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Windows Advantage Validation Process On Firefox
GraemeDonaldson writes "According to this IE Blog entry, Microsoft seems to be serious about supporting non-IE browsers. Mention is made of a Windows Media Player plugin for Firefox. The Windows Genuine Advantage validation process now works in Firefox too. From the article: 'Basically, customers said "We want to make sure our PCs are running genuine Windows and have access to all the content on the Microsoft Download Center; the experience when we're running a Mozilla browser is not great. Do something about it." Brad's team did. I think that's a good thing for customers.'"
What happens if you are running a pirated copy of Firefox?
If this isn't any proof that the end of the world is coming.... I don't know what is
Perhaps the monopolist is starting to get the point.
And my good pal Satan didn't even get a call from Billy boy?
:)
Just kidding, I am glad that this is the first positive sign that MS is taking Mozilla seriously.
Although they could have a trick up their sleeve.
First impression of this is positive though
Second impression is that they might break Firefox stuff on purpose to bring people back to IE, but that's the cynic in me.
This is the sig that says NI (again)
Office Updates? Microsoft Updates? Slow link response in Outlook (and other Office apps) if non-IE browser is default? There still is a ways to go for Microsoft before they can claim they are supporting browsers other than their own.
if you try and just go straight to the downloads page you still have to download GenguineCheck.exe and paste the code in. If I hadn't read the summary, I wouldn't have known about this plugin And somethign else that's interesting.. Even after installing the plugin and closing Firefox completely, when I return to the downloads page it STILL wants me to paste the validation code in
Swine Air flight 666 is now boarding at gate 13.
This can only be good news. Just last night, lack of ability to get downloads easily from Microsoft cost someone else (a small games publisher needing a recent DirectX version) money, as my other half and I gave up on the hassle of downloading from MS, and therefore didn't pay to download the puzzle game in question either. We both have 100% legal installations of Windows on our machines, and she was willing to pay the small asking price for a simple puzzle game she found enjoyable. Everyone lost.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
this is a sad day, what is next, a media player that can be installed on Vista, CD burning software from a third party, what is this world coming to! Actually in all fairness, this is a good thing even if I dont run firefox. It is nice to see M$ acknowlege the use of other browsers by doing something besides trying to stomp them out...
This is very usefull. Suppose you have a system where IE is heavily infected with spyware, but you do have a firefox installed. At least you can leave IE unused to get some of the necessary service packs for your windows system by using this alternative browser. Everytime I use firefox on windows to help somebody out, I still have to start IE to use the Microsoft tools to update a part of the system. The rest of the Microsoft site always worked very good in mozilla anyway (at least, I never ran into any problems, then again I am running linux fulltime since 2000, and before that 50% of the time, so I am probably not the most representitive user of the Microsoft website)
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
They would think seriously about supporting openDocument.
A firefox plugin that enables ActiveX. I'll be sure to download that!
I use firefox as much to avoid the heavy-handed control Microsoft and other corporations are trying to exert over how my PC should operate. Just now I'm noticing that macromedia is poping up an icon in my system tray! Hello?, it's a browser plugin. It should only do stuff within the browser!
'Basically, customers said "We want to make sure our PCs are running genuine Windows and have access to all the content on the Microsoft Download Center; the experience when we're running a Mozilla browser is not great. Do something about it."
Nope. I'll bet no-one said anything of the kind. I think it probably went more like this "FFS! f*cking MS doesn't work!" maybe...
Deleted
I am sorry but this is not all that surprising given the amount of anti-monopoly litigation in Europe and in the States. It cost less money to develop the code than get slapped with another huge fine.
too late
Hey! Is that Satan over there ice skating????
j/k Actually, I think this is a really smart move on MSFTs part. They realize that while they have the dominant desktop, many people are beginning to become smarter and make personal choices about what applications they use instead of just accepting whatever MSFT has chosen to provide. If they can make the desktop experience for people who still need Windows, but prefer to use OSS when possible, then great.
