UI For Internet Explorer 9 Revealed

Posted on August 26, 2010 by sophieparker

Internet Explorer 9 isn?t due out until mid September, but Microsoft Russia have got a bit excited and posted a screen shot of IE9?s user interface. The screen shot has been confirmed as genuine.

ie9-ui

The site has been pulled since the image was posted, so the above screen shot is all we have for now. Mary managed to find out the following from the site however.

  • Tabs can be ?torn off?, and possibly ?snapped? via Windows 7′s Aero Snap feature.
  • Dragging a ?pin? from the address bar creates a link on your taskbar.
  • There?s a combined search and address bar (as with Google?s Chrome).
  • IE9 only has one menu, consolidating the six menus found in IE8.

    It seems to be much more minimalistic than previous versions, no suggested sites along with some other icons that we?ve been used to seeing. but there?s still button for home, favourites and settings.

    Whether you?re a fan or not, all signs point to is being a winner in terms of performance. And it?s certainly in keeping with Microsoft’s current aesthetics.

    • LG E900 With Windows Phone 7 Leaked

    Posted on August 25, 2010 by sophieparker

    The evidence that Windows Phone 7 will be released to the consumer market place soon is mounting. A video of the up and coming LG E900 has been leaked to YouTube, and it appears to be sporting WP7.

    The video takes you through the interface and device features, but the camera is disappointingly out of focus and will do you eyes in.

    Not much is known about the device other than it has a side mounted USB port and some sort of DNLA integration. It seems to be like the C900 but without the keyboard.

    The design of the device is minimalistic with clean lines, a look that most manufacturers are going for these days. Get a peek at the vid here.

    Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta 2

    Posted on August 20, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft has released the next major version of Windows Live Essentials. The 2011 beta suite comes with a number of bug fixes, improvements and new features.

    The first beta was released by Microsoft on June 24th. Essentials programs include: Windows Live Movie Maker, Mail, Writer, Sync, and Family Safety. This version of WLE is designed to take full advantage of Windows 7. All applications now use ribbon UI and integrate with Windows 7 by using Jumplists. Also included in the package is Windows Live Sync, which allows users to synchronize their files on the web and across multiple machines.

    Windows Live Photo gallery has several new features such as photo fusing, which allows two photos to be blended together. facial recognition has also been improved.

    The beta?s build number is 15.4.3001.809 but some applications have a different build number:

    Movie Maker – 15.4.3002.0810
    Messenger – 15.4.3002.0810
    Mail – 15.4.3002.0810
    Photo Gallery -15.4.3002.0810
    Sync – 15.4.3001.0809
    Family Safety – 15.4.3001.0809
    Writer – 15.4.3001.0809

    Office For Mac Much Like Windows Version

    Posted on August 19, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft are going to include photo editing in it?s Mac version of Office. And mini charts will be included it it?s version of Excel. Office for Mac 2011 should be out in October according to Microsoft.

    A video post on the Office for Mac website said the new Mac version will give Apple lovers the ability to edit photos in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. office 2010 already has this feature, which was released this summer.

    Microsoft have also said it?s added the Sparklines feature to Excel. The Sparklines tool allows for miniature charts that fit in a single cell, which gives users the ability to track individual trend data points.

    So the Mac version office has been pulled more into line with the Windows version by Microsoft.

    An evangelist with Microsoft’s Mac team, Kurt Schmucker said: "What we’ve been able to do in Office for Mac 2011 is to bring a lot of power to bear to produce a professional-looking document that’s still compatible with Office for Windows,"

    IE9 Beta To Launch Sept 15th

    Posted on August 17, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft has announced that it plans to release the public Beta of IE9 on the 15th of September.

    Invites were sent out to members of the press for a web IE9 beta event. The rumour is that Internet Explorer 9 will have a minimalist user interface. Microsoft will not be using Ribbon or Metro UI elements, instead IE9 will sport a look similar to that of Google Chrome?s. Having said that some very unique features are expected in IE9 UI.

    Leaked screen shots of an early build confirmed plan?s for a new download manager in IE9. The official logo for IE9 has also been revealed, but not much to be revealed really?Same as usual. You can read more about what IE9 will bring in one of our earlier blogs.

    logo_ie9

    Windows 7 Touch Support for Firefox 4 Beta

    Posted on August 12, 2010 by sophieparker

    The latest beta for Firefox 4 has been released by Mozilla, this makes it the Third beta for the Firefox 4 development. Beta three supports 30 languages and also supports multi-touch on Windows 7. This gives users the ability to interact with the browser without the need for a mouse. Several changes have been made to JavaScript to give a faster and more streamlined experience.

    The C++ representation of JS has also been changed in Beta 3, which allows the browser to execute numeric code more efficiently. This means more streamlined graphics in web applications.

