This isn’t strictly true!

What in fact Microsoft have announced is that “Beginning January 12, 2016, only the most current version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates“.

What this essentially means is that if you’re a Windows 7 user with Internet Explorer 9 or 10 installed, only Internet Explorer 11 will continue to be supported going forward.

However, if you’re a Windows Vista user, the highest version of Internet Explorer that can physically be installed on that operating system is IE 9. Therefore, if you’re currently running IE 7 or 8, only IE 9 will be supported on your operating system going forward, so you should update to IE 9.

The following table from Microsoft outlines which versions of Internet Explorer they will continue to support as from today:

Our web-based room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS, is currently supported in IE9+ and all other major browsers.

Over the years we have previously dropped support for MIDAS in IE6 in 2011, IE7 in 2012, and most recently IE8 in 2013.

Whilst we have no immediate plans to drop support for IE9, it’s likely that our support for this aging browser will within the next couple of years. Therefore, if you’re using an older Windows operating system, like using Internet Explorer, and can’t update to a more recent version of Windows, we’d encourage you to at least ensure that your browser is the most up-to-date it can be for your particular operating system.

The post Microsoft kills off Internet Explorer 9 & 10… well, not quite! appeared first on MIDAS - Room Booking System | Blog.

• Internet Explorer – IE11 coming later this year? / IE10 available for Windows 7 / Farewell IE8
• Firefox – v20 now available… and a new rendering engine on the horizon?
• Chrome – v26 out now… and ANOTHER new rendering engine on the horizon?!
• Opera – 12.15 now available… and a change in rendering engine to.. WebKit? no wait.. Blink?
• Safari – What will all these rendering engine changes to other browsers mean for Safari?

Internet Explorer

Microsoft are busy working on their next update for Windows 8, currently billed as being “Windows 8.1”. It’s expected to be available in the latter half of this year. Windows 8.1 will almost be a kind of “service pack” for Windows 8, but will also contain a number of improvements and updates to apps & software. Perhaps the most exciting updating coming with Windows 8.1 will be Internet Explorer 11.

Yes, that’s right, no sooner is IE10 out of the door, and Microsoft are following it up with IE11 in a relatively short space of time (well, for them anyway!). We think this is great to see from Microsoft! In the past, updates to their flagship browser have been few and far between. Compare that with Mozilla’s current release cycle for Firefox, churning out a new version of Firefox every 6 weeks!

MIDAS will be supported in IE11 when it becomes available. It remains presently unknown as to whether IE11 will be “exclusive” to Windows 8.1, or if like IE10, it will also be made available for Windows 7 users as well.

…and yes, you did read that right – Internet Explorer 10 is available for Windows 7 right now! (and has been for over a month). If you’re a Windows 7 and Internet Explorer user, we strongly recommend that you update to IE10 get the best out of MIDAS.

Finally, if you’re still an Internet Explorer 8 user please read our “Saying farewell to Internet Explorer 8” post. Essentially, please upgrade your browser… as we won’t be supporting MIDAS in IE8 indefinitely!

MIDAS is currently supported in Internet Explorer 8+ (v10+ recommended)

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla’s rapid release cycle means that we’re now up to Firefox version 20! In a tweet yesterday, the Firefox team claim that with their latest version of Firefox “you can get the web up to 7 times faster than older versions”.

Mozilla also announced last week that they were collaborating with Samsung on a new rendering engine, named “Servo”. A “rendering engine” is essentially what converts raw web page code into what you actually see on your browser screen. Mozilla’s long standing rendering engine has been “Gecko”, but according to Mozilla;

“Servo is a research project to develop a new web browser engine. Our goal is to create an architecture that takes advantage of parallelism at many levels, both on the CPU and GPU, while eliminating common sources of bugs and security vulnerabilities associated with incorrect memory management and data races. With Servo, we aim to take the kinds of fluid, richer multimedia experiences expected in today’s smart phone and tablet applications to the next level on tomorrow’s web and tomorrow’s hardware.”

