We are a bunch of tech geeks, coders and designers. Perform Your Automatic Windows Update »
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If we had a nickel for every time we see the Windows Update Shield icon in the system tray of a client’s computer, we would be retired by now. That little icon means you must take action to protect your computer with the latest updates from Windows.
Microsoft releases security patches on the second Tuesday of each month (called Patch Tuesday) so make sure you are performing Windows updates at that time. A good indication that you need to apply a patch is the little, yellow icon you see in the lower right corner of your screen. If you see that, click it and follow the prompts.
This month’s patch Tuesday sees Microsoft releasing a Security Update addressing 12 vulnerabilities and one of which is a patch for a Zero-Day issue in Internet Explorer. Check it out and if you see the little yellow icon, click it! It is there for a reason 
Another step you can take is telling Windows to apply the security updates automatically. Then, you will not even see the Update icon in the system tray. The updates will be applied and you will not even know, which is handy if you have ever said, “Hmm. What does that little Yellow Shield mean? Oh well. It is probably nothing important.”
So, if you are a Microsoft Vista user and want to setup Automatic Updates, here is the information to get you going with that. If you are still on Windows XP, here is the information for checking your Update status.
Rockmelt: Yet Another Web Browser »
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Just when you thought the web browser market was saturated, someone found a spot where another one could be squeezed in.
Make a little room between Google Chrome and Opera and you can shoehorn RockMelt into the mix. Yes, another way for people to view web pages and possibly another set of standards for which web designers have to prepare.
Rockmelt does have some pretty good backing, however. Do you remember the Netscape browser from the 1990s? The founder of that company, Marc Anderson, is a backer of Rockmelt.
Not much is known about Rockmelt at the moment and their website only has a spot where you can provide your email address to be sent more information. So we will have to wait and see.
At any rate, it faces a pretty packed market that already includes the likes of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari and Flock and a few others.
Most Computer Attacks From US »
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Symantec released its Internet Security Threat report last month and it contained some very interesting information with regarding the state of Internet security. Why should home computer users in the United States using Internet Explorer as their web browser pay particular attention?
Lenovo Will Pre-load Microsoft’s Web Toolbar »
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Lenovo desktop computers and laptops will start showing up with the Web Toolbar from Microsoft pre-loaded. The two companies announced their deal yesterday. Until that announcement, Google was the default toolbar for Lenovo, so I am sure Microsoft is hooting and hollering for two reasons:
- They grabbed some share from Google
- This is the first deal of its kind for Microsoft
Under the agreement, Lenovo will set live.com as the default homepage for the computer’s Internet browser and it will add the Microsoft toolbar for web searching. Of course, the end-user can change these default settings but most users do not and that is why securing a deal like this is so important to companies in the Search Engine business.
Lenovo is the third-largest PC maker in the world (they bought IBM a few years ago) and so this deal should have an immediate impact on Microsoft’s share of the Search Engine market (currently, they are 3rd behind Yahoo and Google).
Microsoft Patches Six Critical Flaws »
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When you are the world’s largest maker of software and your software runs on about 95 percent of the world’s computers, you are going to have to fix things on a regular basis. This month’s edition of Patch Tuesday brings us patches for 6 critical flaws in Microsoft software.
The patches fixed holes in Windows XP, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Works, Microsoft’s Malware Protection and Internet Explorer 7. Make sure that you are up to date with your patches. These fixed “critical” flaws in the software.
Microsoft defines “critical” this way:
…when the vulnerability could allow a damaging Internet worm to replicate without the user doing anything to the machine.
Meaning, you could lose control of your computer through just regular use (yikes).
If you are not setup for automatic updates, you can download the patches at Microsoft’s web site.