... until they start fixing some glaring bugs in Windows. I've got a legal copy of Windows XP, but the only reason I do is because it came with my laptop, and the only reason I got a laptop with Windows included is because it was crazy on sale. Were I buying a machine now, I'd get an Asus z70va and slap a pirate copy on it.
This machine has 1.25 GiB of RAM. Most of the time when I try to hibernate it -- if I've ever run anything memory-intensive, whether or not it's still open -- I get an "Insufficient resources to complete the API" error, and it doesn't hibernate. (I have about 30 GB of disk free, so that is most certainly not the issue).
There are all sorts of glaring flaws in Windows. Do I really care if I get access to the shit on Windows Update (Ooh, new version of Windows Media Player that probably still won't play oggs without me having to mess with codecs)? Not really. Security updates? Yay, I'll lose my install of Guild Wars, at worse, if someone gets past my firewall and "4dminist4t0r5" (doesn't quite sound like "r00ts", but whatever) it. All my *important* stuff is on the Linux half of this machine, and since Microsoft *still* doesn't have an ext3 filesystem driver, it's safe from the kiddies.
When Windows Update works like emerge, I might consider using it.
This just sounds like business as usual.
Just your textbook "Embrace and extend"
We really live in interesting times, but I want to be part of it.
I thought I'd be in the front seat by now, but in that damn corporate ladder, I'm still just a step above the guy who sorts the photocopies.
Contact me if you have an offer.
Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
Windows Genuine Hah.
Advantage Plug-in installation, not really an advantage for 'Ubuntu the geeks favorite"
One of Microsoft's main business principles even from way back is "Embrace and Extend"...
This would appear to be the "Embrace" part.
I'd like to see a Beowulf cluster of these things running Firefox on Windows.
Wait a minute, what am I saying?!?
NO NO BAD BAD BAD BAD THOUGHTS!!!!!!
It's good that they are throwing more support to other browsers instead of just IE. Sure IE has it's perks but so does every other browser, and it's good that they are making sure that they support some of these browsers better.
Add me as a friend!
Finally I can put midis on my webpages again! :)
Boy, I missed those since Netscape 4.
embrace and extend.
... would be nice.
They would think seriously about supporting openDocument.
It's called bargaining. "Oh, they support firefox, so they must not be THAT bad".
Do I really want ActiveX components running free in Firefox?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
they can't even do that without being obnoxious about it. sheesh.
-hj
Now if both browsers and programmers would adhere to the html standards we might actually get somewhere. I'm tired of testing my website in 3 browsers and seeing three different results :(
gasmonso http://religiousfreaks.com/Sounds like Microsoft is really going the whole "Media matters, method is moot," with everything they do beoing online accessible (ie Office Live etc). Go4it, I say.
A trim, fast, sparkly M$. Hooray! Hooray for the thinclient! Hooray!
How they can call this a firefox plugin ? The link point to Microsoft website to download Windows Media Player. If you already have WMP, you just have to configure the plugin settings in Firefox to play WMP stuff...
Ooh, and they must stop using Tibetan slave labor!
Oh, wait. They don't use Tibetan slave labor and they already said they'll be supporting OpenDoc.
...doesn't mean that Microsoft really isn't after our favorite browser.
I still can't sign up for empower in Safari, Firefox, Opera or even IE 5 Mac. But I need the Empower program to get my WinXP license so I can run IE for win. MS Catch-22?
Fleur de Sel
'Basically, customers said "We want to make sure our PCs are running genuine Windows and have access to all the content on the Microsoft Download Center; the experience when we're running a Mozilla browser is not great. Do something about it." Brad's team did. I think that's a good thing for customers.'"
Yeah, I installed this Windows the other day, had some sort of goofy foot for a start menu, Office didn't install, and I couldn't get any of my games to work. I'm glad now there is a way I can see if I actually have genuine Windows, and not that fake Windows going around.
Extinguish
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
I have read here that Google is paying a dollar for everyone you can get to switch from IE to Firefox. Is this true? Any Slashdotters acually made any money from this?
