Microsoft has brought the software of once developers from the Seattle area company, Giant, to its final version today with the release of Windows Defender v1.0.

Discovered today by myself while out at a clients early this morning, the new version comes with some minor fixes and a tweak to its color scheme. Embracing green instead of the XP blue, Defender will now scan your system more efficiently and even has an enhanced Software Explorer for all you Windows users. Oh, maybe we should clarify “Windows users” for you before any Windows 98 hold-outs get too excited. With this release, only Windows XP SP2 and higher are supported and when I say higher, I mean higher to current releases. For some reason, Vista is not supported.

If you were like me when Beta 2 was released and was wondering where the System Tray icon went, well you can bring it back to the tray and keep it put even during inactivity with this release. If you’re a SysTray purest and like to keep things nice and neat, there is no icon by default.

Okay, all you Windows and Parallel Desktop users, go get this now before you’re infected as Beta 2 will expire and shut off December 31st.

You know, we joked about the security thing in our IE 7 release announcement, but truth is, it was only half-joking since Microsoft just really isn’t known for “security”. Well looks like security experts Secunia have called Microsoft to the carpet and called its IE exploit found last November an Internet Explorer exploit and not an Outlook Express one that Redmond is claiming.

“Microsoft claims the recent IE7 vulnerability is an Outlook Express vulnerability,” Secunia CTO Thomas Kristensen’s statement claims. “This may be true, from an organizational point of view within Microsoft. However, the vulnerability is fully exploitable via IE, which is the primary attack vector, if not the only attack vector.”

Secunia won’t let up, either, and still has the exploit listed on its site for Internet Explorer 7.x. “Secunia finds it necessary and reasonable to flag Internet Explorer as being vulnerable if Internet Explorer provides a clear direct vector to a vulnerable component, which is included by default in a fresh clean install of Microsoft Windows,” Kristensen writes.

But to make things even more interesting, BetaNews tested this theory and installed IE 7 on a fresh install of VirtualPC and found, “The browser failed the MHTML content retrieval test. The issue involves redirecting the Web browser to a local resource.”

So the plot thickens and SvenOnTech will only continue to warn you to use IE of any sort with extreme caution. Use Firefox if you must use a PC at all or just get a Mac and forget all this nonsense.

[Via jCXP.net]

Mmm, looks like Apple is keen on passing the buck like every other large company caught with its pants down. Apple today blamed Microsoft for its iPod virus that effects any iPod video purchased after September 12th.

It appears these iPods are infected with a low-risk virus named “W32/RJump.worm”. It infects removable storage devices attached to Windows hosts. Thus, only Windows users will be affected by this pest. McAfee states the virus will open, “A backdoor on an infected system”, and “attempts to spread by copying itself to mapped and removable storage drives.” McAfee offers a free removal tool for unfortunate Windows users and adds that nearly any up-to-date anti-virus program will find and remove this infection from systems.

Apple writes in its statement, “As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it.” Upset at Windows? Seriously? The virus is on iPod hard drives, not Windows boxes, Apple. Come on, this is office politics at its worst. Apple’s QA should have caught this prior to shipment on the factory floor, not blame Microsoft for its success and thus dweebs around the world writing viruses for it. This would be like Microsoft blaming Duracell for an unresponsive wireless mouse only due to dead batteries being shipped with the product.

Come on, Apple. Think different.

Thanks Rick for the tip!

With Microsoft’s release of its “iPod-killer”, Zune, and Apple’s refreshed line of iPods, a healthy battle for Christmas 2006 and beyond has emerged. Some have already written the Zune off as just another feeble attempt from Microsoft; however, many are forgetting that the Redmond-based company is more of a 3.0 kind of company. Look at Windows. It didn’t steal the Macintosh market share until when? 3.0. How about Internet Explorer? Remember how Netscape use to be the king of the web browser until, up, Internet Explorer 3.0?

Microsoft doesn’t innovate. Everyone knows that, except Steve Ballmer. The Windows giant simply buys out other companies that have great products or copies other incredible confections and slaps that Microsoft name on it. I can’t think of one successful product with the MS label on it that it created from the ground up. Not one. That’s why it’s a 3.0 company. These buy-outs and copy cat procedures take some time. And now Microsoft has watched long enough to see what makes the iPod so successful and piggy-backed off Toshiba hardware to make it’s 3.0 DAP.

