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NORAD and Microsoft team on a touch-friendly Santa Claus web tracker
NORAD's Santa Claus tracking has officially entered the tablet era. The defense agency has teamed up with Microsoft on an updated web-based tracker that's designed for touch-friendly browsers, including Internet Explorer 11. The new site lets you follow St. Nick by spinning a WebGL-powered globe with your finger, and you can even call NORAD through Skype to get the sleigh's latest position. You won't have to wait until Christmas Eve to have fun, either, as Microsoft promises a daily dose of games, movies and music. Those who want to surveil Santa can visit NORAD's page today, while Windows 8 and Windows Phone users can also grab native tracking apps through their respective stores.
Internet Explorer 11 comes to Windows 7 in its final form, brings speed improvements
Internet Explorer has already been available on Windows 7 as an optional Release Preview, but now it's making its way to the aging OS in a more complete form. Starting today, you can download the final build, which for all intents and purposes is identical to the version that recently shipped on Windows 8.1. In fact, Rob Mauceri, Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer, tells us the company "began with a plan to align releases," and that the Windows 7 and 8.1 versions were developed at the same time. (That also explains why Win 7 users have lately been getting these updates soon after the Windows 8 crowd.) In case you need a recap, Internet Explorer brings some security and performance improvements, along with features like Pre-fetch and Pre-render for faster load times. Also, Microsoft improved on the "Flip Ahead" feature introduced in IE10 so that now, when you move forward to the next page in a story, IE will keep the previous page around in case you want to click back to it. If you like, you can download Internet Explorer 11 now, or if you're the estimated 90 percent of users who allow Windows to install updates without asking, then you don't need to do a thing.
Sailor Moon? Nah, that's Internet Explorer-tan
There you were, living in a world where Internet Explorer was just a web browser, when Microsoft Singapore released this insane video showing you its -- nay, her -- true form.
Bing searches on Internet Explorer 11 sped up with pre-rendered top result
Microsoft keeps adding features to sweeten the deal for its loyal search and browser users, with the latest addition bringing background-rendered pages to Bing when it's coupled with Internet Explorer 11. Much like how Google does this trick with Chrome, Redmond's browser starts downloading the top search result before you even click it, giving near-instant page loads. What's more, the software giant says this is done in a streamlined way so it doesn't eat up battery life on mobile devices. Shaving seconds off of search times should come as welcome news for ardent (and impatient) fans of Microsoft's browsing suite -- yes, even those on Windows 7. [Original image credit: Henry McLin/Flickr]
Microsoft's 18-year-old 'Hover' game is reborn inside the browser
You remember Hover, right? If you're one of our many, many readers born after 1995, you probably don't. But that's OK: we're here to educate you, dear millennials. The game, which came installed on Windows 95 in the "Fun Stuff" folder, is making a comeback: Microsoft just came out with a web version that's been optimized for IE11, but will work inside any current desktop browser. As ever, it's a cross between bumper cars and Capture the Flag, with three hovercraft options, and a choice between single- and multi-player modes. What's especially neat is that Microsoft kept all the same levels; it just brought the graphics into the WebGL era. Naturally, too, you can use either shortcuts or touch gestures. If all this sounds dandy, we suggest you hit up the source link below sometime during your lunch hour. And, not to spoil an easter-egg, but be sure to type in "bambi" when you get to the "single player" / "multi-player" page -- someone at Microsoft's got a sense of humor, we'll say that much.
Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 is available now as a Release Preview
Microsoft announced back at its Build developer conference that it was bringing Internet Explorer 11 to Windows 7, and it's already partially made good on that promise by letting developers get an early look. By now, though, the company's given the browser enough spit and polish that it's ready for public consumption: the Release Preview is now available for anybody to download. As you'd expect, Microsoft claims IE11 is the fastest desktop browser available, and that it's 30 percent quicker than the next-fastest browser (that would be Firefox, or at least that's what Microsoft says). Also, the Release Preview is apparently a bit speedier than the Developer Preview was back in June: Redmond says average SunSpider scores have dropped from 144ms to an even-better 137ms. At any rate, now that the browser's available, you're free to download it and benchmark it yourself, if that's what floats your boat.
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 11 developer preview for Windows 7
As promised, Internet Explorer 11 is making its way to Windows 7, slowly but surely. Almost a month after we got our first serious taste of Microsoft's latest browser, currently available on Windows 8.1 only, the developer preview version for Win 7 has hit the web. Obviously, there's a lot less Metro-flavored flash, but the most important features and improvements should still carry over. The biggest news is the improved performance and load times. Microsoft is quite proud of the enhancements it's made to Chakra, it's JavaScript engine, and claims it's significantly faster than Chrome, Firefox and Opera. As always, though, you can take these self-administered benchmarks with a grain of salt. There's also support for WebGL and advanced HTML5 video features, like those powering the next-generation Netflix player. And, seeing as how this is a developer preview, the package wouldn't be complete with out some updated tools for building sites and web apps, in the form of an overhauled F12, that borrows heavily from Visual Studio. If your'e looking for some more fine-grained details or just want to download it for yourself, hit up the source link.
