Red Hat has set the standard for world class software support, consistently earning top marks with CIOs for its efforts. On Thursday, however, Red Hat outdid itself, introducing a new product support plan called Extended Update Support. In a nutshell, Extended Update Support enables customers to run their mission-critical systems for longer stretches of time without having to take production systems offline to update them.
From the announcement:
Extended Update Support allows a customer with a large mission-critical deployment to reduce server administration and management costs by standardizing on a single update release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux for up to 18 months--all while preserving stability and data security.
As Red Hat explains, most software companies allow customers to standardize on a minor, "point" release for 6 to 9 months, or at most 12 months. Through its Extended Update Support program, however, Red Hat is letting customers pick a Red Hat Enterprise Linux build and stick with it for up to 18 months, up to three times the industry average. That means less downtime and less need to re-validate software stacks running on RHEL.
The Register provides some additional insight:
While Red Hat commits seven years of support for a major RHEL version, the dot releases within the versions change about every six months. Within those dot releases, the company ensures application compatibility because it doesn't change the runtime environment, the area where the Linux kernel interacts with applications. So even if there are patches for security or bugs and whatnot in the dot release, customers do not have to go through application testing and certification, which can take many months, as long as they stay within a RHEL version.
This is a great service to Red Hat's customers, and provides further evidence that Red Hat's subscription model helps it to be more attuned to customer needs. Red Hat isn't selling an upfront license: it's selling the continued value of an ongoing subscription. By tuning that value to actual customer needs--in this case, the need to disturb production systems as little as possible to reduce risk and save money--Red Hat ensures renewals.
Subscription models align vendor interests with customer interests. Red Hat's Extended Update Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is setting the pace. It will be interesting to see who follows.
Google users are starting to see an updated interface to the iGoogle home page, according to the Google Operating System blog.
iGoogle lets users select various modules such as mail, photos, games, or a to-do list; it competes chiefly with My Yahoo but also with sites from rivals including Netvibes and PageFlakes.
As expected, the revamped iGoogle provides a navigation bar on the left edge of the screen that lets users select iGoogle gadgets and perform other functions. Another feature could mean more dramatic changes to the site, though: a "canvas view" that lets gadgets fill up the whole page also will permit ads on iGoogle.
The change is on schedule: Google said it would start switching users to the new iGoogle look this month. In a blog entry this week, Google said canvas view would be available to more users in July.
Google also is working on changes that will accommodate gadgets that run on the OpenSocial foundation, which at least theoretically will enable them to run not just on iGoogle but on other OpenSocial sites, too.
Sony will soon add a Google Internet search feature as part of a software update for the PlayStation Portable.
Sony PSP
(Credit: Sony)On the PSP blog Monday, Sony said the new upgrade, v4.00, "replicates the Google Internet search experience.
PSP users will need to be connected to the Web via Wi-Fi. The move represents Sony's continued efforts to expand the Internet features of the handheld. Of course, what users really want is an easy way to download movies off the Web.
Nonetheless, the company continues to force users to buy the much rejected Universal Media Discs (UMD), the mini DVDs that Sony built especially for the PSP, or hack the device with video converters.
Sony said the upgrade will also give users the ability to change speeds on playback of video stored on Memory Stick PRO Duo. This allows the viewer to scan quickly through a movie or slow it down.
Following a storm of criticism, Apple has changed its Software Update software to mark a distinction between new programs, such as its Safari on Windows browser, and updates to existing ones.
Last month, Apple started to include Safari 3.1 in a list of applications available from its Software Update program.
Now Apple Software Updates distinguishes between new software and updates.
(Credit: Asa Dotzler, Mozilla)Among those complaining was John Lilly, the CEO of Mozilla which makes the competing Firefox browser.
In a blog, Lilly said that Apple's practice was "wrong" and bad for the industry "because it undermines the trust that we're all trying to build with users."
Now, Apple's Software Update has two separate boxes, one labeled "New Software" and the other labeled "Updates." Before Safari 3.1 was under the "Updates" box and there was no "New Software" heading.
The old way: including new programs like Safari in with updates of already installed programs.
(Credit: CNET Networks)"This is a good first step. Now Apple needs to stop checking the box for "New Software" items by default. With that change, I think I'd be pretty happy to let the Apple Software Update service back on my Windows machine," Asa Dotzler, director of Mozilla community development, wrote Thursday.
An Apple representative told Computerworld that the change was done to distinguish new software from updates but declined to say whether it was in response to criticisms or whether Apple may leave the "New Software" box unchecked, as Mozilla's Dotzler suggested.
You try to do the right thing by setting your PC to update Windows automatically, only to be stopped in your tracks by some error message or--more likely--a hung browser. Usually there's a simple explanation for the update hiccup. But not always. The steps below for resuscitating a stalled Windows update begin with the simplest solution and end with the trickiest.
