Microsoft deems Windows Gadgets vulnerable to hacker exploits, issues fix

Gadgets were Microsoft's answer to Apple's Widgets. Mini apps that could run on top of your desktop and give you weather and news updates, flight information, stock tickers, webcam feeds, you name it

Aside from being an unwelcome reminder of the train wreck that was Windows Vista, it seems these Gadgets are extremely dangerous and should be removed completely.

"An attacker who successfully exploited a Gadget vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user," company officials declared in an advisory issued yesterday. "If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take complete control of the affected system." To be successful, they added: "An attacker would have to convince a user to install and enable a vulnerable Gadget."

Bad Gadgets! The best way to deal with this is to disable them completely and Microsoft has pulled the Gadget library altogether. In order to fix the situation Microsoft has enabled a quick fix that disables the sidebar and the widgets altogether. 

SourceCode: Microsoft, Partnerships and the Price of Progress

Updated on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 12:41AM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

This past week has been a transformative one for Microsoft.  The Redmond giant previewed their unified desktop and tablet future with the Microsoft Surface announcement at an event in Hollywoog, which in itself was a loaded launch that ushered in Windows 8 on ARM as well as revealed Microsoft’s long term plans as a hardware maker.

They also held a Windows Phone 8 event in San Francisco, where they introduced fragmentation into their mobile OS by announcing a generation shift in their two-year old operating system that will make the upcoming version incompatible with present and past hardware.

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Microsoft launches its own Windows 8 tablet, calls it Surface

Microsoft just released a Windows 8 Tablet of its own called Surface. The new tablet has two versions, the light version will run Windows 8 RT on an ARM processor (we saw that coming) while the other is a Pro version running on Intel processor. Surface will feature an all magnesium case that weighs 1.5 pounds and a 10.6 full HD display (covered in Gorilla Glass 2).

The tablet has its own kickstand and I/O options include HDMI-out, microUSB and a USB 2.0 port It will feature a MagSafe-like magnetic cover that also doules as a keybaord and multi-touch trackpad. Surface will also have either 32GB or 64GB of storage space.  Seems like it has rear and front facing cameras as well. 

Get your Windows 8 Consumer Preview now, if you dare

Windows 8 is arguably the biggest revamp to Microsoft Windows since Windows 3.1 and brings the Metro touch elements of Windows Phone to the desktop and the tablet form factors. It is strange, it is different and it will shake things up in the OS segment. Aside from the new tiled interface, Microsoft has jettisoned the iconic Start button and restructured a lot of the functionality. This is the future of your desktop, you best be getting used to it.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview can be downloaded now and is free. Below are the key features as well as the official word from Redmond. See a video and more info on Windows 8 here.

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