PC Tools' Internet Security suite for 2010 gets some things right, and frustratingly drops the ball on others. It's hard not to like the feature set, which is robust, and the recent efficacy badge from Virus Bulletin. However, some of the problems in the suite are glaring and will potentially scare aware users who might otherwise find it a good security tool.
The default landing page should appeal to those who like quick glances to ensure everything is running smoothly. Green checkmarks or red Xes make it easy to see if you're at risk. Drilling deeper down to the settings pages could be better, though. Too often, the plain text felt squished by the chunks of white space on the right, and made it unnecessarily hard to parse logs and fine-tuning controls like the firewall or advanced scan settings.
The performance benchmarks weren't horrible, but they didn't impress, either. Falling somewhere in the middle of its competitors, and notably slow especially on computer start-up times, the suite could be much more nimble. Also annoying is that when held up against most of its competitors, the trial version is noticeably hamstrung. You only get 15 days to make a decision with the suite, and it won't remove any threats it detects.
What PC Tools fans will like is that although two earlier tests by Virus Bulletin this year gave PC Tools Internet Security 2009 failing marks, the first test of the new version passed the test on Windows 7. So for those with new computers, PC Tools' slightly lower price point of $50 for three licenses for its premium product may stand out as a good deal. Read the full review at CNET Reviews.
Last week, Microsoft showed off some browser technology that could help Internet Explorer leapfrog the competition. But if Mozilla succeeds in its hope, Microsoft could be playing catch-up instead.
The technology in question is hardware-accelerated graphics and text using interfaces called Direct2D and DirectWrite that provide an easy way to use graphics cards' computing power. They're built into Windows 7, and Microsoft is bringing them to Windows Vista but not Windows XP.
The performance boost from Direct2D and DirectWrite was the centerpiece of Microsoft's demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 goodies shown last week. Online maps flashed on the screen quickly and tracked mouse movements responsively; text was clearer and changed sizes more gracefully.
But the day of Microsoft's demo, Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard had this to tweet: "Interesting that we're doing Direct2D support in Firefox as well--I'll bet we'll ship it first."
There's work to back up his rhetoric. On Sunday, Bas Schouten, the programmer who's been leading the work for Mozilla, posted a prototype of Firefox using the Direct2D and DirectWrite.
However, any Firefox fans tempted to crow about a victory should be cautious. Mozilla wouldn't commit to including the technology, much less to a release schedule such as Firefox 3.7 due in the first half of 2010. "We are currently investigating Direct2D for Firefox, but do not have a target for shipping it in Firefox at this time," the organization said in a statement..
Several Web pages arrive significantly faster using Direct2D rendering technology in Firefox.
(Credit: Bas Schouten) The race is on
Microsoft declined to comment for this story, referring readers just to last week's blog post about coming Internet Explorer 9 features. "While we're still early in the product cycle, we wanted to be clear to developers about our approach and the progress so far," the company said while sharing a Direct2D demonstration video.
There's no doubt the race is on, though, given the potential benefits of the new interface and the commercial success of Window 7. Microsoft is lighting a fire under its developers, but the company's browser has lagged Firefox and other rivals in many technological areas for years, and many Web developers loathe earlier versions of IE still widely used. IE's market share has steadily eroded, though it remains dominant overall.
The attention is giving Google ideas, too. In a Chrome issue logged Sunday, Chrome programmer Peter Kasting pointed to Schouten's blog post on the subject as "motivation."
"If we can speed up the rendering time, the most noticeable benefit will probably be smoother-feeling scrolling," Kasting said. He also directed attention in October to DirectWrite support in Chrome, though cautioning that it might not work with the browser's present "sandbox" design to isolate elements of the browser for security reasons.
Mozilla has its own results to show off, too. Schouten offered a graph showing improved performance displaying a variety of Web pages. Facebook, Google, and Twitter rendered on the screen in half the time using the Direct2D; Slashdot and a Wikipedia entry were barely changed. One taxing page using the Scalable Vector Graphics format (SVG) to show movable, resizable graphics showed more than twice as fast, dropping from about 11 milliseconds to less than 4 milliseconds.
Microsoft's DirectWrite permits smoother display of many fonts.
(Credit: Microsoft) What actually changes?
Direct2D replaces an older technology called Graphics Device Interface (GDI) used in Windows XP. Both offer a way for programs to tap into computing hardware without having to worry about the particulars of video card capabilities and settings, but Direct2D taps into hardware acceleration features.
The technology lets programmers control basic elements such as transparent boxes, curved lines, and resizable photos. Out of these, user interface elements are constructed; Direct2D calls upon a computer's graphics processor to speed that up. It's particularly helpful for dynamic situations that change element properties such as color, size, or opacity.