I'll be interested to see what Microsoft is going to do in Vista to try to spoil things for Firefox. My guess is even further integration of IE into Windows, and lots of stuff that doesn't even feel like you're using IE will actually be through their browser. Also, they're going to try to get more lock-in on the corporate intranet rather than the public web.
to brad, i choose firefox so i wouldn't have to deal with your crappy programming skills so...i don't think i'll be installing your plugin
I see your real agenda is protecting me counterfeit software: "The Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program is part of Microsoft's on-going effort to protect its customers and partners from counterfeit software, and increase customer awareness of the value of genuine Windows XP."
Thanks for the help but i can handle that on my own!
Microsoft actually listens to customers? Will wonders never cease...
Great.
So I'm guessing they ported sDisableWGACheck over, too.
Lets hope Firefox will swallow javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck=all) just like IE does.
...they already said they'll be supporting OpenDoc.
Where? I don't remember seeing this.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
It's about this site ==> https://pfs.mozilla.org/plugins/
I loaded it on both IE6 & Firefox(1.0.2)
Strangely, it renders very differently on the 2 browsers.
It renders much better on IE.
What's the story?
WindizUpdate: http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/
They've been around for a while now and aren't shady.
You use it just like the regular windows update site.
Supports Mozilla, Opera, AOL & K-Meleon (?)
AutoPatcher XP: http://www.autopatcher.com/
They provide windows updates every month packaged in
one big executable (Full and Lite versions available)
Available through http, ftp, & bittorrent
Alternatively, you can disrespect MS by using a cracked LegitCheckControl.DLL
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
I feel a bit left out.
...and already found a stupid bug. =p
Try installing Firefox/Mozilla/Whatever Mozilla-compatible browser you use in a non-standard installation folder (i.e. NOT [root]:\[Program files folder]\Mozilla [Firefox]) and try installing the plugin; it won't even ask you to look for the damn correct directory and blow up in mid-installation. XD
This is why I love Microsoft: Unsurpassable jokes every now and then. =p
120 char limit? How the hell am I supposed to cram my favorite sig quote and make it fit in here? =p
Sony: -1
MS: +1
Google: +3
The reason they are suddenly changing their tune is because they believe that the industry may be switching to LIVE SERVICES. If your service (such as Excel Live) doesn't work in one browser because you chose not to follow industry standards, that will mean that people will use another service.
Microsoft is afraid of people trying others services so they will want to make sure that they build code that is interoperable with other browsers especially now that Firefox has anywhere from 10-25% of the market share.
They can't afford to ignore other browsers now.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Pretty smart. They probably just wrapped IE in a Mozilla plugin. ;)
M$ to adobpt standards other than their own? what?
Why is it that I always seem to read this phrase from Microsoft... and yet don't always see it in practice? If it's something that may eat their monopoly, they say it's bad for the customers. Example? Open Document Format, and Linux. OpenDocument gives people the option of choosing office suites without the worry of format troubles. That's good for the customer. Linux distributions give customers the choice of platform. That's also good for the customer. Simply these two things increases competition, possibly increasing quality and, hopefully, lowering prices. Isn't that good for customers as well?
Perhaps the monopolist is starting to get the point.
1) Embrace
2) Extend
3) Extinguish
Steps 1 and 2 are now in place. In this case it's Mozilla/Firefox that gets embraced and extended, but what gets extinguished is open-source media formats.
By making a Mozilla plugin for their media product they reduce the pressure on content providers to supply content in other formats.
Meanwhile, any bets on whether / when use of the plugin starts "accidentally" introducing vulnerabilities into Mozilla that are exploitable during ordinary browsing? (Something like the backdoor {BARNdoor} you install in IE when you APPLY to obtain the full removal tool for Sony's rootkit?) And there goes security, the main driver of migration from IE to Mozilla.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Is Brad still employed with the same company? Is his electronic badge still working? Are their security cameras tracking his movements, recording his contacts today?
Doesn't this just mean that Microsoft doesn't give a hoot about the much-ballyhooed browser war anymore? So the OS community is winning a war against an enemy that's not fighting it anymore.
Firefox is teh awesome, I use it and Opera and Safari, never IE. But is this a victory?
