The Differences between IE9 on the desktop and IE9 on WP7
Retrieved from: http://www.ubelly.com/2011/11/the-differences-between-ie9-on-the-desktop-and-ie9-on-wp7/
When asked about how similar IE9 for the desktop and IE9 for Windows Phone 7 are, I often say… it’s a direct port. Turns out I was wrong, there are infact 16 difference that you should probably bear in mind. 16 is a pretty small number but knowing these upfront will save you a ton of time if you end up having to debug your website on WP7.
First there are a handful of features that have been added:
- GPS support for HTML5 geolocation. Windows Phone uses the location stack on the device and uses GPS if it is available. The desktop uses various other methods which do not require GPS (since most machines do not have this feature)
- Support for Viewport. Width,height, user-scalable. Whilst the following features are available in some browsers, the minimum-scale, maximum-scale, and initial-scale properties are currently unsupported for Internet Explorer Mobile.
- Support for the CSS property –ms-text-size-adjust.
Now for the things that are unsupported (with the Biggie being at the top)
- Downloadable fonts such as EOT, TTF/OTF and WOFF fonts. Whilst the font-face tag is supported the mobile browser will not attempt to download these font. A list of all the supported fonts on WP7 can be found here.
- Backward compatibility for Internet Explorer 8 documents. Internet Explorer Mobile renders these documents in Internet Explorer 9 mode.
- Cross-window communications, such as the ability to target a window by using script
- Multi-stream HTML5 audio
- CMYK image support
- VBScript support
- ActiveX support
- Extensibility through browser helper objects, toolbars, and other related items
- Active document support
- Older web technology support, such as binary behaviors, HTCs, HTML+TIME, and VML
- Full support for complex script languages in all document modes
- Surrogate pair support
- JIT support for Jscript
Arial vs. Helvetica
I will admit that I was one of those people that didn’t really think much about Typography. I just always used the default text in Microsoft Word and other programs. Since I started learning about Graphic Design my eyes have been opened to the very large world of Typography, and I am falling in love with it. It has such a huge impact on an design and the world around us. There are millions of different fonts out there, but there are two that I keep hearing about and seeing everywhere. Arial and Helvetica! But it appears that the world is divided between these two. It’s an actual war out there. Either you are on Arial’s side or Helvetica’s. I was curious to learn more about this war and why they are fighting. I found this great article on a wonderful blog, ILoveTypography.com. I found it very interesting and educational and I just wanted to share it with you. If you want to read the original posting of this article you can find it at: http://ilovetypography.com/2007/10/06/arial-versus-helvetica/
Arial Versus Helvetica
Every typeface, like every one of us, has its distinguishing features. You might be forgiven for thinking that some fonts are clones, or identical twins. However, closer inspection reveals subtle differences and nuances that simply escape casual perusal. Something that can really help to heighten our sensitivity to those differences is getting out our magnifying glasses and really taking a closer look. If you’ve forgotten to bring your magnifying glass, then don’t fear for the Fontometer is here (we’ll get to that in a moment).
Today we’re going to de-robe two popular typefaces, namely Arial and Helvetica — faces that are often confused, and often the subjects of mistaken identity. But first let me re-introduce you to these two popular faces:
Helvetica
Designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger, Helvetica’s design is based on that of Akzidenz Grotesk (1896), and classified as a Grotesque or Transitional san serif face. Originally it was called Neue Haas Grotesque; in 1960 it was revised and renamed Helvetica (Latin for Switzerland “Swiss”).
Arial
Designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype (not Microsoft), it’s classified as Neo Grotesque, was originally called Sonoran San Serif, and was designed for IBM’s bitmap font laser printers. It was first supplied with Windows 3.1 (1992) and was one of the core fonts in all subsequent versions of Windows until Vista, when to all intents and purposes, it was replaced with Calibri.
I’ve read in several places that Arial is closer in appearance to Univers than Helvetica. I don’t think so. In How to Spot Arial, the type designer Mark Simonson looks at the similarities between Arial and Grotesque 215 (one of Arial’s true ancestors); and when you consider the details — for example, the flat versus angled finials (e.g. “t”) — then Arial does appear to be more closely related to Grotesque 215; however, the one thing that does stand out is the greater variation in stroke width of Grotesque 215. Arial and Helvetica share a more consistent, even stroke width. I guess it depends on whether one is looking at the form or the appearance. What do you think?
