Gregg Keizer
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Apple quashes 3 zero-days with emergency Mac update
Apple yesterday issued an emergency security update for the Mac, patching the same trio of vulnerabilities the company fixed last week on the iPhone. According to one of the groups that first revealed the flaws, the vulnerabilities could have been "weaponized" for use against OS X, the Mac's operating system. The out-of-band update was aimed at OS X El Capitan (aka 10.11) and Yosemite (10.10), the 2015 and 2014 editions, respectively. Older versions, including 2014's OS X Mavericks, went unpatched: Apple is nearing the release of its annual Mac operating system upgrade and thus the end of support for the edition of three years ago. Like the urgent update Apple released last week for the iPhone -- iOS 9.3.5 -- the Mac patches quash three bugs, two in the operating system's kernel and the third in the Safari browser.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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No let-up in devastating decline of Microsoft’s browsers
Microsoft's browsers continued to hemorrhage users last month, with no sign that the bleeding will stop.According to Internet analytics vendor Net Applications, the combined user share of Internet Explorer and Edge fell 2.2 percentage points in August, ending the month at 32.5%. It was the fourth month in the last six where IE + Edge lost more than 2 points, and the second-largest decline in the 11-year history of Computerworld's recording of Net Applications' data.The brutal erosion of Microsoft's browser share has been unprecedented, rivaled only by the plunge of Netscape Navigator, which Internet Explorer dethroned in the second half of the 1990s. In the past six months, IE has lost more than 12 percentage points of user share; since the first of the year, IE has shed 16 points.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Windows 10 growth slowdown has bright side
Although Windows 10's growth slowed in August, the one-year-old operating system didn't slam on the brakes as expected, according to data from multiple analytics sources.The smaller-than-anticipated slowdown may signal the start of enterprise deployments, a move that would vindicate Microsoft's efforts to nudge businesses to adopt the OS faster than they had earlier editions.According to U.S.-based metrics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10 gained 1.9 percentage points of user share during August, putting its mark at 23% of all personal computers for the month.INSIDER Review: Enterprise guide to Windows 10 Windows 10 powered 25.4% of all machines running Windows: The difference between the user share of all PCs and only those running Windows stemmed from the fact that Windows powered 90.5% of all personal computers, not 100%.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft conscripts upload bandwidth in Windows 10’s latest Insider update
Microsoft today updated the Windows 10 beta, switching on a controversial technology that commandeers users' upload bandwidth to shift some responsibility for updating from the company's own servers.Build 14915 was released earlier Wednesday to participants in the Windows Insider "Fast" track.The notable change highlighted by Dona Sarkar, the software engineer who acts as the public face of Insider, was the enabling of Windows 10's "Delivery Optimization" technology.INSIDER Review: Enterprise guide to Windows 10 Delivery Optimization, formally dubbed "Windows Update Delivery Optimization" (WUDO) by Microsoft, was part of Windows 10 from the get-go. But it was only switched on as of the November 2015 upgrade, which was pegged as 1511. Insider builds of Windows 10, however, were exempt until now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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EFF condemns Windows 10 data collection
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is lambasting Microsoft over Windows 10's telemetry technology, urging it to "come clean" with customers.In a piece posted last week to the EFF's blog, Amul Kalia, the San Francisco-based advocacy organization's intake coordinator, criticized Microsoft's practice of collecting large amounts of data from Windows 10 users."Windows 10 sends an unprecedented amount of usage data back to Microsoft, particularly if users opt in to 'personalize' the software using the OS assistant called Cortana," wrote Kalia, referring to the voice-controlled digital aide. "Microsoft should come clean with its user community. The company needs to acknowledge its missteps and offer real, meaningful opt-outs to the users who want them, preferably in a single unified screen."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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macOS Sierra’s beta cadence points to October launch
Apple's macOS Sierra has been on a slower tempo of preview releases than last year's El Capitan, hinting that the upgrade will launch in October. macOS Sierra's release tempo of developer preview builds (in green) is about two weeks behind the 2015 timetable of El Capitan (in red), hinting at a later launch this year, perhaps around mid-October. Although Apple has been somewhat more transparent in its development process -- earlier this year it launched a new preview program for the Safari browser -- the Cupertino, Calif. company still does not publicly mark release dates on a calendar.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Windows smartphone sales collapse