DirectWrite offers a similar graphics chip boost to the task of displaying text. That may not sound computationally intense, but some parts of it are. In particular, DirectWrite offers a more sophisticated mechanism for displaying text to take advantage of something called sub-pixel positioning of letters.
Each pixel on an LCD screen is actually made of three tiny slices--for red, green, and blue components--and sub-pixel technology subtly draws letters using pieces of these pixels to make the overall appearance smoother. The older GDI permitted some sub-pixel positioning, but only smoothed letters in the horizontal direction; DirectWrite smooths curves vertically as well.
Using the graphics chip in Direct2D and DirectWrite operations brings several advantages. Performance is the first: some operations are faster or smoother, and having more power on hand lets programmers tackle more ambitious projects. Second, the general-purpose central processor, relatively inefficient at handling graphics tasks, is unburdened, freeing it up for other tasks and saving battery power.
Firefox already has a graphics system of its own called Cairo. Schouten has been adding a Direct2D and DirectWrite.
Firefox is of course a browser that doesn't just work on Windows. The DirectWrite technology helps that operating system catch up to its rivals, said Mozilla's John Daggett in a blog post Sunday. "Platform APIs [application programming interfaces] on Mac OS X and Linux already do a good job rendering Postscript CFF [Compact Font Format] fonts," he said. "This just brings them up to parity under Windows 7."
Direct2D is used elsewhere in the browser. "We've made significant progress and are now able to present a Firefox browser completely rendered using Direct2D, making intensive usage of the GPU," or graphics processing unit, Schouten said. And because Cairo is used by other open-source software, other projects will benefit from the work, he added.
The Direct2D work is Mozilla's second hardware acceleration effort; the company also is working on one using a different hardware acceleration interface called OpenGL for mobile devices using Nvidia's Tegra chips, according to Mozilla.
This Mozilla demonstration of photos and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), with transparency and click-and-drag resizing, works more than twice as fast Direct2D graphics.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET) The interactive Web
Microsoft went out of its way to emphasize that the Direct2D and DirectWrite work will help existing Web pages without programmers having to change a line of code. Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, contrasted that to other hardware acceleration efforts including Native Client and O3D from Google and WebGL from Mozilla and the Khronos Group.
Native Client, O3D, and WebGL are part of a long list of developments designed to transform the Web into a foundation not just for static pages but also for interactive applications. Those technologies, though, require new programming skills and tools.
Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Opera have been pushing this interactive Web agenda, and Microsoft is showing signs of interest, too. However, for now, Microsoft emphasizes that Direct2D support will help the existing Web. But the browser makers have their eyes on interactive technology as well. Direct2D will help with complex sites that use 2D graphics interfaces such as SVG and Canvas, Mozilla said.
Added Schouten, "As Web sites become more graphically intense, dynamic graphics will start playing a larger role, especially in user interfaces."
Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Google Chrome 4, Apple's Safari 4, and Opera 10 include features that block sites known to host malware and malicious downloads. All but Opera also let you browse without leaving any tracks. But just as important as these protections is ensuring that whichever browser you use is thoroughly patched.
Filtering out bad sites
Firefox's built-in antiphishing tool claims to update its bad-site database 48 times a day, according to Mozilla's Firefox security page. Firefox 3 uses Google's Safe Browsing service to automatically block sites that are known to host malware. The Google Code site describes how Safe Browsing works in Firefox.
To verify that attack-site blocking is enabled in Firefox, click Tools > Options > Security and make sure "Block reported attack sites" is checked.
Firefox will prevent known-bad sites from opening when "Block reported attack sites" is checked.
(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)The same feature is built into Google's own Chrome browser. You can ensure that malware-site filtering is on in Chrome by clicking the wrench icon in the top-right corner, choosing Options, and selecting Under the Hood. "Enable phishing and malware filtering" should be checked. The Google Chrome Help site describes the feature. (Hint: This page looks very similar to the description on the Google Code site.)
Google's Chrome browser blocks known-bad sites when "Enable phishing and malware protection" is checked.
(Credit: Google)The SmartScreen technology in version 8 of Internet Explorer blocks known-malicious downloads as well as bad URLs. Other new security features in IE 8 include automatic blocking of click-jacking and cross-site scripting attacks, automatic crash recovery, and highlighting of the actual domain name in the address bar. The Microsoft Security site describes the SmartScreen Filter and includes links to a SmartScreen FAQ and information for site managers.
Apple's Safari browser added phishing and malware blocking in version 3.2, which was released in late 2008; read about this and other security features in Safari 4 on the Apple Safari site. Likewise, Opera's Fraud Protection predates the phishing and malware filters in IE and Firefox and is enhanced in the latest version 10. But attack-site blocking is only one of Opera's many security features, which you can read about on the Opera site.
