Office 2010 direct download link

Huh! Office 2010 Beta is out for public. I’d started downloading. What about you?

Here is the direct download link.

http://care.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/office2010/2/4/7/247A463c-af98-4778-b5a3-934cb8d198d1/professionalplus.exe

Thanks.

FF3 Ad over IE

Does anyone noticed this?

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html

See, the courage, confidence and power of Mozilla corporation; directly advertising over IE. Nothing to say more, IE market-share dipped to 66%. But, this time IE is losing the market-share in a quicker pace. IE8 have to struggle a lot to gain the market again and again.

Good luck, IE.

BTW, I’m an addicted IE user.

Vista Ultimate Tips and Tricks PDF

Though I own a Vista Ultimate PC; I’s searching the internet looking for articles/post for exploring the features of Ultimate edition to the maximum. Now, M$FT themselves has released a PDF, for exploring the same.

Explore here.

Things I ‘Wished’ in IE 8

Release of IE 7 forced me to migrate to Firefox, my secondary browser. Now, things are back in town. IE8 RC1 build is available, a major improvement over IE7. Now I don't have a secondary browser. IE8 is all in its way. Situations have changed a lot. The fields are spitted into battle field- FF, Chrome, IE, Opera. MSFT has got the real seriousness when they started loosing their IE market share. Anyway that's another story.

Accelerators and Visual Searches; I use them to the maximum.

But, still I missed/wished some features to be integrated with IE.

Quick Page Saving

IE consumes more time to save a page. Also, if the page is loading a frames, IE throws an error stating that "This page cannot saved". There are other reasons also for showing this error.

Download Dialogue Window

I still believe the download dialogue windows of FF is very cool. IE download windows will be there is the taskbar, consuming taskbar space. It will be too cool and useful, if they can hide the download dialogue window to the status bar of IE, just as FF is doing. Chrome has also integrated the same customized effect.

Easy Tab Switching

IE hangs for a while, if we try to switch tabs; while some other tabs are busy working in the background. Proper resource management has to be implemented for optimizing/tweaking IE performance to further extend. I still wonder at the proper resource management in FF, when switching tabs in the same situation.

‘Live’ Developer Tool

Developer tool is a long awaited feature in IE. But still has to tweak a lot when compared with Firebug. Firebug can be considered as a live developer tool. In the ‘Inspect’ mode, hovering mouse over each page element will show its corresponding HTML code. For IE, we’ve to click and select the page element to see its HTML code. Since, I’m a developer; a ‘live’ developer tool means a lot to me.

Anyway, software giant has confirmed that there will be no more beta for IE8. Everyone is quite excited to see how the final release of IE is ironed out. I’m also excited whether any new features will be integrated or not. Lets see what's they are baking out.

‘ClickJacking Protection’ in IE8 RC1

Have you heard. IE 8 RC1 (Release Candidate) is out now. Just like the previous release, this time also MSFT had included a new feature names ClickJacking Protection.

Lets here what Wikipedia has to say about this.

Clickjacking is a malicious technique of tricking web users into revealing confidential information or taking control of their computer while clicking on seemingly innocuous web pages. A vulnerability across a variety of browsers and platforms, a clickjacking takes the form of embedded code or script that can execute without the user's knowledge, such as clicking on a button that appears to perform another function.

One of the most security vulnerabilities in the web-world is called Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF). Preventing CSRF attacks is hard because there’s generally no easy fix. The browser architecture allows interaction & navigation between multiple sites simultaneously, within a page; which can be exploited by an attacker.

IE 8 Dev Team says, “ClickJacking is a term which encompasses multiple techniques that can be used to trick the user into unwittingly clicking an obscured or hidden web element, usually resulting in an unwanted transaction”. A successful ClickJacking attack could circumvent CSRF protections that attempt to confirm transactions with the user.

The simplest and most broadly-used mechanism to defeat ClickJacking attacks is called frame-busting.It works by simply preventing vulnerable pages from being framed. Since, a typical frame-busting mechanisms rely on script; it can be defeated in various ways.

The Internet Explorer 8 RC introduces a new opt-in mechanism that enables web applications to mitigate the risk of ClickJacking on vulnerable pages by declaring that those pages may not be framed.

