Monday, October 23, 2006

Zune another kind of four-letter word in Hebrew: Microsoft Zune: Doesn't sound sweet to everyone

October 20, 2006 (IDG News Service) -- Microsoft Corp.'s forthcoming digital music player, dubbed Zune, may make some Hebrew speakers gasp. The name for the device, which will take on the Apple iPod when released later this year, sounds like a vulgarity, specifically the "f" word, in Hebrew.

Read more.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

2006 January through September Vulnerability Trends

A compiled a large database of information covering vulnerabilities identified at http://cve.mitre.org and http://nvd.nist.gov that includes, among other things, sources concerning dates of public disclosure and references to the disclosures. With this database, it is possible to examine vulnerability trends over time and look for interesting events through the first 9 months of 2006.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Microsoft releases Windows Vista RC2

October 06, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft Corp. today released what it expects to be the final release of Windows Vista before the operating system is sent to manufacturing for distribution.

Windows Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2), which is build number 5744, is being made available to 100,000 Customer Preview Program (CPP) participants, as well as to subscribers and members of TechBeta, TechNet, TAP and MSDN.

The company said that this newest build includes bug fixes, performance improvements, better application compatibility and "fit and finish" work -- tweaks to the look and feel of the operating system.

Microsoft also said that it is on target for making Windows Vista available to volume licensing customers in November and to consumers in January 2007. However, it added that "the final delivery will be based on quality" -- in other words, if it finds serious issues with the operating system, it would delay its planned launch. The company does not expect that to happen, however.

The company will continue to support RC1 through the official Windows Vista launch, and adds that RC1 can be used as the basis for logo certification.