Microsoft Support & Discussions

This week's release of a small Zune upgrade did more than just bring the PC software up to version 4.2. It added some unannounced new features and, even more surprisingly, references some mysterious phone devices in its installer files. Is a Zune Phone on the way? View the full article

Microsoft does offer some integration between its Windows Live services and Windows Mobile, courtesy of a pair of native smart phone applications. But there's a lot more that could be done here. View the full article

In this week's mailbag: Paul's Chrome extensions, using an Xbox 360 as a living room set-top box, world electrical adaptors, no SteadyState for Windows 7, XP Mode is 32-bit only, free (and paid) DVD decryption options, and how to change the wallpaper in Windows XP Starter. View the full article

It's pretty clear that Windows Mobile 6.5 is a work in progress, and while there are important changes coming this year, now is not the time to adopt this solution. View the full article

In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo and I discuss a Bing policy change, an early IE patch, Windows Mobile 7 rumors, Apple supporting Windows 7 in Boot Camp, next week's Apple tablet event, and more... View the full article

Microsoft is warning customers of a hole in the kernel of 32-bit versions of Windows that could allow someone to install programs, change data, or create new accounts with full user rights. The vulnerability, caused by the Windows kernel not properly handling certain exceptions, affects 32-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, and Server 2003 and 2008, according to the security advisory released on Wednesday night. It does not affect 64-bit versions of Windows. Full story: cNet

Today we released a Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer.

Next week, Apple may (or may not) release a tablet device. But I think the big news is the iPhone 4.0 platform, which could soon power Apple's iPods, iPhones, and mobile computers. View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Critical - This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. View the full article

The seemingly never-ending popularity of Windows XP is turning into its greatest weakness. If you're only ensuring that core OS components in that Windows version are up-to-date, you're not doing enough. View the full article

In this week's mailbag: To HTPC or not to HTPC, picking the right smartphone, pay-as-you-go broadband in the US, where Quick Launch icons go in Windows 7, a mobile version of the SuperSite, and whether you can preserve an application during a clean install of Windows. View the full article

In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Leo and I discuss big PC sales gains in the fourth quarter, a temporary Office outage, a new outlook for Windows Mobile, fallout over the Nexus One, Google and China, Mosspuppet and more... View the full article

Mozilla will soon deliver the best update yet to its popular Firefox browser, version 3.6, which adds Personas, automatic add-on updating, performance and memory use improvements, and other features. View the full article

A new version of the Crawler Toolbar has recently been released and comes with many improvements to the user experience similar to the changes we described in a previous post about the AVG Security Toolbar. It’s another great example of the Guidelines for add-on developers in action. Here are some high-level examples of the changes they’ve made: [*]The close button is visible so that users can manage it like other toolbars. Additionally, the toolbar is positioned in a supported location which improves stability and performance. [*]It no longer modifies the new tab page to maintain a predictable new tab experience for users. Many thanks to the C…

Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich discusses the development of Windows 7 in an exclusive interview with Windows IT Pro Magazine's Paul Thurrott. View the full article

Lenovo unleashes a portable machine with a netbook-like price and form factor but with notebook-class specs and the legendary ThinkPad keyboard: Introducing the ThinkPad x100e. View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Critical - This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed content rendered in a specially crafted Embedded OpenType (EOT) font in client applications that can render EOT fonts, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, or Microsoft Office Word. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs, view, change, or delete data, or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer u…