Zoran Stosic | IT newspaper

Firefox makes extension porting easier as security crackdown looms

August 27th, 2015 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Aug
27

New tools should help developers bring their extensions over from Chrome or Opera, but existing extensions may have trouble surviving the shift.

Mozilla is pushing ahead with a plan to block unsigned Firefox browser extensions, though it’s offering better developer tools as consolation.
As Mozilla has previously indicated, it will soon require a security check for all third-party Firefox extensions. Starting with Firefox 41, which launches on September 22, Mozilla will block all unsigned extensions, though users will be able to override this protection if they want. However, that override won’t be available for all beta and release versions of Firefox 42 and higher, as they’re released. (Nightly and Developer additions will still allow unsigned extensions with the user’s override permission, ostensibly for testing.)
Mozilla has said that the new signing procedure is necessary to stop ad injections and malicious scripts. Add-on guidelines and a blocklist are no longer enough, Mozilla argues, as it’s become too difficult to track and discover malware before the damage is done. The move is not without controversy, as some users rely on extensions that are no longer officially supported by their developers.
To help mitigate these concerns, Mozilla is introducing a WebExtensions API, which it says will allow for low-effort porting of extensions from other browsers, such as Chrome, Opera, and eventually Microsoft Edge . Mozilla says it can review these extensions faster, and they also support a new multi-process version of Firefox that will go stable in December. Multi-process effectively separates rendering and UI chrome from page content, preventing full browser crashes if just one page experiences problems.
As part of these changes, Mozilla also plans to deprecate Firefox add-ons that use XPCOM, XUL, and XBL, possibly in the next 12 to 18 months. While these add-ons allow Firefox to be deeply customizable, they’re also prone to breaking when Mozilla rolls out browser updates, and the switch to multi-process will only exacerbate those problems. The challenge, then, is for Mozilla to build out its WebExtensions and other tools so that developers can offer suitable replacements for existing add-ons.
The impact on you: Make no mistake, these changes will cause some ugliness for Firefox users who rely on add-ons—especially those that don’t exist in other browsers. Even Mozilla is admitting that without considerable development, Firefox-only add-ons will not survive the transition. It’s a huge trade-off as Mozilla pursues a more secure and stable browser, and while it may pay off in the long run, for some users it could diminish what makes Firefox unique in the first place.

Source: www.pcworld.com

The iPad’s big moment

August 25th, 2015 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | hardware

Aug
25

Apple’s dug itself into a hole with the iPad, but now is the time to change everything (again).

We’ve got a big fall ahead of us. New versions of iOS and OS X. As ever, a new iPhone (or iPhones). A new Apple TV. But for the first time in a while, it’s the iPad that seems to be getting a lot of the attention and rumormongering.
Part of that is the tablet’s contentious place in Apple’s lineup. The general perception is that the iPad isn’t doing well, with dwindling sales growth, an increasingly unclear niche, and lackluster improvements. I agree with my esteemed colleague Mr. Snell that many of these problems are overstated, and the iPad isn’t about to tank.
But in some ways, Apple has dug itself into a hole with the iPad. It’s not a bottomless pit, or even a chasm with walls so steep that the company can’t clamber out, but it does present some challenges.

The long now

The upgrade cycle has been repeatedly suggested as one of the major reasons for declining growth in iPad sales. Either users of older devices aren’t buying new ones yet, or they’re not planning on buying new ones at all.
Case in point: The other day, I got into a discussion with a friend, who lamented that his iPad 2 running iOS 8 wasn’t good for much, even when all he wanted to do was browse the web or view PDFs. He was disappointed that, for all he had paid for the device, it could no longer function the way it used to, which he attributed to “forced obsolescence.”
Thing is, there’s nothing “forced” about it. It’s just genuine, good old-fashioned, straight-up obsolescence. The iPad 2 was the second generation of a brand-new product category that was set for rapid evolution. (Remember the iPad 3, whichwas replaced a scant six months later with the fourth-generation iPad?)
The heart of the problem for users of those older devices is that surprising longevity of Apple’s products. The company continues to maintain software support for its long-in-the-tooth devices—but just because you can install the latest and greatest operating system on a device doesn’t mean it will work well. And it’s not surprising that Apple isn’t going to spend the time ensuring that its newest software runs smoothly on hardware from four or five years ago. From a purely business perspective, those customers have already made their purchase.
Of course, there we enter a Catch–22 scenario. Because if you don’t update to the newest OS, you won’t just be missing features—you’ll also increasingly encounter apps that simply won’t run on the older OS. Apple pushes developers to embrace its newest technologies, which often means raising requirements to the most recent OS. So even if your older device works, it may not do everything you want it to do, whether you update the OS or not. But replacing the entire device can be prohibitively expensive, since you can’t get subsidies on iPads.

