Hasta La Gadget!

In a new advertisement focused on Internet Explorer, Microsoft addresses the elephant in the room, which is that the company’s web browser hasn’t been up to snuff in recent years, but Microsoft is slowly changing that by introducing new features that appeal to those who use competitors like Firefox or Chrome. Specifically, the add features a persistant internet troll who bashes Internet Explorer, but eventually comes around to accept that it’s getting better.

The overall message of the advertisement was “progress,” which appears at the end of the ad, and reassures users that Microsoft can’t build Rome in a day, but are making progress to improve their web browser and make it as feature-filled and fast as possible. Microsoft has certainly done that with their latest versions.

Anyone who has used Internet Explorer 9 knows that the browser took on a whole new meaning of quality, and the company continued their momentum with Internet Explorer 10. The video above tracks an internet troll throughout the evening, and shows him commenting on Facebook and various forums about how “IE SUCKS.” However, at the end, the troll is succumbed to admit that Internet Explorer has improved after seeing other comments that mention different new features.

While it was a great advertisement from Microsoft, it was a bold, but classy move on their part. Essentially, they admitted that their web browser actually wasn’t that great in the past, and instead of just saying, “it’s all better now! IE10 is now the best browser!,” they simply note that it’s improving and that progress is key for the company.

Microsoft takes on trolls with new Internet Explorer advertisement is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We knew last month that Microsoft was going to be bringing Internet Explorer 10 over to Windows 7. The company has kept up on its promise and now has the release preview of IE10 available now for download for Windows 7 users. Beside new touch controls, IE10 promises faster loading times for web pages and improved security.

As expected, the Windows 7 version of Internet Explorer 10 has the same look and feel as the Windows 8 version, and includes features such as full-screen browsing, hardware acceleration, multitouch support, and a “Flip ahead” feature that guesses what webpage you want to see next on websites with multiple pages.

While most Windows 7 computers don’t have multitouch displays, you’ll still be able to do multitouch gestures in the IE10 preview using your trackpad if you have the right drivers for it. It also has the privacy-conscience “Do Not Track” feature turned on by default, which has gotten Microsoft into a pickle once already.

Download the Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7 here for free. If you have auto-update turned on in Internet Explorer 9, you’ll automatically get upgraded to IE10 when it becomes available as a final release. Older versions of Windows, like Vista and XP, won’t be getting IE10.

Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7 now available is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Depending on who you ask, Windows 8 and Windows RT are either awesome or terrible. We happen to fall in the former group (at least as far as Windows 8 is concerned), but there’s one thing that is an annoyance to anyone using either operating system: the Internet Explorer 10 Metro browser comes with limited support for Flash. It will likely stay limited for at least a little while too, as websites need to be added to Microsoft’s whitelist before Flash functions properly.

If you don’t want to wait for Microsoft to add your favorite sites to its whitelist, then you’re in luck. One clever developer over at the XDA Forums has found away around Microsoft’s whitelist, and this workaround actually lets you determine what sites on the whitelist for your install of Windows 8 or Windows RT. Even better is the fact that this workaround is pretty easy, so it shouldn’t be too long before you’re enjoying Flash on all your favorite websites. According to XDA Forum member Martin_S, here’s what you need to do to get started:

What you will have to do first is go to Desktop IE10 and click ALT –> Tools –> Compatibility View settings. Now UNCHECK the last checkmark with: “Download updated compatibility list from Microsoft”.

One that is finished, navigate to C:\Users\[USER_NAME]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\iecompatdata.xml and open the file. Then, you need to look for the Flash section in the code. This is your whitelist, and you can add new sites to it by typing in websitedomain.com with “domain” tags on either end. Do that for all the sites you want to add to the whitelist, and then you’re very nearly done.

The last thing you need to do before the sites you listed begin functioning properly is clear your search history. The option to do so is found in the Internet Settings section of Internet Explorer’s Settings menu. This method has been proven to work in both Windows 8 and Windows RT, so users of either should have no problems creating their own whitelist for Flash. See? We told you it was easy.

Mobile Internet Explorer 10 flash workaround discovered is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows 8 is here at last and, for the most part, we think it’s pretty great. However, as with all new Windows installs, Internet Explorer and Bing are both present. Most people would rather leave those two behind and use different browsers and search engines instead, and today we’re seeing Google capitalize on that. Google has launched a new “campaign” of sorts to get new Windows 8 owners using both its search engine and Chrome as quickly as possible.

It’s called “Get Your Google Back,” and the big G has even launched a new website with the sole purpose of getting its products on your Windows 8 machine. The process seems painlessly simple – once you’ve got Windows 8 installed on your computer, open up Internet Explorer and direct it to getyourgoogleback.com. Once you’re there, you’ll be prompted to install the Google search app for Windows 8.

The website also has a button to make Google Chrome your default browser, and clicking that button will begin the install of Google’s much-loved Chrome. The whole process is laid out in the handy little video posted below. Google gets bonus points for setting the video to a strikingly good cover of Jackson 5′s I Want You Back.

And there you have it – just a few simple steps and you can have Google search and Chrome tiles right there on your Start screen. Are you a new Windows 8 user who will be following Google’s advice, or are you going for a different search/browser combo? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out our story timeline for more on Windows 8!

Google shows Windows 8 users how to easily ditch Bing and IE is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time to begin counting down to the weekend once again, because we’ve hit Wednesday evening. Today we heard that the iPad Mini could launch on November 2, which makes sense considering that date is just over a week after Apple’s October 23 press event. Later in the day, more sources were mentioning a November 2 release date for the iPad Mini, as well as spilling a few more details about the long-rumored device. The Isis NFC mobile payment system will apparently be launching on October 22, and Microsoft said that Internet Explorer 10 will be coming to Windows 7 in mid-November.

We found out today iOS app size is on the rise, and that the FCC will allow AT&T to take advantage of unused airwaves for mobile broadband. Google is allowing third-party developers to use its plethora of Maps information with a set of new APIs, and Facebook’s new promoted posts feature is undergoing and expansion in Europe. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins had something to say about a recent (and rather negative) write-up about BlackBerry in The New York Times today, and a series of leaked AT&T training videos revealed that the Lumia 920 will be exclusive to the carrier for six months after its release.

Call of Duty Elite won’t be featured in the Wii U version of Black Ops II, and Apple has been granted a patent for an alternative NFC technology. Speaking of Apple, the company will be holding a meeting with the MFI group next month to talk about the future of the Lightning connector, and Foxconn is saying that the iPhone 5 is a difficult device to make, but assures that it’s getting better. Consumers are reporting a decline in overall Internet usage, but Forrester (the company that did the study) has a good explination for that, while V-MODA was busy pulling the veil off its Crossfade M-100 headphones today.

A new video called “Star Trails” shows time-lapse footage captured by the International Space Station, and the Color app that has been gracing Verizon phones lately may be going dark soon. Just a little while ago, Google sent out invites to an Android event that will take place in New York in a couple of weeks, and we got a high-definition look inside the company’s data centers today. The Pirate Bay told us this afternoon that it has switched its servers to the cloud, eBay posted some strong Q3 financial results, and Project Eternity from Obsidian reached its funding goal on Kickstarter (and then some).

Finally tonight, Chris Davies asks why we care about the iPad Mini, and Craig Lloyd brings us his review of the Loop Mummy iPhone case. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 17, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.