Microsoft confirms Internet Explorer 11 is coming to Windows 7
With Windows 8.1, Microsoft has pushed out a revamped version of Internet Explorer that is supposed to be significantly faster than its predecessor, not to mention the fact that it claims to be easier on battery life. Fortunately, it appears that the company fully intends to make IE11 available to Windows 7 users as well. While Microsoft opened up about this fact, it wasn't so keen to offer up any timing expectations. Thus, it's quite possible that we may not see it show up on Win7 until after it's had some time to bedazzle those who are already packing the latest and greatest version of Windows.
Internet Explorer 11 to support WebGL and MPEG Dash
Few would say that consistency is good for its own sake. Microsoft certainly agrees -- it just revealed at Build that Internet Explorer 11 will reverse the company's previously cautious stance on WebGL. The new browser will support the 3D standard from the get-go, joining the likes of Chrome and Firefox. IE11 should improve plain old 2D as well, as there's hardware acceleration for video streaming through MPEG Dash. All told, Internet Explorer should be a better web citizen -- and deliver a speed boost in the process.
Microsoft and GlacierWorks team up to bring Everest to your screen
GlacierWorks, founded by renowned mountaineer David Breashears, has joined forces with Internet Explorer to put the world's highest peak at your fingertips with Everest: Rivers of Ice. The exploration platform works in any browser, but it's specifically optimized for IE 10's touch-based technology. In addition to bringing the Himalayas to your screen, Microsoft is using the project to show off the potentiality of its Rich Interactive Narratives (RIN) interface, cooked up by the the teams at Microsoft Research in both India and Redmond. Using RIN, developers can design nonlinear narratives that weave together different types of multimedia, like multitouch interactive maps with embedded video, gigapixel panoramas and data visualizations. GlacierWorks' project incorporates all of these, as it allows you to explore Everest's valleys while learning about glacier activity and climate change in the Himalayas. If a trip to Nepal is out of your budget, you can watch a preview in the video after the break.
Windows Blue screenshot tour
We probably don't need to tell you that one of the first things we did upon finding out that Windows Blue had leaked was download that sucker. (Sorry Microsoft, we can't help ourselves.) Well, after some finagling we got it up and running in a virtual machine and gave spin. Even at this early stage its pretty obvious that Blue is going to be a relatively minor, but welcome upgrade Windows 8. And, while we encountered plenty of rough edges, we'd say they're more than explained away by the fact that this is an early build and VirtualBox can introduce its own set of problems. But, if you're just looking for a sneak peak at what Microsoft has in store for Windows in 2013, head on after break and check out the gallery of screenshots below. %Gallery-183714%
Internet Explorer 11 user agent makes browser look like Firefox, thumbs nose at legacy CSS hacks
Subtlety can't always avert controversy. That leaked build of Windows Blue is a case in point: it suggests a relatively incremental update to Windows 8, yet some of its revelations are already causing quite a stir. Neowin now reports that Internet Explorer 11, as contained within the leaked build, identifies itself to host websites as "Mozilla... like Gecko." Confusing, right? Perhaps, but it's not really as underhand as it sounds, as you can see from the full line of code in the picture above. The program still identifies itself (in brackets) as IE 11, but it forgoes Microsoft's older identifier ("MSIE") and simply describes itself as being a browser that renders HTML in a similar way to Firefox's Gecko layout engine. Neowin speculates that the reason for this could be to start afresh: by confusing host websites with a new identifier, IE 11 might avoid having legacy CSS code thrown at it, dating back to the bad old days when web designers had to give Internet Explorer special treatment. It's also been suggested that this could cause problems for business apps that genuinely rely on legacy CSS code -- although it's worth remembering that we're not looking at a final release here, and none of us (ahem) are even meant to be using it.
Internet Explorer flaw may let ad firms track mouse input, Microsoft says that will change
Many of us already complain that web ads follow us too closely. You can understand why Internet Explorer users might be nervous, then, when Spider.io claims that the ads are even tracking their mouse movements. A JavaScript hole in Internet Explorer 6 through 10 reportedly lets intruders follow along with the onscreen pointer, regardless of whether or not the browser is the active app. That could easily prove a security risk for anyone using a virtual keyboard, including some tablet owners. Microsoft has confirmed that it's investigating and plans to "adjust this behavior," although it takes issue with Spider.io both focusing on IE and decrying two ad analytics firms that are supposedly exploiting the flaw today. The Redmond team argues that other browsers have "similar capabilities" and that Spider.io has ulterior motives, being an ad analytics firm itself -- it allegedly wants to knock down two competitors that it doesn't think are playing fair. We've asked Spider.io for its reaction and will get back if we're told more. In the meantime, don't be too alarmed when the vulnerability would likely only work with detailed knowledge of the target PC.