Stuck in the middle

It’s also clear that the iPad, originally pitched as the future of computers, has stagnated in a no-man’s land, lacking both the convenience of a smartphone and the power of a Mac, the best of neither world.
To borrow a sentiment from John Gruber, the iPad has a tough time because in some ways it’s competing both with the iPhone, a truly blockbuster product, and the Mac, which has a strong, devoted user base and a long history. That’s a tough channel to navigate.
I suspect that a big part of why we’re hearing so many rumors about the iPad Prois that Apple is trying hard to find a way to broaden the appeal of the iPad andreduce its competition. Because a 12-inch iPad doesn’t compete in the same space at all as an iPhone, so it becomes merely a comparison between the tablet and a laptop. (Granted, the slim and powerful MacBook will provide stiff competition.)
It also helps explain why, as rumors suggest, an iPad Air 3 may not be immediately forthcoming. The iPad Air 2 is already an extremely powerful device that’s ahead of the curve for what it’s being asked to do—developers I’ve talked to have been impressed by just how much it’s capable of. Introducing a new iPad mini that comes closer to the Air 2’s specs and an iPad Pro with a larger screen not only makes those devices stronger contenders on their own, but also potentially spares Apple from getting too much flack if it skips a year of “standard” iPad updates.
I think Apple would like to be freed from feeling that it has to update the 9.7-inch iPad—or any iPad, for that matter—each and every year. That trap has exacerbated the speed of obsolescence for preceding generations, while often providing only meager updates, like the iPad mini 3.
So don’t be shocked if October comes around and the iPad lineup isn’t quite what we’ve grown accustomed to. Apple’s not about to kill of the iPad, but it does need to put the product line’s best foot forward if it wants to present a truly compelling argument to customers.

Source: www.macworld.com

Why you can’t find your product key after upgrading to Windows 10

August 22nd, 2015 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Aug
22

With Windows 10, Microsoft is doing away with the conventional product key for digital installs. You may never have to manage product keys again.
A funny thing happens when you look for a product key in Windows 10 after doing the free upgrade: You won’t find them.
In Windows 10, utilities like Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor return generic product keys instead of authentic ones. Don’t believe me? This is the key Windows 10 Pro users will see in KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T.
Let’s try this PowerShell script from the Hexus forums on Windows 10 Pro. You should get this: T44CG-JDJH7-VJ2WF-DY4X9-HCFC6. That’s the generic key for build 10240.
Not a real product key to be seen anywhere.
The reason for this is that Windows 10 changes Microsoft’s traditional product key model, and if you ask me it’s for the better.

Entitlements, not product keys

When you use the free upgrade to Windows 10 or pay for a digital retail version, you don’t get a product key. Instead, your computer uses what Microsoft calls a digital entitlement.
“Upon upgrading to Windows 10, the activation state from a prior version of Windows (be it Windows 7, Windows 8 or a prior build of Windows 10) is seamlessly carried over,” a Microsoft spokesperson told PCWorld. “Once activated, a digital entitlement for your PC’s hardware is created in the Windows 10 activation service.This entitlement can be used by the same PC again for re-activation of the same Edition of Windows 10 in the future.”
It looks like the product key is on its way out, at least as far as users are concerned. After installation, your version of Windows 10 should just activate in the background in a few moments or a few days at the most. You can check your activation status by going toSettings > Update & Security > Activation.

Clean installs all the way down

Once your Windows 10 upgrade activates, you can grab a Windows 10 install image, do a clean install, skip the screen asking for product keys, and you should just re-activate again after the install is complete. I say should, because even in this brave new world without product keys I find it hard to believe there won’t be a few installation horror stories involving product activation.
That said, I can vouch from personal experience that a post-upgrade clean install of Windows 10 just works. Shortly after I installed Windows 10 on my laptop, I swapped out my old spinning hard drive for an SSD. When I was done with the installation Windows activated right away.
For longtime Windows users the absence of product keys in Windows 10 digital installs is a relief and at the same time a little worrying. Based on the long history of activation horror stories, some of you out there may be a little suspicious of this new process. Although the notion of never having to use a product key ever again sounds great.

Well, almost…

There are still situations where you’ll run into product keys with Windows 10. If you buy a physical retail edition such as on a USB stick or DVD, you’ll still get a product key. Microsoft told us that “your activation product key stays with your PC.” We’re not clear if that means product keys work as digital entitlements, or whether you’ll be managing product keys the old fashioned way—by stashing that product key somewhere safe for later use. We’re double-checking this with Microsoft and will update this article should the company respond.
One sticking point with digital entitlements is that because it’s dependent on your hardware configuration, making a significant change can wipe out the entitlement. If you swap out your motherboard, for example, your digital entitlement will likely disappear and Windows 10 won’t activate. If that happens, you’ll have to make a call to Microsoft’s customer support line to re-activate your copy of Windows.
Keep in mind we’re talking significant hardware changes here. If you swap out your hard drive for an SSD or add more RAM, you shouldn’t see any problems.
I don’t know about you, but if I ever have to look at a product key again it’ll be too soon.

