IE7 as hi-pri auto download
p2pnet.net News:- When Bill and the Boyz drop Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) later this year, it’ll arrive as as a “high priority” automatic download for Windows users.
If users “choose” to install it, IE7 won’t make itself the default browser but it will “transfer the user’s previous homepage, favourites, search settings and compatible toolbars,” says the BBC.
IE7 fixes more than 1,000 bugs and shores up some weaknesses in ActiveX, The Washington Post’s Brian Krebs points out, saying the auto update isprobably a positive move overall because the majority of Windows users still browse, “and will continue to browse with some version of Internet Exploiter … err, Explorer, and any security rewrite can only help them stay safer online”.
The BBC has F-Secure’s Mikko Hyppönen saying, “IE7 might have undiscovered bugs and security vulnerabilities in it, but then again, IE6 surely has undiscovered bugs and security vulnerabilities in it.
“Most security-conscious users have already migrated to other browsers anyway.”
And Krebs says the true test of IE 7’s security will be, “whether it comes with fewer flaws that take Microsoft a month or three to fix while the bad guys continue exploiting them to hijack Windows computers”.
Also, he says, one of IE 7’s most useful security features, protected mode, a “containment wall” called that prevents the browser from installing software or changing computer settings without the user’s consent, won’t be available for XP users.
“That feature will be reserved for users who upgrade to Windows Vista, the next version of the operating system, due in January.”
Firefox or Opera, anyone?
Also See:
BBC – Automatic rollout for net browser, July 28, 2006
The Washington Post – Microsoft to Push Out IE7 as High Priority Update, July 27, 2006
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July 28th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
umm if you actually look at exploits found in IE versus firefox.. firefox has had more then IE. and depending on who you ask, firefox bugs have been more notably pushed under the table because internet exploiter.. as you put it.. is simply the most widely used web browser.
i use internet explorer every day and unless your a freaking moron, or you visit malicious sites all day.. such as.. porn or “crack” sites you are not going to be any safer with firefox then IE.
come on.. someone bring some actual statistical data in here
July 28th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
umm if you actually look at exploits found in IE versus firefox.. firefox has had more then IE. and depending on who you ask, firefox bugs have been more notably pushed under the table because internet exploiter.. as you put it.. is simply the most widely used web browser.
i use internet explorer every day and unless your a freaking moron, or you visit malicious sites all day.. such as.. porn or “crack” sites you are not going to be any safer with firefox then IE.
come on.. someone bring some actual statistical data in here
July 28th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
All browsers have security issues. I’ve been using IE for years and have never had a problem. I’ve also been beta testing IE7 the past few months, one major problem I have with IE7 is that it’s slow.
July 28th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
As said in previous posts, FF has had it’s fair share in bugs, virus problems etc. Very few know about it simply because the majority of users use IE6, as Windows XP comes bundled with it.
What I find most annoying is 3 things:
1. When someone says something like “OMG FF pwns IE cos it duz”
2. When someone says IE is bug ridden and full of virus’
3. When people attack others for using IE (or vice versa)
With IE7 (which I’ve now been using for near 4 months) I’ve had very few problems in beta 1, 2 or 3. With the addition of tabbed browsing (which FF did not invent) and RSS (which wasn’t stolen from FF) AND a much cleaner GUI, I think MS have finally listened to what people want.
On XP it looks and feels great, with fantastic speed (if it’s slow it’s something on your comp, not the program, because mine’s even faster than IE6 and FF). On Vista it looks incredible!
And the added search box is a great use of space. Alot more room for the page, less taken up with half arsed graphics saying “stop” and “refresh” or “Click me to win $$$$$”
Every program has bugs. The two exceptions probably being Notepad or Calculator.
However, as good as it is, 5 years for anything dramatically changing. Funny how they decide to do it when a new OS is coming out eh?
Though to be fair, look at what they have done in the last year. Windows Live brand, Office 2007, IE7, Windows live messenger, Windows Vista. That’s quite a bit to do in the space of a year, and they;re known for it. release a ton of stuff with a new OS, give lots and lots of updates for half a decade, then bring on the new OS and new look programs.
The same formula. It worked with XP, will it work with Vista?
