14 DAY TRIAL // Even if Internet Explorer comes as the default browser for the Windows operating system, the Redmond-based company Microsoft strives to improve the application, being continuously challenged by the rivals. Firefox is probably the only browser able to face the competition, some of the Internet consumers even sustaining that Mozilla's program already defeated the software giant. But according to some new reports published on Monday, Internet Explorer is still the main leader of the category and as far I can see, there's no chance to be dethroned soon.
At this time, Microsoft is almost 100 percent focused on Internet Explorer 7 but it seems like the older version 6.0 remains the default browser on many of the users' computers. According to Market Share, IE 6.0 recorded a market share in August of 44.59% while the newer version had only 33.5%. What's more interesting is that in July 2006, the last version of Microsoft' browser recorded a 33.15 percent market share so the software giant's efforts to promote the application are somehow useless.
In comparison with the browser designed by the Redmond super giant, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 won only the third place with a 12.98 percentage in August 2007 and 12.38 percentage in July, the same year. The other competitors, Opera and Safari, recorded disappointing numbers such as 0.87 percent and 3.56 percent.
Along with Windows Vista, Microsoft also introduced its new generation security solution that is meant to bring a little bit more security to the Windows users. Windows Live OneCare was permanently criticized by the security companies and the consumers for weak performance so the folks working at the Redmond firm were somehow pressured to improve it. Well, they did but not enough according to some new anti-virus comparative reports published by AV-Comparative on Tuesday. According to the results, Microsoft OneCare discovered only 7 out of 12 viruses while its main competitors managed to block the entire amount of dangerous content.
For example, F-Secure Antivirus, Kaspersky Antivirus, Nod32 Antivirus and Symantec Norton Antivirus all detected 12 out of 12 infected files.
"Microsoft's detection rates are improving fast, and they look likely to make it to the 'Advanced' level in time for next year's tests. Having now reached the highly-respectable 'Standard' level, as well as passing Virus Bulletin's VB100 certification, Microsoft are proving to be an increasingly strong competitor for the other AV vendors to take on," said Andreas Clementi, who runs the AV-Comparatives testing, according to Virus Bulletin.
It's a well known fact that Process Explorer is one of the most useful applications for the Windows operating systems but when the Redmond company Microsoft talks about it on its official page and moreover, it provides a download link, it is official: Process Explorer must be installed on your computer. If you have never heard of it, this program comes as the best replacement for the old-fashioned Windows Task Manager which provides valuable information about the processes running on your system. In fact, in my opinion, the two programs can't be compared as Process Explorer is way too advanced to be included in the same category as Task Manager.
Because a new version was recently released, Microsoft rolled out a special page on Wednesday to talk about Process Explorer 11. "Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded," the page reads. "The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work."
As usual, you can download the latest version of the application straight from Softpedia.
The competition for the best instant messaging client becomes more important for more and more companies as it lures a considerable number of consumers. Microsoft is one of the firms which aim to invest in this market and plans to do that by improving the Windows Live Messenger application, an instant messaging application based on the famous MSN Messenger. On Thursday, the Redmond giant rolled out Windows Live Messenger Beta 2, a new flavor of the program that can improve the chatting experience of the Windows users. However, don't expect to find something sensational as the Microsoft employees already announced that there's not much to see after the first beta of the application.
"Yes, it's that time again! The Windows Live Messenger team is proud to announce our Beta 2 release! This beta is available in 35 languages - that's a lot of IM's! If you downloaded our Beta 1 build, you may not think that much has changed. While the look and feel is almost the same, we listened to your feedback and fixed many of the top issues reported by our customers," the Windows Live Messenger team proudly announced the new release.
Obviously, the new version of Windows Live Messenger can be downloaded from Softpedia using this link.
When Windows Genuine Advantage was released, we all knew that a new fight was started against the software piracy which affected so many companies. Obviously, Microsoft was one of those because its top product Windows was pirated and sold in every corner of the world. After a long period of availability, the first results of WGA finally appeared on Friday. As the employees working at Microsoft application proudly announced, the authorities managed to arrest one of the largest groups that distributed counterfeited versions of Windows obviously, with the help of Windows Genuine Advantage.
"Beyond the sheer size of the bust the most exciting aspect of this for us on the WGA team is knowing that WGA actually played a role. More than 1,000 customers in 12 different countries who had counterfeits from this particular source used WGA to learn their software was counterfeit, submitted the counterfeits to Microsoft, and forensic and intelligence specialists then traced the counterfeits back to the criminal syndicate in China. So Windows customers, using WGA, have actually helped to bring the biggest software counterfeiting operation in history to justice," it is mentioned in a blog post published on Friday.