I can hear angels singing a heavenly chorus (I was tempted to include a sound track here) as I introduce to you the all new, shining, hopefully very useful Fontometer (sorry, but I couldn’t think of a better name) to compare the glyphs from Arial and Helvetica. In the grey corner (left), we have Arial; in the red corner, Helvetica. Simply drag the Arial glyph over the Helvetica version to compare (if the excitement of this is too much for you or your suffer from a heart condition, then take a short break between glyphs). The Fontometer only seems to work properly in FireFox (future versions will work for everyone):
(Sorry, you will have to go to the original post to see the Fontometer)
This feature doesn’t display in RSS feeds. To see it in action, please visit the post. Thanks.
A number of the glyphs are almost identical, and even an expert would have difficulty telling them apart. However, there are a few that stand out as being quite different; namely “a”, “G”, “Q”, “R”, and “1”. Did you spot any other differences?
In fact if you wish to quickly differentiate any font from from another, it’s usually best to start off looking at letters like “J”, “Q” and “g”.
What it’s wrong to do is criticize Arial as a clone or rip-off of Helvetica. If Arial is a rip-off of Helvetica, then Helvetica is a rip-off of Akzidenz Grotesk; or we could simply say that they are both rip-offs of earlier Grotesque faces. The whole rip-off debate is a rather pointless one, I feel. Every face should be considered on its own merit. (We don’t criticize a daughter for looking like her mother). And, if you want to criticize Arial (it certainly has its faults), then do so, not because everyone else does, but do so with your own critical eye.
So, what do you think of Arial and Helvetica now?
I hope that you enjoyed this article as much as I did. I now can see why there is a battle between the two. I really don’t have a side; I think both fonts are both great and classical. But it is a war that will probably keep going on forever! I just love this wonderful world of Typography that has been opened up to me. I’m excited to be a part of it in the future and all the fun I can do with it. Thanks for reading and you can look forward to more future articles about Typography from me. Thanks!
Hard drive shortage expected to hurt consumers most
Flooding in Thailand is wreaking havoc on hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturers.
While vendors are expected to keep their most valuable customers - computer system manufacturers -- supplied with inventory, the consumer retail market will likely be hit hard by shortages and price increases, analysts say.
Two industry research firms, IHS iSuppli and IDC, have predicted that the overall market shortage due to factory flooding in Thailand will reach 25% to 28% over the next six months.
The largest producer of hard drives, Western Digital is expected to be hit the hardest as IDC predicts that up to 75% of its production will be temporarily shut down, IDC said today.
IHS iSuppli said fourth quarter hard drive shipments will decline by 27.7% to 125 million units, from 173 million shipped in the third quarter.
Users should expect to see price increases of some 10% over the third quarter.
"You'll start to see PC makers increase prices for some products. So indirectly, consumers will face some higher prices because of higher HDD prices," said John Rydning, a vice president of research at IDC.
Rydning said he also expects that higher prices for USB-attached HDD products.
While it's hard to predict how specific disk drive vendors will allocate affected supplies to computer system customers, manufacturers generally are likely to make certain enterprise system makers are taken care of first, Rydning said.
Computer system manufacturers will also be high on the list, while the consumer buying disk drives at retail stores will be at the bottom, Rydning said.
Fang Zhang, a storage analyst with IHS iSuppli, said the price of hard drives have been increasing for system manufacturers and consumers significantly, some more than 30%.
Already, prices on retail sites such as Pricegrabber.com and Newegg.com have begun skyrocketing in some cases.
For example, the average price of Western Digital's 1.5TB Caviar Green series' internal drive on Pricegrabber has shot up from $162 to $280 over the past five days. The average price of a Toshiba's 1TB Canvio Basics external drive has gone from $109 to about $115 in the same period.
Disk drive makers and their system customers are being hit due to shortages of mechanical and electrical components. The most critical loss for many manufacturers are a key component for read/write heads.
Ironically, one of the major components of read/write heads -- read/write head wafers -- are produced in Ireland, the U.S. and Japan. Another critical component, the slider, though, is produced in Thailand.
The slider is the block on the tip of a read/write head on which the record and playback head (wafer) is mounted. "For Western Digital, we believe that will be the component most critically short in 2012," Rydning said.
Current HDD inventories will be depleted this quarter, which will offset some HDD production shortfall, IDC said.
"We generally believe the HDD industry will find way to return to pre-flood production levels by March, but by that point HDD supplies will be at extremely low levels," Rydning said. "It's still going to be a pretty painful period from December through February for most HDD customers."
Toshiba and Western Digital have announced a temporary shutdown of Thailand factories.
Toshiba has reported water is 2 meters deep in its storage device plant and 3 meters deep in its semiconductor factory in Thailand.
IHS iSuppli said the flooding could potentially affect notebook production in early 2012.
David Chang, CFO for PC-maker Asus, warned this week that the company will run out hard disk drives by the end of November.
