet?
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
Ah yes, it’s Tuesday. And I have another morning video for you. This one is from Cydle, which is a Korean company that traditionally makes products for the GPS market for vehicles, and it is also part of a growing movement to make devices known as Mobile Internet Devices (MID). I don’t know how this manufacturer slipped through the plethora of coverage during CES, but they were showing off a ARM 7″ tablet that has a price point of $199 as well as a netbook that has potential for Chrome OS. Just don’t tell Google about it. Because I don’t think they know, since the prototype that was being shown off at CES was loaded with Windows XP although the representative did name-check Chrome OS:
This doesn’t look like a ARM netbook to me. Besides, let’s see something game-changing like that tablet running Chrome OS.
Anyone want to speculate exactly what would be the difference between a netbook and a mobile internet device? The lack of a keyboard in the former perhaps?
Acer Will Have First Chrome OS Machine in 2010
Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
It’s been reported all over the net that Acer chief JT Wang is claiming his company will be the first manufacturer to release a full fledged netbook that is running Chrome OS. This is not surprising seeing as how Acer has already released the Aspire One AO250 (left) as a dual-boot machine with Windows XP and Android. I don’t know what the Android experience would be like, but a dual boot netbook with XP and Chrome OS would be an awesome combination.
I can’t wait to have a machine that runs Chrome so I can use it on a daily basis, but my concern (one of a few, actually) is that with Chrome I won’t be able to open and manipulate files on my machine. At least that’s been the theory so far based on Google’s documentation – I’m conceptualizing, I know. But If I had a dual boot machine with XP or Ubuntu along with Chrome OS, now that would be cool.
Now, I’ve always been a Dell fan for my laptops, but lately I have become somewhat captivated by Acer’s lineup. Years ago, I equated Acer with crappy quality but they have really taken a lot of market share from Dell and other PC makers in the past few years. I think that it is smart for Acer to captivate early adopters for Chromium – the appeal for Chrome is going to be BIG. Many people don’t want to fuss with computers anymore and they want it to just work and I really feel that Google is on to something good.
We’ll keep you posted on the latest.