How it works

Web developers can send a HTTP response header named X-FRAME-OPTIONS with HTML pages to restrict how the page may be framed. If the X-FRAME-OPTIONS value contains the token DENY, IE8 will prevent the page from rendering if it will be contained within a frame. If the value contains the token SAMEORIGIN, IE will block rendering only if the origin of the top level-browsing-context is different than the origin of the content containing the X-FRAME-OPTIONS directive. For instance, if http://shop.example.com/confirm.asp contains a DENY directive, that page will not render in a sub-frame, no matter where the parent frame is located. In contrast, if the X-FRAME-OPTIONS directive contains the SAMEORIGIN token, the page may be framed by any page from the exact http://shop.example.com origin.

When rendering is blocked by the X-FRAME-OPTIONS policy, a local error page is presented that explains the restriction and provides a link which opens the frame in a new window. When displayed in a new window rather than a sub-frame, content is no longer subject to ClickJacking.

ClickJacking is an alternate scriptless way of performing Frame Busting. However, this technique becomes useless if the attach involves Flash applets and other kind of plug-in embeddings.

I came across a couple of articles claiming that ‘Experts’ believe this technique is not gonna lockdown the attack. But. I’m sure of one thing. At least, websites will use this Microsoft technology to prevent attacks, for their IE users.

For time being this is a good security policy. Let see what MSFT has ironing for the final release.

Good Luck, Redmondians.

Oh! forgot to say, I started using IE 8 RC1.

Reference: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/27/ie8-security-part-vii-clickjacking-defenses.aspx

.NET Framework Standalone Installer Links

As the publicity for .NET Framework is increasing, most of the peoples are in search of standalone/offline .NET framework installers. Here are some of the standalone/offline download links:

a) Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 Redistributable :-
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d7158dee-a83f-4e21-b05a-009d06457787

b) Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Redistributable :-
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=262D25E3-F589-4842-8157-034D1E7CF3A3

c) Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Redistributable :-
x86 -> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5
x64 -> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B44A0000-ACF8-4FA1-AFFB-40E78D788B00

d) Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable :-
x86 -> http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/F/0/3F0A922C-F239-4B9B-9CB0-DF53621C57D9/dotnetfx3.exe
x64 -> http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/F/0/3F0A922C-F239-4B9B-9CB0-DF53621C57D9/dotnetfx3_x64.exe

e) Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Redistributable :-
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/0/f/60fc5854-3cb8-4892-b6db-bd4f42510f28/dotnetfx35.exe


f) Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/e/20e90413-712f-438c-988e-fdaa79a8ac3d/dotnetfx35.exe

g) Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (Redistributable)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/5/A/95A9616B-7A37-4AF6-BC36-D6EA96C8DAAE/dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe

Browser War reloaded, IE-Share drops to 68%.

I'm a MSFT fan boy. I’m always curious to know how much market-share MSFT holds for its products. MSFT’s main two eye-catching products are Internet Explorer and Operating System. I keep an eye on both.

I don't know at what point MSFT got lazy or at what point they started losing the game of  Browser-War. As a nightmare, IE share is dipping and Firefox share is on its phase, covering a share of 20% (on Dec 1, 2008). IE’s share dropped to 68%. Remember, IE had a solid-share of 95%, on 2002. Suddenly, IE sunk when Mozilla hit the market with its open-source browser captioned Firefox.

MSFT has got a tough time ahead with IE8. Right now I'm using IE8 Beta 2. I'm enjoying with it. Much much better than IE7. One-way-or-another, Google is struggling with its new browser Chrome, with a market-share of 1% approx. I know its not a time to judge Chrome, since its just been launched. Chrome was released with an aim to cover IE’s market share. If so, they have to cover Safari (8%) and Firefox (20%). But, I cannot understand one thing, Google has an alliance with Mozilla, due to which they had made Google as their default search-engine. One thing is sure, Chrome is not going to cover Firefox at any point. Then one thing could happen, either Google would buy Firefox or Firefox and Chrome browser-team would work together to beat IE.

One thing is very clear now. MSFT realized the seriousness when they start losing IE share & with the rise of anti-MSFT sentiments., around the globe. IE8 is a good challenge for both Google and Mozilla. I bet.