Enterprises are Looking Forward for an Windows 8 Upgrade
As far as we know Windows 8 is not coming until Q3 2012 but looks like enterprise people are already gearing up for the mega launch of the next Windows operating system with a different kind of user interface inspired by the Windows Phone’s Metro UI.
According to a recent survey conducted by InformationWeek in October. They surveyed 973 tech professionals. With more than half of the people(52%) said that their organizations already have definite plans to upgrade to Windows 8.While 10% of them said that the upgrade will be made as and when required.24 % of them said that 100% of their organizations computers will run the new OS, while 34% said at least three-quarters of their desktops and laptops will have Windows 8 running on them.
One of the main reasons behind the Windows 8 upgrade is that Microsoft will end the Windows XP support in 2014 as 36% of the survey takers stated this very reason for the Windows 8 upgrade.
Windows 8 operating system is expected to be released in the Q3 2012 with vast improvements in the software front like the new and improved task manager and the optimized landscape and portrait modes for better viewing, Hyper V for virtualization or be it hardware acceleration or the reduced run time memory usage and the highly secured boot technology which will make hacking into the system a tough task.
The Operating System will run on all kinds of devices with the likes of smaller tablets ,laptops ,desktops making it the universal Operating System for virtually any possible device with it’s minimum hardware requirements.
RIM (Blackberry) Continues Its Nosedive Into Obscurity
Looking at the mobile industry a few years ago, Nokia owned the worldwide market with its Symbian OS and RIM owned the US market and that for business users, with its BlackBerry system. Today, both of these platforms are in free fall, with customers abandoning them for the richer ecosystems provided by Google's Android and Apple's iPhone.
Nokia has moved on and adopted Windows Phone as its smartphone platform, but RIM, well, RIM hasn't had a clear path forward for a while now. It adopted the QNX OS for its Playbook tablet and said that it would use this system for future BlackBerry handsets as well.
But at its developer conference in October, the company backpedaled and said it would merge the best of BlackBerry OS and QNX into a new OS called BBX. This will be used for both phones and tablets, though no further details were provided about devices or timing.
In days past, you could argue that the RIM ecosystem made sense because of its security advances over competing systems. But with those differences eroding and no signs of a roadmap, RIM seems to be floundering.
It doesn't help that many BlackBerry users don't actually choose that phone but are provided with it by their employer. Given the choice, many BlackBerry users would jump ship. I certainly would: There are better smartphone platforms out there, a Windows Phone-with a much clearer roadmap.
With Lackluster iPhone Upgrade, Hopes for a Mobile Market Reshuffling
Microsoft already makes the best smartphone OS in Windows Phone-it's just that few potential customers realize it.
So heading into the 2011 holiday season, Microsoft and its supporters pinned their hopes on a few things, including the release of Windows Phone 7.5 (excellent, but unlikely to sway the doubters), a new marketing campaign that will provide much-needed incentives to wireless carrier store employees (so they can temporarily stop mindlessly promoting Android to customers), a handful of new devices from existing partners (none of which, frankly, will make much of a difference at all), and of course, everyone's favorite wildcard, Nokia, which promises to unleash a new family of quite-excellent Windows Phone 7.5 handsets by the end of the year. (I'll have more on Nokia's offerings next month.)
But then some unexpected help came from an unlikely source: Apple. And now, it's possible that everything is about to change.
Stepping back for a moment, let's recall that both Gartner and IDC inexplicably claimed earlier this year that Windows Phone would surpass Apple's iPhone as the number-two smartphone platform behind Google Android by 2015. With Windows Phone languishing in the low single digits from a market share perspective, these predictions seemed, at the time, laughable.
And I argued then, as I do now, that all Microsoft really had to do for the OS to be successful was to establish Windows Phone as one of the top three smartphone platforms. After all, the mobile market is growing at such speed that there's plenty of new users to go around.
But what if Windows Phone really did pull ahead of the iPhone? What would have to happen for such a future to become a reality?
Looking at the list of previously mentioned hopes for the remainder of the year, only one, Nokia's entry into the market, could possibly make a measurable difference to Windows Phone's fortunes. But even Nokia isn't a given, considering how far the company has fallen and how quickly its customer base has jumped ship.
In fact, both Gartner and IDC claim that their predictions about Windows Phone are based entirely on Nokia making a huge impact. Which is, of course, why I'm a lot less sanguine about the platform's future than are they.
No, I think Windows Phone needs some outside help, something akin to the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, an unforeseen bit of good news that will hobble one of Microsoft's competitors, and thus provide Windows Phone with the opening it needs.