“Servo” is still in its early days and according to Mozilla;

“It’s too early to say how [Servo] will be adopted going forward. No decision has been made as to whether Servo will replace Gecko. Gecko remains the ‘productised’ web engine for Mozilla.“

So it may be that Servo ends up being a rendering engine for Mozilla’s smartphone/tablet browsers, and Gecko remains for desktop Firefox editions. This could get confusing, but it’s more likely over time that Mozilla will standardize their rendering engine across all platforms.

MIDAS is currently supported in Firefox 4+ (v20+ recommended)

Google Chrome

The current version of Google’s Chrome browser is v26. Ever since its first release – which was only 4 years ago! – Chrome has always used the WebKit rendering engine, most notably used by Apple’s Safari web browser. Chrome’s subsequent input into the WebKit project has really driven WebKit development forward in the last four years. WebKit is now arguably the most standards-compliant of all the rendering engines currently used by the major browsers.

However, Google recently announced that they would be developing a new rendering engine for Chrome, called “Blink”. Blink is expected to make it into builds of Chrome within just 10 weeks! Unlike Mozilla’s “Servo” engine, which is being built from the ground up, Blink is heavily based on the WebKit project.

Google have released a Blink Q&A video if you’re interested in learning more about this new rendering engine and its implementation

MIDAS is currently supported in Chrome 9+ (v26+ recommended)

Opera

Opera are having a bit of a turbulent time of late, and in some respects appear to be loosing a sense of focus and direction!
The Opera browser was first released in late 1994. This makes it the longest running browser that’s still in active development and current use today.

Apart from its longevity, what also makes Opera unique is their own “Presto” rendering engine.

Now, you may remember that back in January, we reported that Opera were making a switch from Presto to WebKit. Well, at least for their mobile browser offerings.

Then in February, it was confirmed that Opera would drop Presto for their entire range on browsers (not just mobile).

This was a move that surprised a lot of analysts, and received a mixed response from Opera’s loyal user base.

Whilst it would have been sad to see a very mature rendering engine being put out to pasture, it would have meant that with Google and Opera both contributing to WebKit (along with Safari). This would provide more continuity between browsing experiences on the three browsers. Also with three major organizations contributing to the development of WebKit, it would have become very powerful. It would certainly have Mozilla and Internet Explorer (who don’t use WebKit) quaking in their boots!

…but this was before Google announced Blink… and shortly afterwards, Opera changed their minds. Opera decided to jump on the Blink band-wagon too, after having gone all out and confirming they were moving to WebKit!!

So it’s a little confusing at the moment as to the direction that Opera are going down! ..but as things stand, here are the list of rendering engines that the five major browsers are using/will be using in the near future:

Browser	Current Rending Engine	Future Rendering Engine
Internet Explorer	Trident	Trident
Mozilla Firefox	Gecko	Servo?
Google Chrome	WebKit	Blink
Opera	Presto	Blink?
Apple Safari	WebKit	WebKit

MIDAS is currently supported in Opera 9+ (v12+ recommended)

Safari

As you’ll know from our previous Web Browser Roundups – it’s been pretty quiet on the Safari development front in recent months. There’s not much happening on the face of it!

Safari’s rendering engine is WebKit, and last month it looked like both Google and Opera would begin contributing code to the WebKit project. In fact, Opera even began contributing code to WebKit.

This was before Google announced it was moving away from WebKit in favor of a new rendering engine, Blink. Then Opera followed suit and announced it was also teaming up with Google for the new Blink rendering engine.

So what will this mean for WebKit and the Safari browser that will soon be the sole user and primary contributor to the WebKit project?

Well, it remains to be seen! WebKit was successfully developed without Google’s input in the days before Chrome. It may well survive without Google’s input in the future. But with Google and Opera pooling resources into Blink, and Firefox potentially introducing a new rendering engine too, the WebKit team (and Safari) are going to be facing a tough challenge to keep up!