Make sure you're logged in an administrator account. To find out if your current account has administrator privileges, click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts (in Vista's standard Control Panel view, click User Accounts and Family Safety, and then choose User Accounts). If the account you're currently using isn't labeled "Computer administrator" in XP, or "Administrator" in Vista, log into an administrator account and try the automatic update again.
If Windows won't update, check the User Accounts Control Panel applet to make sure you're logged on as an administrator.
(Credit: Microsoft)Temporarily disable your security software. Overzealous firewalls and antivirus programs may inadvertently block Windows Update from downloading and installing necessary OS patches. Right-click the program's icon in your system tray and choose Exit or Disable (you may have to open the program's management console and close it from there).
Unfortunately, the only way to disable some security programs, such as Symantec's Norton 360, is to open Task Manager and disable them there. To do so, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, click the Processes tab, find and select the process for the program (it likely uses a variation of the product's name), and click End Process. The process will restart automatically the next time Windows loads, or restart it manually by clicking its Start menu shortcut to reopen it.
Check Microsoft's update-troubleshooting site. The first time I visited the Windows Update Troubleshooter, I expected to find a great tool that automatically scanned my PC and fixed whatever was blocking Windows from updating. Instead I opened a page with a long list of links to articles intended to help you figure out the problem on your own. You can find much the same information by copying the error code that appears when Windows Update fails and pasting it into your favorite Web search engine to discover information about it, and possible a solution.
Run the Windows Update Fix batch file. The CastleCopsWiki offers a downloadable batch file that automatically addresses many of the causes for a stalled update. Use it by unzipping the download file and double-clicking the file named WUFix.bat. This is far from a guaranteed fix for update woes, but if everything else has failed to resolve the problem, it's worth a try.
Tomorrow: the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat.
It's the very definition of irony: bugs in the application designed to install bug fixes. Such is Windows Update, which in the two instances described below installs known buggy software--and tells you that all is well when it is not.
Installing IE7
I use Firefox for pretty much everything, so my main desktop and laptop (both running Windows XP) still had Internet Explorer version 6 until recently. I also run Windows Update manually, so keeping IE 7 off my machine involved nothing more than unchecking a box once a month. But now that IE 7 has been out for roughly a year, and I'm addicted to tabs, I finally got around to installing the browser.
Since I was up-to-date on bug fixes, IE 7 was the only thing Windows Update had to install. The installation process includes the option shown below about installing "the latest updates for Internet Explorer," which I did. All went well, at least according to Windows Update.
The first thing I noticed afterward was that IE 7 turned on the language bar toolbar on the task bar. It doesn't take up much room, but I have no interest in the language features and the fewer things running the better.
To get rid of the language bar, go to the Control Panel, click on Regional and Language Options (the globe), then click on the Languages tab, then the Details button, then the Advanced tab. Finally, put a check in the box to "Turn off advanced text services".
All seems well at this point, but it's not. A critical bug fix having to do with something called VML is missing. The fix goes by the names KB938127 and MS07-050 (see Critical Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language Could Allow Remote Code Execution) and dates back to August 2007. Yes, Microsoft has had eight months to make Windows Update smart enough to install this critical bug fix when it installs IE 7. Or, at the least, warn us to run Windows Update again. But no, it instead installs known buggy software.
.Net Framework Version 2
The same thing happens when you install version 2 of the .Net framework. There are three versions of the .Net framework, and all are optional--until, that is, you try to install software that requires it.
Again, I started with a Windows XP system that was up-to-date on all bug fixes and installed nothing but version 2 of the .Net framework using Windows Update. As before, I ran Windows Update manually (Tools -> Windows Update in IE) and opted for a Custom install. All went well, and I rebooted afterwards, just for good luck.
Though all seems well, I ran Windows Update again. Sure enough, the just-installed .Net framework needed updating. And not just one bug fix; it was missing an entire service pack (KB110806). Installing the service pack was uneventful other than the required reboot.
Back to Windows Update and, finally, everything is up to snuff.
There is no excuse for a software update application, such as Windows Update, to install known buggy software. No excuse, but there is a reason: either incompetence or a corporate laziness that sets in when a company is not challenged in the marketplace. I am not sure which applies in this case.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
The world's first 2.0-compatible Blu-ray player.
(Credit: CNET)The PlayStation 3 is the first Blu-ray player to support BD-Live functionality, thanks to a firmware update available today. Officially announced just last week, the update (version 2.20) was released right on schedule, and is now available as a free download to PS3 owners directly through the console's onscreen interface. Once installed, it allows the PS3's to access Internet-connected BD-Live content available on some discs. The list of compatible discs is currently minimal--just War and Saw IV available now, plus The Sixth Day and Walk Hard following on April 8--and the first round of BD-Live content doesn't seem to be very diverting. But as the list of supporting titles grows--and, ideally, the BD-Live content becomes more compelling--look for players that don't support Profile 2.0 compatibility to be confined to the clearance shelves. The PS3 remains the best bet for Blu-ray shoppers, even if they have no interest in using its gaming capabilities.