    Mozilla has included a feedback add-on in the beta, giving users the ability submit bugs and errors as they come across them. Mozilla has said that the feedback add-on has received 3,500 reports a day from over half a million testers. An extra stat also shows that the majority of testers for Firefox beta are male, and use the web for between 2-6 hours a day. They primarily use Firefox for entertainment and communication.

    Microsoft Retaliates With PC vs. Mac Site

    Posted on August 10, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft has added a new section to their Windows 7 site. Entitled ?PC vs. Mac?, it?s the first time Microsoft have openly hit back at Apple?s campaigns against the company.

    Many thought that Microsoft would never respond to Apple?s borderline smear campaigns. but it seems that Microsoft have decided to take Apple on. The informative website implies that Macs are potentially "spoiling your fun" and that "take time to learn".

    The site compares Windows 7 to Mac OS X in categories such as:

    • Having fun
    • Simplicity
    • Working hard
    • Sharing
    • Compatibility
    • Choice

    And the conclusions drawn in these categories are pretty scathing in regards to Apple?s OS.

    Arguments against Macs include:

    • Macs might spoil your fun
    • Macs can take time to learn
    • Macs don’t work as well at work or at school
    • Macs don’t like to share
    • Macs might not like your PC stuff
    • Macs don’t let you choose

    Not a single positive thing is said about the Mac, but why would it be. At the bottom of the page visitors are encouraged to "find your perfect PC". There are also tweets featured on the site about Windows 7 that show how the OS is being received by users.

    Project Menlo Uncovered

    Posted on August 9, 2010 by sophieparker

    An undisclosed Microsoft research project named ?Menlo?, has been revealed as a prototype mobile phone and operating system.

    The Menlo project was thought to be a tablet PC, but now looks to be a prototype mobile device based around user experience and navigation. The revelation came from a research paper, "User Experiences with Activity-Based Navigation on Mobile Devices", written by Mary-Jo Foley of ZDNet. The device is described as being a ?prototype? with a ?touch screen? and bizarrely, a ?barometer?.

    The paper describes the device: "Menlo is a prototype mobile device with a capacitive touch screen (4.1? diagonal, 800×480) running Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 which incorporates a Bosch BMA150 3-axis accelerometer and Bosch BMP085 digital pressure sensor (barometer),"

    It?s seems unlikely that the Menlo project will ever go to retail. Rather, the device has been designed in order to test a new Silverlight-based application called ?Greenfeild?, that allows users to locate a parked car.

    The paper describes Greenfield as and application: "To explore activity-based navigation we designed Greenfield, an application that provides an activity-based trail to a parked car. This is useful both in situations where one has lost one’s car and needs to find it, but also in finding a car parked by someone else, e.g. a private car parked by another family member, or a shared business vehicle."

    Foley?s paper suggests that Microsoft could be developing a new mobile OS that isn?t WP7, that will run on a number of different processors.

    menlo

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    Final Internet Explorer 9 Preview

    Posted on August 5, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft has been working hard on Internet Explorer 9, releasing 3 IE9 previews. Each one being an improvement on the last. While the previews have not seen a new user interface, they have performed very well by all other means. An with the fourth and final preview being released today, progress is being rapidly made.

    According to Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft General Manager, This release the potential advantages of fully hardware accelerated HTML 5 graphics, and great performance improvements on industry standard tests. On the Acid 3 test preview 3 received 88/100, preview 4 has scored 95/100. The missing 5 point are due SVG fonts and animations that are currently being transitioned.

    The public beta is due for release in September. Microsoft is asking web devs to start coding their sites according to web standards rather than testing for IE versions.  Hachamovitch has said that the platform is near to completion and therefore ready for public testing.

    You can read more about what IE9 has to offer in our previous blogs. And if you want to get your hands on IE9 preview 4 you can down load it from the IE site.

    Windows Phone 7 Due In Oct For EU, Nov For US

    Posted on August 3, 2010 by sophieparker

    Microsoft been keeping details about Windows Phone 7 close to it?s chest. we still don?t know about prices, release dates and retail info such as device name and specs. But this may be about to change.

    Engadget has reported that: ?While discussing the move to Microsoft’s next great hope in the mobile space, the Redmond COO told the world that the transition is expected to happen in the October timeframe across Europe, and in the November timeframe in the US.?

    While the general consensus has been that WP7 will launch by the end of the year, this is the first bit confirmation from Microsoft that it?s all on track for that time. You can watch Turner?s speech for yourself here.

    A bit of a surprise in the fact that the EU will get Windows Phone 7 before the US. Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft?s latest effort to reinvent it?s mobile platform and create a much more robust mobile OS.

    Major new features of WP7 include Hubs , panoramic views, and service integration. You can read more on WP7 in one of our earlier blogs.