January 2007

MS Vista OS on sale 30 January 2007

At $300.00 for an upgrade from AnyVersion XP to Vista Ultimate this is not inexpensive. Many will need to purchase a newer video adapter to see the Aero 3-D effects at a further cost. Since most stock computers typically contain only 256 or 512 mb. of RAM others will find that they need to add more memory at a further cost. Hmmm. Start doing the math and you will see that buying a new PC, especially with the extras thrown in such as an LCD monitor, webCAM, Internet access, VoIP, etc., at this time is reasonable. Here is the secret (and you heard it here first): The whole roll-out of Vista is predicated on people buying new PC's not to run Vista but to free up the old PC to become the gateway to the Digital Living Room or whatever it comes to be called. Call it Home Entertainment Networking from Bill.

Secunia Software Inspector online

Ever wonder if your software is up to date? Secunia has the launched an online advisor of sorts. The inspection (quick and basic or slower but thorough) checks most common applications on your Windows system and reports if they are in need of upgrading. The easy to understand display even gives you links and instructions to complete the upgrade. This excellent online application from Secunia is here: http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

Time to upgrade Opera to 9.10

A recent security hole in any version of Opera prior to version 9.10 should spur you slowpokes into upgrading. If you haven't tried Opera browser you should. Opera is the most secure browser of the big three (Internet Explorer & Mozilla Firefox being the other two) running under Windows. Other features include Opera Voice (voice commands for the browser), & Widgets (mini displays of info you choose) and BitTorrent (ask your teenagers...!). Try it - love it or hate it, there is always Firefox ;-)

Adobe Acrobat .pdf Exploit

A serious vulnerabilty in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions prior to version 8 leaves Windows machines open to various attacks. Users, and lets face facts here, that means everyone, should upgrade to version 8.
If an upgrade is impossible or unfeasable then, until a patch is issued you should, according to Adobe, disable the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in for your Internet browser.
Adobe has the details here: http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa07-01.html

Apple Quicktime Exploit

A highly critical security hole affecting Apple QuickTime version 7.1.3 (or earlier versions) has been exposed. Users of Quicktime are advised to disable Real Time Streaming Protocol. Windows XP users navigate to: Edit –> Preferences -> Quicktime Preferences -> File Types tab : uncheck ‘’Streaming - Streaming Movies‘’. Secunia has suggested users be very wary of opening files with the extension .qtl hosted on sites that look in any way dodgy.

Time to update your now expired Windows Defender

If you have been using Windows Defender it is time to update as the previous version has now expired. It may be downloaded here.