Microsoft Releases Visual C++

In separate moves, Microsoft has released its Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack but discontinued extended support for the Visual Basic 6.0 IDE.

The feature pack had been available in a beta release since January, said S. “Soma” Somasegar, senior vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division, in his blog this week.
“The Feature Pack provides several exciting features for C++ developers, such as a major update to MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class) and an implementation of TR1 (Technical Report 1). Using the included MFC components, developers can create applications with the ‘look & feel’ of Microsoft’s most popular products — Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and Internet Explorer,” Somasegar said.

TR1 is a document that featured a Visual C++ implementation with extensions to the C++ ISO standard. Microsoft’s implementation of TR1 contains such features as regular expression parsing and sophisticated random number generators.

Also included in the feature pack are a component for the Office 2007 Ribbon Bar, Visual Studio docking, auto hide windows, and Windows Vista theme support.

The feature pack is downloadable by any Visual Studio 2008 Standard or above customer, Somasegar said.

Also this week, Microsoft ended extended, paid support for the Visual Basic 6.0 IDE, which is more than 10 years old.

“If you haven’t converted all your apps to .Net, shame on you, but don’t freak out. Microsoft will continue to support the VB 6.0 runtime for all existing application in all the next versions of the Windows OS, including Windows Server 2008 and Vista,” said Microsoft’s Jeff Nuckolls, a technology specialist, in a blog entry from last week. Nuckolls still advised that users devise a migration plan.

An online petition in 2005 sought to save Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic for Applications. Still available, that petition has gathered 13,341 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. A Visual Basic user who had participated in the petition drive downplayed his need for support of Visual Basic 6.0 Wednesday afternoon.

“‘Support’ is not something I need or have needed outside the peer support of other VB developers,” said Visual Basic user Don Bradner. “Now if it gets to where I can’t write a VB6 app or my VB6 apps won’t run, that’s a lot different; it is also likely to be a long way into the future.”

Adobe Patches ‘PWN To OWN’ Bug in Flash Player

Adobe Systems Tuesday plugged the Flash Player hole used by a hacker two weeks ago to take down a Windows Vista machine and claim a $5,000 prize in the “PWN To OWN” exploit challenge.

Adobe’s update to Flash Player — the popular program and browser plug-in used to view online content — patched seven vulnerabilities, including several that could be used by attackers to hijack machines running the flawed software. Among the seven was the one used to break into a Fujitsu notebook during the hacker contest sponsored by 3Com’s TippingPoint, which operates a bug bounty program called Zero Day Initiative.

Last week, Adobe claimed it had known about the Flash bug before it was used by Shane Macaulay of Security Objectives to hack one of the laptops up for grabs at CanSecWest, and would add a fix for it to a previously scheduled update this month.

Adobe had announced the April update about four weeks ago, but had left the timeline vague, saying only that it would refresh Flash sometime during the month.

The majority of the patches applied to Flash Player quashed bugs in how the software handled .swf files, the proprietary Shockwave Flash format. One of the .swf vulnerabilities had been reported to Adobe back in December 2007 by Google researcher Rich Cannings, who pointed out the format could be used to launch cross-site scripting attacks, which are commonly deployed by identity thieves and phishers.

Earlier, Adobe had issued updates to its Web developer tools that crank out .swf files, and told Web operators and site designers to make changes to their pages before it released yesterday’s end-user update. If they didn’t get rid of the older .swf files, they risked users being unable to access Flash content on their sites, Adobe warned.

Sun to Tout Hosting Platform

Sun will discuss on Thursday a research and development project intended to provide a hosting platform for delivering Internet-based services.

Called Project Caroline, the technology is on the agenda of a Sun Labs Open House taking place at Sun offices in Menlo Park, California. The platform comprises a programmatically configurable pool of virtualized compute, storage, and networking resources, according to Sun.

The Project Caroline Web page states that the project is designed to serve an emerging market of small and medium-sized SaaS providers.

“Anticipating needs driven by new SaaS business models and processes, Project Caroline helps SaaS providers develop services rapidly using high-level programming languages like the Java programming language, Ruby, Python, and Perl to update in-production services frequently and to automatically flex their use of platform resources to match changing runtime demands,” the Web page states.

