If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer you may have noticed the message above when you visited the Google homepage. Google is doing everything they can to entice IE users to become Google Chrome converts.

Whoever controls the browser controls a large portion of both the desktop, and the Internet. Maybe Microsoft should consider making their browser lighter and faster.

A few days ago Microsoft released their free anti-virus software called Microsoft Security Essentials, which is replacing Windows Defender.

Microsoft says Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, but it is Security Essentials itself that contains spyware. Read on, I’ll explain. This is a must read for anyone concerned about their privacy.

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Jon Skeet has received the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award since 2003 for his work and contributions to the C# programming language. Skeet joined Google about a year ago, and recently asked his Google bosses if he could renew his award, which is only given out to around 1,500 developers worldwide, and his Google bosses said no. Skeet wrote on his blog:

It’s with some sadness that I have to announce that as of the start of October, I’m no longer a Microsoft MVP.

As renewal time came round again, I asked my employer whether it was okay for me to renew, and was advised not to do so. As a result, while I enjoyed being awarded as an MVP, I’ve asked not to be considered for renewal this year.

This doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on that side of software development, of course. I’m still going to be an active member of the C# community. I’m still writing the second edition of C# in Depth. I’m still going to post on Stack Overflow. I’m still going to blog here about whatever interesting and wacky topics crop up.

I just won’t be doing so as an MVP.

Thanks to all the friends I’ve made in the MVP community and Microsoft over the last 6 years, and I wish you all the best.

Keep in touch.

Published Thu, Oct 1 2009 6:21 by skeet

Skeet works on Google Sync, and during his 20% other projects time, his bosses are okay with him continuing his C# work, but he just can’t accept the MVP award for it.

Since Skeet works on Google Sync, I have to wonder if that project is written, at least in part, in the C# programming language.

On Tuesday Google introduced Google Chrome Frame that is an open source plug-in that bring HTML5, and other open web technologies to Internet Explorer.

With Google Chrome Frame, developers can now take advantage of the latest open web technologies, even in Internet Explorer. From a faster Javascript engine, to support for current web technologies like HTML5’s offline capabilities and <canvas>, to modern CSS/Layout handling, Google Chrome Frame enables these features within IE with no additional coding or testing for different browser versions.

To start using Google Chrome Frame, all developers need to do is to add a single tag:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="chrome=1">

When Google Chrome Frame detects this tag it switches automatically to using Google Chrome’s speedy WebKit-based rendering engine. It’s that easy. For users, installing Google Chrome Frame will allow them to seamlessly enjoy modern web apps at blazing speeds, through the familiar interface of the version of IE that they are currently using.

For Wordpress users there is a plug-in that helps with Google Chrome Frame integration, which really isn’t necessary since it’s easy to simply add the tag above.

Herein lies the problem. Web site visitors are redirected from the web site homepage to a plug-in download page. Most people won’t have a clue what Google Chrome Frame is, so they’ll be unlikely to download and install something they know nothing about.

Even though the Google Chrome web browser is faster than Internet Explorer, most people continue to use the slower Internet Explorer because they are familiar with it. For most people easier is better.

If Google really wants to get people to adopt new technologies to improve the Internet, they’ll need to convince companies like Microsoft to move ahead at the speed of technology. Since Microsoft is so reluctant to do anything "open source" Google is having a tough time, so they are appealing to developers (documentation here), and Internet surfers to pressure Microsoft, or work around Microsoft by trying to get a grass roots ground swell of support from developers and Internet surfers.

Microsoft is also introducing their own header tags for developers to add to their websites to be able to continue to have Internet Explorer 8 render their web sites in Internet Explorer 7 mode.

We want to see push technology that makes web site development easier for developers, so their web sites will render properly in any web browser using web hooks in their web site.

It seems unlikely that a web site owner will risk alienating their readers by redirecting them to a plug-in install page that they must install to view the web site. While we think Google Chrome Frame is a great idea, how it is integrated into an Internet surfer’s life will decide if this project succeeds or fails.

A site called House Party made some videos promoting the use of Microsoft Windows 7 to host parties.

Yes, this is a real video that encourages people to have a party to celebrate the launch of Windows 7, but hey, bring your own computer with Windows 7 installed.

The video above is the serious, and really boring video. The video below is the spoof, and yet not a spoof, because all they did is take a cut of the real video and bleep some parts to make it seem bad.