boot13A couple of minor bug fixes and a Chromium Engine update prompted the release of Opera’s latest version, 35.0.2066.68. You can check out the full change log, but trust me, there’s not much there.
Moore’s Law has run its course
Ars Technica has an interesting look at how Moore’s Law is losing its relevance and will no longer be the focus of industry plans for the future of microprocessors.
Moore’s Law originated with a 1965 prediction of Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, which gradually came to mean that the number of transistors per microchip would double every twelve months. This prediction held true for decades but has been strained in recent years.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14257
My Windows 10 testing computer is still on the Windows Insider Preview ‘Fast Ring’, which means it gets the very latest Windows 10 preview builds as soon as they become available.
The test machine was just updated to preview build 14257. This build includes a lot of bug fixes, including one for a nasty app crashing problem related to memory management. The WSClient.dll error dialog box problem has not yet been resolved.
Google axes another useful product
If you use Google’s image management software Picasa, you should start looking into alternatives, because Picasa is headed for the chopping block on March 15. It will continue to work, but it will no longer be supported.
Thanks Google. I love your work, but getting us hooked on something only to yank it away again is getting very annoying.
Firefox 44.0.1 and 44.0.2
Two stealth releases this week for Firefox. Version 44.0.1 was released on February 8 to fix a handful of minor bugs. Version 44.0.2 was released yesterday to fix a startup hanging problem and to address one security issue.
Most installations of Firefox will offer to update themselves automatically, but since 44.0.2 includes a security fix, you should check your version and trigger an update if you’re still running an older version.
If you’re wondering where Mozilla hid the ‘About’ box:
- Click the ‘hamburger’ button (three stacked horizontal lines) at the top right.
- Click the question mark button at the bottom of the menu.
- Click ‘About Firefox’.
Microsoft finally providing Windows 10 update history
Responding to a steady stream of complaints since the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft has finally relented and will now provide useful notes to accompany changes to the operating system.
The Windows 10 update history page shows changes to release versions, starting with the initial release (build 10240.16683) in July, and ending with the most recent release version, 10586.104.
The notes for release 10586.104 show that a serious security flaw related to InPrivate browsing in the Edge browser has now been fixed.
Six security fixes in Chrome 48.0.2564.109
The announcement doesn’t go into much detail, but a total of twenty-eight changes for Chrome 48.0.2564.109 are listed in the full change log.
Patch Tuesday for February 2016
Thirteen security updates from Microsoft this month address over forty issues in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, server software and .NET. Six are flagged as Critical.
In keeping with their recent practise of tagging along with Microsoft, Adobe also just released several updates, most notably for Flash. The latest version of Flash is now 20.0.0.306. As usual, Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1 and 10 and Edge on Windows 10 will get their new Flash via Windows Update, and Chrome will update itself with the latest Flash. The associated security bulletin gets into all the technical details. A total of 22 vulnerabilities are addressed in the new version.
New Java versions address installation vulnerability
Java 8 Update 73, Java 7 Update 97, and Java 6 Update 113 were announced yesterday by Oracle. The new versions fix a serious vulnerability in the Windows installer for all previous versions of Java.
Although technically you don’t need to install the latest versions of Java if you were already up to date, you should at least make sure that you have uninstalled any older versions of Java on your Windows computers. Also, if you have any previously-downloaded Java installers, you should remove those as well.
And finally, be very careful about where you obtain Java. Always make sure that you’re getting it from Oracle, via the main Java download page or using the Windows Java Control Panel.
A security alert for the new Java versions provides additional information.
EMET 5.5 now available
Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) version 5.5 was released on February 2.
EMET is not a substitute for anti-malware software, but it does provide an additional layer of security against typical malware activity. If malware finds its way onto your Windows computer, EMET can prevent it from causing actual damage; by default, it kills the affected process.
EMET is free, and recommended. Unfortunately, when you use EMET, there’s a chance that it will cause problems for legitimate software. A few weeks ago – before EMET 5.5 was released – EMET started reporting problems with my main computer’s Office software, including Outlook and Excel. I was forced to disable some of EMET’s detection settings for those programs. I had hoped that EMET 5.5 would resolve these issues, but it did not.
Still, EMET can be a useful addition to your security toolkit, if you’re willing to put up with the occasional glitch.