Transcript: Internet Explorer, December 9, 2004
Published: December 12, 2004
Chat Date: December 9, 2004
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Introduction
Andy Q (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s chat. Our topic is Internet Explorer Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
Andy Q (Moderator):
Before we begin, I would like to begin by posting the chat rules and instructions for customers:
Andy Q (Moderator):
We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. I will have them introduce themselves now.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
I'm Dave Massy and I work on the Program Management team for Internet Explorer. Responsible for object model and associated issues as well as developer documentation. Looking forward to chatting with you all today about IE.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I am Jeremy Earp. I am a tester on the Internet Explorer Trident team.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
I'm Chris Wilson and I'm the Lead Program Manager for Dynamic HTML engine in IE.
Andy Q (Moderator):
I'm Andy Quig, Communities business manager.
Andy Q (Moderator):
With that, I'd like to invite you all to start submitting questions to our experts
Start of Chat
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: After I deployed XP SP2 to every desktop, the popup blocker is enabled. So, users will get popup warning every time to access our intranet. How can I use GPO to add the intranet link to SETTINGS from Option, Privacy, Blocks Pop-up
A: Hi Jeremy, The popup blocker should be disabled by default in the intranet zone as popups tend to be more useful in that security zone.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: no mention of a chat on the IE blog, tsk tsk
A: Hi Jaz, Good point. We'll try and advertise it there in advance next month. This chat is a regular monthly occurrence and is advertised on the IE community site at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community
Dave [MS] (Expert):
How many of you have upgraded to Windows XP SP2? We believe that's a great step forward for security.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: Any explanation about the all the entries which are listed in advanced tab ,their use, what many r for ....etc?
A: The documentation has some basic descriptions of what the options are for. Do you have a specific setting that you need help with?
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there any intention to add a 'advertisement blocker' facility to IE (such as what Firefox now has)?
A: This is an area that we'd leave to add-ons for Internet Explorer. I thought Firefox's ad blocker was an add-on itself though.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Well Sp2 has security features but at the same time compatibility issues with other programs is a lot.
A: We believe we've done a good job with XP SP2 compatibility. Are there specific issues you are seeing or is it just the rumors we see ?
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: Which JVM works fine with IE , Sun or MS??? I guess MS lol ;)
A: Both Sun and MS VMs are supported in IE. For more information, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: My friends PC has just been eaten up, we don't know why or how, she’s lost all her favourites, anyway I can get them back or are they gone for good, System restore is complaining of missing files
A: If her hard disk wasn't erased, it's likely you can explore her Documents and Settings directory on the drive and copy the favorites out of the Favorites directory. If the drive was erased (e.g. you had to run fdisk and/or format), then they're not retrievable.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Are All The Exploit's in Windows XP Service Pack 2 - IE fixed yet?
A: Are there specific exploits you are referring to?
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: My firewall log shows that when I click on a web page many ports are opened some with ip addresses that either are not resolvable or are resolved to a name outside the domain on which I clicked. Can I confirming the identities of web host affiliates?
A: I think that question might best be saved for a chat with the Firewall team, sorry. Our topic today is Internet Explorer
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: win is IE 7.0 Beta coming out?
A: It's too early to discuss features and schedule for the next version of IE. We're working hard on delivering a great browsing experience.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: What’s the enable profile assistant in Advanced tab?
A: The Profile Assistant is used to provide registration and demographic information to some web sites. You can find out more at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;220017
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Does MS recommend any good spywares?
A: I don't think we recommend any spware :-) But we do recommend some removal tools see http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx
Andy Q (Moderator):
For those new to the chat - Our topic is Internet Explorer. We've got about 45 minutes left so stay tuned!
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: is MS going to release anything, in the form of a beta, in the form of (for advanced users only) that counters Firefox?
A: It's too early to talk about future features and schedule at this time I'm afraid.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: Quick question. Whenever I'm in the internet and click on an icon, etc. that opens another window, that window opens VERY small. I always have to expand. How can I set Windows to open all windows full screen?
A: Are you running XPSP2? Do you have an example web site that we can take a look at?
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: Chris, it wasn't erased, I don't know what’s happened. however when you goto IE, they're not there and there’s folders been created with nameofPC.UserAccount.000 etf
A: Jaz, you should see (in the same Documents and Settings directory) a nameofPC.UserAccount (no 000) directory - that's probably the original user folder. Go inside it, and you should see a Favorites directory. That should contain your old Favorites. Just move the contents of the directory into the new user folder's Favorites directory (the one with 000 - Windows tacks those on when it tries to create user directories that already exist).
