Knowing

Microsoft’s Farzana Rahman, the group program manager for Windows Update, has posted about the details of the planned improvement for Windows Update on Windows 8 on an extensive blog post in the Building Windows 8 blog.
According to Rahman, Windows 8 OS updating will be improved in two main ways.

First, she says that Windows Update will consolidate all restarts in a month, synchronizing with the monthly security release (you might know this by its “Patch Tuesday” moniker) and that Windows Update will notify you of any upcoming automatic restart in the log-in screen.


For the first area of improvement, Rahman writes:

“This means that your PC will only restart when security updates are installed and require a restart. With this improvement, it does not matter when updates that require restarts are released in a month, since these restarts will wait till the security release. Since security updates are released in a single batch on the second Tuesday of every month, you are then getting essentially one restart a month. This simplification helps in three ways: it keeps the system secure in a timely manner, reduces restarts, and makes restarts more predictable.”

Nonetheless, there’s an exception to this rule so there might be times when the ideal one-restart-per-month for Windows Update will not hold true.


User experience with Windows Update will be improved for Windows 8. Image: Microsoft

This is for times when a patch for a very critical vulnerability with Windows 8 is released by Microsoft. Rahman assures, however, that “this will happen only when the security threat is dire enough.”

For the second area of improvement, Rahman says that Windows Update will notify the user on the log-in screen that an upcoming automatic restart is scheduled by Windows 8 Windows Update.

This notification will last for three days, Rahman says, to “allow you to restart at your own convenience”.
With Windows 8, users will also “no longer see any pop-up notifications or dialogs about pending restarts” while on the desktop or on the home screen.

Microsoft has also thought of the loss of data with Windows 8 as users sometimes get shocked that Windows has automatically restarted without them being able to save their current work before the restart occurred.

According to Rahman:

“If after three days, the restart still has not occurred, then WU will automatically restart your PC for you. In this case, the automatic restart will happen either at the end of the three-day grace period, or, to prevent data loss if WU detects that there are critical applications open at the end of the three-day grace period, it will wait to automatically restart the next time you login.”

She continues:

“Delay the automatic restart if there is potential of losing user data. If the PC has hit the three-day deadline and still needs an automatic restart, WU will only automatically restart the machine if there is no chance of losing the user’s data. That means, if you are not at your PC (i.e. it is locked), if you have applications running in the background, or if there is potentially unsaved work, WU delays the automatic restart until the next time you come back to your machine and log in. At log-in, you will be asked to save your work, and you’ll see a warning that the machine will be restarted within 15 minutes.”

So if these improvements are implemented seamlessly with Windows 8, users can expect a better experience with Windows Update on the next-generation Microsoft operating system.

You can read Rahman’s post here for more details about the improvements being made to Windows Update on Windows 8 along with data about current user behavior regarding Windows Update on other Microsoft operating systems.

With todays official iOS5 release, redsn0w has been updated to 0.9.9b5 to include the public URLs for the IPSW files. This way, first-time iOS5 jailbreakers dont need to supply the IPSW file manually. Its still a tethered jailbreak on all except the old-bootrom iPhone3GS, and it doesnt apply to iPad2 or the upcoming iPhone4S.

Because the jailbreak is currently only tethered for most devices, were not going to release a new PwnageTool yet. Instead, weve decided to build some of PwnageTools functionality into redsn0w (since you need redsn0w to "Just boot tethered" on every power cycle anyway). The new "Custom IPSW" button on the Extras screen will create a custom IPSW without the baseband update for 4.3.3 or 5.0gm (iPhone3GS and iPhone4 only, for now). Remember not to accidentally restore to the stock IPSW after you create the custom one! The custom one begins with NO_BB_ (for "no baseband").

You must enter "Pwned DFU" mode before trying to use the NO_BB_ IPSW with iTunes (and your hosts file cannot be pointing to Cydias servers due to the new blob nonce mechanism theyre using in iOS5).

Version 0.9.9b5 only available for Mac for now, until we can do more testing on the Windows version of "Custom IPSW".

Were currently working on a normal compatibility update for existing ultrasn0w unlockers. After that well try to fix the iBooks issue on jailbroken iOS5.