Sales of Windows smartphones plunged 76% in the second quarter, plummeting from 8.2 million in 2015 to less than 2 million this year, researcher Gartner said today. The dramatic decline was more fallout from Microsoft's botched acquisition of Nokia's handset business, the writing off of more than $10 billion and the subsequent decision to back out of the consumer smartphone market. According to Gartner, global sales of Windows-powered smartphones in the June quarter came to just under 2 million units. In a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, Microsoft put its smartphone sales at around 1.2 million. The difference between Gartner's and Microsoft's numbers -- about 750,000 smartphones -- represented what the former believed other device makers sold during the quarter.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft’s new plan to save Edge: reward points
Microsoft today made a play to boost usage of Edge with an awards program that gives users points for browsing with the Windows 10 application."Earn points for every hour of active browsing ... up to 30 hours a month," Microsoft announced on a promotional page.To qualify for points in the new program -- formerly Bing Rewards, rebranded as Microsoft Rewards -- Edge users must have the Bing search engine as the browser's default. Microsoft defined "active browsing" as meeting two conditions: Edge had to be the highlighted icon in the taskbar -- meaning it was the only app in focus on the desktop -- and the user had to be "engaged with the browser" via clicking, mouse movements or watching full-screen video.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft to end decades-old pick-a-patch practice in Windows 7
Microsoft yesterday announced that beginning in October it will offer only cumulative security updates for Windows 7 and 8.1, ending the decades-old practice of letting customers choose which patches they apply."Historically, we have released individual patches ... which allowed you to be selective with the updates you deployed," wrote Nathan Mercer, a senior product marketing manager, in a post to a company blog. "[But] this resulted in fragmentation where different PCs could have a different set of updates installed leading to multiple potential problems."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft to end decades-old pick-a-patch practice in Windows 7
Microsoft yesterday announced that beginning in October it will offer only cumulative security updates for Windows 7 and 8.1, ending the decades-old practice of letting customers choose which patches they apply."Historically, we have released individual patches ... which allowed you to be selective with the updates you deployed," wrote Nathan Mercer, a senior product marketing manager, in a post to a company blog. "[But] this resulted in fragmentation where different PCs could have a different set of updates installed leading to multiple potential problems."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Apple’s habits peg Sept. 7 for iPhone 7 reveal
Apple will unveil the newest iPhones in just over three weeks, on Wednesday, Sept. 7, if the company sticks to a well-worn groove that makes its biggest product launch predictable.The date fits with previous iPhone cycles, notably last year's introduction of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.Apple unveiled those models on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, preceded by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014; the iPhone 5S and 5C on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013; and the iPhone 5 on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012.Like last year, a Wednesday roll-out is probable because of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., which falls on Sept. 5. If Apple hosted the event on Tuesday, Sept. 6, employees would have to work on the off day to prepare, and the invited reporters and analysts would have to travel on Labor Day.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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End to free upgrade halts rapid Windows 10 growth
As expected, Windows 10's usage share growth sank after Microsoft ended the free upgrade it had offered customers for the past year. According to analytics vendor StatCounter, Windows 10's week-over-week gains in the first two weeks of August were 0.13 and 0.15 percentage points, respectively. The increases were the smallest of any two-week span this year, with the exception of two different times -- in April, again in July -- when Windows 10's share fell from one week to the next. If the remainder of August plays out the same as the first half, Windows 10 will post a one-month increase about a third of July's and approximately a fourth of June's.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft relents on shorter Windows 7 support decree
Microsoft today repudiated an early retirement date for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support, saying that it will patch those operating systems on PCs running Intel's Skylake silicon until 2020 and 2023, respectively.The move was a complete rollback of a January degree that Microsoft called a "clarification" of its support policy. Under the January plan, Microsoft would have ended most support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on July 17, 2017, if the operating systems were powering machines equipped with Intel's now-current Skylake processor family.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft pledges two Windows 10 upgrades in 2017