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Can certain system processes use my open ie process? The other day something jumped on and opened/closed successive ports to my gateway off and on for a few hours and then went away. PR identified its pid as ie.exe
A: Hi shoes, I think you should check your machine for spy ware if this is happening. Once you have some wicked software installed there is little limit on the bad stuff it might do. See http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx for recommendations in dealing with spy ware. I recommend using Windows XP SP2 and avoiding downloading software from anyone you do not trust.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
No problem, happy to help
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Jamie, It's best to ask questions using the question radio button to get our attention.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Followup to Dave: could it be a system process like dynamic dns?
A: Hi Shoes, That is possible but I don't believe we have an expert on DNS here today to answer that I'm afraid.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
also to bill - can you re-ask using the question button? It helps us manage questions between multiple people...
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Dave, it's not too early at all, MS is going to eventually fall behind their competitors. So much work by competitors is going on but for something that should be so simple to create, you're neglecting it badly. IS MS out of the browser race?
A: Hi Jaz, It's a little too early for us as we want to discuss what we are doing when we are confident we can deliver things in a certain timeframe. We often get accused of vaporware and I'd like to set expectations realistically. We're certainly not out of the browser race and have lots and lots of things we are thinking about to improve the browsing experience.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: How to disable the crash detection feature by modifying in registry??
A: This setting is a system wide feature. On XP, go to System Properties, Advanced Tab, click the Error Reporting button, click "Disable Error Reporting", and click OK. Please keep in mind that this turns off error reporting for all applications on your machine.
Andy Q (Moderator):
For those new to the chat - Our topic is Internet Explorer. We’re almost halfway in, so keep those questions coming! A big thanks for all the on-topic questions, you guys rock!
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: Everyone seems to want tabs - although I just use the IE links bar - could this not just be retooled to have tab graphics - instead of icons = instant tabs
A: Tabs and links bar are two different features. The Links bar lets you have easy access to frequently used favorites; tabbed browser is about managing multiple simultaneous browsing sessions in a single window. If you click on a link in the links bar, it will replace the active page in the window.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: "internet explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. we are sorry for the inconvenience" what’s the technical cause of this, Well unchekcing third party browser extension helps in many cases but what's the theory behind it?
A: There are a few reasons that this might happen. The majority of the crash reports we receive on IE have a root cause of some extension or plugin not behaving itself. That might be because it is trying to use memory not allocated to it or something similar. We're doing our best to work with 3rd parties to help them here and in Windows XP SP2 improved the error reporting so we can better identify if an add-on was the cause of the problem.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: A suggestion rather than a question: Tabbed browsing would be a plus.
A: Thanks for the feedback. Did you know that you can get tabbed browsing with IE using some third party add-ons? For more info, see http://windowsmarketplace.com/content.aspx?ctId=63
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: On channel9.msdn.com - under forum coffeehouse - "Sort by: Most views" - the top viewed post (56 thousand views) is a top ten IE wishlist. Has the IE team read these over / seen this?
A: Hi Jamie, Yes I read your comments on Channel 9 all the time :)
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Dave, people are actually doing things. I don't use Firefox but I know that whenever people goto forums looking for fixes they get recommended Firefox, and why shouldn't they, IE is a dinosaur,
A: I don't believe it is fair to categorize IE as a dinosaur. We have certainly seen other browsers catch up in recent years and are working on improvements to IE in the future.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: I want to stop the crash detection for ie, any way??
A: As stated in an earlier question, I don't think you can disable crash detection just for IE. The setting is a system-wide feature. Are you receiving frequent crashes? Sometimes that may be caused by an add-on that is installed or spy ware. If you have XPSP2, try using Managed Add-Ons to see what is installed. You may also use a spy ware scanner such as Ad-Aware.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Does the IE team have any kind of open communication with other browser developers about the surge of spy ware and malicious scripts through browsers?
A: Hi Bill, Spy ware is an industry wide issue and while the browser is a frequent focus of this type of software it is often a system infection adn not an IE infection. We believe that Windows XP SP2 helps in this regard by making it much more difficult for web sites to trick people into installing unwanted software. I don't believe we have discussed this with other browser developers but it is interesting to see some of them follow our lead in this regard.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: How can I run an application in xp home when it says it is not win 32 application?
A: Ali, that sounds like you're either trying to run a non-windows application, a 64-bit application on 32-bit windows, or the application has become corrupt.
Andy Q (Moderator):
Please don't resubmit questions, our experts are working as fast as they can!
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: the future, the future, always the future. Is this future the Longhorn time frame or is it going to be between now and Christmas day. you can't talk about timeframes or new features, but why, are you worried Firefox might know you want tabs?
