Cubic

Update February 27, 2011 - Windows 7 Service Pack 1 appeared in my update queue with the checkbox unchecked. Hmm. To update or not to update? Update January 14, 2011 - This appeared again in my Windows Updates. I figure installing it is okay now that Microsoft appears to have their ducks in a row. After the first fiasco, they probably took their time to release it correctly. This is the precursor to installing Windows 7 SP1. From Microsoft's website: "Windows 7 SP1 Release-to-Manufacturing (RTM) will be available in the first half of calendar year 2011. When released, it will be made available as an integrated release." This updates the installer in Windows 7 so it can upgrade to SP1 later. SP1 isn't available yet. What follows is the original post. Today, a mysterious Windows Update was released to all Windows 7 users. I'm going to preface this by saying what some Microsoft MVPs are saying: DO NOT INSTALL! The update says, "Install this ...

Digg this Yesterday I spoke of a most heinous act of computer modification . Today Microsoft spent a huge chunk of the day attempting to solve a major problem. http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/25/microsoft_wga_server.html The WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage - a.k.a. "Disadvantage") servers went completely down. Now I'm not a huge believer in coincidences but if Microsoft has ever had its pants down, this is perhaps a double helping (free wedgie!). Let's see here: 1) Push a secret worldwide update to Automatic Updates out to every computer on the planet. 2) My computer receives the update and VerifyMyPC flags it. 3) WGA servers receive the update completely unaware of what is happening. 4) WGA servers barf (perhaps something in the update they didn't like). All of the WGA servers go down. 5) User PCs attempting to connect to WGA servers can't and therefore are flagged as pirating Windows. 6) Microsoft catches wind of the problem and employees responsible for ...

When the other shoe drops... http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/06/06/microsoft_mvp_threats/comments/ ...it is going to hurt. A lot. So this guy wrote a pretty popular add-in for Visual Studio .NET called TestDriven.NET. I've actually heard about this add-in prior to the whole mess he has currently got himself into so it is definitely popular. Summary of how it has gone down thus far: 1) Developer creates add-in for VS.NET via COM because a VSIP license is expensive. Nothing in the EULA explicitly prohibits it. 2) People like the add-in and it becomes popular. 3) Microsoft gives him MVP status and then discovers the add-in works for VS.NET Express and asks author to remove support for Express. 4) Author refuses. 5) MVP status is revoked. 6) Author adds support for VS.NET "Orcas" Express. 7) Microsoft legal makes its move. Frankly, VS is Microsoft's intellectual property, not the developer's. However, there are two parties at fault here: 1) Microsoft...

If you are reading this, you are probably coming from the CubicleSoft website to learn more about Windows Error Reporting. This blog entry will thus be a little more professional as a result. Windows Error Reporting, or WER for short, is a set of technologies Microsoft put together for Windows XP and expanded upon for Windows Vista: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Error_Reporting To summarize the Wikipedia article, WER gathers error reports in a central location (Microsoft servers) and developers of software then can log into the system and retrieve those error reports and thus fix bugs. End-users of Windows see something like this when the application crashes: The user clicks the "Send Error Report" and the bugs get fixed. The official website of Windows Error Reporting (WER): https://winqual.microsoft.com/ All that sounds good in writing until developers start reading the "fine print" on what is required. By default, applications are not WER enabled. That mea...