Tag: ED BOTT

Tracking Protection is Internet Explorer 9's kicked-up privacy protection system, a sort of evolution from IE8's InPrivate Filtering. And while there are now four lists posted on Microsoft's official site, they're not all designed to function the same way. ZDNet's Ed Bott took an in-depth look at all four, and what he found may surprise you. One list -- provided by TRUSTe -- does very little ...

Oh Ed Bott, what would we do without you? Seriously. Amidst the 1.3 trillion "black screen error" posts recently published on every blog in the Milky Way, Ed's breakdown today was the first to really dig in to the reality behind Prevx's claims that recent Windows 7 patches were rendering systems totally unusable. You might have wondered why you didn't read about the "story" earlier this ...

Are you rocking Windows Vista RC2? Ready to start tweaking it (or tweak it a little more, as they case may be)? Take a look at these 10 expert tips and tweaks for Windows Vista from ZDNet's Ed Bott. Bott shows us how to add an extended shortcut menu, take quick screenshots with the Snipping Tool, get a quick system checkup, ditch Security Center nagging, and more. These are tips for power users, ...

Ed Bott is probably my favorite person to read when it comes to covering Windows and other Microsoft software. Today I noticed a little post he had regarding a way to fix Windows Live Messenger in case you find yourself unable to log in. I didn't think much of it, until my wife asked me why she hadn't been able to log in to her messenger for a few days. I quickly went back and read Ed's tip, then ...

Venerable Windows expert Ed Bott has been carefully documenting his misadventures with Windows Genuine Advantage for a few months now. As evidence mounted that the WGA system was not as bulletproof as Microsoft would like to have us believe, Ed decided to get statistical on their ass, so to speak. After scouring Microsoft's own help forums looking for people reporting problems with WGA, Ed found ...

Both Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7, both in beta, are being positioned by their makers as the most secure web browsers for Windows, but which is really the best? ZDNet's Ed Bott has written an in-depth comparison of the two browsers' security features, which covers not only code vulnerabilities, but phishing and malware as well. Bott doesn't indicate a clear winner, instead concluding that ...

Remember when Windows Genuine Advantage became nagware, notifying you over and over again when it thought your copy of Windows wasn't legitimate? And remember when it started "checking in" with Microsoft every day? All's fair in the name of anti-piracy, Microsoft seems to be saying, and the latest rumor is that this fall Microsoft will make WGA mandatory on all Windows PCs, and what's more, will ...

Much has been said about the new User Account Control (UAC) system that will be shipping with WIndows Vista. UAC is supposed to usher in a new era of security for Windows by preventing, for example, unauthorized programs from making changes to system files. Vista beta-testers are finding it to be a bit of a nuisance, however, with UAC prompts popping up for all manner of seemily-innocent ...