A: Jaz, I think we've already answered this. We never discuss unannounced software. Sorry but we'll answer some other questions here now.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: My ISP regularly inserts a request for authentication (about twice per day) as a response to a HTTP request. IE (as well as every other browser) thinks this request belongs to the site I'm trying to visit (but it's not), so I can't save the username/password
A: Hi Sven, I think that's an issue best taken up with your ISP. Sounds like it could be very annoying.
LaurelA (Expert):
Q: Does anyone know how to get rid of the links in the address bar when you click on the arrow?
A: If you go to Tools, Internet Options, and click Clear History it will remove all of the links from the address bar.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: I just see spy ware as something that affects all internet users regardless of browser. A user will always be wary if they get infected and some damage has been done. Shouldn't there be industry wide concern keeping internet users safe?
A: We're certainly looking at this. It's become a real problem for the industry. We have our current advice at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx but keep watching for progress as we and others fight this.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: Microsoft WEFT utility - for using any font in IE works great - but is a) rather buried and b) somewhat complicated. Could the next IE just integrate this in automatically - so people could use any font ( maybe have a dynamic font repository or something m
A: This actually needs to be integrated in the content production tools, not IE itself. The code library for created embedded OpenType fonts - t2embed.dll - is available for integration in tools, has been for a long time. The problem with a dynamic font repository is that fonts are intellectual property - embeddings are explicitly allowed (or disallowed) by the font designer when they create the OpenType font.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: How can I run an application in xp home when it says it is not win 32 application? It worked with 2000 before.
A: What kind of application is it?
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: Just finished installing xp pro on an old pc I had lying around (p111 600) when I try to plug anything into USB port the system freezes. Never had probs like that with this particular system before. Driving me nuts!! any ideas?
A: It is possible that the old PC uses USB 1.0. The first PCs with USB support did not fully support USB and tended to have problems with Windows USB drivers. You can try to see if that is the case by purchasing a inexpensive USB card at your local computer store (normally $20 to $30). If the USB card works fine, it is the USB chipset on the PC.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will Microsoft start providing more working code samples for web developers - NOT programmers via msdn? there currently are no resources for intermediates and designers
A: Hi Jamie, MSDN is our primary way of supplying samples and documentation for web developers. We believe our support here is unparalleled. http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/dhtml_reference_entry.asp Are there topics and samples you believe are missing? We're always looking for feedback on this area.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will we see any IE releases before longhorn. If so, will it have a download manager, and tabbed browsing?
A: It's still too early to talk about future features and schedule but we are looking forward to improving the browser experience.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Do you guys really use plain vanilla IE, or are you doing something to jazz up the Internet Explorer experience? What makes it more useful for you?
A: We use a variety of things ourselves. Often we'll use a completely different browser for a little while just to see what that feels like. Sometimes I'll switch to one of the browsers built on top of IE. Maxthon is one of my favorites. Other times I'll go back to minimal IE so that I know what some users are seeing.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Please make IE support EMF or WMF vectors - only rendered as clean and small file size as flash does ( SVG sux)
A: Hi Jamie,
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: whose fault is it when adobe opens in IE and then you can't close IE and it's stuck errantly semi open and broken
A: Acrobat may have opened a dialog during the load process. Try pressing ALT-TAB to see if a window has opened behind IE.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Please make IE support EMF or WMF vectors - only rendered as clean and small file size as flash does ( SVG sux)
A: Hi Jamie, We actually already have support for VML since IE5.0 http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/vml/default.asp
Andy Q (Moderator):
We will be continuing this chat for about 15 minutes and will continue to take questions. Thanks all for participating in the chat.
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Q: Are there plans to support alpha PNG transparency and position: fixed?
A: We can't comment on specific features in unannounced software. We do respond to customer demand, though, and those two items are frequently requested.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: What feedback avenues does Microsoft provide their IE customers? What incentive is there to enhance a product that brings in no revenue?
A: We encourage people to send us feedback through a variety of forums such as this and channel 9 http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.InternetExplorerFeedback We believe browsing is an essential activity on the PC and want to provide the best possible browsing experience on Windows.
LaurelA (Expert):
Q: Tools->Options->Clear History sometimes does nothing, or locks up like it is deleting, but doesn't delete history. Have any other users experience this? I am running all the latest updates (WinXP Pro SP2).
A: Skeeterbug, How long are you waiting? Sometimes it can take a really long time to delete the history if it's quite large.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is Microsoft considering opening up any IE code to open-source developers, so that Mac and Linux customers can have the same experience browsing (say) microsoft.com that Windows customers do?
