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On second thought, Microsoft lifts Windows 7's three-app limit for netbooks

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 11:41pm CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
If it's a counter that's determining arbitrarily how many applications your limited edition of Windows 7 should be allowed to run, how much precious system resources does that counter consume? And couldn't that memory and space be put to better use, say, running an app? Where and how should netbook manufacturers tell customers they can only run three Windows apps at a time? These were the kinds of questions Microsoft's engineers have been fielding with regard to a limitation in the company's forthcoming Windows 7 Starter Edition, a SKU of the operating system it wants netbook manufacturers to pre-install.
In an indication this afternoon that all this listening to consumers' wishes may be giving Microsoft's people a headache, the company's Win7 evangelist Brandon LeBlanc announced this afternoon the addition to Starter Edition of a kind of feature, if not in fact the subtraction of a feature that nobody wanted: The three-app counter will be gone.
Hiding his message in an announcement touting "worldwide availability," LeBlanc wrote, "We are...going to enable Windows 7 Starter customers the ability to run as many applications simultaneously as they would like, instead of being constricted to the 3 application limit that the previous Starter editions included. We believe these changes will make Windows 7 Starter an even more attractive option for customers who want a small notebook PC for very basic tasks, like browsing the Web, checking e-mail, and personal productivity."
Even that's just three items, and users could certainly add more to that list, breaking the old barrier. To make sure users hold it down a bit after being thrown a big bone, LeBlanc added that the company will not relent in its decision not to add the Aero front-end, sound and graphics customization, Media Player streaming, or XP Mode to Starter Edition. Many netbooks will run on processors like Intel's Atom, whose integrated graphics would not be capable of rendering Aero anyway, and which does not support the hardware virtualization libraries necessary to run XP Mode.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Top 10 Windows 7 Features #2: Device Stage