MIDAS is currently supported in Safari 4+ (v5+ recommended)

The post Web Browser Roundup – April 2013 appeared first on MIDAS - Room Booking System | Blog.

Today, Microsoft have announced that Internet Explorer 10 is now out of “Preview” and fully available for Windows 7.

According to Microsoft, when compared to IE9, IE10 is “20% faster for real world Web sites” and has a “60% increase in supported modern Web standards“

If you’re a MIDAS user who uses Internet Explorer, please update your browser to IE10. This will ensure that you have the best possible experience when using our web-based room booking system.

If you’ve already been using the “Release Preview” of IE 10, simply visit windows.microsoft.com/ie in your IE10 “Release Preview”. You’ll then be prompted to update to the latest version.

To download IE10 in other languages, go to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-10/worldwide-languages

Internet Explorer 10 should be rolled out to Windows 7 users via Windows Update over the coming weeks. We’ve noticed however that the “About” box of today’s IE10 release (pictured above) contains letters “RTM” next to the “Update Versions”.

What does “RTM” stand for?

“RTM” stands for “Release To Manufacturing”. This is a term used for software that’s made available to computer builders and manufactures before it’s actually fully released to the public.

Take Windows operating systems for example. “Windows 7 RTM” was made available to manufacturers months before Windows 7 actually became available to consumers. This was to allow manufacturers to have devices ready for the day of the actual launch of Windows 7. “RTM” editions of Microsoft software are generally not available directly to the wider public. This makes today’s IE10 release rather unusual! It also makes it unlikely that IE 10.0.9200.16521 (Today’s build) will be the same build that ends up being delivered through Windows Update.

…but perhaps the presence of “RTM” in the About dialog is just a small oversight on Microsoft’s part. After all, it does still state “© 2012” on the dialog after all, despite it being 2013!

UPDATE: IE10 is now available for Windows 7 through Windows Update. However, although it’s classed as an “Important” update, it is not selected by default! So if you have your Windows Update settings to “Install Important Updates Automatically”, this won’t currently also install IE10. You will instead need to manually check for updates, and “tick” the box next to the “Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7” update in order to install

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• Internet Explorer – Speculation continues over the IE10 release date for Windows 7
• Chrome – The most actively developed browser?
• Firefox – 18.0.2 now available.. development slowing down?
• Safari – Are its days numbered?
• Opera – 300 million active users and a full move to WebKit confirmed!

Internet Explorer

At the very end of last month, Microsoft released an IE10 Update Blocker Toolkit. This led to speculation that IE10 for Windows 7 may be just around the corner!

There was some speculation that IE10 may have been pushed through Windows Update on 12th February to coincide with Microsoft’s monthly “Patch Tuesday”, when they were already planning on releasing some “critical updates” to Internet Explorer.

Whilst the critical updates for IE were included in this month’s Patch Tuesday, IE10 itself wasn’t. This isn’t entirely surprising, given that the update blocker (which prevents IE10 from being downloaded/installed via Windows Update) was only made available 13 days earlier. 13 days is hardly enough time for corporate environments (for which the blocker is aimed) to deploy the blocker throughout their IT infrastructure.

It’s instead more likely that IE10 will make a proper appearance for Windows 7 users at the end of the month, or in early March. This is based on when previous “IE blockers” were released. That’s assuming of course the IE team can be dragged away from devoting their time/energy/resources to developing endless web-based games, such as Contre Jour, to showcase how “great” Internet Explorer is. Instead, we think they really should focus instead on developing their actual web browser!

Anyway, you can read more about our predictions for when IE10 will likely be fully available in our blog post, “…and the final release date for Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 is…“

MIDAS is currently supported in Internet Explorer 8+ (v10+ recommended)

Google Chrome

Chrome continues to receive regular updates – in fact the Stable channel was updated only yesterday for Linux users to fix *another* Flash vulnerability!