... Read moreA lot of people appear to be bent out of shape about Apple using its auto-update service to distribute the Safari Web browser on Windows. The CEO of Mozilla, which makes the rival Firefox browser, calls it bad business.
In a blog on Friday, Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple's practice, uncovered this week, of offering iTunes and QuickTime users Safari 3.1 on Windows through the Apple Software Update pop-up.
Lilly says that automatic updates are a good way to ensure people have the most recent and secure versions of software. It's a practice that Mozilla uses with the Firefox browser.
What's different in what Apple is doing is that it is adding a product to the auto-update list that users never requested. That means they could very easily install software unintentionally, he argued:
Apple has made it incredibly easy--the default, even--for users to install ride along software that they didn't ask for, and maybe didn't want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices.
It's wrong because it undermines the trust that we're all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn't just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the Web by eroding that relationship. It's a bad practice and should stop.
Easy for users or a breach of trust?
(Credit: CNET Networks)An Apple representative issued an e-mailed statement on the matter to Information Week: "We are using Software Update to make it easy and convenient for both Mac and Windows users to get the latest Safari update from Apple."
Meanwhile, my colleague, Tom Krazit, in a post on Friday argues that people should become more aware of the software on their systems and think before they install.
I had occasion to open the C:Windows folder on my old XP machine, and was immediately struck by the number of folders whose names began "$NtUninstall". They were from several hundred kilobytes to 10 megabytes in size, and there were more than 150 of these bad boys just taking up space on my hard drive. There were also a few multi-megabyte files whose names began with "$MSI31Uninstall" or "$NtServicePackUninstall". Some of these folders dated back to when I bought the machine in 2003.
If Explorer won't show you the contents of the C:Windows folder, click Tools > Folder Options > View, select Show hidden files and folders in the Advanced settings window, and click OK.
These uninstall folders are intended to roll back the system in the event of a Windows patch gone bad. Obviously, the OS updates they refer to had done no harm to the machine, which is working just fine. The PC's 30GB hard drive has 5GB of free space, which is slightly less than the 20 percent margin many experts recommend to ensure a smooth-running drive. Clearly getting rid of these unnecessary patch fixers would do my system good. To play it safe, I retained the few uninstall folders that were less than a month or two old.
Make room on your hard drive by deleting old Windows update uninstall folders, but play it safe by retaining the most recent ones.
Unfortunately, the files aren't listed by date, and if you click Date Modified in Explorer's Details view, the uninstall folders get mixed up with other folders in C:Windows. Rather than selecting the uninstall folders one by one, I clicked the first one I wanted to delete, then Shift-clicked the last one, and finally Ctrl-clicked the few recent ones I wanted to keep to deselect them.
The fixes will still be listed in XP's Add or Remove Programs Control Panel applet. To remove their entries, open the program, check Show updates at the top of the window, scroll to Windows XP - Software Updates, select each one at a time, and click Remove. You'll get an error message telling you the file has already been deleted. Click Yes and move on to the next one. Just be sure not to accidentally uninstall an update that you haven't already deleted. If the Software Update Removal Wizard opens rather than the "already deleted" error message, click Cancel.
Play it safe by keeping the folders in the Recycle Bin for a week or so. If you experience problems with a Windows patch for which you've deleted the uninstall folder, simply locate it in the Recycle Bin, right-click it, and choose Restore to return it to the C:Windows folder.
I found only two of these patch-uninstall folders in the C:Windows folder on my Vista PC, both of which were empty. I don't know if that means Microsoft figured out a way to safeguard its Vista fixes without cluttering up your hard drive, or if the update-uninstall folders are now stashed somewhere else.
Tomorrow: Using OpenOffice.org's Writer app in a Microsoft Word world.
Apple released the first patches for 2008 to the QuickTime media player as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch on January 15.
The updates to QuickTime 7.4 for Windows and Mac users are designed to prevent a system from being hijacked when malicious movie files are opened.
Apple Downloads lists the updates for Windows XP and Vista as well as Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher. Mac users also can access the download via Apple's Software Update.
Memory corruption issues in QuickTime's handling of Sorenson 3 video, Macintosh Resource Records, and Image Descriptor atoms are to blame for three of four noted security holes. The fix also closes a gap left when QuickTime processes compressed PICT graphics.
However, the updates do not address a vulnerability in QuickTime's streaming media protocol, publicized by Italian researcher Luigi Auriemma earlier this month.
The last fix to QuickTime was made December 13.
Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch updates are designed to bolster Passcode Lock and prevent unauthorized users from launching applications, as well as to keep owners from inadvertently leaking sensitive data via phishing Web sites accessed through Safari.
The version 1.1.3 fixes are available for download only through updates to iTunes, which should prompt users to accept the changes. Docking an iPhone or iPod Touch will also trigger the updates to be made.