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 11:06pm CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III
By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
If the strange feeling that Vista was less secure than XP was topmost on critics' gripe lists over the last three years -- regardless of the facts which contra-indicate that feeling -- running a close second was the feeling that very little, if anything, outside of the PC worked with Vista when you plugged it in.
Here, the facts aren't all there to compensate for the feeling. Even in recent months, Palm Centro users complained about the lack of a Vista driver for connecting Centro to the PC outside of a very slow Bluetooth; Minolta scanner users were advised to hack their own .INF files with Notepad in order to get Vista to recognize their brands; and Canon digital camera owners are being told by that company's tech support staff that Microsoft was supposed to make the Vista drivers for their cameras, but didn't.
What's going on here? Certainly, Microsoft shouldn't be responsible for producing drivers for every little thing that could fit the other side of a USB cable. On the other hand, if device manufacturers haven't reached that same conclusion, whose fault was it that they weren't steered in the right direction back while Vista was in beta?
With Windows 7, Microsoft is making a concerted and earnest effort to avoid enabling a repeat performance. Its gamble is that Windows 7 can create an avenue, for the first time, for manufacturers of printers, cameras, smartphones, music players, and other devices to build completely customized extensions of the desktop. The inspiration was an idea presented internally by Microsoft engineers in prototype form a few years ago: You plug in a smartphone, and it appears on your desktop.
That idea evolved somewhat into what Microsoft calls the Device Stage, with the notion that once you plug in a recognized device, something bigger and better than just an icon represents it on your Windows 7 desktop. You plug in your phone, and boom, there it is -- not the brand name of the manufacturer, but a real picture of the phone. (3D renderings of the device were considered as an option, I'm told.) From there, the device manufacturer is free to present a completely customized operations and management interface specifically geared around the device. Think of it like the device's "home page" -- it opens up, and you see clearly stated or rendered links to the things the device can do.
Since the Windows 7 taskbar itself has changed since that initial prototype was presented, the concept has evolved a bit, and in a sense simplified. Now when you plug in a recognized device, an icon for it does appear in the new taskbar, and it can be "pinned" there just like an application. Hovering over it brings up a frame that can serve as a status report for the device -- for instance, registering the battery level for a phone or a camera, or showing how many songs are loaded in an MP3 player and how many minutes or megabytes remain.
Up to now, providing such a customized view of a plugged-in device's capabilities required the manufacturer to be willing to write the software pretty much from scratch, and then have that software behave nicely with its own device driver. Microsoft still needs its supporting device manufacturers to make some effort, but this time, it's using Web-oriented technologies to at least try to ease their burden.
What Microsoft is hoping manufacturers will embrace is a concept called the Device Stage metadata package. It's an XML-based file that represents all the visual elements that the user sees when he plugs in a device (or when Bluetooth captures it), and all the software components related to the functions that device performs, in an explicit database. Conceivably, that software can be installed automatically through the Internet as the device is plugged in (or comes in range), since the metadata package will contain instructions for how Win7 retrieves it, and how it should be registered locally.
The metadata also links to pictures and other assets supplied by the manufacturer, so the user doesn't see the driver as something that "belongs" to Microsoft -- which may end up helping Microsoft just as well as the manufacturer.
The big goal there is to eliminate the need for the user to run a CD-ROM driver setup routine before Windows ever comes within a hundred feet of the device -- today, users who have opened boxes to find "Do Not Do Anything Else Until You Install This Software" warnings, are literally scared to trust Vista afterward. But there's a bonus which Microsoft is fully aware of but doesn't talk much about lest it cast a jinx: The fewer CD-ROM setup routines a user has to install, the less opportunities there are for installing bloatware and useless software that clogs up the operating system, that befuddles users with unwanted advertising, and that makes users blame Windows for their frustration. Device Stage metadata is only for providing device functionality, nothing more.
Next: Rendering the Control Panel obsolete…
Rendering the Control Panel obsolete One offshoot of the Device Stage that will make a positive impact on Windows 7 is the new "congregation area," if you will, for stuff that's plugged into the PC. It's the new Devices and Printers window, and it provides an alternate view of what Bluetooth and other device engineers are calling the "personal area network."
This window is effectively a list of everything that's attached to the operating system -- if Windows can see it, it's here. Everything appears once and once only, so a multi-function printer doesn't show up as a fax machine and as a telephone separately; and a personal media player doesn't show up as an MP3, a video player, a game machine, and a camera.
Here also, in blatant contrast to how Windows has always worked, the PC itself is a device. Right-clicking on it brings up a popup menu of the typical functions associated with changing how it's functioning -- sound, mouse sensitivity, current language, keyboard options, ejecting an attached device. This doesn't replace the Control Panel, but a newcomer to Windows may very well find this way of setting preferences easier to comprehend.
Using the metadata file, Microsoft was able to retrieve a picture of…well, a Microsoft-brand device from the Internet, and register that as the keyboard attached to our Windows 7 test system. But with very few exceptions from partners such as Canon, there are no other working examples of "staged" devices for Win7 RC users to test. For the meantime, Win7 is capable of providing alternative renderings; but in the screenshot above, that thing that looks like an external hard drive bears no resemblance at all to my BlackBerry 8830.
So you can see the problem on the horizon. Device Stage could very well become an influential element for Windows 7 for either of two reasons: 1) It could dramatically improve the way users make sense of the things they can do with their devices once they're plugged in; or 2) it could drive home even further the reluctance of certain other manufacturers to cooperate, to even try to do their part to make their devices interoperable with the operating system that three out of five of their customers are likely to be using in 2011. How Windows 7 is perceived by the general public -- even by folks who use something else, like Mac OS -- may be determined by how well Device Stage attains its principal goal.
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 32-bit from Fileforum now.
Download Windows 7 Release Candidate 64-bit from Fileforum now.

