Microsoft has modified its Windows Analytics service for IT admins to report on machines’ Meltdown/Spectre protection status. The Meltdown/Spectre vulnerabilities have been a headache for everyone, but imagine having to deal with it for hundreds or thousands of machines. That task has already fallen onto the shoulders of the world’s IT admins. To make their jobs a little easier, Microsoft put a trio of new features into its Windows administration tool suite. The first is an antivirus status check that probes whether a machine’s installed antivirus software will prevent it from receiving a Windows Meltdown/Spectre patch. The possibility of anti-virus software interfering with the patches was discovered when Microsoft released them in early January. Microsoft eventually gated the deployment of patches according to a whitelist of antivirus softwares. This new feature seems to leverage that list to give visibility into the issue. The natural consequence of needing … [Read more...] about Microsoft Windows Analytics Helps IT Pros Assess Meltdown/Spectre Exposure
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Microsoft offers $200 off Surface Pro to celebrate its fifth anniversary
Microsoft's first x86 PC, then known as the Surface with Windows 8 Pro, hit the market five years ago. The first version was a little strange—a bit too big for a tablet, a bit too small for a laptop—but with its third iteration, the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft's hardware hit its stride. From its first version, the device was an x86 tablet with an integrated kickstand and a detachable keyboard, but the third version changed the screen resolution to 12 inches with a 3:2 aspect ratio (up from 10.6 inches and 16:9) and used a kickstand that could be set to any position from about 20 degrees to 150 degrees. This third version of Surface Pro spawned a number of copycats from companies like Samsung, Dell, and HP, and arguably it made Microsoft's concept—the laptop-like tablet—a permanent fixture of the PC landscape. To celebrate this fifth anniversary, Microsoft is offering $200 off two configurations of the current model Surface Pro. The Core i5 with 128GB SSD and 4GB … [Read more...] about Microsoft offers $200 off Surface Pro to celebrate its fifth anniversary
Microsoft’s compiler-level Spectre fix shows how hard this problem will be to solve
The Meltdown and Spectre attacks that use processor speculative execution to leak sensitive information have resulted in a wide range of software changes to try to limit the scope for harm. Many of these are operating system-level fixes, some of which depend on processor microcode updates. But Spectre isn't a simple attack to solve; operating system changes help a great deal, but application-level changes are also needed. Apple has talked about some of the updates it has made to the WebKit rendering engine, used in its Safari browser, but this is only a single application. Microsoft is offering a compiler-level change for Spectre. The "Spectre" label actually covers two different attacks. The one that Microsoft's compiler is addressing, known as "variant 1," concerns checking the size of an array: before accessing the Nth element of an array, code should check that the array has at least N elements in it. Programmers using languages like C and C++ often have to write these checks … [Read more...] about Microsoft’s compiler-level Spectre fix shows how hard this problem will be to solve
Microsoft’s classic Wireless Comfort 5050 is still a great upgrade for your new desktop
If you, like us, spend a good portion of your life banging on computers, the first thing you do after buying a new PC is replace the stock USB keyboard, and mouse that comes with it. Upgrading to aftermarket peripherals such as, say, the Microsoft Wireless Comfort Desktop 5050 review unit we have here, not only improves the aesthetics of your desktop and increases comfort, but can also be a wise investment in the well-being of your wrists and hands. Compared to some other keyboard and mouse combos we’ve looked at recently, including the Logitech Performance MK850 Wireless Mouse and Keyboard Combo ($80), Microsoft’s Desktop 5050 is relatively inexpensive. It lists for $70, but we found it at several outlets for $50. While the Logitech MK850 specializes in allowing you to pair with multiple devices simultaneously, the Desktop 5050, in addition to its ergonomic design, comes with several additional keys for assigning shortcuts in Windows. Does it, however, provide enough … [Read more...] about Microsoft’s classic Wireless Comfort 5050 is still a great upgrade for your new desktop
Seeing AI, Microsoft’s newest app, narrates the world it sees for blind people
We're officially living in the future.No, there aren't any flying cars (yet). And sorry, we still can't easily travel the stars either. But one promise of the future, computers that can help blind people see, is starting to arrive.The latest example is Microsoft's Seeing AI, a free iPhone app released Wednesday that "narrates the world around you." Point it at a park, and it'll tell you what the scene looks like. Point it at a person, and it'll tell you if they're smiling. Point it at a dollar bill, and it'll tell you how much. It'll even tell you about a product when you scan it."Just hold up your phone and hear information about the world around you," Microsoft promises.It seems almost magical when you first hear about it. But the even better news is that Microsoft is far from alone in tackling this problem. Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon are working on similar projects. Facebook, for example, discussed in February how it's been using AI to describe what's in photos on … [Read more...] about Seeing AI, Microsoft’s newest app, narrates the world it sees for blind people