Services can programmatically allocate, monitor, and control virtualized compute, storage, and networking resources via Project Caroline. Interfaces are featured for managing platform resources.

Developers can build services that update and flex platform resources usage. Project Caroline resources are exposed via high-level abstractions, including virtual machines, networks, and network-accessible file systems and databases. A horizontally scaled pool of distributed resources is presented as a single system to provide developers with a unified platform for allocating and controlling resources.

Also on the Open House agenda are OMS, pertaining to a royalty-free media system; Project Live, approaching software distribution and configuration by combining the firmware model with customization; and the Lively Kernel project for Web programming.

Other agenda items include: Project Wonderland, an open-source toolkit for building 3D virtual worlds for business and education collaboration; Project Darkstar, which is a gaming server; and Project MiRTLE (Mixed Reality Teaching and Learning Environment).

HP Ships Ultraportable Laptop with Via Inside

Hewlett-Packard unveiled its Compaq 2133 ultraportable laptop, which uses a C7-M microprocessor from Taiwan’s Via Technologies instead of a chip from Intel.

The sleek device represents a significant design win for Via, which has struggled to win business from top-tier PC makers in the face of stiff competition from Intel. The win is even more remarkable because Intel just released its Centrino Atom package for handheld computers and will start shipping a line of low-cost Atom chips designed for laptops like the 2133 during the third quarter.

HP chose the C7-M because it met the thermal requirements needed for the 2133, according to Philip Devlin, a product marketing manager at HP Asia-Pacific, adding that Via has long provided microprocessors for HP’s line of thin clients.

Another important consideration was timing. The C7-M was ready when HP wanted to make the 2133 available, Devlin said.

The 1.19-kilogram 2133 has an aluminum-alloy case and is priced from US$499 to $899, depending on the configuration. The laptop comes with a C7-M processor running at 1GHz, 1.2GHz or 1.6GHz, and runs Windows Vista or SuSE Linux Desktop 10. Standard features include an 8.9-inch screen with a resolution of 1,280 pixels by 768 pixels, a nearly full-size keyboard, a Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot, and an ExpressCard slot. It also has wireless interfaces for Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.

When it comes to storage, users have the choice of a 120G-byte hard disk or a 160G-byte disk. A 4G-byte solid-state drive is available for Linux, and HP expects to offer an 80G-byte SSD as an option for both operating systems during the third quarter.

The 2133 gets around two hours of battery life with the standard 3-cell battery and four hours with a 6-cell battery, Devlin said.

Devlin declined to comment on whether HP plans to use Via’s upcoming Isaiah processor with the 2133, but said the chip is “a point of conversation” between the two companies.

Isaiah is expected to offer significantly more performance than the C-7M processor while offering the same thermal characteristics. The two chips are pin-compatible, which means that no work will be required to adapt the 2133 — or any other computer that uses the C7-M — for the new processor. Laptop makers simply swap the C7-M for the newer chip, when it becomes available.

Yahoo Adds Video to Flickr

Yahoo has added support for video to its photo sharing site Flickr.

Yahoo wants users to start sharing videos, shot by still cameras, camcorders and camera phones, as well as photos, and Video on Flickr provides an easy solution for consumers, according to the company.

Video can be up to 90 seconds long, and no more than 150M bytes in size. To upload video you have to be a Flickr Pro user, but everyone can watch.

Users can upload videos directly from mobile phones, and integrate videos and photos into a stream.

There is also an API for third-party developers to create programs or services using authorized video submitted to Flickr.

Whether it will be able to compete with Youtube remains to be seen, but Yahoo thinks there is a huge untapped market of which it can take advantage.

More than 40 percent of consumers between 18 and 44 are capturing personal video clips with their digital cameras, but they are not taking advantage of Web sites to effectively share their videos.

Fifty-five percent of respondents to a survey commissioned by Yahoo said they merely play back video clips for their friends on their camera device or PC, and 20 percent don’t share these clips at all.

Canon Rolls Out a Portfolio of Next Generation Products

Canon India announced the launch of 23 next generation digital camera and camcorder products of its camera division. The launch also introduced technologies in sync with the youth trends and lifestyle of today.