FOLLOW THE WINDOWS 7 TOP 10 COUNTDOWN:
- #10: Homegroup networking
- #9: Native PowerShell 2.0
- #8: Automated third-party troubleshooting
- #7: 'Play To' streaming media, courtesy of DLNA
- #6: DirectX 11
- #5: Multitouch
- #4: A worthwhile Windows Explorer
- #3: XP Mode
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
UK to get Xbox 360 IPTV, again

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 9:48pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
British Television broadcaster Sky is reportedly working to offer both live and on-demand IPTV programming through Xbox Live in the UK. The BBC reports that it will be similar to Sky Player, a piece of PC/Mac software that allows subscribers to consume Sky IPTV anywhere they have an Internet connection.
But the project sounds much more like one presumed to still be in testing from Sky competitor BT. In 2008, British Telecom announced that its BT Vision service, based upon Microsoft Mediaroom, would bring IPTV to the Xbox 360. However, no completed product has yet been revealed. Exactly one year later at CES 2009, the trials were reported to be ongoing.
In mid-2007, Sky committed to bringing its IPTV service to the PlayStation 3 and PSP. That service later emerged as Go!View for PSP, which is subscription download shop that requires a PC for download and transfer content to the PSP. In the UK, PlayStation 3 has web-based access to the BBC's iPlayer and the ability to act as a DVR with PlayTV.
Sky's IPTV service on the 360 will reportedly include around 20 live channels, including news, sport, and entertainment. The desktop version of SkyPlayer currently offers between 18-28 channels, and demands a 1 Mbps connection for 600 Kbps (low) quality, a 2 Mbps connection for a 1200 Kbps (medium) or 1800 Kbps (high) quality stream.
General availability of Sky's Xbox 360 IPTV service is expected in the fall.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Betanews contest: Re-doing Bing, or, 'Name That Search Engine'

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 7:37pm CEST par the Betanews Staff

By the Betanews Staff, Betanews
Some of us would admit, Bing is a better choice for a big search engine name than "Kumo," which was apparently a serious candidate. But if Microsoft was truly listening to its customers to the degree it has been with Windows 7 of late, would it have come up with an even better brand? Could you Name That Search Engine in four notes or less?
We thought we'd give you a shot at it. Here's your chance to out-ping Bing. The Betanews staff will judge your submissions for a possible better name. But we're going to throw a monkey wrench in the equation: Along with your name, we're challenging you to create a 140-character-or-less tagline, which you would imagine would appear on the front page of the site to replace Windows Live Search, as well as in TV, radio, and Internet display ads.
Submit your entries in comments to this article. Next Friday at this time, we'll announce whose entries have earned them a place in would-be history.
First Prize: The four-disc Batman Begins / Dark Knight Blu-ray combo pack, plus a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate.
Second Prize: A copy of Gears of War II for Xbox 360, plus a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate.
Third Prize: A copy of Office 2007 Home/Student Edition.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Don't panic: Verizon will get Palm Pre, too

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 6:52pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews
The pairing of Sprint and Palm for the launch of the Pre was romantic. Don't laugh, you thought it too. Erstwhile smartphone leader Palm put its best hope for survival in the underdog wireless carrier who, without the Pre, has no ultra-competitive exclusive touchphone. Both companies have endured declining market share, and together they could take on the world and get some of it back.
Well that romance is over, and it ended a little more than a week before the Pre even hit consumer availability. Lowell McAdam, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless, yesterday announced that his company will offer the Pre "in the next six months."
This statement serves as a little insurance policy for Verizon, reminding customers that the exclusive relationship between Sprint and Palm is openly short term. From the beginning of the Pre's hype cycle, Palm CEO Ed Colligan has said that the device will be available on other carriers in 2010. While McAdam's announcement yesterday lacked any sort of specificity, it should keep Treo-wielding Verizonites from jumping ship to get first crack at the Pre in the next few weeks.
Further, McAdam noted that Verizon's exclusive BlackBerry Storm is expecting an update, and that Android-driven phones are coming "in the near future."
Unsurprisingly, the market responded strongly to McAdam's statements. Palm's stocks jumped 8% in value, and Sprint Nextel's dropped precipitously in early trading, only to climb back up in value this morning.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
How sparse is US rural broadband? FCC admits it doesn't know