We already know validation can be turned off in IE as follows: Go to IE>Tools>Manage Add-ons, find Windows Genuine Validation listed there, and select disable. No more check required, and you can get all your updates.
So how do we turn it off for Firefox? Ironic that I found it easier to turn off in IE, and I haven't yet found how to do it in firefox...
Overclockers
"Oh, they support firefox, so they must not be THAT bad".
Not to mention that if no one downloads it they can say "Well, people who don't use open source apps don't want support from Microsoft," and then drop the WMP plugin and use that as an excuse to not support OpenDocument.Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
"They would think seriously about supporting openDocument."
Microsoft doesn't sell IE, Firefox is low on their radar of threats.
Office, on the other hand, is a big reason why their operating system is so popular in both the business environment and at home.
Microsoft has recently decided they need to move into providing internet services rather than just selling software. If They want to make money selling services over the internet, does it really matter who made the browser? You'll still be logging into their proprietary applications services and forking over your cash. Why limit the customer base to ONLY that 85-90% that run your browser?
Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
this has anything to do with the recent debacle with anti-trust hearing and sending an email to vendors about how their media players can only use windows or something like - maybe it was their codecs.
has anybody heard anything about that and what the judge is going to do.
I remember microsoft's excuse - " the new guy did it "
wish I thought of that one -
M$ and OSS working together, utilizing slashdot, wikipedia, and now even Firefox to achieve their terrible goals. If this is not proof of THEM, then I don't know what is. Now that M$ can provide infinite funding, the slashdotting of the very fabric of space can now begin. Yes the universe is doomed.
480KB DLL for the validation? LOL
Be or ben't
Comment removed based on user account deletion
But the most important thing is.... does the Microsoft "Genuine Advantage" CRACK work in Firefox too?
http://instantbadger.blogspot.com
You know, alot of the comments here show that the "groupthink tools" mentality has really sunk in here. For Christ sakes, they are changing something that people bitch about here, only for people to COMPLETELY SIDE STEP WHAT THE DISCUSSION IS ABOUT and bitch about other things unrelated to it, just to fluff their epeen on anything anti-MS. I am glad to see that some people are actually saying something positive, ie that Microsoft is actually...um, you know...playing fair and recognizing they have competition. Thank you for helping support insightful discussions (which my post certainly is not! :))
Basically, customers said "We want to make sure our PCs are running genuine Windows...
Yep, I am sure that was an overriding concern!
Does my JavaScript still works?
Whats interesting is that the plugin for firefox is an ActiveX application. WMP installs some kind of ActiveX functionality into firefox (on the sly).
Just a moment ago I posted a reply elsewhere in this item. I suggested that installing Microsoft's media player plugin might open a backdoor {BARNdoor} in Mozilla/Firefox (like the one that APPLYING for Sony's rootkit uninstaller opens in IE). This would eliminate the big driver of migration from IE to Mozilla/Firefox: improved security.
I do believe you've found it.
Counting the hours to the first exploit...
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Why not build an XPI installer for the plugins? This is what Sun (Java) and Macromedia (Flash) do and it works very well.
There "download this, then hit refresh" method is a bit wonkey.
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
Hmm, I got a good laugh from the first sentence of their blog: The core of my team's job is to make IE7 and Windows Vista so compelling so that people choose our products.
What a concept. It makes you wonder what their original concept really was...
Does this mean they'll also commit to a Mac version of WMP that doesn't absolutely suck? I'm not holding my breath.
To me, it doesn't make sense at all that they would do this. I don't see what it wins them. The business decision would be, "How can we maximize profit?" Well, if we are the underdog, then we make interoperability king, just like they did with Excel back in the early '90s in order to take over the market from 1-2-3. If we are on top, though, interoperability is our enemy, and we want to prevent it as much as possible. For instance: if Office is a big money-maker, we don't want to make it easy to use OpenDocument.
Not that I'm arguing -- I use Firefox. But from a strictly business-oriented POV, I don't see the logic behind this. I guess, if I think about it, what they are probably trying to do is draw attention away from their lack of support for Free software where it actually costs them money -- i.e. OpenDocument.