On thing that always made me laugh is that Chrome won’t make a prompt when we try to close it with multiple tabs opened or downloads are in progress. I don't and cant understand why Google team missed such a silly point when making a major move. Also they have to do much work in CSS Engine. ASP.NET site was one of my favorite site, which is cluttered in Chrome. Then how can I…

5 Strategies MSFT got Right

For a long time, I’s thinking how Microsoft (MSFT) became a Software Giant.

Last day I got an article, captioned “5 Strategies Microsoft got Right”. I'm replicating the same. The original article can be find here.

A) Software is King

Microsoft was among the first companies to see software as the business, not just an add- on sale to hardware. It acted on that insight in a big way.

B) Outsource Your Sales Force

How did Microsoft grow so big so fast? In large part it was the company’s partner strategy. Today, more than 90% of Microsoft products are sold by somebody else. OEM partners such as HP sell most copies of Windows and large reseller partners such as CompuCom sell most copies of Microsoft’s enterprise software, including Exchange, SQL Server, and SharePoint. In fact, you’d have a difficult time trying to call Microsoft to order a product directly.

C) Developers, Developers, Developers!

More than any other software company, Microsoft courts developers, lavishing them with powerful tools, free training, and low-cost support. Visual Basic enabled a whole generation of developers to create custom line-of-business applications on top of Office. Now Visual Studio is the tool of choice for serious corporate developers. Microsoft has been rewarded for this generosity by a torrent of third-party applications and custom solutions that have made Windows indispensable on the corporate desktop. Robust developer support for products such as the Office suite and SQL Server has also helped Microsoft products to flourish where competitors once had the field to themselves.

D) Technology for the Masses 

Microsoft has consistently figured out how to make powerful technologies once exclusive to big business—business intelligence, intranets, systems management—accessible to smaller IT shops at a fraction of the cost. In the process, Microsoft has created and captured new customers en masse.

E) The Long View

Microsoft has always taken the long view. It routinely invests billions of dollars in expansive ventures such as Xbox, MSN, and Dynamics with an eye to far-off opportunities and threats. Once engaged, it very rarely retreats. The company will sustain breathtaking losses to gain a foothold in a market (think of Xbox) and endure hits to its image to change a business model that isn’t working (think of MSN). Microsoft continually looks inward and studies how it can improve itself. But despite some long false starts and outright failures (LAN Manager, Windows Mobile, and WebTV), Microsoft has assembled the industry’s largest portfolio of enterprise and consumer software—the least of which generates revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ok. Wait. If they are following strategies, there might be some lessons. What do they learned from these strategies ? What are they ? Lessons per strategies, as follows, respectively:

1) Question the rules. Change the game.

2) Create win-win partner situations to grow fast.

3) Don’t neglect your customers’ most important need: a better price.

4) Make it easy for partners to customize your product.

5) Business isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Be persistent.

Directions on Microsoft

Recently, I saw a web-portal dedicated for Software-Giant, Microsoft – http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com.

What is Directions on Microsoft?

Directions on Microsoft is the only INDEPENDENT organization in the world devoted exclusively to tracking Microsoft. We've studied Microsoft since 1992. Nobody knows the company better.

Our team of Microsoft experts [analyst bios] provides clear, concise, and actionable analysis of shifts in Microsoft strategy, Microsoft product and technology roadmaps, delivery schedules, organizational changes, marketing initiatives, and licensing and other policies so you can quickly assess how they impact your business.

Thousands of companies worldwide—including corporate purchasers of Microsoft products, system integrators, software vendors, hardware manufacturers, network operators, venture capitalists, and financial analysts—trust Directions on Microsoft for accurate and unbiased Microsoft research and analysis to guide their strategic decisions

Take a look.

RSS Link :- http://www.rssmixer.com/mixes/10639-directions-on-microsoft.rss

New Logo for .NET

 

Hey…Hey…

Check out this, the new logo for Microsoft .NET Framework.

IE8 beta 2 bug

After the release of IE8 beta 2, there were many articles posted in Internet, both praising and cursing the beta release.