So, should everyone be laughing and discounting Microsoft? I would say not. With Apple’s slipping sales for months in a row with the iPod and the how-hum refresh we witnessed at the Showtime event, Steve Jobs best be working on getting that full-screen iPod ready for Macworld or he can start kissing his bread winner goodbye.

Removing any Microsoft bias, the Zune isn’t that bad. It does have a nice interface (will Creative be suing Microsoft now for this very iPod-like system?) with nicely done backgrounds and a good play screen layout. I have to admit, I like the large full cover art being displayed with the song details at the same time below the cover. It’s not dinky like the iPods. The Wi-Fi sharing is great, too, and even though there’s no video support, that will be here soon like a more robust Windows was with 3.11 back in the early 90s.

Apple on the other hand only answered with a larger hard drive (which is still too small in light of Seagate’s 120 GB drive that would fit nicely into the iPod), brighter screen (that technically has been on the 5Gs for a month or so), and video games. Old ones. Joy. Where’s the full-screen Steve? The Wi-Fi? The Bluetooth? The meat?! Sorry, but this wasn’t a good job (pun intended.)

If the iPod doesn’t bring on a new cool factor (and regurgatating the iPod mini via the nano doesn’t qualify,) then Apple can once again remember the days of the Macintosh Performa and try to figure out, “How did we lose all the market share…again?”

Updated: Corrected author to Sven. Sorry Jon for all those that said mean things.

Plain and simple, Microsoft knows Leopard will have virtualization. Yes, Apple is denying left and right about virtualization being standard in Leopard but it’s done this same thing for years only to later release what it denied. Truth is, Apple can’t let — excuse the pun — the cat out of the bag too early or many developers may stop developing Mac ports of Windows software. This may still be a problem when Leopard releases, but for the time being, Apple wants to encourage Intel-based ports of Windows software now. Telling everyone that the famous bloat-ware will run natively on Macs in about six months will just stop that momentum.

With the success of Boot Camp so vivid and Parallel’s Desktop becoming a must-have software install on all new Intel Macs with Apple’s blessing, things just seem to point in the direction of native virtualization.

I truly believe that there will be a big announcement at this January’s Macworld and it won’t be the iPod full-screen video player, either. You’ll see.

Amazing, i can remember the year when this marvel of a computer, the IBM Personal Computer (PC) 5150, was released as if it were just a few years ago. Dang, 25 years. I’m getting old! Hey, but at least I wasn’t even a teenager, yet at a mere 11 years-old, I understand even back then how much more powerful this was than the Atari 800 my friends down the street had. This thing looked like a real computer, not a toy. Oddly enough, IBM considered Atari’s 8-bit chip for its own PC but wisely decided to go with something different. That different was an Intel chip on an IBM motherboard.

The only thing that saddens me about the 5150 was IBMs decision to go with Microsoft for the operating system known as Disk Operating System, or DOS. 25 years later, IBM no longer makes PCs and Microsoft rules the OS space. 5150. Ironic, huh?

Did Apple hand deliver a copy of its coveted operating system to Microsoft? Maybe. At the conclusion of the WWDC opener, in which Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed a preview of Leopard, happy developers left with a beta copy of OS X 10.5 in their hands. While each developer has to sign their life away in the form of a NDA (non-disclosure agreement) promising many things, namely not to reveal or use the technology for their own gain, it’s hard to think anyone wouldn’t take such a hot commodity and ignore some of the rules.

With Microsoft developing Office for OS X, it’s little doubt it had some developers right there in the crowd. That said, one only has to imagine the glee on the MS developers face when they walked out of Moscone Center with Leopard in their bag. Yum.

Now it’s entirely possible that Apple’s NDA would exclude Microsoft from this due to a clause about competitors with operating systems. Apple’s lawyers aren’t dumb…they’ve had lots of practice with the Apple Corps lawsuit in the last few years. I haven’t seen the NDA, so I can’t say for sure, but it is a tantalizing question to ask if Apple handed it’s photocopying friend to the north a beta version of its latest baby. And if it did, what does Microsoft’s ethics say to this?

