Alexander’s Blog

Apple is offering it’s browser for Windows platform for the first time. The Safari 3.0.2 for Windows is in beta. The download is about 8.0MB. The default option downloads Safari with QuickTime so if you only want Safari then make sure you change the option.

The plug-ins for Safari for Windows are available here. The plug-ins include Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader, QuickTime, Java, Real Player, and Windows Media Player. Although these are being referred to as “plug-ins”, these are actually complete applications. If you already have any of the above applications installed, there is no need for you to download and install the plug-ins. The Help menu contains an option to view all the installed plug-ins.

Apple claims that Safari is the fastest browser on any platform. Based on my tests on the Windows platform, I completely agree with Apple. I tested the new beta and compared it to Mozilla’s Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. I discovered that it completely blows away both Firefox and Internet Explorer when it comes to speed. I found that compared to Firefox it was at least 2-3 times faster when accessing various Web sites on the Internet. Internet Explorer 7.0 was the slowest of the three, even though it is built into the Windows Vista operating system.

I also ran some tests to check out the QuickTime plug-ins. I observed the following times when starting a 44 second QuickTime video in a Web browser. For example, when I click on the hyperlink that contains a QuickTime video, Firefox makes the video available for playing right away and continues to download it in the background, while some browsers (such as Internet Explorer) take time first to download the entire video in the background then they make it available for viewing. This test is by no means a scientific test but it is a good indicator of what to expect.

Mozilla Firefox = 2 secs
Safari on Macintosh = 2 secs
Safari for Windows on Vista = 2 secs
Internet Explorer 6 on XP = 19 secs
Internet Explorer 7 on Vista = 32 secs

You can reset Safari which allows you to clear history, empty the cache, clear the downloads window, remove all cookies, remove all Web icons, remove saved names and passwords, remove AutoFill form text, clear recent Web searches, and close all Safari windows. You can selectively select only the items in this list that you want.

Another security feature is the ability to turn Private Browsing on or off. When private browsing is turned on Safari won’t save your browsing history, clear your downloads window, and Safari won’t save AutoFill and won’t add searches to the pop-menu in the Google search box. You can go back and forth to the pages that you have visited while the Safari browser is open but will clear everything after you close the browser.

As I mentioned earlier, on the Help menu you can check the installed plug-ins. This opens up a nice HTML formatted page that shows all the plug-ins that are installed in great detail.

Snap-back is a cool feature that allows you to mark a certain page (CTRL-ALT-K) and then later switch (or snap-back) to that page quickly by using CTRL-ALT-P combination.

One problem that I have run into has to do with setting my default browser. I have verified that Internet Explorer is not my default browser and I’ve configured Firefox not to verify that it is the default browser. Firefox was my default browser and now when I configure Safari to become the default browser, it switches back to Internet Explorer as the default browser in Safari’s configuration. I am not sure if it is a beta issue or Vista just can’t stand the fact that someone will make Safari their default browser. I haven’t done enough research at this time.

Here are some of the bugs that I have found so far in Safari. I am not able to minimize or maximize the Safari window like any other Windows program by right-clicking it in the taskbar. The only option available is Move. Also, I am not able to click Safari in the taskbar to minimize it as I usually minimize applications on taskbar (I am forced to use the minimize icon in the top right-hand side) but I can click Safari in the taskbar to maximize it. Hopefully, this will be fixed. Another bug I discovered is that when I maximize Safari by single-clicking, it never wants to go into a full-screen window, even if the window was maximized before. All other applications remember the size of the previous window and will automatically size it to the size that you have configured. One workaround that I use is to make my Safari window as close to full-screen as possible, that way when I click it, it goes back into a window that is close to the maximum size.

I am not able to edit WordPress blogs using Safari. I can do some things but it is not very WordPress-friendly. I haven’t spent much time so far to figure out whether the problem is with Safari or WordPress. However, both Firefox and IE work just fine with WordPress.

So far what I have seen in one day, I am pretty impressed with the speed. However, I do realize that Safari for Windows is still in beta and I may find some problems with it as I use it for a while. One thing’s for sure, there is no way Safari can possibly have more issues and cause more problems than Internet Explorer 7. For now I have switched to Safari as my default browser so I can test drive the beta. Firefox has several features that I like and I am not ready to give up Firefox as my primary browser quite yet. I guess you can say I am just adventuring out to Safari for exploration purposes.

Microsoft’s Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is a useful tool to manage Group Policies in Active Directory. However, unfortunately GPMC does not run on certain 64-bit Windows operating system, such as Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. GPMC only runs on:

1. 32-bit Windows Server 2003
2. 32-bit Windows XP Professional with SP1 or later and .NET Framework

Microsoft has not updated GPMC in almost 3 years. The current download for GPMC was published in June 2004. If you have a pure 64-bit Windows Server 2003 environment, you might want to consider installing GPMC on a 32-bit Windows XP Professional.