Source: www.pcworld.com

OS X 10.11 El Capitan: news, release date, and features

August 20th, 2015 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Aug
20

Update: Apple has released a public beta version of OS X El Capitan

It’s been seven months and counting since Apple’s iOS-inspired OS X 10.10 Yosemite leapt onto the Mac. Attention has now turned to the next major release of OS X, which is expected to be named – you guessed it – OS X 10.11 El Capitan.Like iOS 7, Yosemite’s bold colours and flattened icons divided opinion, but the stats paint a positive picture: more than half (58%) of Mac owners were running the latest version of OS X in April, according to data by NetApplications.It’s hard to deny that Yosemite looks fantastic on Apple’s newer computers with Retina displays – such as the iMac with Retina 5K and the new MacBook – but users on older hardware have reported sluggish performance since upgrading.As such, OS X 10.11 will focus on “under-the-hood” performance improvements, rather than new features, as OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard did back in 2009. Snow Leopard famously launched with “0 new features”, instead focusing on improving performance and service support.This includes 1.4 times faster app launching than its predecessor, two times faster app switching and email opening, as well as four times faster PDF previews. While Apple hasn’t quite gone with the stringent strategy of no new features, it has aimed to please developers with a better optimized OS complete with Metal pulled from iOS 8.

OS X 10.11 release date

OS X 10.11 as expected was shown off for the first time at WWDC 2015, which took place on June 8. At the event Apple gave developers the chance to “learn about the future of iOS and OS X”, bringing forth both OS X El Capitan and the next version of iOS, iOS 9. Certain Yosemite features such as Continuity saw tighter integration between OS X and iOS, a path Apple is continuing with OS X 10.11.Apple’s WWDC logos through the ages: what did they tell us?With Apple promising to release OS X 10.11 this fall it wouldn’t be surprising to see El Capitan arriving in October, the month that both OS X 10.09 Mavericksand OS X 10.10 Yosemite were let loose into the wild in 2013 and 2014 respectively.While Apple has yet to announce an official release date as of yet, the Cupertino company released a public beta of its next Mac OS on July 9. The free preview version of El Capitan is available here.

OS X 10.11 price

The last two versions of OS X, Yosemite and OS X 10.9 Mavericks, were both free and this is a trend El Capitan will follow too. It would have been especially hard to see Apple going back to paid annual updates in light of Microsoft’s decision to offer Windows 10 as a free update to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users for one year.

OS X 10.11 name

Releases of OS X were named after big cats prior to OS X 10.9 Mavericks, with the last being OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Apple indicated that future versions would be named after California locations from that point onwards, starting with OS X 10.09 Mavericks.So what’s next? Apple has trademarked a number of names that could be used for OS X 10.11, including: Redwood, Mammoth, California, Big Sur, Pacific, Diablo, Miramar, Rincon, El Cap, Redtail, Condor, Grizzly, Farallon, Tiburon, Monterey, Skyline, Shasta, Sierra, Mojave, Sequola, Ventura and Sonoma. Of course, there can only be one and the Cupertino company decided to go with El Capitan.

Split View

Windows 7 introduced the ability to “snap” windows to the sides of the desktop to easily position apps and other content on the display, something that has been missing from OS X for almost six years. Now El Capitan will finally introduced something Apple is calling Split View, which as the name suggests allows users to easily orient two windows side by side.Sure, there are third-party apps that can do it, but they’re not free or run as smoothly as the native behaviour on Microsoft’s snap-happy OS. Windows 10 has introduced a way to snap four Windows of equal size to each corner of the screen, which would be a boon for anyone using Apple’s larger iMacs or a large monitor.

Spaces Bar

OS X El Capitan also brings a slightly revamped multi-desktop management system called Spaces Bar. Users can launch the new expansive view of their desktops by dragging a window to the top of the screen. For a split-screen view, simply drag one window on top of the other.In a few other tweaks, Mission Control said to be smoother, simpler, faster. Meanwhile, full screen apps including Mail are smarter with multitasking features similar to iOS 8’s enhancements.

