pc-news

Microsoft Releases Critical internet Explorer Patch

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:11:30 +0100

Microsoft has just issued an out-of-band security update to fix a critical vulnerability in its Internet Explorer web browser that is being actively exploited. The flaw, which affects all versions from IE 5 to IE 8 Beta 2, lies in the browser’s data binding function and is being actively exploited since last week through specially-crafted web pages.

Although attacks have reportedly been limited, security experts warned that if carried out successfully, it could give an attacker the same user rights as the local user and ultimately the ability gain access to sensitive data. Microsoft is urging users of IE to download and apply the patch as soon as possible via the Windows Update mechanism. This marks the second time in only two months that the company has released a security patch outside of its monthly cycle, following one in October which addressed a dangerous remote procedure call (RPC) error that could result in remote code execution

Netbook Market Explodes

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:19:10 +0100

The market for netbooks, small notebook PCs with even tinier prices, exploded in the third quarter of this year, according to market researcher DisplaySearch, as vendors aimed their wares at students during the back-to-school season.

The global market for netbooks, also known as mini-notebooks, was 5.61 million in the third quarter, up 160% from the second quarter, according to a statement Tuesday from DisplaySearch, the Austin, Texas-based research firm.

Acer Inc. displaced ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (Asus) from the top Netbook spot for the first time during the quarter, taking 38.3% of the market versus Asus' 30.3% share.

DisplaySearch expects sales of netbooks, which are lighter-weight, lower-powered and generally cheaper than regular notebook PCs, to hit 14 million by the end of the year. That's a sharp rise from 2007, when just 1 million were sold.

"Worldwide demand for these products is forecast to grow rapidly over the next few years, with demand from a variety of sources, including early adopters, consumer and enterprise PC customers seeking a smaller or secondary notebook PC, as well as new PC customers in emerging markets," John F. Jacobs wrote in the report. "We expect the mini-note PC market to settle at approximately 16% share of the notebook PC market by 2011."

Like Gartner Inc., DisplaySearch sees Netbooks as the one bright spot in the overall laptop PC market, which has shown signs of slipping.

DisplaySearch is revising down its growth forecasts for this year and 2009 due to "the challenging economic climate. Even enterprises that are maintaining or growing are likely to stretch their PC replacement cycles out as long as possible," Jacobs wrote.

In the overall laptop market, HP Inc. leads with 19.7% share, followed by Acer with 17.1%. Acer also sells notebook PCs under the Gateway and Packard Bell brands. Its sales were up 65% year-over-year.

Dell Inc. was third with 13% of the overall notebook market, followed by Toshiba and Asus, each with 8.6% of the market. Apple, which does not sell netbooks but has seen strong laptop sales growth in North America, ranked 7th worldwide in notebooks, with a 4.1% share. Sales were up 24% year-over-year, and some analysts have speculated that Apple will release its own netbook in 2009.

Asus, which was a marginal laptop player before introducing its US$400 Eee Netbook PC last October, saiw its notebook sales, including Netbooks, grow 189% year-over-year.

Asus had led the Netbook market by releasing variations on its original Eee in different sizes, prices and operating systems (both Windows and Linux). But driven by strong sales of its popular Aspire One, Acer overtook Asus, shipping 2.15 million Netbooks in Q3.

HP held third place, with 5.8% of the market. Its main model is the Mini-Note 2133. MSI followed with 5.7% of the market for its Wind Netbook.

In fifth place was Dell, with 2.8% of the market, followed by the One Laptop Per Child, which shipped 130,000 PCs in Q3 for 2.3% of the market. Lenovo was in 9th place, shipping just 40,000 units, followed by Toshiba.

Taiwanese makers such as Acer, Asus and MSI hold three-quarters of the Netbook market today. DisplaySearch expects "the dominant PC brands will continue to gain share in the mini-note PC market due to brand power and recognition, and lower cost structure.

Windows XP: The OS That Won't Quit

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:14:38 +0100

Phasing out an old operating system is nothing new for Microsoft, but Windows XP is unique in that it may be too good to die.

This week, Dell announced it will offer systems with the aging Windows XP for a surcharge of US$150 over the newerWindows Vista--this only five months after it stopped offering XP on its Inspiron consumer desktop and laptop PCs.

The deadline for Windows XP downgrades has been pushed back twice now, remaining in effect until July 31, 2009-a strong indication that enough users want to stay with the aging XP rather than give Vista a chance.

Though market share for Windows XP dropped nearly 10 percent in 2008 as Vista slowly made gains, XP still has a market share of 66 percent, according to Web metrics company Net Applications.

XP downgrade fees from Dell and other OEMs will no doubt continue to irk customers in 2009, while businesses that want to stay with Windows XP will do the downgrades themselves. Industry analysts agree that Microsoft's downgrade fees are a minor problem compared to the bigger problem of so many users still wanting an older, now discontinued OS on hardware that it wasn't designed for.

Don't Penalize XP, Incentivize Vista

Industry analyst Rob Enderle, president of tech consulting firm the Enderle Group, says the XP downgrade fees will ultimately be counter-productive and possibly disastrous for Microsoft because they trade off short-term revenue for long-term customer loyalty.

"The fix for this should be to focus like lasers on demand generation for Vista but instead Microsoft is focusing aggressively on financial penalties," Enderle says. "Forcing customers to go someplace they don't want to go by raising prices is a Christmas present for Apple and those that are positioning Linux on the desktop."

As the economic recession deepens in 2009, the price of laptops and desktops, as with all retail items, will be closely watched by consumers and businesses. A recent IDC report predicts that the price of PCs will drop by close to 10 percent in 2009.

Enderle said the XP downgrade charge and the resulting pressure to move to Vista will put a magnifying glass on Microsoft in the coming year. "Instead of charging a penalty for XP, Microsoft should provide incentives for Vista," he says. "They are too focused on margins for one product and are forgetting the damage they are doing to their brand."

Worse than the downgrade fees is taking away a buyer's freedom of choice, says Roger Kay, president of consulting and research firm Endpoint Technologies. "People never like being 'forced' to do anything. They tend to resent it," he says.

Is Windows 7 the Solution?

Vista's successor, Windows 7, has been regarded as a solution to the Vista stigma, although whether or not users choosing XP over Vista is enough to move up the Windows 7 ship is still anyone's guess. Enderle predicts that Microsoft will change its estimated Windows 7 ship date of January 2010 and drop it sometime next year.

"Windows 7 is designed to fix this problem [the Vista stigma], but it will need stronger demand generation marketing than Microsoft has yet proven it can provide," Enderle says.

Kay, on the other hand, is not convinced that customer reliance on XP and the shunning of Vista affects Microsoft's OS release schedule. "Sinofsky [Windows senior VP Steven Sinofsky] is pretty clear about how his process works. Windows 7 code won't ship until it's ready."

Charging users for Windows XP downgrades may be Microsoft's short-term solution to drive users to Vista and Windows 7, but what else should the software giant do to get its customers to move forward?

Enderle says it's mostly a matter of better marketing. "They have to step up to Apple-level demand generation marketing and work to remove the stigma from Vista more aggressively," he says. "They had an interesting start earlier this year with the Mojave project but it seems to have tailed off of late and Apple continues to out execute them sharply."

As Windows XP fees add up and the OS continues to get pulled from OEMs, the desire to keep using the OS will likely wane in 2009. But that the desire is there at all should be disconcerting for Microsoft, says Enderle.

"Were this Apple, you wouldn't have the option to use an old OS at all. Granted you probably wouldn't want to, which speaks to the problem her