That good news may be Apple's recently released iPhone 4S.
As I write this, the iPhone 4S has garnered supposedly record-peaking sales of 4 million units in its first weekend of availability. And Apple is publicly predicting that it expects to sell 20 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2011, matching its previous, best-ever quarter.
But I'd remind people that Apple sells three models of iPhone now, not just the iPhone 4S, but also previous generation (and much cheaper) iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 handsets. And those older, less expensive phones will almost certainly make up the majority of total iPhone sales in the quarter.
Here's the thing: The iPhone 4S is a great update for iPhone 3GS users, and informal statistics are already showing that these customers-who hit their two year-contract renewal time just as the 4S shipped-do in fact make up the bulk of iPhone 4S buyers.
But the iPhone 4S is not a great update for iPhone 4 customers-it utilizes exactly the same form factor as its predecessor, which has to be a turnoff for most-and it's not a great phone for those on other smartphone platforms either, thanks to its small screen and lack of high-end features like true 4G support.
There is a great chance that the iPhone 4S will end up being something of a letdown for Apple, a device that maintains the status quo at best, and possibly loses share for the platform over the long run.
This, of course, would be good news for Microsoft and for Windows Phone, and if Nokia's handsets are as high quality as I believe them to be, it's possible that this lackluster Apple upgrade could drive new users to Windows Phone instead of iPhone.
Is this the perfect storm for Windows Phone? Perhaps, but for this future to unfold as imagined, Microsoft and Nokia are really going to have to step it up, and let's face it, there's little precedent for that.
Windows 8 On Intel Ultrabooks Will Reach Market Next Year
According to a statement given by an Intel executive earlier this week, Windows 8 will ship on Ultrabooks next year. Intel is apparently looking at the upcoming OS to provide the necessary leverage for the devices to properly take off in the market.
Tom Kilroy, Senior vice president and general manager of worldwide sales for Intel touched on the issue on Tuesday during an interview held at the company’s third quarter earnings call. Kilroy said that there can be as many as 60 Ultrabook designs available in the market by next year. He also said that “11 or so” models will be available as early as this year. Those won’t have Windows 8 of course but Intel is probably looking at an upgrade deal once Windows 8 is officially out. According to Kilroy, Windows 8 could really ramp up sales for Ultrabooks next year during the back-to-school and holiday seasons. He said the excitement around Windows 8 justifies this kind of an expectation from the upcoming platform.
After the Developer Preview build released last month, the beta release is expected to come by the end of this month or early next month. Intel’s introduction of the Ultrabook brand was made in the middle of this year and it is geared towards regenerating interest in PC’s in the face of waning consumer interest. All attention is now leaking away in to the tablet category, which is one of the fastest growing and most happening segments in the industry.
Ultrabooks have already been announced by major market players such as Asus, Acer, Toshiba and Lenovo. These models are based on Intel’s core processors that are built on the Sandy Bridge architecture. These portable devices have a passing resemble Apple’s MacBook Air in many aspect but are actually thinner in most cases. However, the problem that keep major market adoption of the Air also plagues the Ultrabooks — price. The Ultrabooks currently sell at a price point of about $1000, which is deemed as too expensive by most consumers who are in the market for something portable and sleek. Given the state of the global economies and the price-sensitive state of the consumers, Intel said that it is still developing the Ultrabook standard and the prices might go down by the time next year comes around.
Intel Chief Paul Otellini said at the earnings call that prices might go down to as low as $699 by the time the holiday season kicks in next year, exactly one year from now. The depreciation of SSD’s and touchscreens are going to be major contributing factors in this price drop, according to Otellini. He also said that Intel has traditionally benefitted from Windows releases and they are expecting the same to happen this time around. Additionally, Kilroy suggested that Intel’s enterprise business is still being helped by the continued adoption of Windows 7 in that segment and the resultant laptop sales.
Otellini also commented about competition from ARM, saying that Intel can differentiate itself by providing legacy support. Additionally, ARM will only be able to run the Metro side of Windows 8, whilst x86 gets the full benefit of Metro as well as traditional desktop where heavy professional applications like Photoshop, Avid and Cubase can run.
Source: http://windows8beta.com/2011/10/windows-8-on-ultrabooks-will-reach-market-next-year-intel/
Windows 8 Secure Boot May Cause Antitrust Issues for Microsoft
Microsoft is implementing a new feature in Windows 8 called Secure Boot that prevents any kind of software that doesn’t have a security key to load when the computer is booting.
This is essentially supposed to prevent rootkits and other viruses from loading on start up, but a side-effect is that it also prevents other operating systems from loading.