These frequently discovered Flash vulnerabilities are not confined to Chrome. They can affect any browser on a computer with Flash installed. This is also why Microsoft pushed a couple of “critical updates” to Internet Explorer yesterday.

In our opinion, the sooner Flash is killed off the better! For today’s modern web browser, it serves no real purpose! Everything that Flash can do can these days be accomplished through a use of HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript.

You won’t find any Flash on our website, or within our scheduling web app.

Anyway, back to Chrome; So far this month, there have been no fewer than 3 updates to the “Stable” channel. If you’re a normal Chrome user, you’ll automatically receive updates from the “Stable” channel. Two updates were made to the Chrome Beta for Android, two to the “Dev” channel, and one update to the “Beta” channel… and we’re only halfway through the month!

Google Chrome is arguably the most “actively” developed web browser at the present time.

MIDAS is currently supported in Chrome 9+ (v24+ recommended)

Mozilla Firefox

At the start of the month, Mozilla, released Firefox 18.0.2.

Primarily a security & stability update, 18.0.2 does have a handful of new features/improvements, most notably:

• Faster JavaScript performance
• Better image quality when scaling
• Improved browser start-up time. (Chrome already has the fastest start-up times out of all the major browsers we tested a couple of months back to determine “Which Browser is Best?“)
• Support for Retina Display on OS X 10.7 and up

In recent times, Mozilla have been releasing a “major” update to Firefox every six weeks or so. However, we wonder if this release cycle may now start to slow down whilst the Mozilla team focus more of their attention on their upcoming “Firefox OS” project.

MIDAS is currently supported in Firefox 4+ (v18+ recommended)

Safari

Sadly, once again, there’s no new Safari news to report! As you’ll know from our November update, Safari development has taken back seat over at Apple in recent times. Apple instead have been seemingly more focused on their hardware offerings, than on their web browser. As we reported at the end of last year, they’ve currently ceased development on the Windows version of Safari.

And with other browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox available (and soon to become available) for iPad and iOS users, you do have to wonder whether Safari’s days are numbered? Will it be long before Apple take the decision to cease Safari development completely?!

MIDAS is currently supported in Safari 4+ (v5+ recommended)

Opera

Last month we reported that Opera were dropping their own rendering engine, “Presto”, in favor of “WebKit” for a new mobile browser “Ice”. WebKit is the rendering engine already used by the likes of Safari and Chrome.

At the time, there was no word as to whether this move would mean that “Presto” was to also be ultimately phased out of their desktop browser offering as well.

Well, now this has been confirmed in an official Opera Press Release. The primary reason for the press release was to mark the fact that Opera now has an impressive 300 million monthly users across its various browser products. In the release CTO of Opera Software, Håkon Wium Lie, also writes:

“The WebKit engine is already very good, and we aim to take part in making it even better. It supports the standards we care about, and it has the performance we need. It makes more sense to have our experts working with the open source communities to further improve WebKit and Chromium, rather than developing our own rendering engine [Presto] further.”

No timescale has been given for this transition. It’s likely though to be a gradual progression over to WebKit rather than a sudden overnight switch.

In some respects it will be sad to see the “Presto” engine go. The more different browser rendering engines there are, the more competition there is to be the “best” and most up-to-date standards compliant browser. But in many other respects, this could actually be a very good move!

WebKit is actively in development by both Apple and Google, and is what powers their respective browsers. Add to this mix the extensive development expertise that the Opera team have. We do mean extensive too! Opera has been in constant development since 1994!). It will likely have Firefox (which uses its own “Gecko” engine), and Internet Explorer (which uses its own “Trident” engine) pretty worried!

Because Chrome, Safari, and soon Opera too, will use the same rendering engine, in theory web pages (and apps) should look identical in which ever of these browsers you use. This should make life easier for web developers! (In practice this isn’t quite true, as each browser has a different release cycle, so new features in the WebKit engine itself make it into one browser weeks, if not months, before another).