This M$ program relies on spyware built into XP that keeps track of all the software on your machine. If you're fortunate enough to have an un-infected system (such as Win 2K) you can keep the Genuine (Dis)Advantage spyware off your machine when doing updates by following a simple procedure.
The antidote for misuse of freedom of speech is more freedom of speech.
-- Molly Ivins
I went to the site with Firefox on Linux and it gave me a popup telling me that a page will load telling me I will need to download some file. So I push OK, and it redirects me to the same page so that popup happens again. Infinite loop. Anyone else get this?
That microsoft is interested in how many people are actually using a different browser. How much more of a realistic view are they going to see if they don't force everyone to use IE. Or, perhaps this is research to use for more of their FUD.
I assume you mean a pirate-themed mozilla.
Actually, they said they _might_ support some form of OpenDocument if they determined that customers _really_ wanted it, and so far they hadn't had enough interest.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
Yes, I agree I did a bit of karma-whoring to post one or two comments in here according to the group-mentality. Yes, I'm sorry, I got carried on :(
*ahem* Anyway, remember it's the IE7 team doing the Firefox WMP plugins and such. Yes, the same ones that fixed those nasty guillotine bugs that made web programmers' lifes become a nightmare.
So, yes, I support their cross-browser compatibility effort. Now the only thing that worries me is that windows media DRM that can run remote code on your machine.
When are they going to fix the way Outlook Web Access runs on non-IE browsers? The current non-IE OWA is a 1990's-era frame-based piece of crap that lacks any ability to spell-check emails or search mailboxes. And they try to pass it off as a state-of-the-art web-based email client. What a joke.
...isn't great, either. When will it occur to them to do something about that?
I think Microsoft is suffering from terminal Big Company Disease, the situation in which a company loses focus on serving the customer and starts to obey the Three Laws of Necrotics:
1) First Law: hurt the competition. This is more important than anything else.
2) Second Law: don't cannibalize any of your own products, so long as this does not conflict with the First Law.
3) Third Law: Serve the customer, so long as this does not conflict with the First or Second law, and can be done in any spare time left over after dealing with more important priorities
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I know it's just so,sew, sow.
to bad, two far goed, too the moon.
Your conjugation is fine, third-person present tense. However, it's "a sense of humor" not "humor sense." ^_^ Otherwise, very good for a non-native English speaker. Those of us who are natives have enough trouble as it is.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
If you use Firefox normally, then how does IE become heavily infected with spyware?
I suspect it's the "free" downloads which have the spyware built in. There's a fair amount of them out there from MP3 ripping software to DVD playing. Many of them have achieved a high Google Pagerank for searches for things like "free dvd playing software" so people download them and don't carefully read the EULA for the notice of spyware^K^Kadvertising information collection software.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
I can't entirely blame plugin vendors for pushing upgrades hard-- Flash Player has a few buffer overrun bugs that have been picked on by spyware installers and the like, as have various versions of Sun's Java runtime, and I imagine it's somewhere between expensive and impossible to buy a ticket on the Windows Update patch train.
...when you're writing a game...tweak the difficulty of "Easy" to something [your mother] can cope with. -- onion2k
A bunch of us quit using IE and They made changes. If we keep it up who knows what will happen.
PS I am glad they are bundling IE with vista... how else would I be able to download firefox.
I don't understand your tagline regarding Mosaic. You don't have to remember it, it's an integral part of any IE browser, even today. Open your M$ browser and click Help then About. Mosaic is still there and M$ still pays licensing fees for it to SpyGlass. If you don't believe me, read the history for yourself.
In the browser wars, the paradigm shift was from the desktop to the web-browser, which was just a container for web-based content. The new container is the media player, folks! MS doesn't really care if you're using FireFox as long as it's Windows Media Player delivering rich content -- including advertising. The battle now is between Flash, Quicktime, Media Player, etc... This is not a magnanimous move by Microsoft, this is a no-nonsense strategy to make sure that Media Player is the container no matter what browser you're using.
Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.
Owner: We're closin' for lunch.
C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this Windows what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very store.