A: I don't believe so ;)
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: One very annoying thing is when a script on a site gets stuck in a loop showing alert() or error messages. The only way to end the loop is by killing iexplorer.exe in task manager. Any better ways to fix this?
A: This is a tricky one and we may look at providing a better escape option if we have time.
LaurelA (Expert):
Q: I am waiting a few minutes. The hour glass disappears like it worked, but it doesn't.
A: Andy, when the hourglass disappears can you begin using Internet Explorer again?
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: To what extent is the current interest in developing IE a reaction to the loss in market share to open source browsers?
A: We're committed to providing a great browsing experience as part of Windows.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: how come when I delete cookies and temp cookies and go to site it does not clear them I have the new patch installed??
A: Do you have an example web site that you are seeing this problem?
Andy Q (Moderator):
We've got about 7 minutes left in today chat..Time for those last questions!
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: I've seen a lot of talk about IE vulnerabilities (like the iframe src) which are very hard to find w/o access to the code. What procedures are in place to find them before upgrades are released, and what procedures are in place to catch bugs as-you-code?
A: We use advanced tools to help in security and this is seen in the fact that Windows XP SP2 was not vulnerable to the particular issue you refer to. As the most attacked piece of software we are constantly reviewing our security and Windows XP SP2 is a great step forward on a number of fronts.
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: well soes anyone know why the delete is not working right???????????
A: If you go to your "Temporary Internet Files" folder, do you still see cookie files there after deleting them?
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: I think I read Safari has added a new feature "Private browsing" will IE be adding something similar?
A: Hi Jamie, I'll have to look at "private browsing" before I could comment on that.
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there anything you CAN tell us that you guys are working on? couple of features to look forward too?
A: Not yet :) Sorry. We're happy to take feedback and talk about the currently supported versions. At some point in the future we'll be ready to talk about what comes next but we are not ready to discuss details or schedule yet.
Andy Q (Moderator):
OK folks, 2 minute warning, last questions for today? on-topic ones that is :-)
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: when will longhorn finally be released
A: When it is ready :)
LaurelA (Expert):
Q: Yes I can begin using IE again like normal. I can close it out, re-open it, and the history is still there. Its a very strange bug.
A: That is a strange bug. I don't think we have seen it internally. You may want to see if you have any spy ware installed. In Windows XP SP2 you can use the Manage Add-ons feature under tools to see what Browser Helper Objects and Active-X controls are installed.
Andy Q (Moderator):
OK that's it, thanks for all the great questions. You guys are the most on topic bunch I've seen in a long while!!
LaurelA (Expert):
Q: Google pushes ATOM. Yahoo pushes RSS. Is MS going to look at integrating XML news into IE? If so, which format - take a side or try to support both?
A: What would you like to see Internet Explorer Support?
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is using GPO a good direction to look in order to lock down users ability to open and install components, download software etc. Or should I focus more on the ability to install software in general.
A: Using GPOs along with software deployment software such as SMS can help you deploy and manage software on your network. Internet Explorer has GPO support for managing IE configuration across your desktops.
Andy Q (Moderator):
Look for the transcript of this chat at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/transcripts/default.mspx
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'd like to see more concentration on supporting existing standards, and less on developing proprietary features... I can't use them anyway, I have to support Safari access to the websites I work on.
A: Hi Maurits, We are certainly looking at some of the CSS consistency issues that are causing problems. Our documentation also clearly points out when a feature is part of a standard or not. It's interesting to see Jamie wanting to see more enhancements to help drive the web forward :)
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Q: All righty! My question: I have XP Home with SP2 and I use Adelphia cable as my broadband IPS. I'm purchasing a 2nd ISP - Qwest dsl. Can I configure my PC so that I can use either of my broadband ISP's to go online?
A: You should be able to do this using some of the networking features of XP (I am not sure if Home will have everything you need to set this up). Also, some cable/DSL routers out there support 2 ISP connections (2 WAN ports).
Andy Q (Moderator):
Thanks all for participating! please come for next months chat, you can find the info later today on http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/default.mspx
Dave [MS] (Expert):
Thanks everyone. This has been a fun chat. Hope to see you next month or is that next year!
Andy Q (Moderator):
bye
Jeremy [MS] (Expert):
Thanks for attending! I had a great time. See you next month
Chris [MS] (Expert):
Thanks all!
LaurelA (Expert):
Thanks!
For further information on this topic please visit the following:
Newsgroups: Windows XP General Discussion
Transcripts: Read the archive of past Windows XP chats.