MIDAS is currently supported in Opera 9+ (v12+ recommended)

The post Web Browser Roundup – February 2013 appeared first on MIDAS - Room Booking System | Blog.

Why was Internet Explorer 10 not made available to Windows 7 at the same time as Windows 8? Could it be that Microsoft intentionally delayed the release in order to encourage/boost sales of Windows 8? Whatever the reasons, it’s finally looking like IE10 is about to be officially rolled out to Windows 7 through Windows Update!

Whilst Microsoft remain tight-lipped over the precise release date, there are a number of indicators that point to a release this month.

The strongest indicator follows an announcement on Microsoft’s official IE blog yesterday that the “IE10 Automatic Update Blocker Toolkit” is now available to download.

What’s the “IE10 Automatic Update Blocker Toolkit”?

Basically it’s a small application that can be run to prevent IE10 being delivered to your computer through Windows Update when it becomes available.

Why would you want to do that?

Well, most people wouldn’t – that is unless you’re a large organization/company who’s IT department isn’t ready/doesn’t want to update to IE10 just yet. The reason is usually because they’re worried about compatibility issues with web based business applications deployed within their organization.

With our web-based room scheduling software, MIDAS, there are no such worries – MIDAS runs great in Internet Explorer 10!

So if your organization uses MIDAS, we’d encourage you to deploy IE10 as soon as it becomes available!

Does the availability of this update blocker hint at an IE10 release date?

Well, Microsoft have previously released update blockers just prior to the release of IE9, 8, etc

For example:

• IE7 was released on Wednesday 18th October 2006 (the IE8 blocker was released 84 days earlier in July 2006)
• IE8 was released on Thursday 19th March 2009 (the IE8 blocker was released 73 days earlier in January 2009)
• IE9 was released on Monday 14th March 2011 (the IE9 blocker was released 32 days earlier in February 2011)

So the length of time between a “blocker” being made available and the actual browser release has decreased for each major incarnation of IE over the years. It’s sensible then to assume, given that the IE10 blocker was made available yesterday, that IE10 can expect to be fully released before the end of the month!

Patch Tuesday

Now, the second Tuesday of each month, is affectionately known in the IT world as “Patch Tuesday”. Traditionally the day on which Microsoft regularly release a big update of security patches. “Patch Tuesday” this month will be 12th February. So could Microsoft be gearing up to release IE10 through Windows Update on the same day?! …is 13 days a long enough time period to allow all those IT departments wishing to prevent an automatic update to IE10 to deploy the blocker? After all, we’ve noticed that Microsoft tend to panda more to the needs/demands of large corporation’s IT departments than to regular home users. So they’re unlikely to push IE10 through a Windows Updates update until they’re happy that those who want to block it, have done.

Either way, as soon as we learn that IE10 has been fully released and available through Windows Update, we’ll be sure to let you know!

…and if you’re an IE user we’d certainly encourage upgrading to IE10 when you can, it really is a big leap forward from IE9!

UPDATE: 26th February 2013: Internet Explorer 10 is now fully available to download for Windows 7

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Browsers Tested

The Tests

13 different tests were performed on each browser, covering four key areas in Speed, Memory Usage, Compliance with standards, and Javascript Performance.

The results revealed some varied and rather interesting findings – We even found to our surprise that Internet Explorer 9 out performed Internet Explorer 10 in two of the tests!

Results Summary

Read the full test report, with explanations and our conclusions here

The post Which Is The Best Web Browser? – We put the top 6 “head-to-head” appeared first on MIDAS - Room Booking System | Blog.

So there’s no question that Microsoft’s development of their flagship browser has been lackluster in recent years to say the least. However, that may soon be set to change with the surprise departure today of Microsoft’s Head of Windows, Steven Sinofsky. In a press release by Microsoft, CEO Steve Ballmer says:

“I am grateful for the many years of work that Steven has contributed to the company. The products and services we have delivered to the market in the past few months mark the launch of a new era at Microsoft…. To continue this success it is imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings”

Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft

Rapid Development Cycles

Hopefully this commitment to “rapid development cycles” will mean that in the near future Internet Explorer will start being updated on a more regular basis. Years between updates really isn’t acceptable in this day and age. Especially when competing developers are pushing out major browser updates every few months, if not every few weeks!