O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Redmondian Blue Screen... What's, uh... What's wrong with it?
C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. It's not Genuine, that's what's wrong with it!
O: No, no. It's, uh... it's a different window manager!
C: Look, matey, I know a non-Genuine Windows when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
O: No, no... He's Genuine. He's, he's... using a different window manager! Remarkable code, the Redmondian Blue Screen, isn't, eh? Beautiful skins!
C: Skins?! Mate, this Windows wouldn't "reskin" if you put four million volts through it! It's bleedin' fake!
O: No no! It's just a different window manager!
C: It's not a different window manager! It's a fake! It is illigitimate! It is unregistered! It is Not Genuine! The licence has expired and I'm being audited by its maker!
THIS IS AN X-WINDOWS!!
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I felt a tremor in the force just now...
- I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
Fortunately, it's easy to get compliant. Just click on the http://slashdot.org/relocate.pl?id=ac9f58e816ad004 50f94620496a5d529
Compare prices on Mozilla link in the right hand side of the browser...
Seriously, I use Windows Update about once a month. I'm perfectly happy firing up IE for that purpose. As for the Windows Media plugin, that would be nice, but RealPlayer already has one that can play .wmv's. I guess anything that can take me a step closer to being completely free of the evil RealPlayer is a good thing. Now if only I could get rid of the evil Quicktime player plugin.
Honestly, I think this is just another means for microsoft to get their tracking methods and more control over certain things that they had been loosing more and more of with the fall of popularity of their internet explorer "product." While Firefox and it's predecessors had actually been quite popular among those who know what they are doing for a while, the average joe farmer type didn't know anything about browsers, he just wanted to click on a link and it do everything for him. MS can't get much on the more knowledgable person's computer, but, average joe farmer has only just recently started to put Firefox on his system recently (on a relative scale.) With this solution, average joe farmer is going to back on their database where he belongs (according to them anyway.) Plus they need to exert a little control over Firefox and right now haven't a base to stand on to do it, so they have to start slow.
Call me cynical if you like, it's just that they've done similar enough things in the past.
It makes my wonder when (if ever) they will be forced to add a support for Open Document Format to their Office.
In other news, Microsoft is not the oppressive, overbearing monopolist tyrant everyone makes them out to be. Full story at 11.
I mean common, there's got to be some hidden motive behind this move, right? M$ is trying to shove its software onto OSS platforms now. OMFG! [/sarcasm]
Well, it went on an infinite loop for me.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
If Microsoft is truly serious about browser interoperability, why do they not support and have no plans to support Firfox with their new Hotmail interface (currently in beta)!
why bother linking to goat.cx nowadays? It doesn't even have the real goatse image on there anymore.
Mod parent -1: Troll
Word has more features than OpenDocument could store. That means that if MS *did* support OpenDocument, you'd be whining that they changed the file format to be incompatible (because it was needed to store the additional data in the Doc format), or they'd make it not the default format, meaning you'd whine that Word encourages people to open OpenDocument and save as .doc.
It's a lose-lose for Microsoft. Maybe when OpenDocument's standard supports enough features to save a Word document to, they'll switch over. Until then, why would they bother?
Comment of the year
*shrug* You probably never have to upgrade your DVD products. Me, I ran into a situation where the copy of WIndows XP I was sold was an illegal one (in retrospect, I should have asked more questions), but I didn't find out until 2 years later. *wry grin* My product key was accepted when I first tried validating the CD Key after I got it (it was probably one of the group licenses that they didn't catch until later) but a few months ago, I get a message saying I can't download updates because I'm running an illegal copy of XP. Now they tell me... good luck me providing any receipts to prove where I bought it. Meh, not like it bothers me too much. With ZoneAlarm running, not running IE or Outlook, and having disabled all of the Messenger services, I figure I'm safe enough for now. Microsoft isn't getting any more money from me unless I decide to upgrade.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
What a load of horse shit. This is very useful to Microsoft, no one else. Plugins?! Give me a break. Either you completely misunderstand the debate about open standards, you are corporate shill, or you are just plain ignorant. This move simply gives Microsoft more, not less, leeway to produce non-standard web content. If Mozilla/Firefox ever becomes a real threat, all they have to do is yank the plugin.