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 6:48pm CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
With a national plan for broadband Internet deployment due in just nine months, a report published Wednesday by FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps -- still serving as Acting Chairman until the confirmation of Julius Genachowski gets back on track -- admits that the data on just how sparse broadband service is in the nation's rural areas has yet to be compiled. Less than a year before the deadline on action, the government literally doesn't know.
"Our efforts to bring robust and affordable broadband to rural America begin with a simple question: What is the current state of broadband in rural America?" Commissioner Copps writes (PDF available here). "We would like to answer this question definitively, and detail where broadband facilities are deployed, their speeds, and the number of broadband subscribers throughout rural America. Regrettably, we cannot. The Commission and other federal agencies simply have not collected the comprehensive and reliable data needed to answer this question. As the Commission has indicated, more needs to be done to obtain an accurate picture of broadband deployment and usage in America, including its rural areas."
A single footnote reference following this paragraph tells the rest of the story: The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking back in April 2007, which would have set the ball rolling for the data collection process to begin. Immediately thereafter, as per protocol, the US Government Accountability Office weighed in on what they perceived as the arcane methods of data collection and processing up to that time. For example, the GAO noted that certain areas on national maps were considered "covered" by broadband if so much as one subscriber within that area received service. And with ZIP codes determining coverage areas, the more rural an area gets, the broader the range of its ZIP code.
Advocacy groups representing communities interested in building up the nation's broadband infrastructure cited the GAO's warning cry as vindication of what they'd been arguing since the turn of the decade. In response to that 2007 rulemaking proposal, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors and the US Conference of Mayors jointly issued a response to the FCC, citing the GAO report and emphasizing that the data collection process needed to begin in earnest.
This 2006 "coverage" map color-codes the ZIP code regions served by as many as seven broadband providers. However, the number of actual customers receiving service in many of these zones could be as few as one.
"The Government Accounting Office openly criticized the current collection approach taken by the Commission, emphasizing in its report that 'the data may not provide a highly accurate depiction of local deployment of broadband infrastructures for residential service,'" their report to the FCC read (PDF available here). "The low standard by which a ZIP code is considered served as long as there is a single subscriber, along with a lack of detail with some statistics, raises doubts about the validity of the Commission's data -- data that claims broadband has reached 99% of the American population in 99% of ZIP codes...The need for a national broadband policy is clear, and local government national associations all support the development of such a policy. But before further progress can be made in that direction, one thing is clear: the need for more precise national broadband data."
The GAO report also sparked a response from Commissioner Copps, who at the time was not acting as FCC Chairman: "If the Commission had prudently invested in better broadband data-gathering a decade ago, I believe we'd all be better off-- not just the government, but more importantly, consumers and industry. We'd have a better handle on how to fix the problem because we'd have a better understanding of the problem. We would already have granular data, reported by carriers, on the range of broadband speeds and prices that consumers in urban, suburban, exurban, rural and tribal areas currently face. We would know which factors -- like age, gender, education, race, income, disability status, and so forth -- most affect consumer broadband decisions. We would understand how various markets respond to numerous variables. We could already be using our section 706 reports to inform Congress and the country of the realities of the broadband world as the basis for charting, finally, a strategy for the ubiquitous penetration of truly competitive high-speed broadband. I don't believe we'd be 21st in the world had we gone down that road. But that was the road not taken."
Now, over two years later, the Commission is no further along at gathering this data than it was in April 2007. But ironically, the man having to answer for that failure is the same man who called attention to it back then. So in an attempt to substitute what he called "a human face" for the lack of a clear nationwide picture, Comm. Copps cited a report from the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC), concerning the state of broadband deployment in just one city: Weirwood, Virginia, population 1,174 (2000 census).
As Copps relates in his Wednesday report, "Weirwood is an isolated rural community on Virginia's Eastern Shore, on the site of a former cotton plantation. Weirwood is only a mile and a half from U.S. Route 13, along which lies a broadband Internet backbone. The residents of Weirwood, however -- mostly African-American descendents of former slaves -- lack access to broadband. MMTC states that Weirwood has 'absolutely no ability to raise internally' the funds needed to build a broadband node to the community from the existing backbone line. Pending acquisition of thorough, reliable, and disaggregated data, we glimpse through Weirwood the state of broadband deployment in impoverished rural areas.
"Even without detailed maps of broadband service availability, we know that Weirwood is not unique," Copps continues. "Whether we are discussing a historically African-American community like Weirwood, Tribal lands that even now lack access to voice telephone service, or individuals with disabilities whose access to broadband is essential, overall, there needs to be an active federal governmental role if all Americans are to have access to robust and affordable broadband services. The challenge we face is determining ways to adjust our efforts to ensure that the residents in places like Weirwood, or anywhere in rural America, are able to take advantage of the opportunities that come with broadband."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Verizon gets the Pre... Sparring over the cyberczar... The next HDMI spec