Metal

One of the biggest improvements El Capitan will bring with it is Metal, a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated graphics API. Apple promises this iOS 8 feature coming to its desktop OS will introduce a 50% improvement in performance with up to 40% greater rendering efficiency.The melding of Metal with El Capitan should make Macs a much more capable platform for gaming. Thus far, Epic games has demoed a build of Fortnight built on Metal.Aside from gaming, Adobe also presented Metal has enabled After Effects to render effects with eight times the efficiency. The software maker also announced it is adopting Metal in its OS X apps, which has resulted in a 10x improvement in draw call performance.

Sync Launcher layout to iCloud

Another useful feature from Windows 8.1 is the ability to have Windows automatically download and lay out apps, desktop wallpaper and settings associated with a Microsoft account. This means that you can log into another Windows 8.1 machine and have all of your favourite apps downloaded and laid out as if you’ve sat down at your own computer.OS X forces you to manually download your previously purchased apps from the Mac App store, before inserting them into the correct order the on the dock (if you harbour OCD tendencies). It’s not a problem if you stick to one machine, but slightly cumbersome if you tend to chop and change. Baking such functionality into OS X 10.11 shouldn’t be too difficult thanks to iCloud support.

OS X 10.11 and Siri

The most notable absence from Yosemite was Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant, Siri. With Microsoft introducing Cortana into Windows 10, now would be a good time for the personal assistant to come to Apple’s desktop OS. When you can download and install Windows 10 Technical Preview onto a Mac to get Cortana, but you can’t get Siri on the native OS, that’s a sure sign that Apple needs to play catch up.

Source: www.techradar.com

Why Windows 10 isn’t really free: The subtle new world of built-in costs

August 18th, 2015 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Aug
18

Even if you get the free upgrade, everything from Cortana to Xbox has its ways of making you pay.

Windows 10 isn’t really free. Realizing why and how it isn’t really free can help you understand why installing the operating system on 1 billion systems by 2017 is such a big deal for Microsoft—and why this version of Windows is very different at its core than Windows 7 and its predecessors.
Let’s get the “free” part out of the way before we dive into that, though.

Sure, you can go snag a free Windows 10 upgrade right now if you’re running Windows 7 or Windows 8—but that doesn’t mean Windows 10 is free. Buying a fresh Windows 10 license still costs $100-plus, and PC makers still pay Microsoft a fee for each and every computer that ships with Windows installed. Linux is free. The Windows 10 upgrade is only “free” for people who have already purchased a Windows license, be it via a standalone license or bundled with a premade PC. You can’t just go download Windows 10 and install it on a new PC without spending some cash.
So why is Microsoft tossing Windows 7 and 8 users this yummy no-cost bone?
Optimists may say it’s a result of new CEO Satya Nadella’s reimagined, more open Microsoft. Cynics may say there was no way Microsoft could realistically charge for upgrades now that Apple and Google have conditioned users to expect free operating system updates. There may be truth in both of those, but a large part of Microsoft’s sudden generosity no doubt lies in the desire for cold, hard cash.
Wait, what? Isn’t Windows 10 fre… er, a free upgrade?
Yup! And therein lies Microsoft’s genius.
Windows 10 is a free upgrade only for consumers. Very, very, very few consumers ever pay money to upgrade their operating systems. Look at the masses sitting pretty on Windows XP and Windows 7! For most of the operating system’s history, Windows users were one-and-done buyers that never emptied any more cash into Microsoft’s pockets unless they decided to buy a one-time Office license or an Xbox.
Windows 10—like Windows 8 before it—changes that. It’s infused with all sorts of hooks into Microsoft’s superb ecosystem of services, which are a strong focus under Nadella’s watch.
Cortana ramps up Bing’s market share with every search you make. OneDrive backs up everything to the cloud, and of course you can buy more storage space if you need it. The Video, Groove Music, and Xbox apps encourage entertainment purchases through Microsoft. The new Edge browser and the very operating system itself track you to serve targeted ads. The free Office apps encourage paid Office 365 subscriptions to unlock full functionality. Underneath it all, the Windows Store is the repository for all of Microsoft’s vaunted universal apps (and plenty of other things to buy). Heck, even Solitaire begs for a monthly subscription to ditch ads now.
In other words, while Windows 7 customers never contributed anything to Microsoft’s bottom line, Windows 10 is chock full of opportunities for Microsoft to make some money off of you, long after you’ve paid up for your Windows license. Which, of course, you still have to do. Microsoft isn’t crazy.
And that’s just fine! Windows 10 is a wonderful operating system, and a worthwhile upgrade from Windows 7 and 8. Plus, Microsoft provides you the option to disable or outright not use any of its services—though they are pretty damned polished and helpful. You don’t have to pay Microsoft any more money or let it peer over your shoulder just because you use Windows 10 (though the express installation settings enable it all by default, natch).
But Windows 10 definitely isn’t free—and it pays to know why.

Source: www.pcworld.com

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