At the launch Canon unveiled products from Canon’s Imaging Communication Products division which included 8 Digital Compact Cameras, 12 Digital Video Camcorders, 1 Digital SLR and 2 Selphy printers.

The first revolutionary technology introduced is the “Flash Memory” in the new Canon HF10 dual flash camcorder. This technology offers dual advantage to the customer and makes it possible to reduce the size of device and make it a compact stylish package. Battery life is extended with the use of flash memory, as less power is required to operate the camcorder as compared to other storage media types.

The camcorders have other interesting features like quick start to offer ease and convenience to the customers. With the user-friendly and compact HF series camcorders, users can enjoy upto 6 hours of high-quality HD video footage (using Long Play mode)  and a 16GB internal flash memory is offered by HF10. Flash memory storage allows HF10 to be designed in a compact and lightweight form factor that fits comfortably in the user’s hands. Flash memory also offers the advantages of fast read and write speeds for storing video recordings.

With the launch of the dual flash camcorder, Canon claims it to be the only company offering all formats of video camera offering including High definition, Cassette, DVD and now flash with HF10. The range also includes features of advanced zoom which is the highest in the industry at 45x in a compact body.

The camcorders also come with additional features like Instant Focus, Video light , a new user interface and search function in the review mode and are other features which have been introduced. Canon Digital camcorders currently contribute 10% to the camera division turnover and this new launch is expected to increase this contribution to 20% by Dec 2008.

Canon also unveiled their new digital compact camera products with the  latest technology on face select and track, motion detection  and AF ”point” zoom. In face select and track, the main subject always stays within the frame and the camera tracks the subject. In Motion Detection, the camera ensures clear pictures even if the subject moves.
This is achieved due to automatic adjustment of setting. AF Point Zoom technology enables the user to review one main subject within a wide frame pre and post shooting. The new launch includes Selphy printers with more lifestyle look with curvature which offer more options for creative printing.

The digital camera now comes in new body colours, robe design axiz and different curves and shapes. In the D-SLR portfolio, there is a new feature of ‘live view’ alongwith higher megapixel. The EOS 450 D features Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, a powerful DIGIC III Image Processor, plus a new 12.2 megapixel CMOS Sensor and is available in a kit with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens with Optical Image Stabilizer.

Adobe Rolls out Media Player With Video Content

Adobe Systems debuted a new media playing software, Adobe Media Player 1.0 (AMP) along with online programming instructional video content on how to use the company’s products, it said Wednesday.

The move makes Adobe the latest player to get into the online video space, offering not only software that rivals Apple’s Quicktime and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, but also video content such as episodes of “CSI: Miami” and “CSI: New York,” along with other feature programming and music videos.

Based on Adobe’s Flash technology, Adobe Media Player contains both content creation and playback components, and is available for Windows and Mac.

Adobe Media Player may be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/mediaplayer/. Pricing information for the video content publishing software was not immediately available.

Additionally, Adobe TV material can be viewed at http://tv.adobe.com. All of the instructional videos on the site were created using only Adobe software for the relevant components, the company said.

Microsoft Patches Critical Bugs in Windows

Microsoft has posted eight security updates — more than half marked “critical” — that patch 10 bugs in Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.

Of the 10 vulnerabilities plugged, Microsoft labeled seven as critical, the highest rating in its four-step threat-scoring system. Of the remainder, two were pegged as “important” and one as merely “moderate.”

Analysts agreed that the most serious vulnerabilities disclosed today were the two plugged by MS08-021, a critical update for every currently supported version of Windows, including the just-released Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) and the even newer Windows Server 2008. “That’s right across the board,” said Tyler Reguly, a security research engineer at nCircle Network Security.

“All versions of Windows are affected,” echoed Amol Sarwate, manager of Qualys’s vulnerability research lab. “You don’t need to have any special software on your PC to be vulnerable.”

The MS08-021 update, said Microsoft in the advisory accompanying the release, fixes two flaws in Windows’ GDI, or graphics device interface, one of the core components of the operating system. Attackers can use malformed WMF (Windows Metafile) or EMF (Enhanced Metafile) image files to trigger the bugs and “take complete control of an affected system,” said Microsoft.

“Users who simply view an image online or in e-mail could be compromised,” said Sarwate.