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7, download the preview now
We've known for some time that Microsoft was working on bringing Internet Explorer 10 to Windows 7 -- in fact, the company published a blog post promising the preview version would be ready sometime in mid-November. Then, we heard it could be available today. Well, looky here! It is! The Release Preview is indeed now available to download from Microsoft's site. As you'd expect, the Win 7 build has the same look and feel as the Windows 8 version, with full-screen browsing, hardware acceleration, deep multitouch support and a predictive "Flip ahead" feature that guesses what page you want to see next (page two of a story, the next round of search results, et cetera). If you own a Windows 7 PC that doesn't have a touchscreen (and that's probably the case), you should still be able to pull off multitouch gestures in IE using a trackpad, assuming you have the right drivers. If all else fails, though, you can still use the browser with the ol' mouse and keyboard.
Internet Explorer 10 preview for Windows 7 could be available tomorrow
Microsoft may well be releasing the preview version of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 tomorrow, if tech blog ifanr has got it right. A Weibo post from the Chinese site claims that Roger Capriotti, Director of Product Marketing for IE, announced the news during a press event in Beijing today. It wouldn't come as that much of a surprise, as it fits nicely with the mid-November slot Microsoft penned in last month. There's still no word on when the final version might be ready, but if you'd like to try a little Metro Windows 8 style browsing on that Windows 7 machine, expect your chance tomorrow.
Microsoft outlines Internet Explorer 10 differences between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 together mark a rare confluence for Microsoft: they represent the first instance of the company's desktop and phone platforms sharing the same browser base, and that has wide-reaching implications for what developers can do. The Redmond team doesn't want anyone plunging headlong into web apps without knowing what to expect, however, and it just reminded us in a blog post that there are still a few off-limits areas for Internet Explorer 10 on the mobile side. Not surprisingly, elements that demand a truly big screen or a windowed interface won't fly -- there's nowhere to drag-and-drop from or open a new window to. A few other aspects are more likely to catch web developers off-guard, such as the lack of in-line video, a handful of touch inputs, ActiveX and the level of file access. The most important common ground stems from simply having a modern rendering engine whose HTML5 and CSS3 support will prevent any rude shocks. There's much more at the source link, although Microsoft and designers may just be happy that any Windows Phone web development is a question of finding those few things that won't work, rather than reinventing the wheel.
EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'
European regulators have charged Microsoft for not giving Windows 7 users a choice of internet browsers when they install the OS. Although this is only an initial step towards a fine for the software maker, Microsoft agreed with the European Commission to offer browser choices to its Windows users over three years ago, avoiding a heavy antitrust penalty. Unfortunately, while Microsoft acknowledged the "technical error", this wasn't before the European Commission picked up the issue -- the EU's antitrust watchdog said in July that Microsoft had not complied with the order from February 2011. According to a Reuters report earlier this year, and echoed in the EU's statement below, the fine could amount to as much as 10 percent of the Redmond company's global turnover. Update: Microsoft has issued a statement on the EU charge, received by The Verge. "We take this matter very seriously and moved quickly to address this problem as soon as we became aware of it. Although this was the result of a technical error, we take responsibility for what happened, and we are strengthening our internal procedures to help ensure something like this cannot happen again. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission."
Aereo opens its streaming TV to Mac and Windows web browsers
If you'd wanted to watch Aereo's unique antenna-to-internet TV streaming until today, you had to tune in from an iOS device or Roku box. That's not a lot of choice for placeshifting, is it? A fresh update to the company's streaming service has widened the choices considerably for New Yorkers to include all the major browsers on Macs and Windows PCs. As long as you're using a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or Safari, you can catch up on Ion or Telemundo while you're checking email. About the only restrictions left are the continued lack of Android support and occasional lawsuits from traditionalist broadcasters.
Internet Explorer 10 preview coming to Windows 7 semi-Luddites in mid-November
For all of Microsoft's talk of Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8, we've heard precious little about the Windows 7 version beyond the certainty that it was coming. Eventually. Someday. The company is partly putting that anxiety to bed with word that IE 10 should be available for the Metrophobic in mid-November, but only in a preview version -- a possible sign that Microsoft's Windows 8 RTM deadline prevented the concurrent platform releases we've grown accustomed to in recent years. The team in Redmond is hinging its launch of a finished Windows 7 build on the feedback it gets, so we'd suggest that those willing to experiment with a new browser (but not a new OS) still give IE 10 a shot next month.
Engadget Giveaway: win an exclusive Atari 2600 with PC components!
We're not going to beat around the bush here: this is one of the most exciting contests we've hosted in a long, long time, and you'll definitely want to enter. Our friends at Atari were kind enough to give us an extremely limited-edition (there are only two in existence) Atari 2600 gutted with modern PC components and signed by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell -- and one lucky soul will be able to call this beauty their very own! The gaming company is doing this to promote the 35th anniversary of the 2600's original release, as well as its latest creation, arcade.atari.com, which is an HTML5-driven, multitouch-supported hub that lets you play eight classic Atari games online (including Pong and Centipede). Not only that, the team -- consisting of Atari and the Internet Explorer team -- put together an SDK to help you build your own games on the classic platform. After you enter to win (all you have to do is leave a comment below), make sure you head over to the Arcade to spend countless more hours in the land of nostalgia. Note: For bragging rights, feel free to post your high score as your comment entry.
