software - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• What Microsoft's 'fresh start' browser strategy means

  Microsoft will unveil a browser not named Internet Explorer (IE) alongside Windows 10, according to an online report.

• 2015 to test Microsoft's resolve and execution

  Microsoft faces not only its 40th anniversary in 2015, but a host of challenges that will define it for years to come, analysts said today.

• Finding critical business data -- fast

  A lot of security processes failed during the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2486959/cybercrime-hacking/target-says-hackers-likely-accessed-40-million-cards.html">breach of Target's systems</a> during last year's holiday season, but one surprising revelation was that the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2488641/malware-vulnerabilities/major-companies--like-target--often-fail-to-act-on-malware-alerts.html">retailer actually did receive</a> security alerts about the malware in its system. Yet because the security team was bombarded with alerts -- estimated at hundreds per day -- it couldn't adequately prioritize them.

• Microsoft's alt-OS strategy strikes loyalists as class warfare

  Long-time Windows users may feel like second-class citizens as Microsoft continues to push its products and services onto alternate platforms, but the problem will clear up next year, analysts predicted today.

• Microsoft cold-shoulders Server 2003 and XP users hit with Microsoft Update error 0x80248015

  The causes of the problem remain cloudy, but the symptoms are quite clear. Starting on Nov. 18, some Server 2003, Windows Home Server 2003, and Windows XP SP3 machines suddenly refused to connect to Microsoft Update. As best I can tell, Microsoft has not responded to the problem, not documented a workaround, and is basically doing nothing visible to fix it.

• What developers can do to extend smartphone battery life

  Battery power consumption remains a lingering problem on smartphones -- and is getting worse with the latest advances in the devices. But developers can take steps to tackle the issue.

• WebRTC close to tipping point as Cisco, Microsoft announce products

  It was all the way back in the Spring of 2011 that Google released <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebRTC">WebRTC</a>, its nascent real-time, browser-based, HTML5-powered, no-plugin-required video chat project to the public. In the three and a half years since, the Internet Engineering Task Force and the W3C have been working together to try to formalize the standard, prepare the stable 1.0 release, and get it ready for prime time.

• Why AT&T and Sprint just announced business conferencing services

  Separate announcements Tuesday for business conferencing services, one from AT&amp;T and the other from Sprint, highlight the radically changing business models at U.S. wireless carriers.

• Evernote's quest to change the world through productivity software

  In early October, Evernote CEO Phil Libin debuted new features designed to make the immensely popular note-taking software <a href="http://www.citeworld.com/article/2691236/social-collaboration/how-evernote-will-become-a-full-fledged-collaboration-platform.html">friendlier to the enterprise</a>: Work Chat, Context and presentation mode.

• Functional languages rack up best scores for software quality

  Language design makes a difference in software quality, and <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/2843393/application-development/functional-programming-tradeoffs-efficiency-learning-curve.html">functional languages</a> offer an edge when it comes to building quality software, a study of programming languages and code quality in GitHub reveals.

• Python-powered StackStorm sets scripts for event-triggered automation

  <a href="http://stackstorm.com/">StackStorm</a>, staffed by former members of GitHub, PuppetLabs, SwiftStack, Rackspace, and the Apache Libcloud team, has launched the first public version of its eponymous open source operations automation solution.

• What's new with Java

  I'm sick of Java, as you probably are too. That said, there have been a number of changes to Java lately that may have flown under the radar. So, here is what you need to know about where things stand.

• Microsoft endorses workaround for botched Windows patch KB 3000061

  This month's Black Tuesday crop of patches held <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/2834535/security/four-more-botched-black-tuesday-patches-kb-3000061-kb-2984972-kb-2949927-and-kb-2995388.html">more than a few surprises</a>. True to form, my choice for the "most likely to splat," the <a href="https://support2.microsoft.com/kb/3000061">KB 3000061</a> kernel mode driver patch, repeatedly fails to install on many machines. Although the Knowledge Base article hasn't been updated, Microsoft support engineer joscon confirmed a workaround for the problem on Thursday afternoon.

• 4 startups that are changing productivity

  By now, you've likely <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2837807/one-missed-email-and-google-inbox-will-be-in-trouble.html">heard about Inbox</a>, Google's bold new plan to reinvent email with a smarter, more context-sensitive interface that treats messaging like just another to-do list. 

• Surprise patch KB 3005628 bodes ill for Microsoft's patching strategy

  Yesterday Microsoft released <a href="https://support2.microsoft.com/kb/3005628">patch KB 3005628</a> for Windows 8, 8.1, Server 2012, and Server 2012 R2. It's a trivial, non-security patch. The fact that it wasn't kept and issued in the normal cadence (patches usually arrive on Update Tuesday, which is next Tuesday) points to either an accidental release to the Automatic Update chute -- which we've seen before -- or an unwelcome switch in Microsoft's patching strategy. Either possibility is troubling.