Interface expert declares Windows 8 UI “terrible” for PCs

Renowned interface expert Jakob Nielsen has taken a closer look at the new Windows 8 user interface, and his conclusions are not positive. While the new UI works reasonably well for tablets, it’s problematic for desktop PCs.

One of Nielsen’s most entertaining findings is that the new UI no longer supports multiple windows, leading him to suggest that the O/S be renamed “Microsoft Window”.

Computerworld has a useful summary of Nielsen’s findings.

Firefox 17 released

The latest version of Firefox includes some security improvements designed to help prevent malware infection via out of date versions of Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. Specifically, when Firefox tries to display content using those older plugins, it will prompt the user for confirmation.

Version 17 also includes the usual assortment of security, performance and other bug fixes.

Malware targeting Windows 8

Microsoft has been putting a lot of effort into making their software more secure, and it’s paying off: Kaspersky’s IT Threat Evolution: Q3 2012 report includes no Microsoft software in its Top Ten Vulnerabilities List.

The anti-malware software bundled with Windows 8 is Microsoft’s strongest offering in any version to date. But as long as Windows is widely deployed, it will remain a popular target for malware developers, as is demonstrated by the recent discovery by Symantec that a new Trojan variant, detected as Backdoor.Makadocs, includes code specific to the new O/S.

Windows 8 sales well below Microsoft’s expectations

Apparently Microsoft was expecting Windows 8 sales to be much higher than they have been to date. No doubt this is at least partly because of doubts related to the new user interface, and partly due to general satisfaction with Windows 7, acknowledged to be the basis for Windows 8.

Update: Ars Technica looks at the available numbers and says it’s too soon to declare Windows 8 a disaster.

Update 2: The Verge reports that Microsoft is claiming they have sold 40 million Windows 8 upgrades in its first month.

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7

At one point it looked like Microsoft might not produce a version of Internet Explorer 10 that would run on any version of Windows earlier than Windows 8. Thankfully, for those of you still using Microsoft’s web browser, a Windows 7 compatible version of IE10 is now available. Please note that this version is categorized as a ‘Release Preview’, so it is probably somewhat buggy.

You can find more information regarding this development at Ars Technica and The Verge.

Bringing Google tools to Windows 8

Anyone accustomed to using Google’s Chrome browser, seeing Google search in their browser and having other Google tools handy in previous versions of Windows will notice their absence in Windows 8. Google noticed as well, and has instructions for bringing Chrome and Google search tools to the new O/S.

Google’s aptly-titled Get Your Google Back page provides users with a simple wizard-based process for returning the missing features.

Patch Tuesday for November 2012

Another month, another Patch Tuesday. As discussed in the advance warning post, this month’s crop consists of six patches with nineteen fixes for Windows (including Windows 8), Office, Internet Explorer and .NET:

Windows users are encouraged to install the critical updates as soon as possible via Microsoft Update.

More details at the Microsoft Security Response Center.

Rants and musings on topics of interest. Sometimes about Windows, Linux, security and cool software.