Posts tagged UAC

Opera Software recently filed a complaint with the European Commission that was to aim at giving consumers a genuine choice of Web browsers. So far so good. The complaint describes how Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system and by hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards. Opera has requested the Commission to take the necessary actions to compel Microsoft to give consumers a real choice and to support open Web standards in Internet Explorer.Microsoft of course defended themselves with the fact that alternative browsers could not only be installed on Windows, but also be set as default, but this seems not to be enough for Opera Software, as they want EU to force Microsoft to remove Internet Explorer as part of Windows (the OS). Funny how Opera hasn’t learned the lesson from the highly successful Windows XP N and Windows Vista N Editions. Not a single PC manufacturer has delivered a single PC with these editions, and in fact most EU citizens will have problems getting their hands on them as the demands are so low that shops don’t have them on their shelves.

When it comes to the tying the browser in to the OS, Opera is completely right. Internet Explorer has been integrated in to Vista in a way we have never seen any browser in to another operating system. And it has been successful, I dare say that Internet Explorer 7 on Vista is the most secure browser on the market today. When users have not turned off UAC (which they have been told to do by so many IT Professionals), Internet Explorer 7 will run with less privileges then a normal user. This is a Protected Mode that provides the safety of a robust Internet browsing experience while helping to keep hackers from taking over your browser, damaging your system and installing software. Internet Explorer Protected Mode protects users and their systems from malicious downloads by restricting where files can be saved without the users consent, and further Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista cannot modify user or system files and settings without user consent. Protected Mode requires the user to confirm any activity that tries to put something on your machine or start another program. By ensuring the user consents to these kinds of actions, the likelihood of automated and/or unwanted software installation is reduced. This feature also makes you aware of what a website is trying to do, giving you a chance to stop it and take time to double check the trustworthiness of the website.

Now this is not bad from an enduser’s perspective and should not let Opera Software demand Internet Explorer to be removed from Windows. What Opera Software should be heard with is the possibility to do the same with their browser as Microsoft has done with theirs, and for that Microsoft needs to corporate with other browser vendors.In my eyes Opera Software did another mistake, as they through interviews (Wium Lie) have been focusing more on forcing Microsoft to support all major web standards that are commonly accepted within development communities. Internet Explorer 7 was a little bit better then 6, and Microsoft had already announced that version 8 would be released in not a to distant future. Well, yesterday Microsoft showed that IE 8 was passing the ACID2 test.

I’m asking myself what Opera Software have achieved with their PR stunt, and what do they think that they now will achieve with an EU trial? Even though I have never liked the bloated Firefox, Mozilla Foundation has shown that they are capable of competing with Microsoft on the desktop. A free advise for Opera Software, if you want to have any chance of competing with Internet Explorer and now Firefox, enable sysadmins to set settings through group policies with .admx files. For me group policy settings are far more important then voice, online storage of bookmarks and Ogg Theora support. They are all great features, but not something for the enterprise users. I don’t let my users get the option to use Opera, and with the latest security problems for Firefox, I have started to remove as many Firefox installations as possible. Safari is so far not an option. So in the end Internet Explorer will be the only browser that I let my Windows users have.I guess it is just a matter of time before Opera Software will find that they are only a small browser vendor in also the embedded market. Apple and Nokia seem to have great success with their webkit browsers.  More and more companies get in to problems competing with open source projects.