Here are the download links:

• redsn0w 0.9.9b5 for Mac
• redsn0w 0.9.9b4 for Windows (version 0.9.9b5 after more testing)

• Antivirus protection
• Email Scanner
• Linkscanner
• Social Networking Protection
• Do Not Track
• Identity Protection
• WiFi Guard

Good news is that you can disable several of the modules that you do not need during installation, so that they won’t be installed along with the core antivirus app. You can block the installation of the AVG gadget, personal e-mail scanner, identity protection and AVG Surf-Shield during installation.
Bad news that the installer contains offers to install AVG Secure Search as the default search provider and the AVG Security toolbar in supported web browsers. To avoid this, select custom install and make sure the items are unchecked before you proceed with a click on next.
First thing you will notice when you start the program is the new user interface that displays the protection status and links to core program features.

You do find advertisement for the company’s own Antivirus 2013 and Internet Security scattered throughout the interface. About a fifths of the interface is reserved for ads that highlight some of the benefits of upgrading to one of the company’s commercial offerings. AVG thankfully included an option to hide that notification so that it does not get into your way all the time.
You will also find upgrade hints in various modules. The email scanner for instance highlights that spam protection is available in the commercial products on top of the email scanning of the free version.
So what is new in AVG Antivirus Free 2013?
We have previously mentioned that AVG Linkscanner has been discontinued and replaced by AVG Secure Search. The tool is available as a standalone download and also as part of the latest Antivirus free iteration. It is basically Linkscanner plus the AVG Security Toolbar, and – optional – changes to the browser’s default homepage and search provider. You can disable the inclusion by selecting the custom install option.

WiFi Guard is another new feature, which according to AVG, “helps you avoid rogue Wifi access points used by hackers by alerting you when your PC tries to access such a network”. Windows may connect your PC to a wireless network that you have been connected to in the past if it has the same name, even though it may not be the same network. WiFi Guard will recognize this for you and display a notification so that you have time to disconnect from the network. This module has actually been included in AVG 2012 updates.
Do not track is another feature that AVG introduced in a 2012 lineup update. It informs AVG users about data collected by Internet sites. The feature collects information about ad networks, social buttons and web analytics that you come across on the Internet, giving you options to block some or all of the scripts from your browser to protect yourself from being tracked by the scripts.
AVG Antivirus Free 2012 includes the following additional changes and improvements:

• Reduced footprint while running when compared to the 2012 release
• Better detection algorithm
• File reputation, a cloud based service that improves the program’s detection capabilities

The program is a bit heavy on the notification side of things. You can disable some or all notifications, e.g. scan finished, under Options > Advanced Settings. Here you can also disable the boot time improvement notifications that you may see on reboots or new starts of the system.
Here is a video that is announcing the new version and the thought process behind it.
Download

AVG Antivirus Free 2013 is available as a web installer and offline installer. The web installer has a size of 4 Megabytes and will download the rest of the installation files from the Internet during installation. The offline installer is available as a 32-bit and 64-bit version, with a size of 118 Megabytes and 130 Megabytes respectively, that includes all components and does not require an Internet connection during installation. Both versions can be downloaded on this page.
Processes

AVG uses several processes while running. You need to enable Show processes from all users to display them all. Please note that you may have additional or less processes depending on the modules that you have installed with the program:

• avgcsrva.exe – the core scanning module, server part
• avgemca.exe – the email scanner
• avgidsagent.exe – the identity protection service
• avgnsa.exe – AVG online shield service and resident shield service
• avgui.exe – user interface, only process running under the user account
• avgwdsvc.exe – watchdog service

Closing Words

The new interface is definitely a step in the right direction, as are the options to block certain modules from being installed with the program. I’d highly suggest to use a custom install to remove all the security modules and offers that you do not want installed on your system.

• Installation files
• Documentation
• Updates

Name	Version	Type	Date	Size
AVG for Windows AVG Online Installer	2013.2677	exe	September 18, 2012	4 MB
AVG for Windows (32bit) (avg_free_x86_all_2013_2677a5774.exe)	2013.2677	exe	September 18, 2012	114 MB
AVG for Windows (64bit) (avg_free_x64_all_2013_2677a5774.exe)	2013.2677	exe	September 18, 2012	125 MB

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE AVG

• Over 100 million people trust our people-powered protection.
• We’re rated #1 in threat detection by independent antivirus testing labs.^*
• It’s easy to install and use.
• Our 30-day money back guarantee means your purchase is risk free.
• Free technical support and updates to latest versions throughout your subscription term.

^*AVG Internet Security was rated Number 1 in threat detection by AV-Test Org May-August 2010.

What people say

"Downloaded the upgrade version of AVG Internet Security last week. Definitely the best security system in the world. I would recommend it to anyone. Very easy to install and run. Your updates are now done without me knowing, with no pop ups as there was with the older version. Keep up the good work."
Mike McHugh