Browsing in private
To activate private browsing in Firefox 3, click Tools > Start Private Browsing, or simply press Ctrl-Shift-P. You can set Firefox to start in private-browsing mode by clicking Tools > Options > Privacy and check "Automatically start Firefox in a private browsing session." The Mozilla support site provides more information about this feature. Likewise, put IE 8 in private-browsing mode by clicking Safety > InPrivate Browsing, or by pressing Ctrl-Shift-P. You can also open a new tab and click either Browse with InPrivate or Open an InPrivate Window.
IE 8 also lets you control the information about your browsing habits that's shared with Web tracking services. To activate this feature, click Tools > InPrivate Filtering Settings and choose "Let me choose which providers receive my information." This opens the InPrivate Filtering settings dialog, where you can turn filtering off, choose which services to block from tracking you, or automatically block all trackers.
Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering lets you block some or all Web tracking services.
(Credit: Microsoft)You can open an incognito window in Google Chrome by clicking the wrench icon in the top-right corner and choosing "New incognito window," or simply press Ctrl-Shift-N. The incognito icon (a shadow figure in a fedora and glasses) appears in the top-left corner of the browser window. The Chrome support site offers a more detailed description of this feature.
Opera lacks an equivalent private-browsing capability but does offer private searching and other identity-blocking features, as described on the Opera site. To activate private browsing in Safari, simply click Safari Settings Menu > Private Browsing.
Automatic and not-so-automatic browser updates
Patching is a way of life with nearly all software, but especially with browsers and the media players associated with them: Adobe Reader, the Flash Player, Apple's QuickTime, and Sun's Java, among others. All of a browser's security features can be rendered useless by a piece of malware that takes advantage of an unpatched hole in the program.
Firefox 3 alerts users to the presence of an update and now also notifies you when your Flash Player is out-of-date. Internet Explorer 8 updates via the Windows Update/Microsoft Update services. Google Chrome made a splash by being the first browser to update itself in the background without requiring any prompting from users. Safari updates automatically via Apple's update service, which also serves up patches automatically for QuickTime, iTunes, and other Apple software. Opera also notifies you automatically when a new version is available.
But updating is too important to leave to others. Back in April, I described Secunia's Online Software Inspector and downloadable Personal Software Inspector, which identify out-of-date programs on your PC. The programs mentioned in that post have all been updated since, but Secunia's services should point you to the most recent versions.
(Note that Secunia sometimes reports a program as being out-of-date when in fact you have the latest version. On my PC, it continually reports my up-to-date Flash Player as being in need of an update, for example. But the free service Secunia provides is worth putting up with this and similar minor annoyances.)
With Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft showed Wednesday it's trying to retake the browser initiative.
IE remains the Net's dominant browser. But perversely, it became something of a technology underdog after Microsoft vanquished Netscape in the browser wars of the 1990s and scaled back its browser effort.
That left an opportunity for rivals to blossom--most notably Firefox, which now is used by a quarter of Web surfers, but also Apple's Safari, which now runs on Windows as well as Mac OS X, and Google's Chrome, which aims to make the Web faster and a better foundation for applications.
Microsoft has been pouring resources back into the IE effort, though, and at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, some fruits of that labor were on display. In particular, Windows unit president Steven Sinofsky showed off IE 9's new hardware-accelerated text and graphics.
The acceleration feature takes advantage of hitherto untapped computing power in a way that's more useful than other browser-boosting technology--Google's Native Client to directly employ PC's processor and Mozilla's WebGL for accelerated 3D graphics, for example--according to Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer.
"This is a direct improvement to everybody's usage of the Web on a daily basis," Hachamovitch said in an interview after Sinofsky's speech. "Web developers are doing what they did before, only now they can tap directly into a PC's graphics hardware to make their text work better and graphics work better."
... Read moreLOS ANGELES--Although Microsoft intends to talk a bit about its plans for the future of Internet Explorer this week, the company won't offer preview code of its next browser, CNET has learned.
The software maker is also not planning to announce a move to the WebKit engine, as some had speculated.
Ray Ozzie, speaking Tuesday at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)In his opening keynote at the Professional Developers Conference on Tuesday, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie pledged that Microsoft will make Internet Explorer the absolute best Windows browser, but did not offer further details.
Microsoft is expected to talk more about its browser plans as part of Wednesday's keynote speech. During that talk, he is expected to talk about some--but not all--of its "focus areas" for the next browser version, a Microsoft representative told CNET.