In ZDNet, I saw an article about the beta release. What surprised me that, the very first comment is cursing the beta release. What he mentioned was as follows:

“Clik on the down-arrow of your vertical scroll-bar few times. Afterwards, click-and-hold the scroll-bar and move it up-down (vertically). This will give a distorted effect to the textbox(s) and the button(s), in the page”.

What he’s saying was right…!!!

Here’s the screenshot:

 

I agree with him. But, I approached this problem/bug in a different manner. After the release of IE7 and Vista, Redmondians are taking extra-care to make their product bug-free as possible. Then, how did this happened ?

The way I thought was right, there is a compatibility-view button. If you find the rendering of a page inaccurate, then you can click on that button, so that that particular page will be rendered in IE7 mode; thus fixing the bug. Also, all the pages from that domain will be rendered in IE7 mode.

I don't know, how many Linux fan-boys and Microsoft-haters enjoyed this bug; without knowing, Remondians are know as “The King of Softwares”

Windows Mail Error Code

Last week, I wrote about Windows Live Wave 3 beta review. However, you may get various error code, at time. Might during installation, or while using.

Recently I’ve  gone through a Knowledge Base article from Microsoft, which has all the error code(s), along with their reason.

Read Knowledge Base Article.

Failed with 0x80070643 – Fatal Error during installation

Hi, this content has been moved to Failed with 0x80070643 – Fatal Error during installation. Please visit the link: Failed with 0x80070643 – Fatal Error during installation to view the article.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thanks.

Wave from Windows Live Wave 3

Wow has started again with Windows Live Wave 3.

I like it the best. It’s the best windows Client from Microsoft ever. Ya! Im a Microsoft fan. But, it doesn't means that I’ll accept their every dull releases. I’s weird when I first used Vista Ultimate. I feel like, it’s the worst careless product from Microsoft. But, the giants solved it, as usual via Service Pack 1.

But, its time to speak about Windows Live Wave 3. Though its a beta release, I really like it on the first half an hour use itself. The most I liked among are; of course Windows Hotmail availability @ desktop itself. Because, I got some loading delay on IE8 Beta2; which I’s able to overcome easily. Also, it supports Yahoo! mail (plus only sadly) and Gmail.

Then comes, ability to support multiple weblogs including blogger and wordpress.

Oh! the best I like is it RSS Feed support. Because, I’s actually looking for a Desktop RSS Reader. Right now, I’s using NewzCrawler. Honestly, I’s not satisfied with Google Reader. I actually don't like the interface. Very sluggish. Also, they tried to make it just like Gmail. Its true that its fast and light-weight. I don't know how many of them cares about fast and light-weight services, when they are having a fast broadband connection. At least, I care about the look and feel, of a service which MS delivered to the world with maintaining Quality in all perspectives.

I’ve also installed Photo-Gallery and Movie Maker. But, didn't worked on it, since I'm am not a Media person.

I prefer daily ready-to-use services. WLW3 gave me a WOW in all perspectives.

Wait! I'm (and I’ll be) writing this blog from Live Writer.

WIndows Live Wave 3 download link

Redmondians have released its app-kit - Windows Live Wave 3. The reviews are positive.

Here is the direct download link, Windows Live Wave 3 (130 MB)

IE 8 Beta 2 Ready - for Download

At last, Microsoft start hitting the Internet again with the beta 2 release of the next-gen browser - Internet Explorer 8.

You can download, here.

Some of the notable features that's included are as follows:

a) Accelerators

They are known as Activities in beta 1. The technology allows users to find the defenition of a word, mapping an address or posting a blog-entry, that are available on vieweing page, instead of a new page.

b) Web-Slices

Brings the user’s favorite data (sports scores, weather reports, stock quotes, etc.) directly into the Favorites Bar. Changes and updates are retrieved and users are visually notified of the updated information status.

c) Visual Search Suggestion

In the Instant Search box, as users type a search term, they will receive real-time search suggestions from their chosen search provider, as well as results from the users’s own Favorites and browsing history.

d) Suggested Sites

These are recommendations about other, related sites that might be of interest. This feature must be enabled by the user; it’s not on by default.

If Beta 1 was meant for Designers, Beta 2 was meant for Users.
Happy Browsing...!!!