Jeff Rivett has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. His first computer was an Apple II+, built by his father and heavily customized. Jeff's writing appeared in Computist Magazine in the 1980s, and he created and sold a game utility (Ultimaker 2, reviewed in the December 1983 Washington Apple Pi Journal) to international markets during the same period. Proceeds from writing, software sales, and contract programming gigs paid his way through university, earning him a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree at UWO. Jeff went on to work as a programmer, sysadmin, and manager in various industries. There's more on the About page, and on the Jeff Rivett Consulting site.

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Microsoft, Patches and updates, Things that are bad

Microsoft updates now harder to find

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Until I hear a better explanation, I’m going to assume that Microsoft’s latest move – removing updates from its Download Center – is just another way to force user eyeballs through conduits for which they can sell advertising space.

Starting May 10, Microsoft wants you to use the Update Catalog instead of the Download Center. Previously, security bulletins included links to the Download Center, but since most updates (including security updates) will no longer be available there, those links will now point to the Update Catalog.

Okay, so we can use the Update Catalog, right? But guess what happens when you visit the Update Catalog with a browser that isn’t Internet Explorer? MS Update Catalog: IE Only Please

Note the final line of that message, which encourages visitors to use the Download Center instead. I guess Microsoft hasn’t gotten around to changing that. It should probably say “If you prefer to use a different Web browser, you’re out of luck.”

Most regular users get their updates via Windows Update, and won’t be affected by this change. Once again, it’s power users and system admins who will be affected the most. Does Microsoft hate us, or are they just ignoring us?

Although other mechanisms exist for obtaining updates, the Download Center was certainly convenient. Are we likely to see more third party sites offering Microsoft updates? Probably, although Microsoft frowns on this sort of thing and will probably move to shut them down.

Adware, Cortana, Edge, Microsoft, Windows 10

Cortana no longer works with Google

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In a recent blog post, Microsoft announced that it is no longer possible to make Cortana work with any search engine other than Bing, or any browser other than Edge.

This announcement confirms two things: first, even Microsoft considers Cortana’s main function to be a voice interface for web searching. Second, despite its claims, Microsoft cares more about selling eyeballs to advertisers than giving users options.

To be fair, advertising is the business model of the web. Should we criticize Microsoft for trying to emulate Google? Yes. Yes we should. We (grudgingly) accept web advertising, because the vast majority of what we consume on the web is otherwise free.

On the other hand, stuffing ads into an operating system I paid for is not acceptable. Why not offer a free version of Windows that includes ads? One could argue that this is what Microsoft did, in offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade. But if that’s the case, where’s the paid version that doesn’t include ads?

Patches and updates, Vivaldi

Vivaldi: a web browser for power users

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I’ve been trying to find an alternative to Firefox for a while now. In my opinion, Firefox is growing increasingly flaky. I’m getting tired of having to start over with a new profile when something goes wrong.

Lately, I’ve concentrated most of my attention on Opera. But that browser still lacks a native bookmark sidebar, and while the functionality can be added via add-ons, subsequent Opera updates often cause problems.

So I’ve turned my attention to Vivaldi, a browser created by an Opera co-founder. After a long beta period, Vivaldi 1.0 was recently released, and so far, I like what I see.

Vivaldi’s design is partly a response to the trend of excessive simplification in the major browsers (and elsewhere, including Windows 10). Simplicity is useful for regular users, but where does it leave IT professionals and power users? The answer is – at least for now – Vivaldi.

At its core, Vivaldi uses the same Chromium engine as Google Chrome and Opera 15+. But that’s where the similarity ends, because Vivaldi is much more configurable that those other browsers. For example, the tab bar can be moved to any edge of the screen, and tabs can be stacked. There’s a native sidebar, in which bookmarks can be displayed in a tree structure. Any site or page can be added to the sidebar. You can add your own notes to the sidebar.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be using Vivaldi as my main web browser. If all goes well, I’ll make the switch permanent, and put Firefox and Opera out to pasture, along with Internet Explorer and Edge. I keep those browsers around for those few remaining sites and services that just don’t work elsewhere, as well as for testing.

I’ll post my conclusions once my evaluation is complete. In the meantime, here’s a review of Vivaldi 1.0 at Ars Technica.

Vivaldi 1.1 is now available.