Microsoft made a statement on their Building Windows 8 blog addressing these issues:
“Microsoft does not mandate or control the settings on PC firmware that control or enable secured boot from any operating system other than Windows…
…Microsoft is working with our partners to ensure that secured boot delivers a great security experience for our customers.
Microsoft supports OEMs having the flexibility to decide who manages security certificates and how to allow customers to import and manage those certificates, and manage secure boot.
We believe it is important to support this flexibility to the OEMs and to allow our customers to decide how they want to manage their systems.
For Windows customers, Microsoft is using the Windows Certification program to ensure that systems shipping with Windows 8 have secure boot enabled by default, that firmware not allow programmatic control of secure boot (to prevent malware from disabling security policies in firmware), and that OEMs prevent unauthorized attempts at updating firmware that could compromise system integrity.
Most of these policies are not new to UEFI firmware, and most PCs today carry some form of firmware validation. Even the existing legacy support, such as BIOS password, is a form of secure boot that has been under OEM and end-user control for years.
However, with secure boot & UEFI, the industry and Microsoft are raising the bar to create greater system integrity and health, and to provide customers with a strong level of protection against a growing class of threat.”
That excuse might work for now, but it still doesn’t change anything; unless the OEM provides the keys for an operating system other than Windows, people won’t be able to load their operating systems of choice.
And even if the OEM does provide a few keys, it won’t cover all of the operating systems other than Windows.
Also, if someone sues over this, Microsoft will most likely loose. Who remembers the Microsoft antitrust case back from the ’90s?
In the final ruling for US v Microsoft, it stated that, “Microsoft shall not restrict by agreement any OEM licensee from exercising any of the following options or alternatives: …Offering users the option of launching other Operating Systems from the Basic Input/Output System or a non-Microsoft boot-loader or similar program that launches prior to the start of the Windows Operating System Product.”
Ellustrious Designs, Inc. to build a Windows 8 Tablet PC
Utah based OEM computer manufacturer announces that it will build a Windows 8 based Tablet PC to compete with the bigger brands.
Ellustrious states that the Tablet PC will have the base model with a Atom based dual core processor and 2 GB of RAM. The base tablet will also have the option between a SSD (Solid State Drives) and a Traditional Hard Disk Drives. Ellustrious states the reasoning behind giving access to Traditional Hard Disk Drives to allow having more space.
A spokesperson from Ellustrious Designs, Inc. said "With the specifications laid out by Microsoft for Windows 8, the Tablet PC would be able to run very well."
With the release being close to the RTM date of Windows 8, Ellustrious tablets will be sure to be competing with some of the largest names in the game.
Microsoft requests companies to Upgrade to Windows 7
A few months back Microsoft made a request on its official site for all of the companies using the older versions of OS to upgrade to Windows 7.Now a new post on the official Windows blog mentions both, the celebration of Windows XP on the eve of its 10th anniversary while at the same time asking businesses once again to strongly consider updating to the Windows 7 operating system.
The post, written by Microsoft’s Rich Reynolds, appreciates Windows XP for its many features which are now standard for anyone who wants to get work done on a PC. He states, “Windows XP offered a new user interface that helped people more easily find what they needed. One of the most notable advances was it democratized digital photography. Windows XP made it easy to get images from digital cameras, manage and print pictures from your PC, with broad support for a range of cameras and photo printers. Wireless also became the given with built-in support; plug and play became the standard. It was a great OS for its time.”
For businesses reluctant to take a leap,he lists out the benefits of making the switch by saying,
We have a wide variety of resources and tools that to make your migration smooth:
- The Springboard Series on TechNet includes a lot of great in-depth advice to help you with your deployments.
- Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is also very helpful to accelerate your deployments.
- The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) products that we launched in August. Includes Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM) to simplify BitLocker Drive Encryption provisioning and provides compliance reporting that can help you quickly determine the status of the entire organization.
You might also want to consider Windows Intune for PC management and security via the cloud, plus upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise. This is a great solution for companies that have groups of lightly managed or non-managed PCs. Next week we’ll make the next release of Windows Intune available, which includes new features like software distribution.
So, now is the time to accelerate your Windows 7 Enterprise deployments and consider an Office 2010 deployment at the same time. Moving to Windows 7 and Office 2010 will make your employees more productive and secure today and will get you ready for the future.
He also adds,“With support for Windows XP ending in April 2014, we believe it would be dangerous for organizations now running XP to attempt to skip Windows 7 and move directly to Windows 8.” He goes on to recommend: “Organizations running Windows XP and working on Windows 7 migrations: Continue as planned; do not switch to Windows 8.”
Credits: WindowsStreamblog ; Windows8Beta.com
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