Sadly, I’m not so sure…
huds601
July 28th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
hasn’t done any research on firefox vulnerabilities.
i discover exploits for a living, as well as founder and ceo of a software developing company that sells millions each year.
yes, microsoft may take longer to patch but the vulnerabilities that have come up in firefox have been extremely hostile. microsoft takes forever to patch anything but they also have a huge demand on their shoulders compared to …. mozilla.
keep in mind also that just because it isn’t in the news, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. in fact we had discovered a vulnerability in firefox (prior to their last update) that was left unpatched through 3 releases….. meanwhile no one knew about it except i’m sure a few hackers.
look over this list and look at how many critical updates they have had.. and you say they aren’t critical.
do your friggin homework or dont post
here’s a short list… i recommend to visit the link though
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html
MFSA 2006-37 Remote compromise via content-defined setter on object prototypes
MFSA 2006-44 Code execution through deleted frame reference
MFSA 2006-51 Privilege escalation using named-functions and redefined “new Object()”
MFSA 2006-47 Native DOM methods can be hijacked across domains
MFSA 2006-37 Remote compromise via content-defined setter on object prototypes
July 28th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
also about what you mentioned on their new software coming out. is it odd that they discontinue support for 98 this soon before releasing Vista. My guess is they hope all of the 98 users will buy XP, just to then buy vista down the road.
you forgot Xbox360
July 28th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
most of the people that make the fanatical remarks about IE being super lame and FF ruling the world.. tend to be people who only use their computers for downloading JuArEz and chatting on myspace or gay little blogs.
ive used IE consistantly since it was first developed into Windows and yes i have FF on my machine but only for testing .
IE7 is promising and please dont think im putting down FF at all. I just don’t think people without any real knowledge on the matter should open their mouths.
sorry Jon, i absolutely appreciate everything you do but your IE ranting is a bit unnecessary.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Notepad and Calculator have their own problems. Calculator writes its settings to HKLM instead of HKCU (unless a registry fix is applied to redirect win.ini calculator section to HKCU instead) and Notepad/Win9x is unable to operate on files larger than 64 KB.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
damn you.. someone who knows more about calculator then i do..
ill have to try the win.ini registry issue.
the notepad thing…… that isn’t necessarily a bug as more of a design limitation (at that time). Microsoft, in all their glory, probably never thought a plain text file could reach more then 64kb.
depending on who you ask, some may say its a bug.
::looks at win.ini::
July 28th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
“i discover exploits for a living, as well as founder and ceo of a software developing company that sells millions each year. ”
and i’m batman.
The point is, anonymously you can say you are whoever
you want.
What software company ?
What software do you develop ?
I’ll bet it competes with Firefox
July 28th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
“…IE 7’s most useful security features…will be reserved for users who upgrade to Windows Vista…”
Vista=EVIL.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
true
July 28th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
it is hardly a webbrowser.
i am not going to spam my software right here in front of everyone unless jon OK’s it.
i dont have any more to prove. i proved my point already about firefox and IE vulnerabilities.
July 29th, 2006 at 4:33 am
Whaddaya mean “like” the plague?? It IS the plague!! I’m guessing that it’ll kill at least 1/3 of all the pc’s in europe, and everywhere else too.
July 30th, 2006 at 1:26 am
If users “choose” to install it, IE7 won’t make itself the default browser but it will “transfer the user’s previous homepage, favourites, search settings and compatible toolbars,”
Ye right. We all know M$ loves to abuse it’s position and preference it’s own software. Wouldn’t suprise me if the default options are to set IE7 as the default browser.
Hell, we all know what they did and are still doing regarding bundling of the browser with the OS, which was deemed illegal. They also intend on muscling google out of the search business by setting their default browser with their default search engine (msn). M$ has a vision, and it’s entirely about single point of entry/control/lockin to their/and/or partners products.
July 31st, 2006 at 6:11 am
But the problems lies in the fact that probably 90% of users accept the default software/options in on a windows system. Thats how M$ got a 90% market share in the browsers.
It’s all about choice, and M$ is determined to give you none.
July 31st, 2006 at 6:18 am
hat may be true, but the fact of the matter is, my system has never been compromised while using firefox. However, my system has been compromised on several occasions while using IE.
You may try and point out that i’m some noob user. This is not correct. I am a software developer that does work on both linux and windows, so i have quite a bit of knowledge about the inner workings of these systems, as well as things like ActiveX interfaces and such. This however doesn’t prevent websites taking advantage of the weak activex security in IE. It’s not sandboxed, it’s wide open to attack. This is partly due to the fact activex is such a powerful interface.
The truth is, all things like activex and java are sources of security problems. The difference in windows is that usually you do everything as root(admin in windoze speak), and this allows malicious code to do all manner of system wide activities.
So you can argue about exploits all you want, but you have to remember most of these are difficult to implement and rely on a number of factors. The real exploits are in activex/java, others are simply background noise.
July 31st, 2006 at 4:36 pm
You haven’t proved anything, except how good at bsing you are. :-/
August 1st, 2006 at 1:00 am
OPERA!!!!! Firefox is good, but nothing beats opera, nothing