Microsoft, Patches and updates, Windows 10

Windows 10 Preview Builds 14328 and 14316

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Since I’m curious about the Windows 10 auto-update process, I usually wait for new builds to be installed automatically before I write about them. Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14328 was announced on April 22, but this morning (April 27), I started to wonder why my test computer was still running Build 14316.

The Windows Update settings page informed me that there had been a problem connecting with the update servers. Below this message was a Retry button. Clicking the button immediately started installing Build 14332, which was announced on April 26.

I’m not sure I understand what Microsoft thinks an ‘automatic’ update system should do, if it doesn’t automatically retry after failed server connections. Oh well, this is a preview build. Presumably this sort of thing won’t happen with release builds.

In any case, this means we have two builds to discuss.

Build 14328

The most notable change in 14328 is the introduction of Windows Ink, which adds pen/touch input support to Windows 10 and many of its included apps. If you don’t use a touch interface, this won’t be of much interest, although you can still use the Ink features.

Build 14328 includes welcome enhancements to the Start menu, although it’s still not possible to add custom entries. That functionality died with Windows 7, and it seems unlikely to return at this point.

Cortana can now be activated from the lock screen, which is obviously much more convenient for folks who use Cortana but also value security.

Windows 10’s search capabilities are improved in Build 14328; it now searches files on OneDrive cloud storage as well as local files.

Improvements to the Action Center include a more distinct notification icon, which now shows the number of pending notifications. Quick Actions may now be customized.

You can now access your calendar from the date/time display in the notification area, a feature that existed in Windows 95 but vanished in later versions for no apparent reason.

The taskbar clock now appears on all displays, something that gamers will appreciate. Taskbar settings are now on the All Settings screen. Why they were ever missing is a mystery.

The audio icon in the notification area now allows switching between audio output devices, something we’ve wanted to see in Windows for ages.

The Apps and Features settings page has a new feature that will reset a misbehaving app to its default settings.

Security was improved further with the removal of email addresses from the lock screen (by default). The lock screen now also includes media controls, so you don’t need to unlock Windows to play the next track.

Various bug fixes and visual changes round out this build, including new and improved icons for Windows Explorer and settings pages.

Build 14332

In this build, support for Linux programs is improved. I’m still not able to use this interesting feature, because my test PC is running a 32-bit Windows 10 build. I could upgrade it to 64-bit, but it also only has 2 GB of RAM, and although that’s technically enough to run 64-bit Windows 10, enabling the Linux subsystem and its other requirements will almost certainly overload it. 🙁

Cortana can now search documents on Office 365.

Changes to power management should improve battery life in this build.

Numerous bugs were also fixed in this build.

Adobe, Patches and updates, Security, Shockwave

Shockwave 12.2.4.194

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At some point in March, Adobe released a new version of Shockwave, 12.2.4.194. The release notes are light on details, saying only that the version includes “Deprecation of SHA-1 certificates in the Shockwave installer.”

SHA-1 is no longer considered secure, so this is a security update, and anyone who uses a web browser with Shockwave enabled should install the latest version as soon as possible. Note that the Shockwave plugin sometimes appears in browsers as Shockwave for Director.

Firefox, JavaScript, Patches and updates, Security

Firefox 46 released

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It’s a major new revision for Firefox, so there are lots of cool new features and enhancements to discuss, so Mozilla actually announced the release on their main blog. Typical of Mozilla announcements, the version is never mentioned.

At least the announcement lists the changes: “improved look and feel for Linux users, a minor security improvement and additional updates for all Firefox users.” Not much there. Turning to the release notes, it looks like the minor security improvement is related to Javascript. Other changes include ten security fixes, and fixes for a few other bugs.

Since several security vulnerabilities are addressed in 46.0, anyone using Firefox should install the new version as soon as possible.

Java, Patches and updates, Security

Java 8 Update 91

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If you visit the main Java page and click the Free Java Download button, it will give you Java 8 Update 91. That version was just released, along with Java 8 Update 92. The difference? Both address nine security vulnerabilities – and over 60 bugs in total – in versions earlier than 8u91, but 8u92 adds a few uninteresting enhancements.

This is Java we’re talking about here; since it’s still a popular target for malicious activity, if you use a browser with Java enabled, you should update the Java plugin right away. It’s also a good idea to configure the plugin as ‘click-to-play’. It’s an even better idea to disable it completely, if that’s an option for you.