Both Sarwate and Reguly noted that there are similarities between the two new GDI vulnerabilities and ones revealed in late 2005, which were extensively used by attackers for months afterward. In fact, Microsoft patched that earlier GDI vulnerability — which was also exploited by malicious WMF and EMF files — “out-of-cycle,” or outside of its normal second-Tuesday-of-the-month update schedule.

Nokia Readies iPhone Response

Nokia remains at work on its answer to the Apple iPhone, codenamed “Tube,” a company official said on Monday.

Shown in a slide at the Evans Data Developer Relations Conference in Redwood City, California, Tube looks similar to the popular iPhone. The Nokia device showed graphical displays, such as a promotion for the movie Shrek the Third. Other capabilities will be featured, such as the ability to upload photos.

“It’s our first touch device,” said Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia. Interfacing with the system is done via touch similar to the iPhone. He said the company has not published the planned date of shipment for Tube.

Nokia believes it can compete with iPhone, and during his presentation, Libretto compared volume shipments of iPhone to Nokia’s shipments of phones. Since the launch of iPhone in June, Apple has shipped 5 million to 6 million of the devices, paling in comparison to Nokia’s device shipments, Libretto said. “We’ve done that [volume] since we’ve had dinner on Friday,” he said.

(Apple afterward said 4 million iPhones had shipped worldwide by January.)

The Tube will support Java, something Apple has been reluctant to do with iPhone.

Windows 7 Release Set For 2009

Microsoft has dropped two strong hints in the past two days that the next version of its Windows operating system will arrive in 2009, shaving up to a year off previous expectations.

It could also be a signal that Microsoft intends to cut its losses with Windows Vista, which has been poorly received or shunned by customers, especially large companies.

Microsoft has long said it wants to release Windows 7 about three years after Vista, which was released to manufacturing in November 2006 but not officially launched to consumers until January 2007. Given Microsoft’s recent track record – Vista arrived more than five years after XP – most outsiders had pegged some time in 2010 as a safe bet for Windows 7’s arrival.

But News.com reported on Friday that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates answered a question at a business meeting in Miami about Windows Vista by saying “sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version”.

And during its announcement on Thursday that it would extend the availability of Windows XP Home for low-cost laptops. Microsoft said it would retire the operating system only after June 30, 2010, or one year after the release of Windows 7, whichever comes later.

That implies that Microsoft is targeting the middle of next year for some sort of release milestone for Windows 7 – the only codename known at the moment – although whether that would be a final release to consumers or an RTM, which allows businesses and OEMs to start installing it, is unknown.

A Microsoft spokeswoman told Computerworld US the company “is in the planning stages for Windows 7 and development is scoped to three years from Windows Vista Consumer GA”. She said the company was providing early builds of the new operating system to gain user feedback, but otherwise was not providing further information.

Gates also said that he was “super-enthused about what [Windows 7] will do in lots of ways” but didn’t elaborate.

What could those be? Microsoft has divulged a few things. Responding to criticism that Windows has become unnecessarily bloated, the company has 200 engineers developing a slimmed-down kernel called MinWin that uses 100 files and 25MB, compared to Vista’s 5,000 files and 4GB core and is so small it lacks a graphical sub-system.

Microsoft has also confirmed that the operating system will come in consumer and business versions and in 32bit and 64bit editions.

Screenshots of early betas of Windows 7  build 6519 of Windows 7 released in December

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Microsoft needs to start generating excitement about its software months or years in advance in order to prepare its millions of reselling partners.

But if it talks up Windows 7 too much, it runs the risk that large companies – Microsoft’s most profitable customer segment – will hold on to their Windows XP machines and skip Vista entirely in favour of Windows 7.

That appears to be happening. A recent enterprise survey by Forrester Research showed that only 6.3 percent of enterprises were running Vista at the end of December, with most of the upgrades coming at the expense of aging machines running Windows 2000, not XP.

The vast majority of the 100 million copies of Vista that Microsoft has sold so far have gone to individuals and small businesses purchasing new PCs.

The least-loved version of Windows has long been Windows Millennium Edition (ME), a buggy minor upgrade that was superseded by XP within a year of its release. Despite its far greater – some would say, too great – technical ambition, Vista may end up lumped together with ME as one of the blips on Windows’ long-term roadmap.