Author: Dr. Bill

Probably not. Who needs it now that we have HTML5?

Microsoft releases Silverlight 5

“Microsoft made available on December 9 for download the gold version of Silverlight 5, the latest version of its browser plug-in and Web, desktop and mobile development platform

Version 5 — which my contacts are saying is the last major release of Silverlight — will be supported by Microsoft until 2021 — which is a much longer period of time than previous Silverlight releases have been supported.

The version 5 release supports all the same platforms that the previous versions of Silverlight did: Windows, Mac. It also works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.

Microsoft officials didn’t use the release of Silverlight 5 as a chance to offer further guidance as to the platform’s future. We still have no word on when or if there will be a Silverlight 6. There’s also still no official confirmation or denial from the company about rumors I’ve heard that there won’t be a Mix 2012 conference next year.

A list of some of Silverlight 5’s features can be found in today’s post on the Silverlight blog. Among those features: Hardware decode of H.264 media; extensionof the trusted application model to the browser; and graphics stack improvements with 3D support using the XNA programming interface on Windows.”

Ooops! Adobe has a problem… but it is working on it!

Adobe scrambles to patch Acrobat zero-day hack

“Adobe has reported a new ‘critical vulnerability’ for current and older versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat for Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix operating systems. The attack has already been exploited by hackers in targeted attacks against the Adobe 9 reader on Windows, the company stated in its security advisory The hack appears to have already been used in an attack on US defense contractors and research facilities.

Discovered by Lockheed Martin’s Computer Incident Response Team and MITRE, the vulnerability could allow an attacker to send a malicious Adobe document file that crashes Reader, and ‘potentiallty allow an attacker to take control of the affected system,’ according to the Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team’s alert. In a blog post, Adobe’s director of product security Brad Arkin said that Adobe is planning to release a fix for the Windows versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.4.6 ‘no later than the week of December 12.’ There is currently no workaround for Reader 9.x.

Arkin said that the risk to Mac OS X and Unix users of Reader is ‘significantly lower,’ and that the attack can be blocked on Windows with Reader X by opening documents in Adobe Reader X in ‘protected mode.’ Patches for those versions of Reader will be held until the next quarterly update of Reader, scheduled for January 10.”

Chrome rocks (again!) Fast, safe, and, did I mention, fast? I love Chrome!

Chrome sandboxing makes it the most secure browser, vendor study claims

“A new study by security vendor Accuvant Labs concludes that Google Chrome is more secure than rivals Firefox and Internet Explorer, largely because of Chrome’s sandboxing and plug-in security.

The research was funded by Google, which might make any reasonable person suspicious of its conclusions. Accuvant insists that Google gave it ‘a clear directive to provide readers with an objective understanding of relative browser security’ and that the conclusions in the paper ‘are those of Accuvant Labs, based on our independent data collection.’ Accuvant also made the supporting data available as a separate download so that it can be scrutinized by other researchers.

Accuvant focused only on Chrome, IE and Firefox, leaving out Safari and others for the sake of time. It also tested the browsers only on Windows 7, 32-bit edition. Despite concluding research in July, the paper was just released today. As a result, the report excludes newer versions of Chrome and Firefox, which have more rapid release cycles than Internet Explorer.

But the 102-page report otherwise seems fairly thorough, and Accuvant says it will update the report as the security of each browser evolves, and claims that it already provides a better look at browser security than metrics such as vulnerability report counts and URL blacklists. ‘We believe an analysis of anti-exploitation techniques is the most effective way to compare security between browser vendors,’ the report states. ‘This requires a greater depth of technical expertise than statistical analysis of CVEs, but it provides a more accurate window into the vulnerabilities of each browser.'”

Well, we now know what HP is going to do with webOS!

HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

“HP to enable creativity of the community to accelerate the next-generation web-centric platform.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 9, 2011

HP today announced it will contribute the webOS software to the open source community.

HP plans to continue to be active in the development and support of webOS. By combining the innovative webOS platform with the development power of the open source community, there is the opportunity to significantly improve applications and web services for the next generation of devices.

webOS offers a number of benefits to the entire ecosystem of web applications. For developers, applications can be easily built using standard web technologies. In addition, its single integrated stack offers multiplatform portability. For device manufacturers, it provides a single web-centric platform to run across multiple devices. As a result, the end user benefits from a fast, immersive user experience.

“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”

HP will make the underlying code of webOS available under an open source license. Developers, partners, HP engineers and other hardware manufacturers can deliver ongoing enhancements and new versions into the marketplace.

HP will engage the open source community to help define the charter of the open source project under a set of operating principles:

• The goal of the project is to accelerate the open development of the webOS platform
• HP will be an active participant and investor in the project
• Good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation
• Software will be provided as a pure open source project

HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the community in the near future along with a plan for the remaining components of the user space.”

So, we should know more next week about how Microsoft’s AppStore will work. Not exactly holding my breath!

Microsoft to reveal details on its Windows 8 app store next week

“Slated to take place in San Francisco, the two-hour Windows Store preview event should provide the latest details about the Windows Store to the invited developers and members of the press.

Microsoft has been mum about the Windows Store lately, but it did reveal some facts at its Build conference in mid-September.

Trying to outdo Apple’s Mac App store, the Windows Store will let users download free trial copies of Metro-style apps to check out for a limited time. So developers won’t have to cook up both paid and “lite” versions of their applications. Beyond that, both free and paid apps would be available. Microsoft will also run security checks and other tests to certify each app.

Traditional Windows desktop and Metro-style apps would both be accessible through the Windows Store, according to Mary Jo Foley of CNET sister site ZDNet. However, Windows desktop apps will not be directly downloadable but instead would be offered through a link to the third-party developer. Microsoft’s demo at Build showed a link to download Quicken, as one example. Metro-style apps would be available only through the Windows Store.

Developers will also be able to promote their Windows 8 Metro apps via their own Web site, according to WinRumors. From the developer’s site, users could click on a download button that will bring them to the Windows Store where they can grab the application directly.”