Newsletter Archives

• Latest Google Chrome update having problems in Win10

  Posted on September 5, 2015 at 17:09 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Just got a real good question from reader BS:

  WIN 10 seems to have shut down my Google Chrome and gmail. If the program does that, is there a quick fix until I get to read the For Dummies book?

  It isn’t Windows 10’s fault!

  Apparently the latest update to Chrome screwed things up so, if you run Chrome full-screen in Windows 10, it starts croaking. Immediate solution is to run Chrome at less-than-full screen, even if it’s only a slight bit smaller.

  Other Chrome, Windows 10

• Java and Chrome updates

  Posted on March 6, 2015 at 06:33 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Reader WL posted this in response to the Third Party Updates entry. It’s important, and I wanted to repeat it here, so everybody can see it. Thanks, WL!

  ::::::::::::::::::::::::

  Two more updates

  Java JRE 8u40 is the latest.

  Yep, it seems like Oracle changed the installer, so it does NOT remove previous versions. Unless you know you need a specific previous version, remove all of them (e.g. Windows Control Panel | Programs and Features, then uninstall previous versions). Or at least use the Java Control Panel to disable previous versions (Java tab, to “View and manage Java Runtime versions and settings for Java applications and applets.)

  http://java.com/en/download/installed8.jsp
  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/8u40-relnotes-2389089.html

  The Chrome browser has a MAJOR upgrade from 40 to 41, currently 41.0.2272.76 on March 3, with 51 security fixes and lots of changes.

  http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/

  I think this update introduces one new bug; relaunching after update caused my main/regular Chrome window to lose half its tabs (out of 10 tabs) – never had this happen before. To be safe, you may want to bookmark your tabs before relaunching (or look at your history to recover visited sites). Further restarts didn’t lose any more tabs, so the bug may be in the relaunch function.

  BTW, after years of bitching by users, Chrome finally offers “normal” standalone/offline installers. Yes, Google did have crippled ones in the past, but strongly discouraged their use – and “dead-ended” those installations by TAKING AWAY THEIR ABILITY TO UPDATE! Not anymore:

  Alternate (offline) Google Chrome installer (Windows)
  http://support.google.com/installer/answer/126299?hl=en

  Other Chrome, Java

• Windows third party program patches

  Posted on December 29, 2014 at 15:16 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  What a crop.

  Randy the Tech Professor writes with this list:

  The last set of third party program updates for 2014 are numerous: Adobe ColdFusion, Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Flash Player, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, SeaMonkey Suite.

  Full details on Randy’s site.

   

  Other Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Chrome, Firefox, Flash, Safari

• 12 Chrome extensions power users will love

  Posted on May 1, 2014 at 07:30 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I found some good, new ones.

  InfoWorld slide show.

  Other Chrome, extensions

• Google Chrome vs IE 10 in Windows 8 Metro

  Posted on June 13, 2012 at 19:11 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I was stunned by how well Chrome works.

  If you have Windows 8 RP, follow along with the steps in my InfoWorld Tech Watch article. Bet you’ll be surprised!

  Windows News Chrome, Internet Explorer 10, Metro, Windows 8

• Windows RT ‘isn’t Windows’

  Posted on May 11, 2012 at 22:26 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  And what that means in the latest browser kerfuffle…

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Windows News Chrome, Firefox, Windows RT

• Browser usage reports: Lies, damn lies and statistics

  Posted on March 22, 2012 at 22:39 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ve come to the conclusion that nobody has the slightest idea whether IE is used more than Chrome or Firefox.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Other browser usage, Chrome, IE, Internet Explorer

• What will Firefox and Chrome bring to Windows 8 Metro?

  Posted on March 14, 2012 at 23:34 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Far as I can tell, the rules don’t preclude some very interesting possibilities…

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Windows News Chrome, Firefox, Metro, Windows 8

• Browser share numbers show Chrome way up

  Posted on November 2, 2011 at 07:07 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  And Internet Explorer is slowly falling below 50%.

  Fascinating how the worm… er, the market has turned this year.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Other Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer market share, Safari

• Internet Explorer loses market share rapidly

  Posted on June 9, 2011 at 07:25 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  This is an unusual week – I have two stories in Windows Secrets newsletter, both of which cover important ground for Windows users.

  This one talks about the fall in use of IE. Interesting to see what’s in its place.

  This is paid content – but remember that you can subscribe to Windows Secrets Newsletter for whatever subscription fee you want to set. You pay what you think it’s worth to you.

  Windows News Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer

• Pwn2Own conclusion

  Posted on March 22, 2009 at 11:56 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The annual pwn2own (I pronounce it “pone to own”) contest just wrapped, with interesting results. DVLabs reports:

  The contest uncovered 4 new and unique critical vulnerabilities affecting the latest and greatest versions of IE, Safari and FireFox. The Chrome browser gets a small nod for being impacted by one of the flaws, although exploit is not possible using any current known techniques.

  You’ve probably seen the headlines about Internet Explorer 8 – the version that just came out – getting hacked, and how Microsoft swears it has a patch, less than 12 hours after the original “pwn” but just hasn’t delivered it yet.

  Interestingly, none of the mobile operating systems – Blackberry, Android, iPhone, Nokia/Symbian, or Windows Mobile – got hacked. I betcha bucks to buckaroos that’ll change next year.

  Other Chrome, cracking, Firefox, Internet Explorer 8, Pwn2Own, Safari

• Firefox on Windows hardest target to crack

  Posted on March 20, 2009 at 21:03 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Ryan Naraine just posted a fascinating interview with Charlie Miller, the guy who broke into a fully patched MacBook at the annual Pwn2Own competition at the CanSecWest security conference.

  Charlie confirms what you’ve known all along:

  It’s really hard to exploit Firefox on Windows… For all the browsers on operating systems, the hardest target is Firefox on Windows.

  Read what he says about Chrome. I, for one, was very impressed.

  Thanks to reader GE for the heads-up…

  Windows Patches/Security Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Pwn2Own
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