Microsoft has committed to delivering two Windows 10 feature upgrades to customers next year after issuing only one in 2016.The company released the one Windows 10 upgrade for this year last week when it shipped 1607, the version identified by its year and month, but also dubbed "Anniversary Update."Windows 10 1607 is it for the year, Microsoft said. "Based on feedback from organizations moving to Windows 10, this will be our last feature update for 2016," wrote Nathan Mercer, a senior product marketing manager, on a company blog.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft reduces Windows 10 roll-back grace period
Microsoft has reduced the I-changed-my-mind period in Windows 10 by two-thirds, cutting it from 30 days to 10, the company confirmed.Users who upgraded to Windows 10 were able to roll back to the preceding Windows as long as they did so within 30 days. To make that possible, Microsoft stored the older operating system in a special folder on the device's drive, consuming up to 5GB of storage space. After the grace period expired, the folder's contents were deleted.With last week's Anniversary Update, aka version 1607, the 30 days were reduced to 10. (Microsoft identifies its major upgrades using numerals representing year and month of the release.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Surveys suss out Windows 10 enterprise migration timelines
Enterprises are eager to get Windows 10 onto their workers' PCs. Or they're in no rush.They see the just-released Anniversary Update as a major milestone. Or they don't.And some expect to have a majority of their PCs running Windows 10 in just a year from now. Or they believe it'll take twice that long.Recent surveys of IT administrators, managers and professionals displayed those opinions, and more, showing little consensus on anything other than the broadest trends that first, corporate IT likes Windows 10 a lot more than it did Windows 8, and second, Windows 10 will replace Windows 7 as the go-to operating system.Windows 10's adoption in the enterprise will be critical to the OS's success, especially from this point forward: The consumer-centric free upgrade offer has expired and the historic slump in PC shipments, mostly blamed on consumers' refusal to buy new systems to replace aged ones, continues unabated.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Windows 10 finishes first year on 1-in-4 Windows PCs
Windows 10 wrapped up its first year powering nearly one-in-four Windows PCs, a record adoption pace fueled by the now-expired free upgrade for consumers and many businesses.According to U.S. analytics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10 was on 21.1% of the planet's personal computers in July, and on 23.5% of those machines running Windows. The difference between its user share of all PCs and only those running Windows stemmed from the fact that Windows powered 90% of all personal computers, not 100%.The July increase of about 2 percentage points was larger than June's gains but fell short of May's; the latter was the largest one-month growth since August 2015, the first full month of availability.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Florida men sue Microsoft over ‘coerced’ upgrades to Windows 10
Three Florida men have filed a lawsuit in a Florida federal court against Microsoft, charging that the company "coerced" them into upgrading to Windows 10 and that the "unintentional" upgrades damaged their PCs, resulting in lost time and money.The three -- Al Khafaji, Ahmad Abdulreda and Robert Stahl -- were the first to sue Microsoft at the federal level for running a campaign to get Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users to accept the free upgrade to Windows 10. That offer expires Friday.INSIDER Review: Enterprise guide to Windows 10 "Microsoft engaged in a reckless and negligent premise with catastrophic consequences for some of Defendant's customers whose devices were rendered useless and incapable of normal recovery operations," the complaint stated. "Plaintiffs were coerced into adopting Windows 10 or had Windows 10 installed in various unintentional manners with subsequent damage to their computers after which Plaintiffs sustained unnecessary and avoidable stress, confusion, loss of time and significant monetary damage all at the hands of Defendant."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Financial analysts forecast another downturn for Apple’s iPhone, Mac
Apple later today will again announce a downturn for all three of its primary product lines, according to a group of independent and institutional financial analysts.The June quarter results will nearly mirror those of the first three months of 2016, when Apple reported selling 16% fewer iPhones than in the same period in 2015, marking the first time since the 2007 roll-out that sales for the iconic smartphone contracted on a year-over-year basis.According to Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who formerly blogged about Apple for Fortune but now runs the subscription-based Apple 3.0 website, the nine independent and 18 institutional analysts he queried forecast a fall in unit sales of the iPhone, iPad and Mac lines, as well as another decline in revenue.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Verizon must pay even if Mozilla walks from Yahoo search deal
Verizon, which today announced its intention to purchase Yahoo for $4.8 billion, will be on the hook to Mozilla for over $1 billion through 2019.According to Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, Verizon may be liable for partial payments even if Mozilla cuts ties to Yahoo and seeks another search provider.Earlier this month, Recode and the New York Times claimed that the 2014 Yahoo-Mozilla contact gave Mozilla the right to switch to another search provider if Yahoo was sold.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here