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 2:42pm CEST par Angela Gunn and the Betanews Staff

By Angela Gunn and the Betanews Staff, Betanews
With hours (if not minutes) to go before President Obama reveals the results of a comprehensive study of federal cybersecurity, consumer gadgets take the stage on a sleepy Friday to cap off a noisy week. We now know, for instance, just how long Sprint's exclusivity over the Palm Pre will last in the US. Did anyone have dibs on six months? No, not even that.
It's no longer the "Sprint Pre"
Evening of May 28, 2009 · In a special conference call with reporters yesterday, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam announced that the nation's largest wireless carrier will offer the Palm Pre as part of its broader lineup of smartphones. The sequel to the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm will also be in that lineup, said McAdam in comments cited by Reuters this morning.
"Over the next six months or so you will see devices like Palm Pre and a second generation Storm," Reuters quotes McAdam as saying.
Though it may be too early at this stage to gauge reactions, the announcement could only be a major blow to Sprint, more for Verizon's ability to announce it now than for any other reason. While Sprint's network quality in the US has been perceived as improving, it has had to rise from the absolute bottom of the well. Consumers considering a Palm Pre purchase next month have been weighing whether investing in Sprint's network long term will be worth it.
So consumers who do make the jump next month will be those willing to overlook Verizon's leadership in network quality, who are impressed by Sprint's "Everything" calling plan, and who don't want to wait until near-Christmas to own what could still be the coolest device of the summer. But all of a sudden, there are a lot more "if's" for consumers to consider, and Sprint cannot be happy.
Attention shoppers: Empty your wallets
Morning of May 28, 2009 · The consortium that sets the standards for HDMI would really, really appreciate it if you would spend some money already. The group has announced the HDMI 1.4 specification, which adds an Ethernet channel to the cable's capabilities, increases the data-exchange rate, and introduces the ability for the cable itself to optimize the TV image based on the content type. Of course, 1.4 will only work with a bunch of sets and boxes that aren't even on sale yet, so if you want the functionality you should prepare to lay out money for an all-new setup. Fast Company's excited, but the Associated Press could barely stifle a yawn and BusinessWeek's Cliff Edwards correctly notes that many erstwhile shoppers will simply wait until their old gear "conks out."
There's money in computing, we hear
12:43 pm EDT, May 28, 2009 · Via The Consumerist, a report reaches us from St. Louis that a Best Buy customer who dropped his PC off with the Nerd Herd Geek Squad for repairs somehow forgot that he left approximately $10,000 in cash wadded up inside it. Best Buy called the cops, who confirmed that the money was legit. Your reporter suggests that maybe if Scrooge McDuck hadn't used his tower case as a wallet, perhaps the computer wouldn't have needed "repairs" in the first place.
Friday's tech headlines
The New York Times
· As your reporter waits (and waits and WAITS) for the White House to finally announce its cyberspace security plans and who the czar will be, the Pentagon's already making plans for a military command for cyberspace. (More on this in What's Next, below.)
· Today's financial-report gloom is brought to you by Ashlee Vance, who digs into Dell's 63% drop in quarterly earnings.
· Everyone's awfully excited about that New Yorker cover the artist created on his iPhone. Gadgetwise looks at four iPhone programs that will let you make art of your own, though a cover spot... let's just agree it's still a long shot.
Los Angeles Times
· Joe Flint and David Sarno deliver a nice analysis of what the AOL-Time Warner breakup means from an entertainment-industry perspective.
· Op-Ed writer Jon Healey detours to the site's tech blog to opine on a new study from the Digital Watermarking Alliance, which presents a case for watermarking as an alternative to DRM technology. That's a dubious tech proposition for various reasons, but Healey cites some interesting stats and links to the report itself if you're curious.
The Register
· Mmm, fresh steganography. Researchers in Warsaw have found a way to send nearly undetectable messages through the Internet by manipulating a design glitch in how TCP confirms packet receipt.
· Wikipedia puts the hammer down in its long-running battle with certain overzealous 'editors" from the Church of Scientology, banning all contributions from IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and associated entities. (No, not EarthLink. Stop that.)
· We missed the golden anniversary of monkey spaceflight? We're really just living all wrong here at Betanews. Able and Miss Baker went up and came back (take that, Laika-murdering Russkies!) fifty years ago Thursday.
Wired
· Are you easily distracted, or do your powers of concentration awe and frighten your co-workers? New research indicates that one's ability to focus depends on separate areas of the brain being able to fire in unison. The neuroscience could lead to new treatments for schizophrenia and ADHD.
· Nate Ralph got his product-reviewing hands on the upcoming Sims 3 port to the iPhone, and it looks pretty good. He wishes it had more interaction with the PC version, though.
Technologizer
· Harry McCracken wants to know if we should go ahead and expect Google's Wave to emerge as bloatware.
· Who knew that big hair is verboten in video games? And who knew that this would be a serious problem for video companies hoping to turn famous humans into onscreen characters?
WHAT'S NEXT? Security, as written in the czars...

