Long thought to be a particularly insecure web browser, Internet Explorer has finally gotten the makeover long promised by Microsoft.
This past Tuesday, Bill Gates and company made their next generation browser available to the public, and although some critics are not thrilled, other critics are taking a wait and see attitude.
With Firefox’s dramatic inroads into the browser market this past year (now installed on 25% of user’s computers as their primary browser) Microsoft had to do something. And they have.
So, what’s the big whoop about Internet Explorer 7?
Well, there’s tabbed browsing for a start, with an interface that seems to this observer to be a tad friendlier than Firefox’s much earlier entry into the realm of tabbed browsing. There’s the new Zoom feature (just like Opera, the favourite next generation browser of many VanRamblings’ readers). Readily accessible zooming allows old fogeys (like me) to zoom in and out of a page and not have to strain to read the often tiny print on a web page.
There’s also a whole bunch of other new features, including security protection (with a built-in phishing filter and a one-click browser history delete facility). Mention should be made, too, of IE7’s much enhanced search feature, which now includes Google, Yahoo and AOL.
Internet Explorer 7 is now available for download, so you may want to become the first person on your block to download IE7 (caveat emptor).
Note: A reader takes VanRamblings to task for not mentioning that IE7 is in beta version, and as such is itself insecure. Thanks to Sara for helping to keep VanRamblings on the straight and narrow (and by the way, IE6 or IE7, VanRamblings’ rendering in either Microsoft product sucks. We recommend either Firefox 1.5 — long our default browser — or Opera 8.5). The final version of Internet Explorer 7 is set to be released in June 2006.
Update … users report that Internet Explorer 7 is riddled with bugs: Now, Sara isn’t saying I told you so, although she might. Web maven and master of all he surveys — that would be VanRamblings’ webmaster, Michael Klassen — passes along this timely ZDNet article detailing the many, many bugs that early adopters of IE7 have found, ranging from a denial of service vulnerability to a conflict with McAfee security software, and so much more.

Click on Enter above. There’s a ‘wonderful’ story to be told.

As is the case the second Tuesday of each month, today Microsoft will deploy the latest set of critical patches for your Windows XP operating system. These “patches” — as indicated in the latest Microsoft Security Bulletin — include critical system components and security fixes to keep those dastardly hackers out of your computer, and the regular monthly updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. In order to keep your computer secure, it is necessary to download these updates at your earliest possible convenience.
What is that you say? You’ve set your Windows Update facility to download critical patches automatically? Well, according to Stephen Manes at PC World magazine, “Microsoft’s Automatic Updates service may be automatic, but it is definitely not instantaneous … The only way to ensure that you’ll get updates immediately is to surf to Microsoft’s Windows Update Web site and explicitly request them.”

According to a Microsoft product manager responsible for this stuff, up to five days may elapse before every PC with Automatic Updates turned on actually gets updated. There’s no way to know whether your machine is at the front of the line or the back; the only way to jump the queue is to head directly for Microsoft’s update site. It’s also the only way to collect “optional” updates, such as new versions of Windows Media Player, which never arrive automatically.

So there you go. You’ve got your PC security work cut out for you today.
Create a Windows CD for Your Computer If You Don’t Have One
Why many computer manufacturers insists on selling computers that require you to create up to nine recovery disks rather than selling you a computer that comes with a certified version of Windows, on disk, VanRamblings will never know (a word to the wise, never purchase a computer which doesn’t come bundled with an OEM copy of Windows).
If you’re one of those unlucky folks who are stuck with a computer without an available Windows XP OEM disk, help is at hand.
Lincoln Spector, writing in this month’s edition of PC World, suggests that you download Bart Lagerweij’s free Preinstalled Environment Builder to create a bootable Microsoft Windows XP installation disk. Having this self-made disk on hand is worth anywhere up to $300 to you, and may serve to rescue you from potential disaster should your Windows XP OS go on the fritz. Save yourself a world of heartache. Create the Windows disk if your computer didn’t come bundled with a standalone Windows XP disk.

This week in Tech Tuesday, a brief potpourri of items, mostly revolving around PC security issues — everything from the latest security patches from Microsoft to a work-around for Microsoft’s Genuine Microsoft Software Check facility, and the prospect of a catastrophic attack on the Internet.
Critical Windows Patch Arriving Today
Heads up to all Windows users. The monthly patch scheduled for today includes six security updates affecting Windows, one of which is rated “critical.”
In addition, via its Windows Update process, Microsoft plans to release a refresh of its malware removal tool — the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool — to add detection for new virus and worm variants. Microsoft has also reported it will release one non-security but high-priority update. It is already known that a fix for a denial-of-service flaw in Windows XP will be included in the August patch batch.
Bypass Windows’ Genuine Check
Bypassing Microsoft’s automated check for pirated software may be as simple as inputting one line of code. Within 24 hours of Microsoft officially requiring users of its Windows XP software to validate the authenticity of their software, the validation method was allegedly cracked and disclosed in a public blog.
Late last week, the code snippet appeared on popular blog site BoingBoing claiming to be a way to bypass Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage check. A user only needs to paste the code into the address bar of one of the Microsoft update services before pressing either the ‘Custom’ or ‘Express’ button. The code snippet allegedly disables the key check by turning off the code trigger for the check.
Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an effort to prevent users from running pirated non-licensed versions of Microsoft’s software. When visiting one of Microsoft’s update services, users are prompted to download an ActiveX control, which validates their software. Only validated WGA users have full access to Microsoft’s update services; security updates are still available to non-validated users as well.
A Credible Plan To Take Down The Internet
According to CNET Reviews’ Senior Editor, Robert Vamosi, “a credible threat to the infrastructure of the Internet exists that will give everyone who uses the Internet a rough ride … all indications suggest that the clock is ticking toward some kind of showdown between criminal hackers and the good guys.”

At stake is the exploitation of flaws affecting the once-invincible Cisco router hardware, which currently carries most of the Internet’s traffic on a daily basis.

Cisco tried to silence Internet Security Systems Inc. researcher Michael Lynn who was scheduled to reveal a serious flaw in Cisco Systems Inc.’s IOS (Internet Operating System). When Cisco and ISS intervened to prevent Lynn from speaking, he quit his job and gave the speech anyway.

“I admire the guy for being brave,” said Lisa Bickford, president of InReach Internet, and a board member of the California ISP Association. “It’s not easy to quit your job, but he stood by his principles. I think Cisco has some egg on its face.”

e-week contributing editor David Coursey writes that if “Cisco were doing its job, we might not need Michael Lynn to tell us about the company’s shortcomings. But, because the bad guys already know — or could be presumed to know — about the problems, only Cisco’s customers are out of the loop. Or were, until Lynn arrived on the scene.”
Needless to say, Cisco was far from thrilled with Lynn’s disclosure and quickly filed suit in the Supreme Court. This past week, Lynn and his attorney agreed to a permanent injunction that prevents him from using any Cisco code in his possession for further reverse engineering or security research. The permanent injunction does not prevent Lynn from doing further research on Cisco products provided it is done legally.