The latest version of IE 8 was released in March and is also built into Windows 7. Despite the new release, though, Microsoft faces intense competition from Firefox as well as from Google and Apple.
In addition, Microsoft has struggled to get Internet Explorer users to move past IE 6.
These days, there is a plethora of audio content available to stream over the Internet. Even traditional terrestrial radio often offers content streamed over the Web, diversifying the choices for how consumers can enjoy music and other audio. Although the legality is questionable, there are--and will always be--ways to record these streams. Streamed audio recordings for music are not going to offer the same sound quality as a ripped CD or even a purchased MP3, but it's a good option for talk programs and mixes that might not be available in other formats. This tutorial will show you how to record streamed audio as an MP3; just be sure to read the usage rules for any recording source before beginning.
Editors' note: This tutorial was completed using Windows XP.
Cost: Free
Time commitment: Varies
System Requirements: Windows
There's a reason you always see coin-op racing games lined up two, four, or even eight in a row: It's a lot more fun to race against live humans than AI opponents.
Unfortunately, only a handful of otherwise excellent iPhone racing games offer multiplayer modes. And most of those limit you to local competition via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi--only a couple offer online multiplayer.
I'm happy to report that Asphalt 5--sequel to the mega-popular Asphalt 4: Elite Racing--has joined the ranks of online-multiplayer racing games.
It's a good thing, too, because the Asphalt series suffers from a problem I have with many racing games: once you fall behind the AI drivers, it's nearly impossible to catch up.
But human opponents are just as error-prone as you are, so the competition feels fair and, most importantly, real.
After signing up for a free Gameloft account (which you can do in-game), I hopped into an online race and was quickly matched up with five other drivers. One dropped out mid-race (jerk), but the game didn't skip a beat.
And it was a blast. Asphalt 5 really is arcade racing at its finest, with jaw-dropping graphics, 30-plus glamorous real-world cars to drive, a dozen globe-spanning tracks, and eight different game modes.
Basically, if you liked Asphalt 4, you'll love Asphalt 5. And if you find that most racing games get old in a hurry, I think you'll agree that Internet multiplayer adds significantly more replay value.
While we're on the subject, check out these five awesome online-multiplayer games for the iPhone.
If you think Robocalypse is fun solo, try playing it online against live humans.
Solitaire is fine once in a while, but usually it's more fun to play games with other people.
Same goes for iPhone games: There's only so much mano-a-Bejeweled a person can take. Fortunately, there are some terrific apps that let you compete in real-time against other real, live humans.
And not just humans in your immediate, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi-enabled area, either: I'm talking about games that support online competition.
These five titles let you kick the butts of players across the globe:
- Galcon An insanely addictive space-based action game, Galcon plays like Risk at warp speed. Conquer other planets while protecting your own. Multiplayer options include not only one-on-one, but also two-on-two and one-on-two. Not sold? Try the free lite version. It doesn't offer multiplayer, but I guarantee it'll get you hooked.
- Mancala: FS5 Faster-moving than chess but no less fun, Mancala is one of my all-time favorite two-player games. This version makes it a snap to find and join an online game. The only downside: jerks who abandon the game when they start losing. (Don't be that guy!) Mancala: FS5 costs $1.99, but even the ad-supported freebie version supports multiplayer. ... Read more
Mozilla's open-source Firefox browser has gained 30 million users over the past eight weeks, as it continues to gain on Internet Explorer.
Chief Executive John Lilly revealed the increase in user adoption in a Twitter post on Monday, and Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, confirmed it to ZDNet UK on Tuesday.
"We've seen a significant increase in the number of users for Firefox," Nitot said. "Firefox checks for new versions every 24 hours, when it's running, and when it checks, it pings the Mozilla server. We count the number of pings."
Read more of "Firefox gains 30m users in eight weeks" at ZDNet UK.
I tried reinstalling VMware Tools, but nothing worked. Nothing, that is, until I tried this handy tip I found on Dave Taylor's Web site. The problem is in a VMware configuration file. Let me show you how to find and modify it to make your Ethernet work.
Shut down the virtual machine. Even if it's suspended, I recommend firing it up and shutting it all the way down.
Now you need to find the virtual image of Windows 7.
It's likely in Documents, in a folder called Virtual Machines.
The image for your Windows 7 is likely called something like Windows 7.
Whatever your image is called, if you're sure it's the right one, control or right click and choose "Show package contents."
Now find the file that ends in .vmx.
Right or control click on that file and choose "Open with." Then choose Text Edit, or whichever text editor you prefer.
Once the file opens in your editor, scroll down until you find these four lines that start ethernet0.
You're going to add a fifth line.
Type ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
Now save that file and close it.
Go restart the virtual machine.
You should now have the ability to surf the Internet.
