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Posts Tagged ‘microsoft’

postheadericon Internet Explorer versions 1 through 9 compared, signs of progress found (video)

Most sane folks will have greeted the arrival of Internet Explorer 9 with a curious click on a download button or a simple update of the browser they were already using, but that's not enough for everyone. One chap with a taste for the eccentrically geeky decided to take this opportunity to go through a retrospective of every version of IE, going all the way back to Windows 95's first iteration, and to run the Acid compatibility tests to see how they stand up to modern standards. IE1, the ancient, CSS-deprived beast that it is, choked immediately and failed to even display its homepage without an error, but things improved steadily from there until the triumph of iteration 9. See all that glorious progress happening in the space of just a few minutes in the video after the break.

Continue reading Internet Explorer versions 1 through 9 compared, signs of progress found (video)

Internet Explorer versions 1 through 9 compared, signs of progress found (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Techland  |  sourceAndy's Tech Experiments Blog  | Email this | Comments

postheadericon Kinect meets a Pufferfish display, produces wonderfully creepy all-seeing eye (video)

As Kinect hacks go, this one's not going to bowl you over with its technical complexity, but the effect of what it does is quite dramatic. One of Microsoft's sensor-rich, camera-laden Xbox accessories has been repurposed to communicate with a Pufferfish spherical projection display -- via the magic of WPF and openni -- with its motion tracking algorithms serving to control the image on the giant ball. Naturally, the first thing the tweakers behind this mod thought up was a Tolkien-inspired eye that follows people around the room. Sadly, the single Kinect box isn't enough to provide 360-degree coverage, but it's probably just a matter of time until they splice an array of them together and creep us out completely. Video after the break.

Update: You asked for the eye of Sauron and now you've got it. Second video added after the break.

Continue reading Kinect meets a Pufferfish display, produces wonderfully creepy all-seeing eye (video)

Kinect meets a Pufferfish display, produces wonderfully creepy all-seeing eye (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 04:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Technology Studio  | Email this | Comments

postheadericon WebM components for IE9 bring further video compatibility to Windows, end to codec conflict?

We've been reporting on the drama over Google's WebM ever since Microsoft compared the video format to Esperanto earlier this year, but despite a war of words, Google and Microsoft seem to be playing nice as of late. What originally appeared to be a mere WebM plug-in for IE9, has turned out to be a full set of components for the Microsoft Media Foundation (MF) API, which means even more compatibility within Windows. Because the components are installed directly to the operating system, you'll be able to watch WebM videos in other programs that support MF, such as Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 7. We suppose this could be the signal for some sort of a truce over disputed video formats, but, really, what's the fun in that?

WebM components for IE9 bring further video compatibility to Windows, end to codec conflict? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceIEBlog, WebM  | Email this | Comments

postheadericon Internet Explorer 9 hits 2.35 million downloads in first 24 hours, we’re mildly impressed

Okay, so 2.35 million downloads in a single day is nothing to scoff at, but it's also not a monumental achievement in terms of browser downloads in the first 24. A post to Internet Explorer's official blog used the word "wow" to describe the IE9 numbers, but considering Firefox 3 got the Guinness world record for most software downloads in a day, with 8 million way back in 2008, we're reluctant to call this news wow-worthy. Given, Firefox 3 was available for both Mac and PC, but it still beat Windows' new browser three times over. Don't get us wrong, we like IE9, but we still think a little bit of modesty goes a long way.

Internet Explorer 9 hits 2.35 million downloads in first 24 hours, we're mildly impressed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWindows  | Email this | Comments

postheadericon Internet Explorer 9 gets WebM support with ‘preview’ plug-in from Google, internet video gets more friendly

Google has released an early WebM plug-in for Microsoft's latest and greatest browser, IE9 -- stepping in to fill a gap that Microsoft itself refused to fill. You may remember the firm's decision to not build in support for the new standard natively, but that it was "all in" with HTML5, WebM's close cousin. Billed as a "technology preview" at this stage of the game, the add-on will enable users to play all WebM video content just like the good Internet overlords intended them to, despite the fact that an additional download is needed. Microsoft said that it would allow for support and it appears to be following up on its word, regardless of other harsher comments made separately. Isn't it good to see big companies getting along? Now if only these same niceties played out in the mobile landscape, then we'd really be getting somewhere.

[Thanks, ChrisSsk]

Internet Explorer 9 gets WebM support with 'preview' plug-in from Google, internet video gets more friendly originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWebM for IE9  | Email this | Comments