Anyway, back to Internet Explorer 10; Microsoft first released an “IE10 Platform Preview” on 12 April 2011. This allowed developers and Windows 7 users alike to get a glimpse of what’s to come in Internet Explorer 10. A second platform preview for IE10 was released shortly after… and then… nothing!

Then, when the developer previews of Windows 8 began to emerge, Internet Explorer 10 made a reappearance. Sadly, again only in “preview” form, but notably this time, Windows 7 users were left out of the loop. Microsoft wouldn’t allow these subsequent “previews” of IE10 to run on anything other than Windows 8. This decision left many developers who didn’t have access to Windows 8 developer previews frustrated as they were unable to check that their web apps/sites worked correctly with IE10.

The “final” version of Internet Explorer 10 (10.0.9200.16384) then came bundled with Windows 8 when Microsoft’s new operating system was released to manufacturers (RTM) on 26th October 2012. However, several weeks later and since the launch of Windows 8, IE10 still continues to elude Windows 7 users.

…until today! …well, kind of!

Internet Explorer 10 availability

Today, Microsoft have made Internet Explorer 10 available to Windows 7 users!! Hang on, hold your horses! …it’s another “preview” only! A “Release Preview” to give it its proper title (Version: 10.0.9200.16438), which users can download and install alongside their existing IE9 installation.

This “Release Preview” requires that you have at least Service Pack 1 (SP1) of Windows 7 installed. Alternatively, you can also install this Release Preview if running Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1) or Windows Home Server (WHS) 2011 too!!

There’s still no word on when a “final” release of IE10 will become available to Windows 7 users (via the usual Windows Update channel). But given that this isn’t just a “preview” but a “release preview” suggests a final release isn’t too far behind! The only clue we have from Microsoft is that “final availability to follow as we collect developer and customer feedback”

Should you wait for a “final” release of IE10 to become available for Windows 7, or should you download this latest “preview” now?

If you’re an avid Internet Explorer user, and have never tried one of the other browser offerings available today, the chances are you’re somewhat stuck in the past with your browsing experience in Internet Explorer 9. In which case, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with just how much better your web apps and favorite websites look and function in IE10 over IE9. So even though this is a “Release Preview” we suggest you install it!

Our browser based room scheduling software, MIDAS, is supported in all major browsers. This includes Internet Explorer 8+, although if you’re an IE user, we recommend IE10!

UPDATE: February 2013

Internet Explorer 10 is now available for Windows 7.

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Why Windows 8 is a gamble for Microsoft

Windows 8 sees a radical departure from the traditional Windows “desktop” environment. It’s geared very much towards touch-enabled devices, such as tablets. Whilst you can still access a “desktop” there is no traditional “Start” button in the bottom left corner. This will take some getting used to by many people!

We predict uptake of Windows 8 will be relatively slow with home users. Whilst it has the same hardware requirements that Windows 7 has, it’s been specially geared towards touch-enabled devices. That’s great if you own a tablet, or touch-enabled laptop. But it’ll be a couple of years or so before touch-enabled monitors for desktop computers become common place, and the benefits of Windows for regular home users can be fully realized.

Also, many businesses don’t see the benefit of upgrading their infrastructure to Windows 8. Many are still in the process of considering upgrading from XP to Windows 7!

Upgrading to Windows 8

Microsoft themselves are not even encouraging businesses to fully adopt and embrace Windows 8!

