HelpWithWindows Newsletter

01. Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 Review

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users,

Last February, despite having previously announced that no new version of Internet Explorer would be released prior to the release of Microsoft's next Windows Operating System (then codenamed "Longhorn"), Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates announced that Microsoft would after all release a new version of Internet Explorer before "Longhorn".

Internet Explorers development had been stagnant for years. At the end of the 1990's Internet Explorer had won the battle with Netscape for control of the browser market, and Microsoft had no real reasons to improve their browser.

Finally, when Service Pack 2 for Windows XP came around, Microsoft made some much needed improvements to their browser. It was high time too: Because of Microsoft's strategy to integrate Internet Explorer deeply into the operating system, and Internet Explorer's weak security, the browser had become the most obvious attack vector for malware & spyware.

Microsoft also noted the success of Mozilla's Firefox browser which was slowly eroding Internet Explorer's market share. Firefox success is mainly attributed to it being a somewhat more secure browser, and offering some modern features such as tabbed browsing and a pop-up blocker.

With Windows XP SP2, Internet Explorer finally got a pop-up ad blocker, and a rudimentary system to manage browser plug-ins.

As mentioned above, last February Internet Explorer 7 was announced. This browser will be available for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows XP x64. There also will be a version available in Windows Vista (the next Windows operating system formerly code-named "Longhorn"), which will have a slightly different feature set than the version for the other mentioned operating systems.

Read the full review of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 on the HelpWithWindows Web site.

02. Microsoft Security

Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for August, 2005

The security update for August 2005 includes includes fixes for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Severity Rating: Critical

Severity Rating: Important

Vulnerability in Telephony Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (893756)

Severity Rating: Moderate

03. Newsletter Summer Schedule

Many of you are having a summer break in the coming months. I will reduce the newsletter publication frequency in these months.

Here is the planning so far:

Month	Publication Date
September	3 & 17

At the end of September I will travel to Redmond for the 2005 Global MVP Summit, returning home at the end of the 1st week of October. The Newsletter should return to its weekly schedule with the October 15 issue.

Have a good & safe summer!

04. Recent Support BBS Postings

Quick shutdown - Windows XP
Lens cleaning for optical drives - Hardware
How to audit user logons - Windows Server System
Network crashes during File Transfers - Networking
Favourites Search Plug in for IE - Internet Explorer

05. Microsoft Releases August Malicious Software Removal Tool

Microsoft has updated the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool to help remove specific, prevalent malicious software from computers that are running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000.

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06. Update 897338 for Windows XP Service Pack 2

This update contains new language locales for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2):

Bosnian (Cyrillic, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Filipino (Philippines), Frisian (Netherlands), Inuktitut (Latin, Canada), Irish (Ireland), Luxembourgish (Luxembourg), Mapudungun (Chile), Mohawk (Mohawk), Nepali (Nepal), Pashto (Afghanistan), Romansh (Switzerland)

For more information about this update, read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 897338.

Download [1.74 MB]

07. Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

In Windows XP, you can choose between two types of disk storage: basic or dynamic, although dynamic disk storage is not available on Windows XP Home Edition, or on portable computers.

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08 09. Windows XP Tip: How to Check if DVD Decoder Software is Installed

By default, Windows XP does not come with compatible DVD decoder software installed.

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