Security as written in the czars
The story of Google Wave will unfold over the next few months, and down the road we'll all know whether Google's baby is bloatware or the next big revolution in how we compute. Up next, though, you're about to watch the tip of a very large iceberg float by.
Sometime today, the White House will reveal the results of Melissa Hathaway's (more or less) 60-day examination of the current state of federal cybersecurity, and it's believed that today President Obama will name his long-awaited cyberczar. (Your reporter's money is on Hathaway, as long as promptness isn't in the job description.)
If certain agencies of our federal government had applied as much effort to actually doing national cybersecurity as they've put toward fighting over jurisdiction over it, we'd be several orders of magnitude safer today. The two main battlers have been the military and the NSA, in part because the latter agency is forbidden to do spying on US soil but in part because this is Washington and that's what people do.
Neither Mr. Obama's announcement nor the Pentagon's announced plans for a military cyberspace command are going to terminate this turf war, unfortunately. The White House effort is primarily concerned with certain forms of government and civilian infrastructure -- the networks that are too big to fail, if you like. There's no thought that the White House post will involve itself in any sort of offensive cyber-actions.
Which leaves us, again, with the uniforms and the spooks slapping each other around. A concerned observer can't help but be conflicted here. On the one hand, cyberwar is going to operate a lot more like spies do and a lot less like soldiers do, or at least like soldiers have done in the past. A functional cybercommand needs to be light on its feet and flexible in its structure. On the other hand, American spy agencies shouldn't be conducting large-scale warfare; that isn't who we are as a country (note to self: if you believe that, it may be time to re-read A Legacy Of Ashes). And I'm not in favor of the Gordian-knot idea of subsuming the NSA into the military; the prospect reminds me, oddly, of the old Prodigy online service, which wags held to have combined the tech acumen of Sears and the consumer-friendliness of IBM, its two not-so-proud parents.
The NYT article linked above points out that the NSA has most of the current expertise on digital warfare, but the military's becoming extremely serious about wargaming its way to understanding. Today you'll see the tip of that political iceberg float by as the White House nominates its cyberczar, but be aware that a sustained, complex, and bitter struggle for power glides just below the waterline.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Microsoft reports high-risk vulnerability in DirectX

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 12:27pm CEST par Angela Gunn

By Angela Gunn, Betanews
Pre-Vista versions of Windows are vulnerable to a hole in Microsoft DirectX that's currently under limited attack, the company has announced. The vulnerability in quartz.dll could allow an attacker to strike through QuickTime playback plug-ins for any browser using the affected platform.
The problem, according to the security advisory, lies in the QuickTime Movie Parser Filter that DirectShow uses to process files in that format, specifically in the quartz.dll file. It's available for exploitation even if the system doesn't have QuickTime installed. For the moment, there's no patch, but a post on Microsoft's Security Research & Defense blog details the currently recommended workarounds.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Google's move to introduce a Wave of synchronicity