In a new post on the official Windows Business blog, Microsoft recommends that organizations that are currently in the middle of transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7, should continue those efforts. They add:

“Taking advantage of the high compatibility between Windows 8 and Windows 7, we recommend customers identify employees and user groups that can benefit most from Windows 8’s capabilities and deploy Windows 8 for those people, alongside Windows 7.“

– Microsoft

For businesses that are still stuck on Windows XP, or are in the early stages of their Windows XP-to-7 transition, Microsoft says:

“For some, moving their full company to Windows 8 will be the best choice, and for others it may be migrating first to Windows 7. Still, for many, it will be deploying Windows 8 side-by-side with Windows7 for key scenarios, such as Windows 8 tablets for mobile users.“

– Microsoft

If a large business is now using Windows 7 full time, Microsoft says they should begin evaluating Windows 8 installations “… for a side-by-side adoption with Windows 7 for key business scenarios.“

So whilst Windows 8 may fail to make much impact at first, whether in the business sector, or traditional home computer market, perhaps what’s most exciting about Windows 8 – for us at least – is the inclusion of the new Internet Explorer 10.

Internet Explorer 10

IE10 builds upon the success of IE9, and offers many significant improvements over its predecessor. There’s improvements both in terms of speed and performance. There’s also greater support for new and emerging web standards and technologies. (IE9 has been lagging behind somewhat from the current browser offerings from Mozilla, Google, Opera Software, and Apple)

On Windows 8, IE10 comes in two “flavors” – a desktop version, and as a “Windows Store” (formerly known as “Metro” or “Modern UI-style”) app:

Is Internet Explorer 10 available for earlier versions of Windows?

At present, sadly not! Microsoft have previously commented that IE10 will become available for Windows 7 users at some point, and have hinted at a “preview” version being available sometime next month.

If you’re using an earlier version of Windows (i.e. Vista or XP), you won’t be unable to run Internet Explorer 10 at all. In fact, if you’re still using Windows XP, you can’t even run IE9! The highest version of Internet Explorer available to you is version 8.

We don’t know why Microsoft made this decision, or why they’re dragging their heels on making IE10 available for Windows 7. It’s probably to encourage more people to update their operating system!

But to us it seems crazy, not least of all from a security perspective! New web-based threats are discovered all the time, which regularly maintained and updated web browsers can help combat.

By Microsoft preventing users from being able to use the latest version of their flagship Internet Explorer web browser, they’re certainly not helping in the fight against such threats!

So, in you’re on Windows 7 and are not planning to upgrade to Windows 8 just yet, you’ll have to wait a little longer to be able to get your hands on IE10.

And if you’re not even using Windows 7, forget it, you’ll never be able to run IE10! (You can still run other modern browsers i.e. Firefox, Chrome, etc on older operating systems like Windows XP)

That said, we really do like IE10! It’s by far the best browser offering Microsoft have released to date, and our browser-based scheduling app, MIDAS, runs really well in it!

If you’re looking for a room scheduling software solution that’s compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Macs, Linux, Chromium, Ubuntu… in fact any system with a modern, compatible web browser – MIDAS is for you! So…

To mark the launch of Windows 8 on Friday 26th October, we’re offering 26% off new purchases of MIDAS until the end of the month! Simply enter Promo Code “Win8” when purchasing through our secure website.

The post Windows 8 is here and fully compatible with MIDAS appeared first on MIDAS - Room Booking System | Blog.

Mozilla have also confirmed this past week that development work has now begun on a version of Firefox specifically for the new “Metro” interface of Windows 8.

Windows 8 Metro

One interesting point that Mozilla programmer Brian Bondy notes about this version of Firefox for the Windows 8 Metro interface, is that Microsoft have imposed restrictions. These restrictions mean that the “Metro” version of Firefox will only work if Firefox has been selected as the default web browser within Windows 8.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on Windows 8 as it draws ever closer to a full release later this year. It’s currently in “Beta” – or as Microsoft are now calling it “Consumer Preview”. We have already tested our online room scheduling software, MIDAS, on Windows 8 Consumer Preview in the brand new Internet Explorer 10 (which is not currently available for earlier versions of Windows). We can confirm that the latest version of MIDAS is fully compatible with this new release of Internet Explorer!

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