In this issue:
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 in August
by Arie Slob
Hello Windows users,
 Last week, Microsoft's Tony Chor, Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer, announced that Microsoft will be releasing Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 8 this August.
"In addition to the features for developers we showed in IE8 Beta 1, we've been working on great new features for consumers and IT professionals (as well as doing even more cool stuff for developers). I'm happy to announce that we're on track to deliver IE8 Beta 2 this August when you'll get a chance to see what we've been up to in these areas. Furthermore, in order to help us get even more feedback for this global product, we'll be releasing Beta 2 in over twenty languages within a month of the initial release. This is a big step up from the three languages we released for beta 1 and much more than we ever did during IE7."
The list of languages/locales that is being planned on for beta 2 includes: Arabic, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Swedish.
At the Tech Ed IT Pro 2008 in Orlando Microsoft also announced some features that will be added to IE8 that will benefit the IT Pro community:
Slipstream Support in Internet Explorer 8
With Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Vista you'll be able to "Slipstream" Internet Explorer 8 into a Vista image so that when you deploy Vista it already contains Internet Explorer 8. To slipstream IE8 only takes 10-15 minute per image. You'll also be able to slipstream IE8 cumulative updates so that you are shipping the most up to date and secure image.
Security in Internet Explorer 8
From phishing scams to sites which install malware, the web can be a dangerous place to be. Who hasn't had to jump across the keyboard/mouse to stop a friend or loved one visiting a phishing site or installing a piece of suspicious software? What happens when that person doesn't have their tech-savvy friend watching over their shoulder?
Rather than cover those features here, Microsoft already posted information about some of the ways they're helping your users browse more safely:
Since Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 last March they've had over two million downloads.
You can still download IE8 Beta 1 from the Microsoft Web site.
If you decide to give it a try (it can be uninstalled), also get the security update listed under "Highlights" in this newsletter.
Windows Updates
Microsoft issued a number of updates for Windows Vista & Windows XP in the past weeks:
Windows Vista:
- KB951978 - Update to resolve an issue in VBScript/JScript scripts from CScript\WScript hosts, certain built-ins may not function correctly when "Standards and Formats" in "Regional Settings" is changed.
- KB952714 - This update configures the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program to improve the quality of software information that is sent to Microsoft. This information is used to help improve the features that you use most frequently. Participation in the program is voluntary and no information that is collected is used to identify or contact you.
- KB950126 - Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista.
Windows XP:
- KB951978 - Update to resolve an issue in VBScript/JScript scripts from CScript\WScript hosts, certain built-ins may not function correctly when "Standards and Formats" in "Regional Settings" is changed.
- KB953356 - Install this update before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 to prevent an issue in which your computer may restart continuously after you upgrade to SP3 on systems with non-Intel processors.
Microsoft Pro Photo Tools v1
The Pro Photo Tools allow you to add, change, and delete common metadata properties for digital photographs. You can place photos on the Live Earth map and then drag them to the right location. The GPS information will be stored back into the photos. If you have a GPS device, can load track route files from the most popular formats (NMEA, GPX, and KML) and see them on the map. Then you can place your photos on the track route. Again, the GPS info will be stored into your file. When you have the right GPS location for your photos, you can automatically generate location info like country, state, city and even street names. Or if you know the location where a picture was taken, you can type it in and get the GPS location information automatically
Supported OS: Windows Vista; Windows XP (32 bit, English-US locale)
Download & Release Notes
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