Newsletter Archives

• Mandatory Windows Live Messenger update starting today

  Posted on January 23, 2011 at 07:40 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If you use an older version of Windows Live Messenger, you’re going to get an update.

  From the Windows Live Blog:

  If you are using Windows Live Essentials on Windows XP, or are still using a pre-2011 version of Windows Live Essentials (including Messenger), starting this week, you’ll see a required update that is rolling out in all 48 languages. This minor update to Windows Live Messenger and the other Windows Live Essentials programs includes a set of important security updates, performance improvements, targeted bug fixes, and some other, minor changes.

  Windows Patches/Security Windows Live Essentials, Windows Live Messenger

• Windows Live Messenger hyperlinks disabled

  Posted on November 13, 2010 at 16:55 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Twitter’s been all lit up over this one.

  Microsoft just disabled hyperlinks in Windows Live Messenger.

  Maddeningly, there aren’t any details. The description on that blog is so vague it sounds like a drive-by 0day, but why is Messenger singled out?

  And why is Messenger 2011 (Wave 4) immune?

  Stay tuned…

  Windows Patches/Security Windows Live Messenger

• If you use Hotmail or Messenger, read this

  Posted on July 22, 2010 at 21:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  One of the most important privacy articles I’ve ever written just went up on the Windows Secrets newsletter site.

  If you have a Windows Live ID – a Hotmail account, an @live.com or @windowslive.com address – you better take a look. Somebody’s watching. And tattling.

  Windows News Hotmail, tattling, Windows Live Messenger

• New Windows Live Messenger has same old privacy problems

  Posted on June 28, 2010 at 23:21 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Why do I get the impression that some folks at Microsoft just don’t get it?

  Case in point. I raked MS over the coals for the really stupid privacy busting “features” in Messenger/Hotmail. Microsoft’s PR agency hit me with a nastygram suggesting I re-evaluate my conclusions. I looked again, and came away sure as ever that I was right – there was no way to effectively keep Microsoft from “sharing” private information in truly remarkable ways.

  You can read the details in my Windows Secrets article of April 22, and follow-up on the WS Lounge. (That Lounge post, by the way, has become the most-frequently-read post on the Lounge, ever, in the 15-year history of the Lounge.)

  I’ve been playing with the beta of the new Windows Live Essentials, including Messenger 2011. And guess what? Microsoft zapped a whole bunch of privacy-sapping settings, made the interface easier to use – and completely missed the point that I brought up in that article.

  I’ve posted updated information about the hole in my InfoWorld blog. I’m still trying to figure exactly how badly MS screwed up this time, and when I have the full details, I’ll run them in Windows Secrets Newsletter.

  It’s like the whole thing went whooooooooosh right over the Windows Live folks’ heads.

  UPDATE: The InfoWorld blog just got Slashdotted.

  Windows News privacy busting, Windows Live Messenger