According to Microsoft “Some 2007 Office programs that run on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 use Microsoft Application Error Reporting (DW 2.0) to report problems to Microsoft. If an unsafe COM control is detected, these programs may unintentionally send problem reports to Microsoft without first verifying that you have granted permission for the reporting operation. The problem reports that may be sent to Microsoft do not contain personal information.”

I strongly recommend that you do not enable Error Reporting to Microsoft on any computer under any condition. The information is sent to Microsoft unencrypted and according to Microsoft’s own security experts, error reporting should be disabled. You should keep a close eye on each Microsoft operating system and application because even if you have error reporting disabled, Microsoft may enable it at some point without notifying you, either with an update or service pack. Sometimes it may be intentional, while other times it may bee accidental, as explained in the KB article 932080. The title of the article should have been “Application errors may be sent to Microsoft without notifying you” but it only says “Description of the update for the 2007 Office programs: April 9, 2007.”

You can either download the patch from Microsoft Download Center or install it as part of Windows Update.

On May 10, I discussed a problem with opening Internet Explorer. Microsoft has posted a KB article that discusses the possible solution. Microsoft has confirmed that the problem is caused by the May 2007 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (MS07-027), as reported by several MVPs.

Problem: The problem is caused if you have the Temporary Internet Files (TIF) moved to a location outside the Users folder hierarchy while you have the Protected Mode and the Phishing filter enabled.

Solution: The solution is either to move the TIF back to its original location or to configure permissions for TIF folder as described below. If you move TIF folder out of Users folder hierarchy, e.g. to the root of drive C, then you would have to give the user full-control permission at the root of drive C, which may not be a good idea. For security reasons, a better option is to move the TIF folder back to it’s original location within the user’s profile while Microsoft investigates other possible solutions for this issue.

The following procedure is for modifying permission on Windows Vista computers. Make sure you understand the consequences of this procedure before you implement it.

1. Click Start Start button, type Internet Options in the Start Search box, and then click Internet Options in the Programs list.
2. On the General tab, click Settings in the Browsing History area.
3. Click View Files. The “Temporary Internet Files” folder opens.
4. In the Windows Explorer address box, click the folder name that comes before Temporary Internet Files.
5. Click Organize, and then click Properties.
6. On the Security tab, click Edit.
7. In the Group or user names box, click the name of the affected user. If the name of the affected user is not listed, follow these steps:

a. Click Add.
b. In the Enter the object names to select box, type the name of the affected user, and then click OK.
c. In the Group or user names box, click the name of the affected user.

8. In the Permissions for User_Name box, click to select the Full Control Allow check box.
9. Click Apply, and then click OK.
10. Close Windows Explorer.
11. Click OK two times.
12. Start Internet Explorer 7.

On a Windows XP-based computer or on a Windows Server 2003-based computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Settings in the Browsing History area.
3. Click View Files.
4. In Windows Explorer, move to the folder that contains the “Temporary Internet Files” folder.
5. In the right-pane, right-click an empty area, and then click Properties.
6. On the Security tab, click the name of the affected user in the Group or user names box. If the name of the affected user is not listed, follow these steps:
a. Click Add.
b. In the Enter the object names to select box, type the name of the affected user, and then click OK.
c. In the Group or user names box, click the name of the affected user.
7. In the Permissions for User_Name box, click to select the Full Control Allow check box.
8. Click Apply, and then click OK.
9. Close Windows Explorer.
10. Click OK two times.
11. Start Internet Explorer 7.

For more information, check out the KB article 937409.

Just like people have always wanted to travel to the moon (and finally made it), people seem to have a fascination with running Windows XP on a Macintosh. The human race has finally conquered this challenge. Dave Taylor has written an article on How do I install Windows XP on my Mac using Boot Camp?.

With the release of Intel-based Macs, now it is possible to dual-boot your Mac with Mac OS X and Windows XP. Apple released a free download called Boot Camp, which lets you repartition your Intel-based Mac. This gives you the ability to install Windows XP as a second operating system in a dual-boot configuration. Of course, you can also install additional operating systems if you want, such as Linux, to triple-boot.

Dave has also written another article on How do I install Windows XP on my Mac with Parallels Desktop?. Parallels Desktop is a Windows-capable virtualization package from Parallels, similar to Virtual PC from Microsoft.

Although I’ve used Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac to run Windows XP on my Mac, I usually use Windows XP’s Remote Desktop Connection to operate my Mac from Windows XP computer and the FREE Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac to control my Windows XP from my Mac.