Which internet browser is best for you?

For most people, opening an internet browser is a case of double clicking on the icon we are most familiar with. Internet browsers are applications that translate website code, allowing users to easily navigate and gather information throughout this vast global resource. Today, the internet plays a massive role in modern life and the right browser could help you make the most of your time and increase productivity.

Is this the end of Internet Explorer?

Microsoft has announced that its iconic browser - Internet Explorer - will not be the main web browser when they launch the eagerly anticipated Windows 10, in a move that would appear to signal the end for the now 20 year old “IE”.

Microsoft has instead announced that a completely new browser, currently code-named “Project Spartan” will replace Internet Explorer as the main browser with the new operating system. Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s Head of Marketing, told a conference this week that they are now researching “what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be”. However, Microsoft has also said that the browser will not disappear immediately and will still be available with some versions of Windows 10, so maybe it is not goodbye completely just yet.

Millions of computer users at risk from “Freak”

At the end of last week, Microsoft issued a major security warning about a computer bug that has been named “Freak” and announced that it was working on a security update to tackle it.

Initially it was thought that only some users of Android and Blackberry phones were at risk, along with users of Apple’s Safari web browser, but it was later discovered that in fact millions of computer users are at risk.

Most security threats are “well-known” says HP

An annual cyber-security report by technology firm HP has found that despite advancements in cyber attacks, the majority of cyber-security incidents in 2014 took advantage of well-known vulnerabilities that have existed for years.

The report, which looked at a range of business that had their security compromised in the least year, found that many of the issues which led to their security breaches are not new developments and that they exploited code written years or even decades earlier.

Microsoft no longer forced to offer web browser choices

A rule forcing Microsoft to offer new Windows users in Europe options for web browsers has come to an end, five years after it was introduced.

The so called Browser Ballot had forced Microsoft to give as much prominence to non-Microsoft browsers such as Firefox and Chrome on Windows as it does to Internet Explorer (IE).

The deal had supposedly been about giving Windows users choice, and was drawn up in 2009 after rivals of Microsoft complained that because IE was bundled with Windows it gave the browser an unfair advantage.

“Most sophisticated spyware” discovered by Symantec

One of the most sophisticated pieces of computer spyware ever seen has been discovered by the leading computer security company, Symantec.

The bug goes by the name Regin and has been dubbed “super-spyware”. It was probably created by a government according to Symantec, due to how sophisticated it is. They believe it would have taken years to create and that it has probably been used for about six years, since at least 2008, against a range of targets around the world. The fact that it has remained hidden for so long is an illustration of the great lengths its creators have gone to in order to keep it hidden.

Still running Windows Server 2003? It’s time to switch

Anyone still using Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is being urged to upgrade after Microsoft announced that they will no longer offer extended support as of July 14^th 2015. But what does this mean to current users and why should they switch?