Publié: mai 29, 2009, 12:40am CEST par Scott M. Fulton, III

By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
It's not unusual to see something emerging from Google's laboratories that folks in the general press fail to understand, and the company's marketing is partly to blame there. The public introduction during this morning's I/O Developers' conference of a Web programming construct called Google Wave generated headlines ranging in scope from a new competitor for Microsoft SharePoint, to a next generation social network, to a series of browser extensions for Chrome to rival the Mozilla Jetpack project, and finally to the company's evil plan to conquer and corrupt HTML 5.
Excluding the latter, it could very well be all of these items. Essentially, Wave is an architecture, and not really a very new one. It's an old solution to a very old problem: that of synchronicity in distributed applications. As database architects know better than anyone, the problem with maintaining a distributed database is that multiple users may make changes that conflict with each other, leading to disparity and multiple versions. Currently, transactional modeling solves that problem, but a more direct and simpler approach from a mathematical standpoint would be simply to translate every operation, or every change a user requests to a database -- every command from client to server -- into a figurative mathematical language so that the terms of the command take into account the changes simultaneously being ordered by all the others.
It's a simple concept on paper. Accomplishing it has been relatively impossible up to now, mainly because the speed and connectivity have not yet existed to deploy a transformational database matrix on a massive scale. But "Google" has come to mean massive scale, and now it's giving the concept a try.
Operational transformation (OT) -- a way of rewriting every transaction to take into account all the others, prior to executing it -- could lead to some very sophisticated, connective applications. One way that it works is by upsetting the typical hierarchy of database architecture. Whereas typically you might think of a database as a thing in the core to which changes happen, OT reverses the concept by generating a kind of change model that bears a striking resemblance to a Feynman state-change diagram in quantum physics. Here, the database or "document" that ends up being the beneficiary of change, is used to represent the change itself, or what the architecture calls a wavelet. It then passes through the state change diagram like a blowing piece of paper pierces through a barbed-wire fence.
"Under the basic theory of OT, a client can send operations sequentially to the server as quickly as it can. The server can do the same. This means the client and server can traverse through the state space via different OT paths to the same convergent state depending on when they receive the other parties operations," reads a Google white paper on OT. "When you have multiple clients connected to the server, every client and server pair have their own state space. One short coming of this is the server needs to carry a state space for every connected client which can be memory-intensive. In addition, this complicates the server algorithm by requiring it to convert clients' operations between state spaces."
A demonstration of a connectivity application using Google Wave mounted (where else?) through Google Chrome.
The difficulties in implementing OT described here could be shifted entirely to the server side, on Google's end. Developers, meanwhile, can simply concentrate on getting their signals across, sending messages that trigger their systems to traverse the "state spaces," without them having to know what a state space is. So one could take the code for Google Docs, let's say, and rewrite it so that multiple users are capable of editing a document concurrently. It requires a client/server architecture with a massive server scale, but Google may be the one to pull this off.
It doesn't take a big leap of logic to take that same altered, synchronized word processor and convert it into an instant messaging app. If everyone's writing, drawing, and embedding links and images to the same file in real-time, then the document itself becomes a de facto messaging tool. Change the front end a bit -- or what open source developers call the "chrome" -- and you essentially have a better Google Chat than Google Chat, one where you can see what everyone is typing as they type it.
As Google engineer Lars Rasmussen wrote this morning, "In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the Web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content -- it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use 'playback' to rewind the wave and see how it evolved."
But that's just the front end, from the user's perspective -- more accurately, it's the first test application of the architecture Google is implementing. The architecture itself is the major undertaking here.
Deployment of services will take place through a client-side gadget that communicates using a derivative of the existing OpenSocial API, coupled with server-side applications written in such common languages as Python and Java. So Google isn't re-inventing the wheel here either. But since Wave isn't really an app yet, and isn't a fully-fleshed out architecture yet, and doesn't have a complete platform yet, it may lack the impetus and momentum that .NET and Java have to enable good ideas to come to fruition. It does have the scale it needs, however, and that's the biggest ace in Google's hand right now.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009