The land of insecure operating systems, Windows, has once again gained a gaping whole larger than Bill Gates bank account balance. With a vulnerability so bad, it has cause the Homeland Security department to issue a warning to Microsoft Windows user nationwide. “Users are encouraged to avoid delay in applying this security patch,” the Department of Homeland Security said in the statement.

This hole is bad as that MSBlast issue from 2003 and since so many don’t ever update their systems, even if Microsoft really tried with Automatic Updates, it’s a near guarentte well see problems for a while. So, if you don’t want to be part of this lot, update today!

Ugh, I can’t wait ’til my MacBook Pro’s battery comes in so I can use it and feel safe again.

[Via c|net]

Zune? What the heck does that mean? Even it’s web site doesn’t make sense. Who did Microsoft hire for this? Will this be Bill Gates last stumble before leaving day-to-day work at the company he helped find?

Even though there is a handful of Zune sites, like Zune Info and Zune Zone, it’s just not enough to electrify the masses, Microsoft. You’re just not, well, cool. The corperate image you’ve built can’t be shaken. Yes, there’s the X-Box and its success; however, even it lacks the hipness of the PS2 and upcoming PS3. Shesh, no matter who you put your main guy on the cover with on Time magazine, he still looks like a nerd. Sorry.

Apple’s iPod success came from many ingredients and the most powerful spice of all was the cool-factor. After the cutting edge two-tone color commercials and print ads, everyone had to have an iPod. Once consumers got their hands on one, they all could see how easy it was to use and bought them up faster than you could say, “Did you know Diamond Rio was the first digital music player?” Since the point of ease is in the forefront now, can you imagine what a junky interface Zune is going to have? Oh man, what a horrid nightmare it will be I’m sure.

Microsoft will dump a lot of money into Zune. That’s for sure. It will also lose more than it puts in when all its partners that have been pushing Windows Media players tell Microsoft to take a hike for burning them at the stake. It’s not that Napster2Go units sucked so bad that Microsoft could do better, it was just the logo plastered on it, that little flag on a green background, didn’t have the coolness of a bitten apple. That’s all.

Outside of Microsoft giving away millions of these units and buying out each users iTunes catalog to be converted to WMA files, I don’t see Zune doing much. The early adopters may pick it up for the technology aspect and few others for the undercut price it’ll have, but for the most part, iPods will be hard to find this Christmas while Zunes will be as abundant as fake mall Santa Clauses. Maybe the new slogan will be, Zune you later, dude.

We’re tired of saying Apple needs to bring wireless to the iPod as we’ve been saying it for over a year, but in light of the Microsoft iPod-killer rumors, we’ve got to say it again.

It now looks like that Redmond-based Microsoft will be trying its best shot against the mega-popular Apple iPod with its very own digital audio player (DAP) ready for this Christmas. It’s said it’ll have a bigger screen than the current iPod (how much you want to bet it’s like .2″ bigger?) as well as built-in wireless. For what you ask? Um, downloads direct from some new Microsoft music store. “Wow, isn’t that what SvenOnTech has been recommending Apple do?” Yup. Guess Bill Gates reads our page and took our advice.

Supposedly, the new device will allow users to purchase and download music directly to their new Microsoft DAP anywhere a Wi-Fi connection is. To further entice iPod defectors, Microsoft is going to buy you every iTunes Music Store purchased song from the Microsoft music store. For free. On Redmond. It’ll be interesting to see how it handles customers like SvenOnTech who did really well in the Pepsi cap “game” two years in a row (over 300 songs just from that) and whom liked using all those hundreds of dollars in gift certificates. I’d say we here at SvenOnTech easily have over a grand in music in our iTunes library.

Anyway, Microsoft is doing the right thing, it’s taking music lovers to the next level. For what ever reason Apple sits on its fanny on this, who knows. It is most likely that Apple is working on this and it’s that full-screen LCD that is slowing down the announcement of the next great iPod. Heck, we wouldn’t be surprised to see this out by Christmas from Apple, either, but man, Apple has had so much time and with its past releases being so quick, one has to wonder if Apple has become too comfortable in its supremacy.

We welcome Microsoft’s new wireless DAP. It’ll be nice to have duplicated iTMS music in WMA format…on Microsoft. Now we’re curious if the packaging will be anything like this.