Microsoft recently talked about an important milestone for the development of the next version of Internet Explorer, commonly known as IE8 or Internet Explorer 8. As of last week, the latest Internet Explorer 8 build (which is currently being testing in-house at Microsoft) has passed what is known as the Acid2 browser test.

In addition to passing the Acid2 test, the company is also planning to show Internet Explorer 8 to attendees of MIX08 which is taking place in March 2008.

Additionally, Microsoft will also be making a beta build of the new Internet Explorer 8 available to those who wish to test the new …

Microsoft originally released Internet Explorer with support for Active X controls, and they are not automatically activated thus requiring the user to "Click To Activate" in order to interact with the component. These components are embedded into a web page and currently you still need to "Click To Activate" these controls, In an update coming as part of an April 2008 cumulative update for Internet Explorer (all Windows platforms) the company will be changing the way Active components are handled.

If you don’t recall, in April 2006,Microsoft made a change to how Internet Explorer handled embedded controls used on some webpages. Some sites required users to “click to …

  As you may know, Microsoft is holding its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) this coming fall in 2008. The date and  location is to be determined but we know it will be on the west coast. Microsoft rescheduled WinHEC for the fall in response to industry feedback.

As always, WinHEC is the best opportunity for industry professionals who want to stay aligned with Microsoft’s platform roadmap and new market opportunities.

WinHEC will present the following:

Hardware implementation directions for OEMs, ODMs, device engineers, and system builders. Microsoft directions and industry partnerships for long-term initiatives. Microsoft vision for Windows and the …

Currently Windows Vista’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) disables programs on users’ computers if it suspects the software is pirated, opting instead for a gentler approach based on nagging alerts.

Microsoft stated that it will roll out the new version of Windows Genuine Advantage with the first "service pack" for Windows Vista due in the first quarter of 2008.

Presently, when a user attempts to activate or download certain software from Microsoft’s website, Windows Genuine Advantage scans the user’s PC for signs of pirated software. Today, if the tool finds an unauthorized copy of Windows Vista, WGA will disable Windows Aero (The new glass interface) and …

Instead of showing the default logon, logoff and shutdown status messages at the welcome screen (Figure A), Windows displays status message that reflect each step in the process of starting, shutting down, logging on, or logging off the system. However, this setting is ignored if you have the Disable Boot / Shutdown / Logon / Logoff status messages policy enabled. 

When this is enabled Windows will now display the information (as stated above) to reflect each step in the process.

To enable this feature, do the following….

1.) Click the Windows Start Button …