windows

A new security flaw in Microsoft's very popular Windows 7 operating system (OS) could open users up to a remote code execution and denial-of-service attack, Microsoft said in a security advisory on Tuesday evening. The vulnerability affects only ... 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. The flaw affects the Canonical Display Driver, or CDD.DLL, used in the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and DirectX drawing. The vulnerability is tied to the graphics system's desktop composition process. (Source: zdnet.com ) Microsoft: Remote Code Attack "Unlikely" Luckily, it ... (view more)

The curse of Windows Vista may have finally come to an end. Recently, Microsoft not only regained their lost customer satisfaction rating, but also managed to attain their highest rating to date, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index ... (ACSI) survey. All signs are pointing to Windows 7 as being the reason for the happy Microsoft customers. Vista Customer Satisfaction Rate Low Microsoft had much to lose with the release of Windows 7, especially since Vista was considered by many to be a marketing flop. The reaction to Vista became so negative that many credit it as the reason ... (view more)

A zero-day flaw has recently been discovered in the latest version of Apple's Safari browser. The flaw is considered to be "highly critical," the second-highest rating in the five-step threat-assessment system. It also has the potential to infect ... Windows PCs with malicious code. In actuality, the bug is the result of an error in the handling of the browser's parent windows. It can result in a "function call using an invalid pointer". Different Flaw, Same Tactics Malware peddlers might also attempt to exploit the vulnerability by creating a malicious site and coaxing users into coming to the ... (view more)

Beware any program that describes itself as a Windows 7 compatibility checker promising to verify whether or not your system can run Microsoft's new operating system (OS). Prominent security firm BitDefender first reported the attack earlier this ... week, but noted that the problem has not yet become widespread. However, because the Trojan appears genuine, it could actually have an enormous impact on users in the near future. Trojan Emulates Microsoft in Emails As one might expect, scammers are using the popularity of Windows 7 to spread malware. "This [Trojan is in particular is appealing to ... (view more)

A group of security researchers say they've found a workaround for just about every antivirus product on the market today, effectively making Windows-based security programs totally useless. Security research site Matousec.com recently issued an ... advisory for a process that allows malware to evade security detection. Note that this doesn't just apply to Microsoft's free Security Essentials software or other freeware antivirus products, but also targets full software packages from industry leaders like Norton, BitDefender and McAfee. Matousec's Morphing Malware According to reports, Matousec. ... (view more)

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has refused to confirm reports that it has cancelled work on a Windows-based tablet computer. In addition, its website still includes promotional material for the device, known as the Slate. Rumors suggested the firm encountered ... several problems with the device: Windows 7 apparently ran slowly and didn't convert well to a touch screen interface, while the Slate's Intel processor soaked up too much power, which could have made a practical battery life difficult to achieve. However, several analysts have noted that posts on an HP blog which deal with the device are still ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed earlier reports that Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) will not run on XP . That's prompted speculation that the company may be using the browser as a way to encourage users to upgrade to Windows 7. Some sources speculated that a ... future update to either the browser or operating system might alter the lack of support for Microsoft's current #1 operating system (OS). But this week Microsoft's Giorgio Sardo confirmed IE9 will never run on Windows XP. Going by the statistics, it seems an odd decision to not have the browser on XP. Even though Windows XP is nine years old and has ... (view more)

Just five weeks after it was forced to release an emergency patch for a zero-day flaw in Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft may again have to consider yet another out-of-schedule fix for an unaddressed problem with its software. In the meantime, the ... upcoming May Patch Tuesday (due next week) addresses just two "critical" issues. Microsoft typically releases a batch of fixes for various software issues and security threats affecting its products on the second Tuesday of every month. In past months, the number of fixes offered have ranged from high to low: in March, the number of vulnerabilities ... (view more)

Looking back now, it seems inevitable that Windows 7 would eclipse the much-disliked Windows Vista, released three years ago amidst absentee fanfare. Now, we've got perfect proof of Microsoft's success in improving upon the latter: Windows 7 has now ... passed its predecessor as the most-used operating system (OS) in the world. Impressively, it took just seven months for Windows 7 to achieve that feat. Early predictions had been that it would take the new OS until sometime this summer to pass Vista, but in the end the process was complete only weeks after the ushering in of spring. Compatibility ... (view more)

It would appear two potential rivals to Apple's iPad have been bumped off by their parent companies in just a few days' time. According to reports, Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Slate tablet , which planned to use Windows 7, has been cancelled. The news ... comes less than a week after word that Microsoft had nixed its Courier device. Microsoft admitted last week that it had no plans to release a final version of Courier, a dual-screen, touch screen tablet computer that opened up like an old-timey book and used a stylus for navigation. That wasn't such a huge surprise, since Courier received most of its ... (view more)