Stop IE. Add the following to your apache configuration. If it's OK for Microsoft, it's OK for the rest of us.
Then create noie.html as appropriate.
I wonder if those of us that dont allow the use of IE for anything other than Windows Updates are keeping Microsoft from gathering information regarding our browsing habits.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Now if they'll fix MSDN, I'll be happy with them again.
One thing that galls me about this is Microsoft's code always assumes you are using the machine you want to update. Am I the only one that has had to support machines that are not allowed direct access to the Internet? I do sometimes need to download files and take them to the correct computer. This can be a bitch when you use Linux as your desktop or want to download files with an older OS for a newer one. Good Grief
Not sure if this has been posted yet on slashdot, but Outlook Web Access (the web based interface that comes with exchange) now works in firefox, mozilla, safari, and opera. Maybe M$ is actually going after web standards *g*
I am d3matt
Maybe when OpenDocument's standard supports enough features to save a Word document to, they'll switch over.
It's too bad that Microsoft couldn't have influenced the OpenDocument standard before it was approved. And it's too bad that Microsoft can't influence new versions of the OpenDocument standard to support all of the features that they need.
Oh, wait. They could have. They chose not to. Guess they're not interested in switching over.
It's plain and simple not a 'supporting' situation for Firefox, but rather an excuse to realize that a nice chunk of their market which may be using non-genuine microsoft software (the geeks, techies, and their family/friends) are also using FireFox.
Isn't it obvious? Though I am happy to see support here, considering all it means is not programming everything in ActiveX, or loading up the activeX plugin for FireFox.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
Bah, all your pugins are belong to us!
Why not? They ported it to the Mac, a platform I would assume far different than Windows. Surely a non-trivial effort for a market share and raw install counts that was less then than linux is now. Given probably more than 70% of the (bloated) logic would would probably stand unchanged. I would think that for far less than a million, say 5 programmers at $100K (like MS pays any where near that for coders) would probably have a 1st cut done in 6 months and RC1 in a year. Look at REACTOS, they are recreating the entire underlying OS on a volunteer/part-time basis. Imagine their progress if they were paid salary and benefits. Many moons ago I was writing multi-platform SCSI scanner drivers, in far less than a year I had an extensive set of self-created tools that hid the proprietary OS & GUI calls with header macros, typedefs and wrapper functions that allowed us to code UI modules, different for each vendor, often different for each scannner model, using internal definitions. Admittedly they were similar platforms, WIN16, WIN32S (AH, the joys of "thunking"), WIN32 and OS/2. Had there been a scanner manufacturer willing to contract the work, I have no doubt that I would have been able to port to the linux environment with far less effort than I expended on getting WIN32S to operate.
The technical feasbility is certainly there, cost would be pocket change to Billy-Boy. There were probably enough linux enthusiasts mired by needing to interect with native windows customers & associates, who needed a sound and supported implementation of Word, that it would have been a good bet that it also have been a profitable product. Unsurprisingly, its politics and egos that make it improbable, not the technical or business hurdles.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
"Microsoft seems to be serious about supporting non-IE browsers." Maybe they could make an immediate impact in that pursuit by coding their own sites like MSN and MSNBC so the work in non-IE browsers. Right now if I want to use Firefox to browse either and watch a video clip I am SOL. Right now MSNBC ads seem to flicker and the page takes a while to completely load on Firefox, works fine in IE. Microsoft is pathetic and their dominance has peaked. Linux and Apple are going to seriously erode their market share once we get a look at Vista and it has the same issues. They can't even code a web site right and we expect them to work on ensuring other browsers work well on Windows? Get Winblows right first then everyone else will have an easy time running on it!
Tried installing the plug-in for Windows Advantage into my Firefox version 1.07. Guess what? Unable to install. I only got a dialogue box that just wouldn't go away. My conclusion? Microsoft is protecting me from my own stupidity in believe that I can use a plug-in from them.
An open mind is as vast as the universe